US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has claimed that Russia would seek to interfere in American elections for decades to come, after allegedly meddling in the 2016 presidential elections.

In an interview with The Hill newspaper on Monday, Pompeo waned that Washington would try to thwart Moscow’s efforts to influence future elections in the US.

“It goes without saying, they were a threat to our elections in 1974, too, and they interfered in our elections in the ’80s,” Pompeo said.

“And we should expect in 2050, the Russians will be at it still,” he added.

The top US diplomat said that Trump “has directed us all to be incredibly focused” on countering meddling by Russia as well as other adversaries.

The investigation by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which had cast a shadow over Trump since he took office, claims that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 US election but did not find that the Trump election campaign colluded with Moscow.

US intelligence agencies claim Moscow meddled in the election with a campaign of email hacking and online propaganda aimed at sowing discord in the United States, hurting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and helping Trump.

Russia denies election interference and accuses the US of illegal interference of its own in the domestic affairs of countries such as Venezuela.

Source: Presstv

US President Donald Trump has attacked former Vice President Joe Biden on social media, mocking the veteran Democratic politician for his physical and mental abilities.

Trump insulted Biden on Thursday questioning the septuagenarian’s capacity in his first reaction shortly after Biden’s official announcement that he will run for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election. 

“Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe. I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign,” Trump tweeted in the morning.

Trump tried to dissuade Biden from pursuing the Democratic nomination, saying the upcoming political competition would “be nasty” and he would be forced to confront “people who truly have some very sick & demented ideas,” an apparent reference to other Democratic primary candidates.

“But if you make it, I will see you at the Starting Gate!” Trump tweeted.

Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe. I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign. It will be nasty – you will be dealing with people who truly have some very sick & demented ideas. But if you make it, I will see you at the Starting Gate!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2019

Election pundits regard Biden as the front-runner of the Democratic Party candidates seeking to challenge Trump in the upcoming election.

Biden officially announced his intention to seek the Democratic Party nomination to challenge Republican Trump in their quest for the White House on Thursday.

‘I asked president Obama not to endorse’

Biden said that he asked his old boss Barack Obama not to endorse him because wanted to win the nomination on his own merits.

“I asked president Obama not to endorse,” Biden told reporters, adding: “Whoever wins this nomination should win it on its own merits.”

Asked whether he believed that he was the Democratic party’s best choice to compete against Trump in the upcoming race for the presidency, Biden answered: “That’ll be for the Democrats to decide.”

A source close to Obama said the former president was “excited” by the extraordinary and diverse talent in the Democratic lineup and believed it would be best “to let the candidates make their cases directly to the voters.”

However, an Obama spokesperson, Katie Hill, noted that Obama and Biden had “forged a special bond” during their eight-year work in the White House and still remained close.

In January 2017, days before the end of Obama’s presidency, Obama presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the US, to Biden.

Meanwhile, Biden is one among twenty candidates seeking the Democratic nomination.

Other nominees include senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, several current and former members of the House of Representatives and Obama’s former cabinet member Julian Castro.

Source: Presstv

US President Donald Trump has warned Democrats that he would turn to the Supreme Court if he is impeached.

Trump made the comment in a tweet Wednesday, claiming he was not guilty to be impeached.

“I DID NOTHING WRONG,” Trump said. “If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

After a report by special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that there was no collusion between Trump and Russia, Democrats are taking steps that could lead to the impeachment of the president.

Mueller did not take a stance on obstruction of justice, but detailed 10 instances, in which Trump tried to interfere with the investigation into Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election, which yielded President Trump.

According to the president, Mueller’s report was written by a team biased against him with “unlimited money,” yet “didn’t lay a glove on me.”

Trump has also been attacking at his 2016 presidential rival, Hillary Clinton.

“Not only are there no ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors,’ there are no Crimes by me at all,” the president said on Twitter. “All of the Crimes were committed by Crooked Hillary, the Dems, the DNC and Dirty Cops – and we caught them in the act! We waited for Mueller and WON, so now the Dems look to Congress as last hope!”

According to a 1993 ruling by the Supreme Court authority for impeachment trials resides in Congress and” nowhere else.”

Source: Presstv

A pro-Russian opposition figure in Ukraine calls on presidential frontrunner Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is expected to easily win an election runoff, to reconcile with Moscow and get back eastern Ukraine.

Viktor Medvedchuk, head of the political council of the political party Opposition Platform – For Life, outlined the prospect in an interview before the election runoff on Sunday, saying Zelenskiy could regain control over the separatist-controlled east of Ukraine of takes the office.

