Category: Politics

{Protesters clash with police as majority of senators say they will vote to have Dilma Rousseff suspended for 180 days.}

Brazil’s senators are debating whether to put President Dilma Rousseff on trial over allegations that she illegally manipulated the budget to hide a growing fiscal deficit.

The debate, which continued into the early hours of Thursday, will be followed by a vote that could suspend Rousseff, the first woman to become Brazilian president, for the duration of the investigation, which would be 180 days.

After 18 hours of debate, in which each senator were given the opportunity to give a 15-minute speech, a majority had said Rousseff should face an impeachment trial.

Al Jazeera’s Latin America Editor Lucia Newman, reporting from Brasilia, said Rousseff was expected to lose by an overwhelming majority.

“It is a dramatic time for Brazil,” she said. “Even the pope has weighed in, calling for prayers and dialogue.”

Outside Congress, where a metal fence was erected to keep apart rival protests, about 6,000 backers of impeachment chanted “Out with Dilma” while police used pepper spray to disperse gangs of Rousseff supporters, who hurled flares back. One person was arrested for inciting violence.

If Rousseff’s opponents garner a simple majority in the 81-seat Senate session, Rousseff will be replaced on Thursday by Vice President Michel Temer as acting president for up to six months.

On Wednesday, Brazil’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal to block the Senate vote.

Chaotic process

In April, the lower house of parliament voted to impeach Rousseff, who has been president since 2011.

But on Monday, Waldir Maranhao, the interim head of the legislature’s lower house, threw the impeachment effort into disarray by annulling that vote, citing procedural problems.

He then reversed the decision several hours later, setting the stage for the vote in the Senate.

Deeply unpopular, Rousseff’s presidency has been damaged by corruption scandals, political paralysis and a sharp economic downturn.

About 11 million people are out of work.

Rousseff faces impeachment over accusations of tampering with figures to disguise the size of Brazil’s budget deficit during her 2014 re-election campaign.

She has denied any wrongdoing, and cast the efforts to remove her as a coup.

{Attorney general requests annulment of impeachment proceedings against Brazil’s president.}

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has taken her battle to survive impeachment to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch attempt to stay in office a day before the Senate is expected to vote to try her for breaking budget laws.

Brazil’s Attorney General Eduardo Cardozo, the government’s top lawyer, asked the Supreme Court to annul impeachment proceedings on Tuesday, his office said.

Cardozo’s move comes ahead of a vote that could see Rousseff suspended from office for up to six months to stand trial and eventually, removed from office.

Rousseff’s opponents have more than the 41 votes needed to launch her trial in the upper chamber of the Congress, and they are confident they can muster two-thirds of the 81 senators, or 54, to unseat the president.

As the prospect grew of Rousseff’s removal and a potential end to 13 years of rule by her leftist Workers Party, anti-impeachment protesters blocked roads and burned tires in the capital Sao Paulo and other cities early on Wednesday. Morning traffic was disrupted as protesters clashed with police.

Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo, reporting from the capital Sao Paolo, said everything was ready in Brazil for the Senate session which will determine Rousseff’s future.

“Many here say the attorney general’s appeal to the Supreme Court to avoid the impeachment process is unlikely to change anything,” she said.

“Rousseff said on Tuesday that she is not tired of this fight, but of those who have been disloyal to her, adding that what was happening in Brazil was a coup, asking people to defend democracy.”

Earlier on the same day, Waldir Maranhao, the acting speaker of the lower house of Congress, withdrew his controversial decision to annul last month’s impeachment vote in the chamber.

Maranhao, a little known politician before taking over last week after the removal of Eduardo Cunha for obstruction of a corruption investigation, faces expulsion from his centre-right Progressive Party, which supports Rousseff’s impeachment.

Rousseff’s opponents have more than the 41 votes needed to launch her trial in the upper chamber of the Congress, and they are confident they can muster two-thirds of the 81 senators, or 54, to unseat the president.

As the prospect grew of Rousseff’s removal and a potential end to 13 years of rule by her leftist Workers Party, anti-impeachment protesters blocked roads and burned tires in the capital Sao Paulo and other cities early on Wednesday. Morning traffic was disrupted as protesters clashed with police.

Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo, reporting from the capital Sao Paolo, said everything was ready in Brazil for the Senate session which will determine Rousseff’s future.

“Many here say the attorney general’s appeal to the Supreme Court to avoid the impeachment process is unlikely to change anything,” she said.

“Rousseff said on Tuesday that she is not tired of this fight, but of those who have been disloyal to her, adding that what was happening in Brazil was a coup, asking people to defend democracy.”

Earlier on the same day, Waldir Maranhao, the acting speaker of the lower house of Congress, withdrew his controversial decision to annul last month’s impeachment vote in the chamber.

Maranhao, a little known politician before taking over last week after the removal of Eduardo Cunha for obstruction of a corruption investigation, faces expulsion from his centre-right Progressive Party, which supports Rousseff’s impeachment.

