IGIHE

Category: Politics

  • Lebanon’s Aoun blocks extension of parliament’s term

    {Michel Aoun invokes his constitutional powers to adjourn the parliament for one month.}

    Lebanese President Michel Aoun has suspended a parliamentary session for a month, temporarily blocking proposed plans to extend parliament’s term for the third time in a row since 2013.

    Parliament was expected to vote on Thursday to extend its own mandate until 2018 without an election, officials said.

    In a televised address to the nation on Wednesday, Aoun said that the delay was aimed at giving politicians more time to reach an agreement on a new electoral law.

    Current members of parliament were elected in 2009 for what was meant to be a four-year term.

    Lebanon’s political parties say it is time to scrap the country’s 1960 voting law that allocates seats by religious sect, but disagree over what system should replace it.

    Opposition parties and civic groups are threatening demonstrations against any parliamentary extension on Thursday.

    Sectarian divisions

    Lebanese politics has long been dogged by sectarian divisions, with the war in neighbouring Syria exacerbating party rivalries.

    Parliament has already extended its mandate twice because MPs were unable to agree on an election law.

    It last did this in 2014, citing security concerns linked to the civil war in Syria.

    The government struggles to make basic decisions and parliament is often paralysed.

    In October of 2016, parliament elected former army commander Michel Aoun as president, ending a 29-month vacuum in a political deal that secured victory for his Lebanese ally Hezbollah, Iran and Syria.

    Michel Aoun was elected as president in October 2016 ending a 29 month vacuum

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • Rival South African parties unite at anti-Zuma protest

    {Rival South African opposition parties joined forces on Wednesday when tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the capital Pretoria calling for President Jacob Zuma to resign.}

    The march to Union Buildings, the official seat of government, was organised on Zuma’s 75th birthday and came after nationwide rallies against the president last week.

    Zuma’s recent sacking of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan has fanned years of public anger over government corruption scandals, record unemployment and slowing economic growth.

    Supporters of the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), and smaller parties mingled at Wednesday’s demonstration in a display of unity.

    Police said the event had been peaceful.

    “You came out in large numbers and sent a strong message,” EFF leader Julius Malema told the crowd.

    “We are here to defend the future of our children whether you are black (or) white. We are united on the purpose of winning back our beautiful country.”

    Gordhan’s sacking triggered unprecedented criticism from senior figures within the ruling African National Congress (ANC), including from Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.

    Parliament announced late Wednesday that it had postponed a planned vote of no confidence in Zuma at the request of the DA.

    The party had requested the delay pending the outcome of a Constitutional Court case to seek a secret vote by lawmakers.

    The ANC lawmakers had in the past voted overwhelmingly against previous motions of no confidence launched by the opposition.

    The date for the new vote has not yet been set.

    ‘MOMENT OF CRISIS’?

    “At this moment of crisis, we, as political parties, put our differences aside for one common cause — to save South Africa from Jacob Zuma,” said John Moodey, DA leader in Gauteng province, which includes Pretoria and Johannesburg.

    “(Zuma’s supporters) will do everything to stay in power, even intimidating MPs. With a secret ballot, we could put Zuma out by a huge majority.

    “Even if it doesn’t succeed, I can guarantee you that we will have a coalition government in 2019.”

    Zuma, who came to office in 2009, is due to step down as head of the ANC in December, and as national president ahead of the 2019 general election.

    “In December the ANC will elect a new leader, I don’t know who that would be. The ANC will decide,” Zuma told supporters at his birthday party in Soweto.

    “In 2019 I will step down as president of the country,” he said, adding that he was willing to step down from both his positions if asked to do so.

    Zuma is seen as favouring his ex-wife, former African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to succeed him.

    Protesters on Wednesday held placards reading “Zuma must fall”, “Hamba tsotsi” (“Go away thief”), and “Zuma liar”.

    “I came because Zuma has to step down. He sold the country. I don’t want him anymore,” Mavis Madisha, a 37-year-old EFF supporter, told AFP.