Polls suggest the 41-year-old comedian and actor is due to score an overwhelming victory over Western-backed incumbent President Petro Poroshenko.

“They don’t have any expectations in Moscow,” Medvedchuk said. “They want to see what happens afterwards, who will be in his (Zelenskiy’s) entourage and what he will do and with whom.”

A deadly war has battered Ukraine’s industrial east over the past four years, although there has been a relative calm in the area in the recent past.

The war broke out in Ukraine in early 2014 after pro-Russian protests erupted in eastern cities and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea re-joined Russia following a referendum. The West brands the unification as annexation of the territory by Russia.

Kiev and its Western allies also accuse Moscow of supporting pro-Russian militia in eastern Ukraine, an allegation the Kremlin vehemently denies.

The pro-Russians have turned the two regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in the east — collectively known as the Donbass — into self-proclaimed republics.

An agreement on how to implement a peace deal over eastern Ukraine could be reached “within several months” and implemented on the ground within “six to eight months,” said Medvedchuk.

Russia has reacted to the runoff votes, saying it was watching candidates’ statements closely and hoped any new president could implement a peace deal on Donbass.

Asked about Medvedchuk’s advice for Ukraine’s new president on Friday, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, called him “very active” and “important” when it came to his humanitarian work as an intermediary between Moscow and Kiev.

“We would always like to hope for the best. Of course we want to hope that the person who is elected Ukraine’s president will not be from the party of war. And we want to hope that this person will take a different perspective on relations between Ukraine and Russia,” Peskov said.

 Zelenskiy has so far said he seeks peace in the east and to wants to breathe new life into the stalled talks.

In September 2014, Kiev and the pro-Russia forces signed an EU-brokered ceasefire agreement in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk in a bid to halt fighting in Ukraine’s eastern regions.

The warring sides also inked another truce agreement, dubbed Minsk II, in February 2015 under the supervision of Russia, Germany, and France.

The fragile ceasefire has frequently been violated, with Kiev and the militants blaming each other.

Source: Presstv

Yaounde is under pressure and the pressure is coming from an unlikely source. Its usual allies are slowly jumping ship and this spells a disaster for a government that is on its last leg. The European Union has sent a tough message to Yaounde and sources at the Unity Palace say the bad news is keeping Palace’s  occupants awake all night.

Though the French are still solidly behind the corrupt regime in Yaounde, Mr. Paul Biya, the country’s long serving president, knows that the tides are turning and turning very fast. The EU’s rhetoric is gradually changing and EU parliamentarians are not happy with the way the Yaounde government has handled the Southern Cameroons crisis that has put the country in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

For more than two years, the Yaounde government thought it had many allies and with such a played out mindset, it has gone about killing its own citizens, especially in the North West and South West regions.

But this week’s discussion of Cameroon in the EU Parliament has clearly revealed that Yaounde has no allies and its hopes of continuing to ride roughshod over the opposition have been dashed . Speaker after speaker at the EU Parliament only lambasted Mr. Biya’s long rule that is collapsing from within.

The EU Parliamentarians also pointed out that the mind-blowing human rights abuses in the country only spoke to the desperation of a regime that has overstayed its welcome.

The speakers clearly indicated that the EU had the means and resources that could bring down the gerontocracy in Yaounde. EU parliamentarians want to use their influence to mount pressure on Mr. Biya who has rejected all calls for an inclusive dialogue.

The EU might have been quiet for a long time, but its members have now decided to speak out and to call on France, the only big nation still supporting Mr. Biya, to take the appropriate steps that should lead to a peaceful and inclusive dialogue that the Yaounde government has rejected for years.

While EU Parliamentarians acknowledged that Cameroon was a strategic partner in the fight against Boko Haram, they also pointed out that good friends should also be reprimanded when they are straying into violence and irresponsibility.  

The Cameroon government, they said, had used the fight against terrorism to stifle genuine political opposition. They stressed that in prosecuting its war against religious extremists in the country’s northern part, the Biya regime had committed despicable acts of atrocities that must be condemned.

They pointed to the killing of a woman and her children by government forces, adding that the videos of those killings did not show that those killed were terrorists. They also condemned the army’s reckless and wanton killing of innocent civilians in the two English-speaking regions of the country.  

The EU Parliamentarians regretted the fact that the government had not displayed any remorse for the chaos it had created in the country, adding that the EU should help the thousands of Cameroonian refugees who are scattered all over Nigeria and those who have been internally displaced by irresponsible army soldiers.

