IGIHE

Category: Rubrique

  • Guinea Ruling Party wins Parliamentary Polls

    Guinea Ruling Party wins Parliamentary Polls

    Guinea’s ruling party and its allies came have won the nation’s first parliamentary elections in a decade, taking 60 of the 114 seats in the national assembly, according to electoral commission results.

    The provisional results released late on Friday showed that Alpha Conde’s Rally of the Guinean People party obtained 53 seats and its small party allies seven in the elections held last month.

    The opposition UFDG party, led by Conde’s rival, Cellou Dalein Diallo, won 37 seats while former Prime Minister Sidya Toure’s UFR secured 10 seats. They have said they would not recognise the results.

    Smaller parties won the remaining seats.

    Conde became the country’s first democratically elected president in 2010 and the parliamentary election was due to complete the long-delayed transition back to civilian rule following a 2008 military coup.

    The results came nearly three weeks after voters cast ballots. Both sides have accused the other of using the delay to tamper with the vote.

    Ruling party spokesman Moustapha Naite said although it was relieved by the announcement of the results, the party has filed complaints with the Supreme Court over activities in some districts.

    UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, even before the results were announced, appealed on Friday for “all parties to maintain calm and resolve all differences by legal means”.

    International observers said on October 9 that there were serious flaws in the election which affected the credibility of the vote.

    “Breaches and irregularities were observed in a certain number of constituencies, preventing a significant number of votes from being taken into account,” they said in a joint statement.

    The observers included the region’s top UN envoy Said Djinnit as well as representatives from the European Union and west African bloc ECOWAS.

    Mr. Conde
    Source: {Agencies}

  • Maldives Presidential Poll Stopped by Police

    Maldives Presidential Poll Stopped by Police

    {{Maldives police have stopped a fresh presidential poll that was to be held on Saturday, the archipelago’s Election Commission said, despite a court ruling that the poll could go ahead.}}

    The Indian Ocean chain of tropical holiday islands has been in turmoil since February 2012 when former president Mohamed Nasheed, who won the Maldives’ first free elections in 2008, was ousted in disputed circumstances his supporters called a coup.

    The latest delay could see a rise in violence. Nasheed’s supporters have been demanding a free and fair election and have staged violent protests since he was ousted.

    Elections Commissioner Fuwad Thowfeek said police had surrounded the commission’s secretariat.

    “We cannot proceed with the election if police are obstructing it,” Thowfeek told a news conference. He said the commission was disappointed and frustrated and that police had “overstepped their authority”.

    Thowfeek also doubted the election could be held before the end of the current presidential term on November 11.

    Commission member Ali Mohamed Manik said: “This is a dark day for democracy”.

    Nasheed looked set to win a run-off vote on September 28, after he came first in a September 7 first round. The Supreme Court cancelled the run-off, citing first-round fraud, despite international observers saying the election was free and fair.

    The court later ordered a fresh election by October 20 and a run-off by Nov 3, if required.

    The Supreme Court upheld that decision in an early-morning ruling on Saturday after a request by the election commission.

    There was some confusion over whether the election could go ahead with or without candidates signing a new voter registry.

    The voter registry, which Nasheed’s party has signed, was not ready by Friday because of objections by some of his rivals.

    The police, who played a major role in ousting Nasheed, said they would not support an election held “in contravention of the Supreme Court verdict and guidelines”.

    Nasheed was forced to resign last year after mutinying police and military forces armed opposition demonstrators and gave him an ultimatum.

    In the latest election he faces resort tycoon Gasim Ibrahim, who was finance minister under Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled for 30 years and was considered a dictator by opponents and rights groups. The incumbent president, Mohamed Waheed, is not contesting the election.

    Critical issues the new president will face include a rise in Islamist ideology, human rights abuses and a lack of investor confidence after Waheed’s government cancelled the country’s biggest foreign investment project with India’s GMR Infrastructure.

    Nasheed, who once held a cabinet meeting under water, with members in scuba gear, to highlight the danger of rising sea levels, won the September 7 polls with 45.45 percent of the vote, short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a run-off.

