Politics

24, October 2022

UK: Rishi Sunak chosen to replace Liz Truss as prime minister ⁰

Rishi Sunak has won the race to be leader of the Conservative Party and will become Britain’s next prime minister — the third this year.

The former Treasury chief will be Britain’s first leader of colour, and faces the task of stabilising the party and country at a time of economic and political turbulence.

His only rival, Penny Mordaunt, conceded and withdrew on Monday.

As leader of the governing party, he will take over as prime minister from Liz Truss, who quit last week after 45 tumultuous days in office.

Source: AP

24, October 2022

Sunak favourite to be UK PM after Johnson drops out ⁰

Rishi Sunak looked set to become Britain’s next prime minister after Boris Johnson withdrew from the contest on Sunday, saying that although he had enough support to make the final ballot he realised the country and the Conservative Party needed unity.

Johnson had raced home from a holiday in the Caribbean to try and secure the backing of 100 lawmakers to enter Monday’s contest to replace Liz Truss, the woman who succeeded him in September after he was forced to quit over a string of scandals.

He said he had secured the backing of 102 lawmakers and could have been “back in Downing Street”, but that he had failed to persuade either Sunak, or the other contender Penny Mordaunt, to come together “in the national interest”.

“I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time,” Johnson said late on Sunday.

The former prime minister had secured the public backing of just under 60 Conservative lawmakers by Sunday, well under half of the nearly 150 endorsements Sunak had received.

Sterling rose more than half a cent against the dollar in early trading in Asia.

Johnson’s statement likely paves the way for his arch rival, the 42-year-old former finance minister Sunak, to become prime minister, possibly as soon as Monday.

If confirmed, he would replace Truss who was forced to resign after she launched an economic programme that triggered turmoil on financial markets.

According to the rules, if only one candidate secures the backing of 100 Conservative lawmakers, they will be named prime minister on Monday.

If two candidates pass the threshold, they will go forward to a vote of the party membership, with the winner announced on Friday, just days before new finance minister Jeremy Hunt lays bare the state of the country’s finances in a budget plan due to be released on Oct. 31.

That had raised concerns that Johnson would return to Downing Street with the backing of the party members, and not a majority of lawmakers in parliament, leaving the party badly divided. Hunt declared his backing for Sunak late on Sunday.

Some Johnson supporters could switch to Mordaunt, who announced on Monday she had more than 90 nominations, who has presented herself as the unity candidate, but many immediately switched to Sunak.

Torn itself apart

Johnson has loomed large over British politics ever since he became mayor of London in 2008 and went on to become the face of the Brexit vote in 2016. While he led the Conservative Party to a landslide election in 2019, he was forced out just three years later by a rebellion of his ministers.

Sunak said he hoped Johnson would continue to contribute to public life “at home and abroad”.

One Sunak supporter, who asked not to be named, said his main reaction was relief because if Johnson had won the “party would have torn itself apart”.

Another Conservative lawmaker Lucy Allan said on Twitter: “I backed Boris for PM, but I think he has done the right thing for the country.”

Other Johnson backers immediately jumped ship.

Cabinet office minister Nadhim Zahawi, who minutes earlier had published an article on the Daily Telegraph website praising Johnson, said “a day is a long time in politics”.

“Rishi is immensely talented, will command a strong majority in the parliamentary Conservative Party, and will have my full support and loyalty,” he said.

Earlier, many of the Conservative lawmakers who normally back Johnson switched their support to Sunak, saying the country needed a period of stability after months of turmoil that has sparked headlines – and raised alarm – around the world.

Johnson is also still facing a privileges committee investigation into whether he misled parliament over Downing Street parties during Covid-19 lockdowns. He could be forced to resign or be suspended from office if found guilty.

Sunak first came to national attention when, aged 39, he became finance minister under Johnson just as the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in Britain, developing a furlough scheme to support millions of people through multiple lockdowns.

“I served as your chancellor, helping to steer our economy through the toughest of times,” Sunak said in a statement on Sunday. “The challenges we face now are even greater. But the opportunities – if we make the right choice – are phenomenal.”

If chosen, Sunak would be the first prime minister of Indian origin in the United Kingdom.

His family migrated to Britain in the 1960s, a period when many people from Britain’s former colonies arrived to help rebuild the country after the Second World War.

After graduating from Oxford University, he later went to Stanford University where he met his wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire N. R. Narayana Murthy, founder of outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd.

Source: FRANCE 24 with REUTERS

23, October 2022

China: Xi Jinping secures historic third term as leader ⁰

Xi Jinping secured a historic third term as China’s leader on Sunday and promoted some of his closest Communist Party allies, cementing his position as the nation’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.