    Zuma has been accused of being in the sway of the wealthy Gupta business family, allegedly granting them influence over government appointments, contracts and state-owned businesses.

    The Constitutional Court last year found Zuma guilty of violating the constitution after he refused to repay taxpayers’ money used to refurbish his private rural house.

    He is also fighting a court order that could reinstate almost 800 corruption charges against him over a multi-billion dollar arms deal in the 1990s.

    The dismissal of Gordhan saw the Fitch and Standard & Poor’s agencies cut South Africa’s sovereign credit rating to junk status due to fears of political instability and growing corruption.

    The ANC has lost popularity in recent years and slipped to 55 percent of the vote in last year’s local elections — its worst ever result.

    Zuma has easily survived previous parliamentary votes against him due to the ANC’s majority.

    The president branded last week’s protests, which attracted tens of thousands of marchers, as racist.

    South African opposition parties leaders hold arms as they take part, with tens of thousands of opposition parties and civil society organization members, in a march to Union Buildings to protest against South African president Jacob Zuma and ask for his resignation, on April 12, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa.

    Source:AFP

  • Burundi suspends activities of opposition party MSD

    {The Burundian government has suspended activities of the Movement for Solidarity and Democracy (MSD) “for announcing a plan to create a rebel group,” a senior official said Wednesday.}

    Home Affairs and Civic Education Ministry Spokesman Therence Ntahiraja said the ministry had suspended activities of the MSD for six months.

    “Offices of the party countrywide are not authorized to open during the suspension period,” Ntahiraja said.

    According to him, the MSD has been, since 2013, violating the East African country’s national constitution and the law on political parties stipulating that “no registered party is allowed to create a rebel group.”

    “Recently, we heard Alexis Sinduhije (MSD chairman) announcing on some radio stations that his party is going to set a rebel group that will combat the government until he captures the country,” Ntahiraja said.

    He added that some people who surrendered or who were arrested during or after the protests against another candidature of the Burundian president in 2015 admitted that Sinduhije had recruited them for the rebel group that would be formed outside Burundi.

    The MSD is among the country’s main opposition parties that have not so far been divided into wings.

    Its chairman Sinduhije has lived in exile since 2014 for his fierce criticisms against the Burundian government.

    In March 2014, the MSD was suspended for four months following violent clashes between the party youth and police agents at the party headquarters in the capital.

    The party was accused of “inciting party militants to acts of revolt, hatred and violence.” Enditem

    Source:News Ghana

  • Museveni meets S.Sudan First vice president, renews call for peace

    {President Museveni yesterday met South Sudan First Vice President Taban Deng Gai at Kityerera Presidential Farm in Mayuge District. }

    According to a statement the president issued on his social media platforms, the meeting centred around shared areas of transport, electricity and peace in South Sudan.

    In the statement, Mr Museveni also called on South Sudanese to denounce violence in the warring country.

    “We held a long discussion on shared areas of transport, electricity and also the subject of peace in South Sudan. I call upon all people of South Sudan to refrain from violence. The only politically viable way is peace and dialogue to achieve development,” Mr Museveni wrote.

    The meeting comes almost a week after Mr Museveni met some of South Sudan’s former political detainees led by Rebecca Nyandeng, the widow of the fallen freedom fighter Dr John Garang. After the meeting, Mr Museveni posted on his social media platforms that they discussed unitying different political groups in the world’s youngest nation.

    Mr Museveni’s senior press secretary, Mr Don Wanyama told Daily Monitor then that the meeting between Mr Museveni and the G10 members was a closed door meeting and therefore no details could be availed.

    However, media reports this week indicated that in the meeting, Mr Museveni rebuked the manner in which South Sudan’s affairs have been handled by its leadership, stressing that the country seceded from Sudan with collective support from the East African region.