    Tension has been high in recent weeks. Men in masks fire-bombed a television station that backs Nasheed on October 7.

    {agencies}

  • Gen. Kiir Tells UN Abyei Requires Global Approach

    Gen. Kiir Tells UN Abyei Requires Global Approach

    {{A honest global approach is required for Sudan and South Sudan to amicably resolve their impasse over the disputed region of Abyei, Salva Kiir has told the United Nations special envoy for two countries.}}

    The South Sudan leader, during Wednesday’s meeting with Haile Menkerios also expressed disappointments at the way the international community responded to calls for their immediate intervention on the Abyei issue.

    “The issue of Abyei remains a big challenge not only to our two countries, but also to the international community. We are committed on our side to the full resolution of the final status”, Kiir told the UN special envoy in the capital, Juba.

    There is also a need for an honest approach from the international community so that the conflict is resolved amicably at once, he stressed.

    At press briefing shortly after his meeting with President Kiir, Menkerios their discussions mainly focused on the progress so far made in the implementation of last year Cooperation Agreement, which both countries signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

    “I came to meet President Salva Kiir and members of his government on numbers of issues, especially the progress made in the implementation of the cooperation agreement and Abyei. It was a very good meeting. The president briefed about progress which have been made and his commitment to resolving the issue of Abyei”, said the UN special envoy.

    Resolving the issue of Abyei is very important because the local people in Abyei feel that results of the discussions do not get implemented, and are becoming more concerns, he added.

    Menkerios, however, commended the two countries for showing commitment to fully implement all agreement reached, but urged the two leaders to urgently reach a deal on Abyei referendum vote.

    {KIIR WRITES TO AU}

    The meeting between Kiir and the UN envoy comes barely a week after the South Sudan leader wrote to the African Union Commission (AUC), requesting the continental body to take complete responsibility over the impasse between the two countries.

    In a letter delivered by the country’s foreign minister, Kiir said he saw no possibility of reaching an understanding with Khartoum over the disputed oil-producing region anytime soon, even if discussions continued for 100 years.

    North and South Sudan fought over two decades of civil war, which only ended with the 2005 signing of a peace accord in Kenya.

    But under its protocol on Abyei, the people of the contested region should have conducted their referendum at the same time as the people of South Sudan, but it was postponed because of disagreements between the North and South Sudanese leaders.

    These differences mainly centred on the eligibility of votes. While the south-governing Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM) maintained that only the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms are eligible to vote as permanent residents of the area, the Khartoum-based National Congress Party (NCP) insisted that the Misseriya Arabs, who are temporary residents, should be allowed to take part in the vote.

    {sudantribune}

  • U.N. Voices Concern over Delay to Guinea Election Results

    U.N. Voices Concern over Delay to Guinea Election Results

    {{The United Nations and the international community on Sunday called upon Guinea’s electoral commission to publish results of a September 28 election aimed at completing a transition to democracy, saying it was concerned over the delay.}}

    Disputes over a published partial count have held up the final result and raised fears of a resurgence of violence that killed about 50 people before the vote.

    The opposition is calling for the election to be annulled, dampening hopes for an end to years of instability since a 2008 military coup that deterred investment in the world’s largest bauxite exporter.

    The United Nations and representatives of the international community including the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, the European Union and the International Organisation of the Francophonie, which brokered a deal with the opposition to end protests and allow the legislative vote, said they were concerned by delays in the publication of the results.

    Guinea’s “National Election Commission should make every effort to complete the tabulation of preliminary election results for publication in any event before Eid al-Adha,” the Muslim feast on Tuesday, said the statement issued by the United Nations and the other entities.

    It called upon political parties and the election commission to cooperate in publishing results from the Matoto district in the capital Conakry, one of the country’s biggest, which both sides claim to have won.

    Partial results from 37 of the country’s 38 electoral districts show President Alpha Conde’s ruling RPG party leads with 53 seats, opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo’s UFDG has 38 seats and former Prime Minister Sidya Toure’s UFR has 9.