The Workers’ Party and labour unions called for a national strike to resist what they call a “coup” against democracy.

The impeachment process comes as Brazil is mired in its worst recession since the 1930s and shaken by the country’s biggest ever corruption scandal, which have paralysed Rousseff’s second-term administration.

Rousseff has steadfastly denied committing any impeachable crime and has vowed to fight impeachment by all means legally possible. She has dismissed calls for her resignation.

{Jamaat-e-Islami calls for general strike after hanging of its leader who was convicted of genocide, rape and massacres.}

Bangladesh has executed head of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami party Motiur Rahman Nizami for war crimes committed during the 1971 war of independence to break away from Pakistan, the country’s the law minister said.

Nizami was hanged at Dhaka Central jail at one minute past midnight local time on Wednesday after the Supreme Court rejected his final plea against a death sentence imposed by a special tribunal for genocide, rape and orchestrating the massacre of top intellectuals during the war.

In a sign of divided opinion over the hanging, scores of protesters came out in the streets of Dhaka to condemn the execution, while hundreds of others cheered the move.

“We have waited for this day for a long 45 years,” said war veteran Akram Hossain. “Justice has finally been served.”

Thousands of extra police and border guards were deployed in the capital Dhaka and other major cities to tighten security as Jamaat-e-Islami called for a nationwide strike on Thursday in protest of the execution.

Previous similar judgments and executions have triggered violence that killed around 200 people, mainly Jamaat activists and police.

Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from Dhaka, said calling for a nationwide shutdown was the usual reaction by Jamaat-e-Islami following an execution or death sentence against one of its members.

But, he added that protests were not likely to be that intense.

“The party itself is very marginalised right now. Most of the members are either behind bars or on the run,” Chowdhury said.

Nizami had been in prison since 2010.

The party denies that its leaders committed any atrocities. Calling Nizami a “martyr”, it said he was deprived of justice and made a victim of a political vendetta.

Five opposition politicians, including four Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, have been executed since late 2013 after being convicted by the tribunal.

David Bergman, an investigative journalist in Dhaka, told Al Jazeera that there was long-standing allegations against Nizami since the end of the war.

“So the fact that there was a trial in which he was accused of these crimes is not itself political. However, it is true to say that there have been concerns expressed by rights organisaitons about the process of his trials,” he said.

“There are no doubts that many members of Jamaat-e-Islami is concerned about trials and executions targeting its members, and the party itself is subject to significant depression.”

Hundreds of people, mostly university students, took out a procession from Dhaka University to celebrate the execution [Mahmud Hossain Opu/Al Jazeera]

The war crimes tribunal set up by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2010 has sparked violence and drawn criticism from opposition politicians, including leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, that it is victimising Hasina’s political opponents.

According to the Bangladesh government, about three million people were killed and thousands of women were raped during the 1971 war in which some factions, including the Jamaat-e-Islami, opposed the break from what was then called West Pakistan.

The execution comes as the country suffers a surge in violence in which atheist bloggers, academics, religious minorities and foreign aid workers have been killed.

In April alone, five people, including a university teacher, two gay activists and a Hindu, were hacked to death.

{Sanders deals another blow to Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in US state hit by job losses.}

US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has defeated Hillary Clinton in West Virginia’s primary, winning over voters deeply sceptical about the economy and keeping his candidacy alive against the frontrunner.

“Tonight it appears that we won a big victory in West Virginia,” Sanders said after the results for Tuesday’s primary came in, “and this is a state where Hillary Clinton won with 40 points against Barack Obama in 2008”.

The loss slows Clinton’s march to the nomination, but she is still heavily favoured to become the Democratic candidate in the November 8 election.

Deep concerns about the economy were key in West Virginia’s Democratic primary.

About six in 10 voters said they were very worried about the direction of the US economy in the next few years. The same proportion cited the economy and jobs as their most important voting issues, according to a preliminary ABC News exit poll.

A remark Clinton made at an Ohio town hall in March that the country would “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business” may have hurt her chances with voters in coal-mining states such as West Virginia.

During Clinton’s visit to West Virginia and Ohio last week she repeatedly apologised to displaced coal and steel workers for her comment, which she said had been taken out of context, and discussed her plan to help retrain coal workers for clean energy jobs.

But, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Charleston, said the damage was already done.

“Coal mining is the lifeblood of West Virginia,” she said. “Voters I talked to said they are throwing support behind Sanders, or switching parties altogether, and voting in the primary for Donald Trump.

“West Virginia was once solid Democratic party territory. But, that’s no longer the case. The Republicans are gaining support here due to Barack Obama’s clean energy policies decimating jobs in the state in the last four years, by the thousands.”

To secure the Democratic nomination, a candidate needs 2,383 delegates. Going into West Virginia, Clinton, a former US secretary of state, had 2,228 delegates, including 523 so-called superdelegates, elite party members who are free to support any candidate.