    According to media reports, a source that spoke on condition of anonymity quoted the president as saying: “Meles Zinawi (late Ethiopian prime minister) , Isaias Afwerki (Eritrean president and myself, fought and shed blood in Sudan and compelled Bashir on the table to accept self-determination and independence for the people of South Sudan and now there this claim that the Dinkas liberated South Sudan. Were we also Dinkas. What about 98.9 per cent voters in the referendum who endorsed your independence and those Americans and Europeans who supported you? Were they all Dinkas?” he asked.

    Mr Museveni, in a close political ally of South Sudan President Salva Kiir. The source reportedly said the Ugandan leader was refuting a claim by a section of citizens in South Sudan, advocating views of some leaders, including President Kiir who reportedly look at him and his tribe as having played a big role in liberating South Sudan. “All of us, our people have contributed in the liberation of our country in our own different ways,” Mr Museveni is reported to have said in the meeting.

    President Museveni yesterday met South Sudan First Vice President Taban Deng Gai at Kityerera Presidential Farm in Mayuge District.

    Source:Daily Monitor

  • Rights groups allied to Burundi Government: “No more need for EAC facilitation”

    {PISC Burundi and CAPES+ groups claim they base their conclusion on remarkable social, political and economic improvements that have already been achieved.}

    Two collectives of rights groups say inter-Burundian dialogue facilitated by EAC is no more necessary. Hamza Vénant Burikukiye and Jean Marie Nduwimana, respective legal representatives of PISC-Burundi and CAPES+, told a press conference on Tuesday that issues that called for the EAC facilitation had been resolved. For that, “there is no more need for inter-Burundian dialogue in Arusha”.

    They said the East African Community’s “effort should rather be focused on helping Burundi in bringing refugees back home and preparing the 2020 elections”.

    They also opposed the “meddling” of EAC in internal affairs of Burundi as far as amnesty for politicians wanted by the Burundi justice is concerned. “Let the question of amnesty or pardon be left to the Burundi people and to the country’s institutions in the strict respect of our independence and sovereignty”, they said.

    It was in an apparent reaction to a recent request by Benjamin W. Mkapa, the EAC Facilitator in inter-Burundian dialogue, to President Nkurunziza asking him to offer amnesty to coup plotters of 2015 and allow them to take part in dialogue to end the crisis.

    Jean Claude Karerwa Ndenzako, the President’s spokesman, said the Facilitator had asked for what Nkurunziza was not allowed to do by any law. “What the Facilitator requested is against national and international law”, he said. He explained that the President of Burundi is only allowed to pardon criminals who have been convicted of crimes. The President “would be charged with high treason” if he pardoned people who are still wanted by justice.

    He further said even the UN does not allow people who have committed such crimes as attempting to overthrow institutions to participate in dialogue. The UN says such criminals should rather be brought to justice.

    This new development escalates the divergence between the Facilitator, the Government of Burundi and its allied political parties and civil society organisations on the treatment of coup plotters.

    The government opposition to the invitation of politicians wanted by the Burundi justice resulted in the government pulling out of the fourth round of inter-Burundian dialogue convened by the Facilitator between 16 and 19 February in Arusha.

    During the dialogue session, Bujumbura asked in vain the government of Tanzania to arrest the politicians under arrest warrant.

    The ruling party and CSOs allied to the government have insisted that politicians and other wanted rights activists be brought back to Burundi to face justice. They said criminals had no ideas to build the country.

    The CSOs opposed the idea of giving immunity to those politicians because their protection would require the deployment of foreign armed forces to Burundi, an idea they and the government have always rejected adamantly.

    From left to right: Venant Hamza Burikukiye and Jean Marie Nduwimana, respective legal representatives of CAPES+ and PISC-Burundi.

    Source:IWACU

  • North Korea vows to respond to ‘reckless’ US moves

    {‘DPRK ready to react to any mode of war’ after US sends navy strike group to Korean Peninsula following missile tests.}

    North Korea has sharply criticised the US after the US Pacific Command moved a set of warships to the Korean Peninsula over the weekend.