    No party is expected to win an outright majority in the 114-seat parliament, and parties are expected to try to form coalitions after the results are known.

    Opposition groups, which have rejected the partial results, last week pulled their representatives out of the election’s organizing commission, calling for the vote to be annulled.

    reuters

  • Parliament Chamber of Deputies to Focus on Population Needs

    Parliament Chamber of Deputies to Focus on Population Needs

    {{Speaker of parliament chamber of deputies Donatile Mukabarisa({pictured above}) said during this 3rd session of parliament the officials would focus on working closely with the population seeking solutions to their problems and passing bills.}}

    She made the remark while officiating at the opening of the 3rd session of parliament chamber of deputies.

    After elections and swearing in of members of parliament, on Monday the chamber of deputies started work, which coincided with the the beginning of the 3rd legislature of parliament.

    The event comprised of stating the chambers agenda for the next two months. The Speaker of parliament chamber of deputies Donatile Mukabarisa said they would continue to work closely with the people offering them appropriate representation.

    She said they will do all possible to meet the populations needs since it is their duty in the parliament, offering them apporpritae repsentation, montiring government activities and fufiling the desires of the people.

    She also addressed the issue of bills that are passed and not apporved but rather amended, where she said they would continue to work with partners to pass more refined bills through thorough examination.

    The Rwandan constituion in article 77 states that the paliament will be in session every two months five times a year.

    source:RBA

  • Tunisia Reaches Deal on Power Transfer

    Tunisia Reaches Deal on Power Transfer

    {{Tunisia’s political rivals agreed Saturday on a timetable for the unpopular Islamist-led ruling coalition to stand down and be replaced by a government of independents, ending a festering political crisis.}}

    The Islamist Ennahda party and opposition groups in the country that gave birth to the Arab Spring signed a roadmap aimed at creating a new government within three weeks.

    Saturday’s deal, signed in the presence of politicians and media, was brokered to end a simmering two-month crisis sparked by the assassination in July of opposition MP Mohamed Brahmi.

    The document, drawn up by four mediators, foresees the nomination of an independent prime minister by the end of next week, who would then have two weeks to form a cabinet.

    The ceremony got under way after a delay of several hours that underscored the mutual distrust between the rival camps.

    “I want to thank you for joining this dialogue because you are opening the door of hope for Tunisians,” said Houcine Abassi, whose UGTT trade union confederation was the lead mediator behind the roadmap.

    Delegates at the Palais des Congres said the launch of the hard-won dialogue with a symbolic ceremony had earlier been jeopardised by a last-minute dispute.

    The UGTT said Ennahda had initially refused to formally sign the text that underlines the timetable of the national dialogue.

    It was not immediately clear how it was resolved, but Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi on Twitter blamed the almost four-hour delay on “last-minute blackmail” by the opposition.

    wirestory

  • Germany: Delicate coalition talks begin

    Germany: Delicate coalition talks begin

    {Chancellor Angela Merkel}

    Talks on forming a new German coalition between Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and their main leftist rivals are under way in Berlin.

    Her Christian Democrats (CDU) fell just short of an outright majority at last month’s polls, when their liberal partner won no seats at all.

    Seven leading figures from the CDU are meeting seven counterparts from the Social Democrats (SPD).

    The SPD is seen as their likeliest new partner despite sharp differences.

    Also present at the talks are seven members of Mrs Merkel’s Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union.

    Key issues are taxation and a proposed national minimum wage.

    If a grand coalition is forged by the two main parties, like the one Mrs Merkel led in 2005, it faces the twin tasks of rebalancing the eurozone’s biggest economy and winning the support of the German public to tackle the eurozone’s debt and banking problems.

    The SPD, which has not won an election since 2002, has said that any deal must be approved by its membership.

    Keeping its options open, Mrs Merkel’s party is also holding preliminary talks next week with the Greens.

    At the election on 22 September, the CDU took about 41.5% of the vote, the SPD won 26%, the Greens 8.4%, and the former communist Left Party 8.6%.