Sanders had 1,454 delegates, including 39 superdelegates. Another 29 delegates will be apportioned based on West Virginia’s results.

Clinton and Sanders will compete in another primary contest on May 17. Both candidates are also looking ahead to the June 7 contests, the last in the long nominating season, in which nearly 700 delegates are at stake, including 475 in California, where Sanders is now focusing his efforts.

Sanders has vowed to take his campaign all the way to the Democrats’ July 25-28 convention in Philadelphia, and wants a say in shaping the party’s platform.

Sanders has repeatedly told supporters at packed rallies that most opinion polls indicate he would beat Trump in a general election match-up by a larger margin than polls show Clinton defeating Trump.

“When you look at a Donald Trump-Hillary Clinton match-up, Donald Trump comes ahead, but when you pair Donald Trump to Bernie Sanders in a general election, it is Sanders who comes out on top,” Al Jazeera’s Halkett said. “This is the challenge that Hillary Clinton faces.

“She does have the lead in terms of the pledged delegates, the establishment if you will, but what she doesn’t have is a strong support from those who are working-class.”

Trump won contests in West Virginia and Nebraska handily on Tuesday.

Recently, Trump has zeroed in on Clinton’s protracted battle with Sanders. He has taunted Clinton by saying she “can’t close the deal” by beating Sanders.

Clinton has said she will ignore Trump’s personal insults, including his repeated use of his new nickname for her, “Crooked Hillary”, and instead will criticise his policy pronouncements.

Trump, shifting into general election mode, has already begun to consider running mates. He told Fox on Tuesday night that he has narrowed down his list to five people.

He did not rule out picking New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a former rival who ended his presidential bid in February. Christie, who endorsed Trump and then campaigned for him, was named on Monday to head Trump’s White House transition team.

{Ruling party candidate concedes as unofficial results give mayor Rodrigo Duterte clear lead in presidential poll.}

The ruling party candidate in the Philippines’ presidential election has conceded defeat as controversial mayor Rodrigo Duterte is heading for a resounding victory.

Manuel “Mar” Roxas addressed supporters on Tuesday as unofficial results put Duterte ahead by an insurmountable 6.1 million votes.

“It is clear Mayor Duterte will be the next president,” Roxas said. “I wish you success.”

Grace Poe, who trailed third in the race, said Duterte’s lead reflected the will of the people.

“I respect the result of the election,” she said. “We fought hard.”

Senator Poe was the leading candidate until Duterte belatedly joined the race. His straight talk and brash manner won over voters.

Al Jazeera’s Marga Ortigas said many Filipinos had grown frustrated during six years under President Benigno Aquino.

“They were years of broad economic growth but that prosperity didn’t trickle down fast enough. Aquino and his administration were criticised as too elite, too impersonal, and out of touch,” she said.

Tapping into that sentiment, Duterte, mayor of the southern city of Davao, emerged as the frontrunner by brazenly defying political tradition, much as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has done in the US.

The mayor’s single-issue campaign focusing on law and order chimed with popular anxiety about corruption, crime and drug abuse, but for many his incendiary rhetoric and talk of extrajudicial killings echo the country’s authoritarian past.

While authorities described the overall conduct of the elections as peaceful, police said at least 10 people died across the country in election-day violence as gunmen attacked polling stations, ambushed vehicles and stole vote-counting machines.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines National Election Monitoring Center said in a statement that they monitored 22 election-related violent incidents.

In the worst attack, seven people were shot dead in an ambush before dawn in Rosario, a town just outside Manila known for political violence, Chief Inspector Jonathan del Rosario, spokesman for a national police election monitoring task force, told the AFP news agency.

Another 15 people were killed in election-related violence in the run-up to the polls.

Many areas of the Philippines are dominated by feuding political families. Security forces were on high alert for the vote and citizens’ groups were watching polling centres closely.

There were several reports of electronic voting machine hitches, and voting was extended in several districts after delays in the opening of polling centres.

Al Jazeera’s Wayne Hay, reporting from Duterte’s homebase, Davao, said his supporters see him as an authentic man of action.

“He is very popular here. One of the reasons he is so popular is his crackdown on crime,” he said. “This used to be regarded as one of the most dangerous cities in Philippines, but now it’s regarded perhaps as one of the safest.

“His supporters, people who are voting for him, believe he should take a lot of credit for that.”

But critics disapprove of Duterte’s brash manner and question his ties to vigilante killings. They also claim the controversial mayor’s election pledges are unrealistic.

OPINION: The Philippines’ autocratic nostalgia

“He made some astonishing claims that in the first three to six months of office he is going to solve major problems, like crime and corruption,” Richard Heydarian of De La Salle University told Al Jazeera.

“Of course no experts will agree with him.”

More than half of the population of 100 million people were registered to vote in the election to choose a president, vice president, 300 politicians and about 18,000 local government officials.