    The North’s foreign ministry, in a statement carried by its KCNA news agency on Tuesday, said the US navy strike group’s deployment showed America’s “reckless moves for invading had reached a serious phase”.

    “We never beg for peace but we will take the toughest counteraction against the provocateurs in order to defend ourselves by powerful force of arms and keep to the road chosen by ourselves,” a spokesman for the country’s foreign affairs ministry said.

    “The DPRK [North Korea] is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US.”

    Later in the day, North Korea’s military chief said his country was ready to “mount a pre-emptive nuclear attack” on South Korea and the US.

    Hwang Pyong-so, the North’s effective number two behind leader Kim Jong-un, made the threat during a live broadcast on state television.

    He insisted North Korea will “wipe them out without a trace if they attempt to launch a war of aggression”.

    On Saturday, the US warships – including the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, two guided-missile destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser – cancelled a trip to Australia and headed from Singapore to the waters off Korea, as part of the US response to North Korea’s recent missile launches.

    On Wednesday North Korea launched a missile into the Sea of Japan from near Sinpo in South Hamgyong province, according to South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff.

    {{Tensions rising}}

    Speaking to Al Jazeera from Seoul, B J Kim, adjunct professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said the level of tension has many South Koreans worried.

    “The overall situation here, the way the South Koreans perceive it, is very unusual. They have not seen this level of heightened tensions for about a quarter of a century,” Kim said.

    “In 1994 we had a similar situation in which the United States possibly wanted to strike. But since then this has been the highest point of tensions here, so people feel quite uneasy about it.”

    North Korea has ratcheted up its nuclear programme under its relatively new leader Kim Jong-un, carrying out two nuclear tests and launching around 20 ballistic missiles last year alone.

    The international community also is concerned that North Korea could be working on an intercontinental ballistic missile, which could reach the western US.

    US-based experts say that North Korea is currently planning a further nuclear test.

    Hwang Kyo-ahn, South Korean acting president, ordered the military to intensify monitoring of the North’s activities and to ensure close communication with the ally the US.

    “It is possible the North may wage greater provocations such as a nuclear test timed with various anniversaries including the Supreme People’s Assembly,” said Hwang, acting leader since Park Geun-hye was removed as president over a corruption scandal.

    {{Important date}}

    The North convened a Supreme People’s Assembly session on Tuesday, one of its twice-yearly sessions in which major appointments are announced and national policy goals are formally approved.

    Saturday is the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the country’s founding father and grandfather of current ruler, Kim Jong-un.

    A military parade is expected in the North’s capital, Pyongyang, to mark the day.

    North Korea often also marks important anniversaries with tests of its nuclear or missile capabilities.

    Hankuk University’s Kim said South Korea feels it is up to North Korea to open the possibility of dialogue.

    “North Korea has been escalating the tensions and the US has been responding to it,” he said.

    “Seoul is waiting for words of reconciliation or at least expressions of interest in dialogue from Pyongyang.

    “From a Chinese perspective, they have always stressed the need for dialogue but we have not seen any progress for years now. China is therefore also responsible for coming up with new ideas to lower tensions.”

    USS Carl Vinson is part of the navy strike group headed for the Korean Peninsula

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • DRC opposition protests banned

    {DR Congo’s capital Kinshasa was empty on Monday after the government warned it would break up opposition rallies. The opposition is accusing President Joseph Kabila of not sticking to a power-sharing deal.}

    The usually bustling streets of Kinshasa were relatively calm and many business premises remained closed following a government decision to ban opposition demonstrations. DR Congo’s largest opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), had called on supporters to carry out a nation-wide demonstration against President Joseph Kabila on Monday.

    Public transportation was also limited as private buses chose to stay away. The public-run buses were however operational. Scores of military and anti-riot police were deployed at one of the biggest intersections near Kinshasa University.