The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party elected Xi as its general secretary for another five-year term, Xinhua reported, tilting the country decisively back towards one-man rule after decades of power-sharing among its elite.

“I wish to thank the whole party sincerely for the trust you have placed in us,” Xi told journalists at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People after the closed-door vote was announced.

He promised to “work diligently in the performance of our duties to prove worthy of the great trust of our party and our people.”

Xi was also reappointed head of China’s Central Military Commission.

The 69-year-old is now all but certain to sail through to a third term as China’s president, due to be formally announced during the government’s annual legislative sessions in March.

His anointment came after a week-long Congress of 2,300 hand-picked party delegates during which they endorsed Xi’s “core position” in the leadership and approved a sweeping reshuffle that saw former rivals step down.

The 20th Congress elected the new Central Committee of around 200 senior party officials, who then gathered on Sunday to elect Xi and the other members of Standing Committee — the apex of Chinese political power.

Some of Xi’s closest allies were announced in the seven-man committee.

Former Shanghai party chief Li Qiang, a confidante of Xi’s, was promoted to number two, making him likely to be named premier at the government’s annual legislative sessions next March.

Since becoming the country’s leader a decade ago, Xi has achieved a concentration of power like no modern Chinese ruler other than Mao.

He abolished the presidential two-term limit in 2018, paving the way for him to govern indefinitely.

Xi has also overseen China’s rise as the world’s second-biggest economy, a huge military expansion and a far more aggressive global posture that has drawn strong opposition from the United States.

Despite nearly unchecked power, Xi faces huge challenges over the next five years, including managing the nation’s debt-ridden economy and the growing US rivalry.

Contemporary China

Sunday’s vote brought to an end a triumphant week at which China’s top brass hailed their leadership of the country over the last five years.

In his opening speech to its 20th Congress last Sunday, Xi lauded the party’s achievements while glossing over domestic problems such as the stalling economy and the damage inflicted by his harsh zero-Covid policy.

Heavy on ideological rhetoric and light on policy, a defiant Xi also urged party members to steel themselves against numerous challenges including a hardening geopolitical climate.

Analysts had closely watched for whether the party charter would be amended to enshrine “Xi Jinping Thought” as a guiding philosophy, a move that would put Xi on a par with Mao.

That did not take place, though a resolution did call the creed “the Marxism of contemporary China and of the 21st century”, adding that it “embodies the best Chinese culture and ethos of this era”.

Hu led away

In an unexpected move that punctured the proceedings at Saturday’s Congress closing ceremony, former leader Hu Jintao was led out of the hall.

The frail-looking 79-year-old seemed reluctant to leave the front row where he was sitting next to Xi.

State media reported late Saturday that Hu had insisted on attending the session despite being unwell.

“When he was not feeling well during the session, his staff, for his health, accompanied him to a room next to the meeting venue for a rest. Now, he is much better,” Xinhua said on Twitter, a social media platform that is blocked in China.

Source: AFP

20, October 2022

British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after six weeks in office ⁰

British Prime Minister Liz Truss quit on Thursday — bowing to the inevitable after a tumultuous term in which her policies triggered turmoil in financial markets and a rebellion in her party that obliterated her authority.

Making a hastily scheduled statement outside her 10 Downing Street office, Truss acknowledged that “I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”

She is the third Conservative prime minister to resign in as many years and leaves a divided party seeking a leader who can unify its warring factions. Truss, who said she will remain in office until a replacement is chosen, has been prime minister for just six weeks.

Bitterly divided Conservative Party lawmakers have just a few days to agree on a successor, or face another leadership contest. Potential contenders include former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, who lost to Truss in the last leadership contest, House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace — and Boris Johnson, the former prime minister ousted in July over a series of ethics scandals.

Whoever succeeds Truss will be the country’s third prime minister this year alone. A national election doesn’t have to be held until 2024, but opposition parties demanded one be held now, saying the government lacks democratic legitimacy.

Source: France 24

19, October 2022

Brazil challenger Lula says Neymar supports Bolsonaro over debt woes ⁰

Brazilian presidential candidate Lula da Silva criticised football star Neymar’s support of far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, accusing the player of being motivated by a debt “pardon”.

Last month, Neymar endorsed hardline conservative Bolsonaro as he fights to win reelection in his October 30 runoff battle against leftist ex-leader Lula.

“Neymar has the right to choose whoever he wants to be president. I think he is afraid that if I win the election I will find out what Bolsonaro pardoned from his income tax debt,” Lula said in a YouTube interview on Tuesday.

“I think that’s why he’s afraid of me,” Lula added, laughing, when asked about Neymar’s support for the president.

