Category: Rubrique

U.N. Chief Urges Libya to Hold June 25 Elections as Planned

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday urged Libya to stick to its plan to hold parliamentary elections on June 25 and defended the United Nations’ goal of organizing a meeting to promote reconciliation among the North African country’s competing factions.

“The secretary-general continues to follow closely the situation in Libya and stresses the importance of the peaceful and timely holding of elections on 25 June,” U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters.

“He also commends UNSMIL’s (U.N. Support Mission in Libya) work in the areas of good offices and facilitation of dialogue, which it carries out with impartiality and openness to all national parties concerned,” he added.

Libya has been in a state of near constant turmoil for three years with successive prime ministers struggling for legitimacy, various armed groups paralyzing governance and a loss of vital oil export revenue due to a port blockade by armed rebels.

The U.N. announcement to convene a “dialogue” meeting in Libya was met with criticism from the Tripoli government, which complained that the world body failed to consult with Libyan partners before announcing it.

The dialogue refers to an UNSMIL announcement on Wednesday that it would hold a “dialogue meeting among representatives of Libyan political forces and stakeholders to reach a national agreement, irrespective of their differences and divisions.”

In response to Libyan demonstrations against the United Nations, Libyan government spokesman Ahmed Lamin urged Libyans not to resort to violence against UNSMIL and U.N. special envoy Tarek Mitri.

“We are against any attacks against the U.N. mission,” Lamin said. “We respect the role the U.N. mission has played since Libya’s independence even if we have differences. Any opposition should be peaceful.”

Two years ago, there was an unsuccessful assassination attempt against then U.N. special envoy Ian Martin.

wirestory

June 13, 2014
Sudanese Politician Arrested For Undermining Regime

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June 9, 2014
Raila Odinga Warns Uhuru of Showdown

In Kenya’s Politics, a showdown is looming between the Jubilee coalition and the opposition after an MP allied to Jubilee issued an ultimatum to the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy leader Raila Odinga to substantiate on recent remarks where he warned President Uhuru Kenyatta of a ‘storm’ if he ignores talks with the opposition.

Thika MP Alice Ng’ang’a has now given the former Prime Minister seven days to tell the nation of what he meant by a ‘political storm’ saying that was tantamount to issuing threats and incitement which she said the government will not take lying down.

Ng’a ng’a said the Jubilee lawmakers will not sit and watch as the opposition go around the country peddling lies and making remarks that border on incitement and malice.

While speaking in Eastleigh on Thursday, Raila cautioned Uhuru of a ‘political storm’ should the Jubilee government continue to maintain a hardline stance against the national dialogue his team is seeking.

“I urge Mr. Raila Odinga to tell the country what he knows and what they are planning to do if the dialogue they are seeking for doesn’t happen. If the opposition has an issue that they want to dialogue on let them use the constitutionally enabled structures,” the MP said.

The lawmaker who spoke in Thika during the disbursement of bursaries to more than 1200 college and university students urged the opposition to stop using their public rallies to make alarming statements that may incite the youth.

“The opposition should know the country is no longer in campaigns since the elections are over. Let them give the government a chance to deliver on its manifesto.

They should wait for 2017 when another chance will be provided to the Kenyan people to make a choice,” said Ng’ang’a who is against the talks. Ng’ang’a alleged the aim of the opposition is to make the country ungovernable with a view of making it hard for the government to deliver on its promises.

She instead told the opposition to be in the forefront in offering solutions to myriad of challenges facing the country instead of always being critical of the government without putting any solutions on the table.

“They just want to create un-condusive environment for the governing of the country in order to discredit the government before the people that it has failed.

The people of Kenya should say no to their mission,” she said. She said the Jubilee coalition also has followers who they can call to the streets but said that is not the way to go as responsible leaders.

The law maker urged President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Inspector General of Police not to allow any more rallies by the opposition claiming their mission is just to incite the people with the aim of creating a revolution similar to the Arab spring.

June 7, 2014
Ukraine’s Poroshenko Sworn in as President

Petro Poroshenko took the oath on Saturday as Ukraine’s president, buoyed by Western support but facing an immediate crisis in relations with Russia as a separatist uprising seethes in the east of his country.

“I pledge with all my strength to protect the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” the 48-year old confectionery billionaire said at his swearing-in ceremony before parliament.

Poroshenko was elected on May 25, three months after his pro-Moscow predecessor Viktor Yanukovich was toppled by street protests and fled to Russia. Within weeks, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, provoking the deepest crisis in relations with the West since the Cold War.

