IGIHE

Category: Rubrique

  • Senegal Prime Minister Sacked After Losing Election

    Senegal Prime Minister Sacked After Losing Election

    Senegalese President Macky Sall sacked Prime Minister Aminata Toure on Friday after she failed to win a seat at local elections on Sunday, a presidential source said.

    Toure, who had held the post since September, was attempting to defeat the popular Socialist mayor of the capital, Khalifa Sall, in Dakar’s constituency of Grand Yoff. The mayor is no blood relation of the president.

    The government performed badly in big cities at the elections in a sign of public discontent over the policies of Sall, who came to power two years ago.

    “She was sacked. She is no longer the prime minister,” a source close to the presidency told Reporters.

    Her departure from government opens the way for Sall to speed up his reform process and attempt to create more jobs ahead of elections set for 2017.

    Many voters say his policies aimed at tackling corruption and improving governance have failed to provide jobs and economic growth in the former French colony of 13 million people.

  • South Sudan Army General Rejects Separate Peace Talks

    South Sudan Army General Rejects Separate Peace Talks

    A South Sudanese army general who switched allegiance and joined rebel forces under the leadership of the former vice-president Riek Machar said he had rejected separate peace talks with the government.

    General Dau Aturjong Nyuol announced that he was defecting last month, calling on the South Sudanese people to join the fight to remove president Salva Kiir from power on the grounds that he had failed to properly manage the affairs of the country.

    “They (the government) have continued to approach me for separate peace talks, using people they think would convince me,” Nyuol told Sudan Tribune in an exclusive interview on Sunday.

    “They do not only want to localise the grievances for which I decided to resume [an] armed struggle, but it is a clear demonstration that they want to divide our leadership … So I rejected it and asked them to go to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that is where peace talks are [being] held,” he added.

    Nyuol claimed the Kiir-led government was on the verge of collapse, saying the national army (SPLA) was in disarray.

    “Until we decided to resume [an] armed struggle, our people were made to believe that certain people are untouchable … They (the government) made our people believe certain people are the problem of the country and the failure of the leadership,” he said.

    sudantribune

  • South Sudanese Peace Talks Adjourn Over Inclusivity Crisis

    South Sudanese Peace Talks Adjourn Over Inclusivity Crisis

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  • Brazil’s President Picked by Party for Tough October Election

    Brazil’s President Picked by Party for Tough October Election

    Brazil’s ruling Workers’ Party formally nominated President Dilma Rousseff on Saturday to run for re-election in October in what is shaping up to be its toughest race since winning power in 2002.

    Rousseff’s popularity is falling because of Brazil’s high cost of living and slowing economy, and she was jeered at the opening game of the soccer World Cup last week.

    Rousseff survived massive protests last year by Brazilians demanding better health, education and public transport services instead of the costly stadiums built for the World Cup.

    She is still favored to win re-election in a second-round runoff, though her lead has narrowed in recent months, according to opinion polls.

    “We face a challenge because the quality of life has improved in Brazil and when that happens in a country, its people demand more and improved quality,” Rousseff said in a speech to a cheering party convention.

    The Workers’ Party plans to campaign on the gains in social welfare and income distribution made by Brazil in the last decade. Under its rule, 35 million people have climbed out of poverty.

    Rousseff’s main challenger, Aecio Neves of the centrist Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB) party and a former governor of Brazil’s second-richest state, is running on a more business-friendly platform aimed at restoring investment and growth to Brazil’s once-booming economy.

    Brazil’s stock market has risen in recent months on investor hopes that Neves could defeat Rousseff.

    “It will be a very difficult election, but, wait, the game has not even kicked off yet,” said party founder and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

    Lula lambasted affluent Brazilians for wanting to cut back social programs and run Brazil for the benefit of the richest one-third.

    He also blamed them for the obscene chants directed at Rousseff at the World Cup stadium in Sao Paulo.

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    wirestory

  • South Sudan’s Kiir Draws “Red Line” for Interim Govt

    South Sudan’s Kiir Draws “Red Line” for Interim Govt

    In a very strongly-worded speech to the parliament in Juba on Thursday, South Sudanese president Salva Kiir said any interim government without him or the elected national assembly is “a red line.”

    Kiir accused unnamed countries of intending to “dismantle” his county and the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

    “They intend to constitute a transitional government without me as the elected President. They want to bring somebody of their choice to be the president of that transitional government.

    That is a red line,” said Kiir, attracting a standing ovation from the lawmakers who interrupted his speech with songs saying “we shall never.”

    “The whole intention is to dismantle the SPLM which they believe has become a very stronger monster in South Sudan,” he added amidst applause.

    Different sources say western countries including the USA were pushing for the designation of the former SPLM secretary general Pagan Amum as interim president to implement constitutional and political reforms.

    Kiir’s remarks are the first public signal of his frustration from these speculations.

    The mediation was keen to invite a group of SPLM political leading members including Amum who are opposed to Kiir’s “failed government” and the “doomed armed rebellion” led by Riek Machar.

    sudantribune

  • Sudan’s NUP Set New Conditions For Resuming National Dialogue

    Sudan’s NUP Set New Conditions For Resuming National Dialogue

    Sudan’s opposition National Umma Party (NUP) has suggested that it intends to set new conditions in order to resume participation in the national dialogue stressing that this process cannot start from the point where it stopped prior to the arrest of its leader al-Sadiq al-Mahdi.