Expectations of a close contest have pushed both sides to intensify their attacks before the runoff, with Lula the frontrunner after the first-round election on October 2.

“Obviously, Bolsonaro made a deal with (Neymar’s) father. He now has an income tax problem in Spain,” Lula said, alluding to a favorable ruling the player obtained in a tax evasion trial in Brazil, as well as the charges he faces in Barcelona for alleged irregularities in his 2013 club transfer.

Lula added that it was ultimately a problem for the country’s tax collection agency, and not him.

This week, Lula secured the backing of another football legend.

Former Brazilian player and Paris Saint-Germain star Rai gave Lula a silent shout-out at a gala awards ceremony in Paris, mentioning his country’s elections before flashing an “L” sign with his right hand.

Lula has 53 percent of the vote heading into the October 30 runoff, to 47 percent for Bolsonaro, according to a poll released Friday by the Datafolha institute.

Source: AFP

19, October 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Separatists agree to continue talking! ⁰

Separatist leaders flown into Canada from Nigeria to attend the Canada talks have agreed to continue talking with other faction leaders in order to give peace a chance.

Some three fighters who obtained their visas from the Canadian embassy in Abuja said they had been mandated by the fighters on Ground Zero to represent them at the talks which recently ended in Canada.

Asked if they had been bought over by the government of Cameroon, the separatist leader who spoke to Cameroon Concord News correspondent, Chi Prudence Asong, on condition of anonymity, said that he and his colleagues had not received any assistance from the Yaoundé government.

He added that their visa process had been facilitated by the talks organizers, stressing that he and his fellow fighters were returning to Nigeria and then to Southern Cameroons to update their colleagues on the ground on the way forward.

He said their bills including air tickets, visa fees and per diem were taken care of by talk organizers who had contacted them months before.

As to why some other factions were not represented, the separatist fighter stressed that those invited to the talks were people who hold that talking with other factions was the way forward.

He said Sako Ikome and Chris Anu had not been invited because they did not really represent anybody.

“Chris Anu only represents himself. He has recently been installed as the chairman of an IG faction which has no following. He has ruined his reputation and nobody in the international community has confidence in him. He has stolen lots of money and he now spends most of his time dancing and enjoying himself in the USA,” the fighter pointed out.

“For Sako Ikome, it is clear that his ambition is to keep power and not to unite the people of Southern Cameroons. His name keeps popping up wherever there are issues of embezzlement and this is hurting our cause. A true leader should be above all of those little accusations. Many young men and women have lost their lives because of this struggle and it is indeed shameful that those who have been working hard to grab power from Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe have been doing so just to steal much-needed resources,” he added.

“We cannot continue to project such people as our leaders when they cannot live up to our expectations. Julius Ayuk Tabe remains our leader and we hold that talking with leaders of other factions could result in the liberation of many of our people who have been held in jails in East Cameroon for a long time,” he pointed out.

“We want Julius Ayuk Tabe and his colleagues to be liberated. They were our best leaders. The government of Yaoundé had its representatives at the talks and some participants argued that freeing Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe and his close collaborators would be the first step towards sustainable and meaningful peace,” the angry fighter pointed out.

“We have been told that there will be more talks and that the just-ended talks were designed to serve as the first in a series of negotiations which are expected to lead to a peaceful settlement,” he said.

“Though no concrete agreements were reached, it is becoming clear that most Southern Cameroonians are gradually accepting that a federal system will bring peace to our country. I have seen the way Canada is developed and organized and I think a federal administration based on the Canadian system may help address most issues plaguing Cameroon,” he said.

“We are looking forward to further talks which will help to end the bloodshed. We have lost many young men and we are out of financial resources to continue fighting. Ever since Sako and Chris Anu made the embezzlement of resources their main goal of being involved in the struggle, things have not been the same. We need huge amounts of money to turn things around. But this cannot happen when Sako and Chris Anu are permanently at each other’s throat,” he pointed out.

“I am heading back to Nigeria satisfied that it is possible to bring about peace in Cameroon through negotiations. This is my first time of leaving Africa and I must say that peace is vital for political and economic development efforts to be sustainable,” he pointed out.

“We must continue to talk though while keeping Yaoundé troops at bay. They have killed our people, raped our women, but fighting forever will not address the issues. We must make peace but we must not throw ourselves into the hands of the enemy. The Yaoundé government cannot be trusted but if we work with international actors, we will be able to come up with a peace plan which will make it easy for us to live in peace with our brothers east of the Mungo,” he concluded.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

16, October 2022

Communist Party’s 20th Congress gets under way, offering clues to China’s future ⁰

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress kicked off in Beijing on Sunday, an event expected to confirm Xi Jinping as China’s first leader since Mao Zedong to serve three successive terms. Decisions unveiled at the congress – especially the fate of Prime Minister Li Keqiang – will indicate whether Xi plans to continue centralizing power and the direction of China’s economic policies.