The EU Parliament clearly backed the U.S. decision to curtail military aid to the Cameroon government because of its awful human rights records. They constantly urged the beleaguered Yaounde government to release Professor Maurice Kamto and his supporters, pointing out that Mr. Biya had been in power for far too long and should start thinking of transferring power to a younger and more democratic leader.

These unsettling messages from the EU Parliament come on the heels of the acerbic criticism by the U.S. Under-secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, who has openly congratulated Cameroon’s Diaspora for the effective public relations job it has done to bring the world’s attention to the unfortunate civil war that is playing out in Cameroon. Mr. Nagy recently said that he was looking forward to profound change in Cameroon following the collapse of Omar El-Bechir’s government in Sudan.

It should be recalled that Americans and Canadians have been working behind the scenes to get Mr. Biya out of power, though they have not produced any real results. With the EU now on board, it is clear that the coalition against the ruthlessly inefficient Yaounde government is widening and the collapse of Africa’s longest serving leader is imminent.

The Biya regime has bitten more than it can chew. It has overplayed its hands and it is now running out of luck. The multiple conflicts in which it is involved will very soon relegate it to the ash heap of history.

In the northern part of the country, Boko Haram is still a threat and the government’s reckless killing of innocent civilians there has only pushed young northerners into the arms of the religious sect and this is making it hard for it to win the war.

 In the two English-speaking regions of the country, it is clear that there will never be any outright military victory for the Yaounde government despite its adoption of a scorch earth policy. Many Southern Cameroonians have been killed, but the will and determination of the people and fighters remain intact. Southern Cameroonians are resolute and they hold that co-habitation with a violent Francophone regime is impossible and that only separation will solve their problems.

The government’s mismanagement of the situation has radicalized even the most level-headed Southern Cameroonian. Even chiefs and parliamentarians have begun displaying their disagreement with the government strategy of killing all young adult males in the North West and South West regions.

In a dramatic turn of events in the country’s senate, the eldest member of the upper house, Chief Victor Mukete, put his frustration and disagreement with the government on display. He castigated the government, decrying the government’s insistence on addressing the issues only through military violence.

Chief Mukete who is not being taken seriously in the English-speaking regions had however made a point – Southern Cameroonians, even those in government disagree with the government’s strategy and if that does not change, they will jump ship.

The message is clear. Even within the military, there are many dissenting voices and this is causing the government sleepless nights. With the government facing a flood of opposition both within and from outside, it is clear that it will be changing its strategy in the days ahead for fear of being chased out of power, especially as rumor is swirling that Americans could arm Southern Cameroonians for them to head to French Cameroon so as to put an end to the political mess in Yaounde.

There is fear that all these unfortunate circumstances could connive to unleash a people power revolution in Cameroon. The north is already boiling. The English-speaking regions are in a civil war, while in the east of the country, Central African rebels have stepped up their attacks on government forces and refugees. The conditions for a long-lasting chaos seem to be in place in Cameroon.

The world does not want to see Cameroon go down that path. Their best solution is to elbow Mr. Biya out of power and there are currently talks between the great powers on how to achieve this goal without putting the entire region in a tight spot.

While the French have publicly displayed their support for the failing Yaounde government, they are however gradually conceding that Mr. Biya clearly belongs to the past. They hold that if he is not replaced, they could lose their interest in the region.

Mr. Biya is therefore on the ropes and given his age, he is clearly out of steam.  The pressure is mounting and Yaounde is on the wall. The days ahead will be crucial, especially as Prof. Kamto’s supporters at home and abroad are scoring more points.

Another people power revolution is surely going to take place in Africa and this time around, it will be in Cameroon, as all the ingredients are already in place. The world will surely be playing spectator soon to the fall of another reckless and ruthless dictator.

By Kingsley Betek and Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in the United Kingdom.

Arab heads of state, long divided by regional rivalries, are expected to unite at a summit on Sunday in the Tunisian capital to oppose a US decision recognising Israel’s annexation of Arab lands captured in 1967.

Arab leaders are already grappling with unrest in Algeria and Sudan, international pressure over the war in Yemen, regional splits over Iran’s influence in the Middle East and a bitter Gulf Arab dispute.

They face a new challenge after US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation last week recognising the Golan Heights as Israeli, less than four months after recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.

Arab officials said the summit would be dominated by the Golan Heights and Palestinian demands for an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, areas also occupied by Israel in the 1967 war.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said on Saturday Arab ministers had expressed support for a proposal to declare that the US move violated the UN charter against acquiring land by force.