    The NUP suspended participation in the dialogue last month to protest al-Mahdi’s arrest and what it said was a government crackdown on political and media liberties.

    Al-Mahdi was arrested on May 17th for criticizing alleged crimes and atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Force (RSF) government militia in conflict zones.

    He was released on Sunday and the state media said the move was done after al-Mahdi’s lawyers appealed to the justice minister Mohamed Bushara Dousa to use his powers under article (58) of Sudan’s penal code which allows him to stop criminal proceedings against any suspect at any point before being sentenced by a court.

    It carried a statement by NUP Central Commission stating that they support the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and said that what al-Mahdi mentioned regarding RSF is derived from complaints and claims “that are not necessarily all true”.

    However, several NUP leaders including Meriam al-Mahdi denied offering an apology, describing the statement attributed to the NUP Central Commission as “fake”. However the opposition party has yet to formally deny its authenticity.

    The NUP said in a statement on Wednesday that its call for national dialogue was driven by strategic and circumstantial reasons relating to the dangers facing the country, adding that it joined the government’s initiative for dialogue with great enthusiasm and urged all political parties to join as well.

    “Following this bitter experience [of arresting al-Mahdi] things cannot begin where it stopped and a genuine review for the reasons behind the failure of the government’s call for dialogue must be conducted in order to determine who is responsible for that failure”, the statement reads.

    The NUP emphasized in the statement that it does not react impulsively but has a strategic view which is based on the national interest of the country, reiterating commitment to establishing a new regime without resorting to violence or seeking foreign support.

    The NUP further mentioned that the new regime will be established through direct contact with all Sudanese parties inside the country and abroad in order to achieve national objectives including full democratic transition and comprehensive and just peace.

    The statement thanked all those who supported al-Mahdi during his prison time, saying they are confident the Sudanese people and political parties would facilitate the NUP mission of reaching a unified national position to achieve the country’s national interests.

    sudantribune

  • Egypt Swears in New Government

    Egypt Swears in New Government

    Egypt’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb was sworn in on Tuesday at the head of a new government that retained key economic and security ministers but created a new investment post to attract funds to an economy racked by years of political turmoil.

    Mehleb, followed by his ministers, took the oath of office in front of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who re-appointed him after Sisi won a landslide election victory in May.

    Trying to project a sense of urgency and purpose in the new government’s mission, the early-rising former military president had summoned the ministers to a palace in northern Cairo at 6 a.m. for a ceremony that began promptly, an hour later.

    His prime minister echoed the need to move quickly, promising an energetic, focused and better coordinated regime.

    “There is no time for rest,” Mehleb was quoted as saying on the front page of the state’s Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.

    “We will start our work from the early hours of the morning as there is a strict plan and new technique of work to tie all the ministers to work together and not work as if they were isolated islands,” he added.

    Egypt’s economy is forecast to grow at just 3.2 percent in the fiscal year that begins on July 1, well below levels needed to create sufficient jobs for a rapidly growing population of 86 million and to ease widening poverty.

    The turmoil of the last three years, when two presidents were overthrown, hundreds of people were killed and tourism and investment were battered, have contributed to high unemployment and a widening budget deficit.

    wirestory

  • S. Sudan VP Says Opposition Be Excluded From Interim Govt

    S. Sudan VP Says Opposition Be Excluded From Interim Govt

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  • Colombia’s Rebels Told It’s Time For Peace

    Colombia’s Rebels Told It’s Time For Peace

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  • Thousands Join Opposition Protest in Niger Capital

    Thousands Join Opposition Protest in Niger Capital

    Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets on Sunday in Niger’s capital Niamey to demand that authorities respect civil liberties, following the arrest of several of their number last month.

    Demonstrators carried signs reading ‘Down with Dictatorship’ in criticism of the government of President Mahamadou Issoufou, elected in 2011 following a democratic transition after a military coup the previous year.

    Organisers said some 15,000 to 20,000 people took part in the march, in the centre of the dusty riverside capital. Police put the figure at 3,500.

    Political tensions have risen sharply in the former French colony ahead of elections next year.

    Issoufou split acrimoniously with his ally Amadou Hama, the parliamentary speaker, in August and last month some 40 members of the opposition were arrested for alleged involvement in attacking the ruling party’s headquarters and the home of a legislator.

    After questioning by a judge, all but six of them were released.

    “There will not be any dismantling of our political parties nor underhand manoeuvres, nor threats and intimidation,” Hama told the crowd. “The government in power will not break our unity.”

    The rally came after authorities had forbidden at least two planned protests in recent weeks by the Alliance for the Republic, Democracy and Reconciliation in Niger (ARDR), a coalition of 15 opposition parties formed in October. The opposition is calling for the release of its six members from prison.

    Niger, with a fast-growing population of 17 million people, remains one of the poorest countries in Africa despite being the world’s fourth largest producer of uranium and having started pumping oil in 2011.

    Crude output was running at around 16,500 barrels a day, the IMF said in September, but is expected to climb ahead of the start of exports in 2016.

    Issoufou’s government recently concluded a long-delayed renegotiation of a mining contract with French state-owned nuclear firm Areva, increasing the maximum royalty tax rate payable from 5 percent to 12 percent, depending on profitability.

    agencies