The 20th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress opening on October 16 was a celebration of the world’s largest political party, which boasts over 96 million members throughout China. However, all eyes are on one man: Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Following the horrors of the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution – and the death of Mao Zedong, who presided over both – the CCP under Deng Xiaoping set a two-term limit for its leaders in 1982. Xi abolished this rule in 2018, paving the way for him to rule indefinitely after his second term ends in 2023.

Drastic security measures

The leader of the world’s second-largest economy has done everything possible to ensure the congress runs smoothly. Beijing has been under special security measures since June. More than a million people have been arrested in the “public security crackdown” that has made the Chinese capital into a fortress. Employees of major companies based in Beijing are not allowed to leave the city for the duration of the congress. Visitors carrying bottles of water have to take a sip in front of police officers to show they are not carrying dangerous liquids.

And Chinese internet censors scrambled to remove any mention of a rare protest in Beijing on October 13 in which a banner displayed from a bridge called for “dictator and traitor Xi Jinping” to leave power.

Xi gathered all the Central Committee members on October 9 for a final rehearsal of the announcements to be made during the congress. The event will thus be a matter of rubber-stamping decisions already taken.

This comes after a rocky period for China. Over the past two years, “we’ve seen the coronavirus pandemic and China’s very costly zero-Covid policy; Sino-American tensions amid trade disputes; and a deepening of ties between Beijing and Moscow at a time when [President] Vladimir Putin has brought condemnation on Russia by invading Ukraine”, said Marc Lanteigne, a specialist in Chinese politics at the Arctic University of Norway.

Xi has concentrated so much power in his hands that it will be hard for him to avoid responsibility if the policies come under fire, Lanteigne said. So at the very most, the congress will strengthen Xi’s hold on the CCP – and at the very least, “it will show that, despite everything, Xi is still enormously powerful”.

But other than that, it is very hard to predict what will come out of the congress, because the CCP has become so “opaque” under Xi, noted Daniel Leese, a historian and China expert at the University of Freiburg.

Before previous CCP congresses, China specialists used to enjoy predicting who would be in and who would be out. Often, working papers would be leaked indicating someone was on the way up or on the way down as various party factions jostled for power.

This time, there are precious few signs to interpret, and those that remain are hard to decipher.

Leese said one recent trend has been a “decline in the number of pro-Xi propaganda articles” in the official press, adding: “This could mean that Xi has lost his shine – or it could mean he’s become so powerful that he doesn’t need propaganda anymore.”

Culled from France 24

14, October 2022

CPDM Crime Syndicate: ELECAM wants huge ID card backlog cleared ahead of polls ⁰

The chairman of Cameroon’s election management body (ELECAM), Abrams Enow Egbe, recently held talks with the delegate general for national security, Martin Mbarga Nguele, on clearing the many blockages that stand in the way of digital ID card issuance in the country.

The national identity card is a compulsory ID credential for those of voting age to participate in the electoral process in Cameroon, but obtaining the ID in the Central African nation has become a nightmare for millions, with many waiting up to two years to get the credential.

The talks, which took place 10 October, were part of a series of consultation meetings that ELECAM has held with different stakeholders in past weeks with the aim of gathering opinions and suggestions on how to better organize the next cycle of elections coming up between 2023 and 2025.

Cameroon has national assembly and presidential elections in 2025, but before then, in 2023, a new senate has to be voted in.

Enow Egbe told reporters that apart from discussing how the ID issuing authority (known by the abbreviation DGSN) can clear the backlog of ID card applications, it is important for Cameroonians who have not withdrawn their cards from police stations to visit such stations to check whether their credentials are already available for collection. People apply for the document at their closest police station accredited within the scheme and then collect the finished card there.

“The main focus of our discussion was on the obtention of the national identity card. Many Cameroonians are complaining that they are unable to obtain their cards. We got clear and precise information from the delegate general who assured us that all will be done for citizens to get the national ID card,” said Enow Egbe.

“However, we want to inform Cameroonians to first go and check out their ID cards from the different police stations where they applied for them. There are many of the cards abandoned there. They have to collect them because they need it to register for elections.”

It is worth mentioning that the national identity card is crucial at two major stages of the electoral process in Cameroon. It is a requirement at the time of enrolling on the electoral register, and then for identity verification at the time of voting at polling stations. Cameroon does not yet use biometrics for voter verification.