    The CDU’s previous coalition partner, the Free Democrats, narrowly failed to cross the 5% threshold for entering parliament.

    BBC

  • Iran’s Khamenei Says Part of Diplomatic Push in New York ‘Not Proper’

    Iran’s Khamenei Says Part of Diplomatic Push in New York ‘Not Proper’

    {{ Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday he supported moderate President Hassan Rouhani’s diplomatic initiative at the U.N. General Assembly last week but that some of what occurred there was “not proper”.}}

    In his first comments since Rouhani, committed to easing Iran’s international isolation, spoke by telephone with U.S. President Barack Obama, Khamenei also emphasized that he does not trust the United States as a negotiating partner.

    The phone call between Rouhani and Obama, the highest-level contact between the two deeply estranged countries since 1979, capped off a week of overtures by Rouhani and his foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to the West.

    The landslide election in June of Rouhani, a centrist cleric, has raised hopes of a negotiated settlement to Tehran’s long-running dispute with the West over its nuclear program – though it is Khamenei who will make the final decision on the contours of any deal.

    “We support the government’s diplomatic movements and place importance on diplomatic efforts, and support what was in this last trip,” Khamenei said in a speech, according to the ISNA news agency. “Of course, in our opinion some of what occurred in the New York trip was not proper.”

    He did not elaborate on that point, but added: “While we are optimistic about our government’s diplomatic staff, we are pessimistic about the Americans. The U.S. government is not trustworthy, is self-important, and breaks its promises.”

    reuters

  • Iran parliament Endorses President Rouhani’s Diplomatic Outreach

    Iran parliament Endorses President Rouhani’s Diplomatic Outreach

    {{Iran’s parliament, dominated by conservatives, strongly endorsed President Hassan Rouhani’s diplomatic bid to break down mistrust at the United Nations in New York last week, which ended with an historic phone call with President Barack Obama, Iranian media said.}}

    The backing from the assembly, controlled by political factions deeply loyal to Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a further sign that Rouhani has the backing of the Iranian establishment.

    Khamenei, the most powerful figure in Iran, has yet to publicly comment on Rouhani’s trip.

    In the first joint meeting between president and parliament, Rouhani briefed parliamentarians on his trip to New York, including discussions on Iran’s nuclear dispute with the West and regional relations, the student news agency ISNA said late on Tuesday.

    Two hundred and thirty parliamentarians, out of the total of 290, signed a statement expressing their support of Rouhani for presenting the image of a “powerful and peace-seeking Iran which seeks talks and interaction for the settlement of regional and international issues,” Fars news agency said.

    {reuters}

  • Second Round Likely in Madagascar Election

    Second Round Likely in Madagascar Election

    {{Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina, barred from running in upcoming elections, on Monday said the presidential race was likely to be decided by a second round of voting.}}

    “Experience has shown… there will be a second round” after the October 25 vote, meant to end a four-year political crisis, he said in an interview with foreign media.

    He ruled out a return of his rival, ex-president Marc Ravalomanana whom he overthrew in 2009, but he did not dismiss a possible future turn as prime minister for himself.

    “It is not yet on the agenda, we will try to see the election outcome, how the situation evolves,” he said before adding: “I do not exclude it either”.

    After the October presidential poll, a parliamentary vote will follow on December 20, along with a second presidential round if there is no outright winner.

    The former mayor of Antananarivo declined to say which of the 33 candidates he supported.

    He assured he had “no regrets” after having been forced under international pressure to pull out of the polls, along with former head of state Didier Ratsiraka and former first lady Lalao Ravalomanana.

    Exiled in South Africa since the coup in 2009, Mr Ravalomanana has tried several times to return to the island.

    Mr Rajoelina said it would be wise to “let the people choose and then we’ll see how things will develop”.

    An electoral court last month disqualified the three controversial candidates from the election race after the trio refused to withdraw.

    Their candidacies, which did not meet electoral rules, had been widely condemned.

    NMG