    “This ban shows just how worried the government is about large-scale discontent,” Phil Clark, a political scientist at SOAS, University of London told DW. “Kabila realizes that anger is growing on the streets, people are becoming increasingly frustrated with the delays in elections,” Clark said. The UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO has issued a press release calling on President Kabila to respect a power-sharing deal.

    According to the power-sharing deal which was brokered by the Catholic Church, Kabila was to nominate a prime minister from the opposition rally known as “Rassemblement”. Kabila’s rule was to end last year, but the electoral commission cancelled elections citing logistical and financial challenges. Under the accord, Kabila is now to hand over power by the end of this year.

    Congolese police said on Sunday evening that Monday’s planned political protests would be considered illegal. They also warned that “any gathering of more than 10 people will be dispersed.”

    This comes after Kabila appointed Bruno Tshibala as the new prime minister of the DRC following a power-sharing deal. But Tshibala’s appointment has been criticized by the opposition. UDPS have called the appointment “a reward for betrayal.”

    {{Battle to succeed Etienne Tshisekedi}}

    Congo’s new premier Tshibala was once a member of UDPS but he was expelled from the party following wrangling over who was best candidate to succeed UDPS leader Etienne Tshisekedi after his death in February. It is alleged that Tshibala did not support handing over the party’s mantle to Tshisekedi’s son Felix.

    Felix Tshisekedi was tipped to become the next prime minister but was overlooked by Kabila

    “Kabila appointing Bruno Tshibala is a deliberate attempt to divide the opposition,” Clark said. The problem for Kabila is that Tshibala is not a popular figure on the streets. “Most Congolese believe Felix Tshisekedi should have been nominated as prime minister.” Clark said Kabila’s decision to pick Tshibala over Felix is likely to further inflame the tensions in DRC.

    Exiled Congolese opposition politician Moise Katumbi has criticized Kabila’s appointment of Tshibala saying; it is a move by the 45-year-old leader to extend his rule. “Our patience has its limits,” Katumbi said. The former governor of Katanga Province who is also an influential businessman said the Congolese people had been subject to political repression for a very long time. “Enough is enough!”

    {{Violence flares amid political bickering}}

    Meanwhile violence continues to plague the Kasai province. At least 60 people were killed over the weekend in clashes involving government soldiers and the armed Kamwena Nsapu militia group in central DRC.

    According to local authorities, most of those killed were members of the Kamwena Nsapu. On April 6, Kabila declared the region a military zone and has vowed to crush the rebellion. The Kasai insurgency which spread to five other provinces has become one of Kabila’s biggest security challenges. The group opposes what it refers to as “unjust political domination” in the region.

    Hundreds have been killed in sporadic fighting and more than 200,000 have been forced to flee their homes.

    Source:AFP

  • S.Africa’s ex-leader Mbeki wades into Zuma no-confidence vote

    {South Africa’s ex-leader Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday waded into a no-confidence debate against President Jacob Zuma, urging lawmakers to set aside political affiliation during next week’s vote.}

    A parliamentary motion of no confidence in the president is due on April 18 following the controversial sacking of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan last month.

    Zuma has easily survived previous such votes against him, thanks to the majority the ruling African National Congress enjoys in parliament.

    But in an article that extensively quoted the country’s constitution, Mbeki said it is “obvious and logical” that lawmakers “must act in parliament as the voice of the people, not the voice of the political parties to which they belong.”

    “It may be that the current controversy has‚ at last, imposed on our country the opportunity and obligation the better to define the constitutional and moral relationship between the people and their elected representatives,” he said in an article published by The Star daily.
    Gordhan’s removal has triggered unprecedented criticism from ANC leaders, including Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa as well as the party’s chief whip, its treasurer and several ANC allies.

    But days later, after a party meeting, the ANC threw its weight behind Zuma and vowed to shoot down the no-confidence motion brought by the opposition.

    Mbeki, who succeeded Mandela as president in 1999, was himself recalled by the ANC in September 2008 before the end of his second term and Zuma took over.