Since Poroshenko’s election, government forces have begun an intensified campaign against separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine who want to split with Kiev and become part of Russia.

The rebels have fought back, turning parts of the east into a war zone. On Friday they shot down a Ukrainian army plane and killed a member of the interior ministry’s special forces in the separatist stronghold of Slaviansk, where residents said shelling continued all day.

On the eve of his inauguration, Poroshenko held a brief meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in France, where both were attending World War Two commemorations.

French officials said the two shook hands and agreed that detailed talks on a ceasefire between Kiev government forces and the pro-Russian separatists would begin within a few days.

June 7, 2014
Putin Meets Ukraine’s New Leader

Russian President Vladimir Putin has met Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko for the first time since his election, at a D-Day event in France.

French officials said the two leaders, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, agreed to discuss a ceasefire.

The meeting came as fighting continued in east Ukraine, with government forces reportedly launching a tank attack near the rebel stronghold of Sloviansk.

Mr Putin denies involvement despite Russians fighting with the rebels.

The Ukrainian authorities have announced an “active phase” of what they call an anti-terrorist operation in and around Sloviansk, which was seized by pro-Russian militants several weeks ago.

Reporters near the town on Thursday, say it was clear Ukrainian forces had encircled it and moved in a lot of weaponry.

Separately, Ukrainian media reported that one member of the security forces had been killed and several wounded in a mortar attack outside the city.

Mrs Merkel, Mr Poroshenko and Mr Putin are said to have chatted for 15 minutes

agencies

June 6, 2014
Syria Votes in Contentious Election

Syria is holding a presidential election in government-held areas, amid heightened security.

President Bashar al-Assad is widely expected to win a third seven-year term in office.

However, critics of the Syrian government have denounced the election as a farce.

Syria is three years into a civil war in which tens of thousands of people have died and millions more have been displaced.

Analysts say Syrian officials have gone to great lengths to present the vote as a way to resolve the crisis.

This is the first time in decades that more than one name – just a member of the Assad family – has appeared on the ballot paper.

The interior ministry says there are 15.8 million eligible voters, both inside and outside Syria, and about 9,600 polling stations have been set up around the country.

In the Syrian capital, Damascus, people had to make their way through multiple checkpoints to cast their ballots.

For thousands, this was a chance to pledge their allegiance to the president. Some have reportedly refused to go behind the curtain to cast their vote in privacy, instead publicly declaring their backing for Mr Assad.

Odai al-Jamounai, 18, told the Associated Press that he had used a pin to prick his finger and vote in blood, “to express by my love to my country and my leader.”

In the coastal town of Latakia, a stronghold of Mr Assad, Zein Ahmed told the BBC he would be voting for the president because “no-one can lead this period better than him. We believe in him.”

June 3, 2014
New Malawi Leader Promises Economic Stability

Malawi President Peter Mutharika said on Monday economic stability and national unity would be the focus of his government as he became the fifth leader of the southern African state following a disputed election.

Mutharika, declared the winner of the May 20 election last week, said his administration would target annual economic growth of 7 percent and promised a lean cabinet of 20, including deputy ministers – half the size of previous governments.

“We are determined to change the direction of the economy. This is why …I chose a running mate outside of political ranks,” Mutharika said in his inauguration speech.

The new vice president, Saulos Chilima, is an economist and former Managing Director of telecommunications firm Airtel, a local unit of Bharti Airtel.

Mutharika, a former law professor, also sought to mend fences with his predecessor Joyce Banda, who at one point disputed the validity of the vote and demanded a re-run. Banda did not attend Mutharika’s inauguration in the commercial capital, Blantyre.

“I look forward to shaking hands with her to bury the past. I come to her with an olive branch. Don’t let it drop,” Mutharika said.

The poll, which was plagued by logistical problems and followed by sporadic protests, was declared generally “free, peaceful and credible” by a Southern African Development Community observer mission.

Mutharika, 74, is the brother of president Bingu wa Mutharika, who died in office in April 2012.

Banda took over after his death and tried to rebuild an economy hammered by fuel and dollar shortages, but prices have soared since she devalued the kwacha currency on the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

wirestory

June 3, 2014
Anti Third Term Protests Grip Burkina Faso Capital

Tens of thousands of people packed into a stadium in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou on Saturday to voice their opposition to a referendum that would lift presidential term limits and allow the country’s leader to seek re-election next year.