The call by ELECAM for the DGSN to rush ID production has been hailed as necessary as it comes at a time when problems with delivery of the cards in the country have reached strange and disturbing proportions.

Recently, many citizens have been expressing their frustration with the process, asking why previously-announced plans to overhaul the current ID system have stalled.

There have also been testimonies in local media, seen by Biometric Update, from citizens confessing to paying bribes from between XAF50,000 (US$74) to XAF 500,000 (US$740) to obtain the document within a few days.

Source: Biometric Update

14, October 2022

Burkina Faso holds transition talks after latest coup ⁰

Political parties, social and religious groups and representatives of the security forces gather Friday to chart the next phase in Burkina Faso’s future after the country’s latest coup.

The forum in the capital Ouagadougou will take place two weeks after the jihadist-torn Sahel state was rocked by its second military takeover in less than nine months.

A 34-year-old captain, Ibrahim Traore, leading a faction of disgruntled junior officers, forced out Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

Damiba had seized power only in January, toppling the country’s last elected president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

The talks opening on Friday are scheduled to appoint a successor to Damiba as transitional president — a head of state who will rule in the interim before power is eventually returned to civilians.

Supporters of Traore are clamouring for him to be that man, although he has outwardly said he does not want the job.

The head of the forum’s organising committee, Colonel Celestin Compaore, said the conference “will examine and adopt (a) charter of transition, appoint a transitional president in line with the charter and receive any proposals for the proper execution of the charter.”

Troubled country

One of the world’s poorest nations, Burkina Faso has a long history of coups since independence from France in 1960.

The latest takeovers are rooted in unrest within army ranks over a jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

Thousands of people have been killed and nearly two million have been displaced.

Barely a week goes by without the announcement of a bloody attack on the poorly-equipped security forces. More than a third of the country lies outside government control.

Traore said Burkina would uphold a pledge that Damiba made to the West African bloc ECOWAS involving new elections and a return to civilian government by July 2024 at the latest.

But like Damiba before him, Traore defended the coup on the grounds that the authorities were failing to do enough against the jihadists.

The coup announcement on September 30 said it was time to “refocus the transition (interim military rule) on the security emergency”.

Damiba fled to neighbouring Benin on October 2, after a weekend of violent protests that also targeted the French embassy and cultural centre and saw demonstrators raise Russian flags.

Vocal support

Traore said he would only stay at the helm to carry out “current business” but at meetings in Ouagadougou and Burkina’s second city, Bobo-Dioulasso, supporters have been clamouring for him to be appointed to the top job.

“Captain Ibrahim Traore must fully implement the reason for which he came,” said Oscar Seraphin Ky, one of his backers.

France, a close ally in Burkina’s fight against the jihadists, has watched the new turmoil with deep concern, especially the anti-French sentiment.

A coup in Mali in 2020 sparked friction with France and led to the country’s military entwinement with Russia. French troops that had been fighting jihadists in Mali for nine years pulled out this year after the row escalated.

The French ambassador to Burkina Faso, Luc Hallade, has advised French citizens to limit their movements on Friday to “what is strictly necessary… out of concern for new protest movements”.

According to local pollster Apidon, 53 percent of those questioned would prefer to have Traore in charge.

Among his most ardent supporters, the scale of Burkina’s security crisis makes it crucial to have a military man in charge, it found.

Source: AFP

7, October 2022

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Biya orders enforcement of bilingualism law to tackle discrimination ⁰

To tackle complaints of discrimination against English speakers, Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has ordered officials to enforce a 2019 law on bilingualism and make life easier for English speakers in the French-speaking majority country.

The sense of marginalization among the English-speaking minority in Cameroon sparked a separatist conflict that, since 2017, has left more than 3,500 people dead. Earlier this week, civilians assembled at the city council in the country’s capital Yaoundé to complain about difficulties they encounter in public offices because they speak only one of the central African state’s two official languages. Civilians who fled the fighting in western Cameroon between troops and separatists say they often face discrimination in public offices when speaking English.

A December 2019 law states that French and English have the same value and should be used equally in public offices, and says Cameroonians should be able to express themselves in either language. But according to officials dispatched to enforce the bilingualism law, people reportedly abuse public office by refusing to attend to civilians who speak either in English or French.

The Cameroon president is said to no longer tolerate French-speaking workers imposing the French language on English-speaking citizens, and English-speaking workers should also be patient when they receive French speakers in public offices. After educating citizens on the importance of the two languages co-existing peacefully, the government is now ordering Cameroonians who do not speak the two languages to register in language schools. Signboards written in one language are being pulled down and replaced.

Culled from North Africa Post