    But Zuma’s presidency has been dogged by corruption scandals and has widened divisions in the party and heightened calls for his resignation.

    Tens of thousands of protesters marched through South African cities on Friday demanding Zuma step down.

    More anti-Zuma demonstrations are planned for Wednesday in the capital Pretoria.

    Zuma, who turns 75 on Wednesday, is due to step down as head of the ANC in December, and as president ahead of the 2019 general election.

    Source:Daily Monitor

  • Henrique Capriles banned from public office

    {Henrique Capriles rejects ruling that would prevent him from challenging President Nicolas Maduro in 2018 polls.}

    Venezuelan authorities have banned top opposition leader Henrique Capriles from running for office for 15 years, the latest move in an increasingly tense power struggle in the crisis-hit country.

    Capriles read from excerpts of the comptroller general’s order at a rally on Friday night in which he urged supporters to take to the streets, beginning with a previously scheduled demonstration on Saturday, to defend their political rights and demand the removal of President Nicolas Maduro.

    “When the dictatorship squeals it’s a sign we’re advancing,” he said in a speech surrounded by other leading opposition figures, many of whom themselves have been targeted. “The only one who is disqualified here is you, Nicolas Maduro.”

    The 44-year-old Capriles has been the most prominent leader of Venezuela’s opposition over the past decade, twice coming close to winning the presidency.

    He is currently governor of Miranda state, which surrounds Caracas.

    The ban deals a blow to the opposition after stepped-up protests this week and accusations that Maduro is tightening his grip on power and cracking down on dissent.

    Leaders in the ruling socialist party have accused Capriles in recent days of trying to provoke a bloodbath through his leadership of protests, many of which have ended in tear gas and rubber bullets.

    Violence erupted for a third straight day on Thursday, leaving one demonstrator dead.

    The ruling said the sanction was due to “administrative irregularities” by Capriles in his post as governor.

    Authorities have been investigating Capriles since the beginning of the year for what they say are a half dozen administrative irregularities, including taking suspicious donations from abroad.

    The move effectively bans Capriles from running against Maduro in a general election due next year.

    It is part of a broader government crackdown that began with a decision last week by the Supreme Court to gut the opposition-controlled congress of its last vestiges of power.

    The decision was later reversed amid widespread international condemnation.

    The comptroller’s office notification to Capriles said he had 15 working days to appeal the decision at that office or 180 days to ask for its annulment at the Supreme Court. Both are pro-government and unlikely to overturn the decision.

    Capriles lost narrowly in the 2013 election that brought Maduro to the presidency after the death of Maduro’s mentor Hugo Chavez.

    The collapse in prices for Venezuela’s crucial oil exports has sapped the country’s revenues, prompting shortages of food, medicine and basic goods along with a surge in violent crime.

    The opposition blames Maduro for the economic crisis. He says it is due to a capitalist conspiracy.
    The wave of protests has revived fears of broader unrest in Venezuela, where 43 people were killed during riots in 2014.

    The country has undergone three attempted military coups since 1992.

    Capriles branded the move part of what the opposition alleges is a 'coup' by Maduro

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • Gambia’s long-time opposition UDP wins absolute majority

    {The Gambia’s long-time opposition UDP has won an absolute majority in Thursday’s parliamentary elections.}

    Official results show the party took 31 of the 53 available seats in the country’s National Assembly.

    The vote was the first time Gambians had gone to the polls since President Yahya Jammeh stepped down in January after 22 years as head of state.

    President Adama Barrow was hoping for a majority to be able to bring in political and security reforms.

    He won December’s presidential election as the flag bearer for an opposition coalition including the UDP.

    The results were announced by chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission Alieu Momar Njai who said the turnout was 42%.

    Five more seats are appointed by the president meaning there is a total of 58 seats in the chamber.

    The parliamentary election was the first poll of the post-Jammeh era

    Source:BBC