The rally in the 45,000-seat Stade du 4 Aout was a response to a demonstration last month by President Blaise Compaore’s supporters who backed the referendum.

“We don’t want unlimited presidential mandates because Burkina Faso is not a kingdom where one dies in power,” opposition leader Zephirin Diabre told the crowd. “It is a republic where men move on and the institutions remain.”

Compaore, who has held power since leading a coup in 1987, has positioned himself as a power broker in West Africa and a key ally of France and the United States in the fight against al Qaeda-linked Islamists in the Sahara-Sahel band.

While he has not yet formally announced his plans, last month’s rally was the clearest indication yet that he wishes to change the constitution.

The referendum would ask voters to approve changes to Article 37 of the constitution, which was drafted in 2000 and limits presidents to two terms. Compaore secured his second five-year mandate in 2010.

“We must dissuade President Blaise Compaore and his supporters from organising the referendum. But if they persist, we will move into another phase,” said Diabre, who heads a grouping of 36 opposition parties.

“We will use all means allowed under the law to make them fail miserably,” he said.

June 1, 2014
Raila Odinga Wants Electoral Body Disbanded

Kenya’s Oppistion leader Raila Odinga has demanded for national dialogue on insecurity and corruption in 60 days and called for disbandment of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ( IEBC).

Addressing a mammoth crowd at Uhuru Park, who had gathered to welcome him back after three months in the US, Raila said he will hold rallies countrywide.

The places he will tour are: Nakuru, Kisumu, Kakamega, Garissa, Mombasa, Machakos, Nyeri, Bungoma, Kitale and Eldoret.

The former Prime Minister also said peace and country’s economy must be restored and promised to keep Jubilee Government on toes. “I want to see peace returns in our country and IEBC must go home”, Raila said.

He added that prices of basic items like food, fare and rent must be reduced. See also: Raila arrives at Uhuru Park grounds The pary leader further said CORD must remain united adding that Muslims and Christians in Mombasa must live harmonioulsy.

Earlier, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula also addressed the rally and criticised IEBC on the ongoing voter registration. CORD Co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka told the rally the issues of insecurity must be dealt with and called for a national dialogue on July 7.

Attemps by Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero to address the rally failed after the huge crowd rejected him despite Kalonzo’s plea to let him speak.

May 31, 2014
S. Sudanese Army General Defects to Rebels

A senior army general in the South Sudan army (SPLA) from the dominant Dinka ethnic group has declared switching his allegiance to the rebel group led by the former vice president, Riek Machar.

The commander of the SPLA division 6, General Dau Aturjong, on Friday declared his defection to the opposition forces in a press conference he addressed in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi on Friday.

“I have decided to take up arms in order to liberate my people from Salva Kiir’s regime. I have declared today to join the SPLM/A under the leadership of Dr. Riek Machar Teny,” he announced.

Gen Aturjong, a member of the South Sudan’s largest community, the Dinka, hails from Northern Bahr el Ghazal state which has the biggest population of the community.

In 2010 he contested for the gubernatorial seat to lead the state as an independent candidate and accused the SPLM-backed former governor, Gen Paul Malong Awan, of rigging the votes.

Awan, a close ally to president Kiir who allegedly played role in organising the massacre of thousands of members of the Nuer community in Juba in mid-December, was recently appointed as the new chief of general staff in the army.

However, Aturjong who is Awan’s arch rival and influential figure in the state, has urged the Aweil community of Northern Bahr el Ghazal to withdraw their support from president Kiir, accusing him of dictatorship and mass killing of the people of South Sudan.

“Salva Kiir and his minority clique in Juba fabricated lies of an alleged coup and killed innocent Nuer civilians in Juba resulting to the crisis. I urge the people of Aweil community not to support him or fight for him,” he further appealed.

The notorious general was accompanied by a number of former members of parliament from his home state as well as leaders of Aweil community residing in Kenya who also confirmed their defection to the SPLM/A in opposition along with Aturjong.

“I want to tell the Dinka community that the war is a [national] resistance, not tribal,” he added, vowing to fight militarily to remove president Kiir from power, arguing that “war is an alternative mechanism to bring peace.”

The declaration came days after the chief rebel leader, Riek Machar, arrived in the Kenyan capital and met with president Uhuru Kenyatta.

President Kiir was also on an abrupt visit to Nairobi at the time of the announcement.

sudantribune

May 31, 2014