They also agreed to back Syria’s right to regain Golan and Lebanon’s right to the Shebaa farms, a small strip of land next to the Golan claimed by Beirut, he tweeted.

Call for peace with Israel

Summit spokesman Mahmoud Al-Khmeiry said Arab leaders would repeat an Arab call for peace with Israel in exchange for occupied Arab lands and would reject any initiative not in line with UN resolutions.

Khmeiry appeared to be referring to a still-unannounced US peace plan by White House adviser Jared Kushner and Trump son-in-law that Palestinians have refused to discuss.

Trump’s aides have said his moves have drawn a less severe private reaction from Arab states than experts had predicted.

While opposition to Israel and its actions can unite the 22-member Arab League, Arab states remain divided over a range of other issues, including pro-democracy protests that have erupted in the region since 2011 and over Iran’s Middle East influence.

Ibrahim al-Assaf, foreign minister of Sunni Muslim powerhouse Saudi Arabia, said on Friday that Shi’ite Muslim rival Iran remained the biggest threat to the region.

The Tunis summit will be the first time the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar have attended the same gathering since 2017, when Riyadh and its allies imposed a political and economic boycott on Doha. Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism and cosying up to Iran, a charge Doha denies.

The leaders of Sudan and Algeria are not expected to attend, with both nations roiled by anti-government protests.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria’s ailing, 82-year-old president who has ruled for 20 years, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, in power for three decades and wanted by international prosecutors for alleged war crimes in his country’s Darfur region, are both facing calls to step down.

Syria has been suspended from the Arab League since 2011 over its crackdown on protesters at the start of the civil war. The League has said there was still no consensus to allow Syria’s reinstatement.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Russia Monday the United States will not “stand idly by” as Moscow inserts military personnel into Venezuela to support the regime of President Nicolas Maduro.

In a phone call with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Pompeo denounced the growing Russian military reinforcements as prolonging the political crisis in the South American country.

Pompeo told Lavrov “the United States and regional countries will not stand idly by as Russia exacerbates tensions in Venezuela,” the State Department said in a statement.

“The continued insertion of Russian military personnel to support the illegitimate regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela risks prolonging the suffering of the Venezuelan people who overwhelmingly support interim President Juan Guaido,” he said.

Sergei Lavrov reacted later on Monday by releasing a statement accusing the United States of plotting a “coup” against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Guaido is supported by the United States and most Latin American and European nations but he retains the support of Russia and China, US rivals who have offered political and economic support to him.

Pompeo urged Russia to “cease its unconstructive behavior” and support Guaido.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

The messages delivered by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, to Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya, on Monday have hit the Cameroon strong man like a ton of bricks. The true meaning of the messages is sinking and it is becoming clearer that he is losing his staunchest supporter, France, which is already looking for a replacement for the ailing 86-year-old president who has ruled his country for almost 37 years.

While some of the messages were clearly expressed, some were coded and required time for analysis. The most coded was the picture that the straight-talking American gave to Mr. Biya. The picture of Mr. Biya and late president George Bush Senior was taken in 1991. While Mr. Bush left power a long time ago, Mr. Biya has hanged on to power for many decades and has no plan to leave power.

Americans want him out and there is no better way to let him know that he has overstayed his welcome than by letting him know that his contemporaries are all gone. Sources at the Unity Palace say the 86-year-old Biya is fuming and is losing sleep as his allies are already walking away from him.

Even France is reducing contact with the dictator who is now considered by the French as more of a liability than an asset. The French are gradually coming to terms with the fact that they might lose their influence in Cameroon if they continue to count on Mr. Biya as the only person who is capable of protecting their interest.

Over the last week, the French have been urging Mr. Biya to change course and embrace dialogue in order to address the multiple issues facing the country, especially the Southern Cameroons crisis that has gained international attention for things to return to normal while they continue their search for a new strategy to keep their influence in Cameroon.

Mr. Biya is at his wit’s end. He remembers what happened to President Mobutu of Zaire and he knows that if he does not listen to the Americans, he might incur their wrath. The American ambassador in Yaounde had urged Mr. Biya to think about his legacy in 2018, but the sit-tight leader did not heed the ambassador’s advice.

With the message coming in a different form and from a higher authority in the State Department, Mr. Biya might want to consider his options. Though the meeting between the U.S. diplomat and president Biya was friendly, there were still some rough edges which left the Yaounde strong man ruffled.

During Mr. Biya’s meeting with the U.S. diplomat on Monday, the American urged the president to embrace the frank and inclusive dialogue proposed by the international community, adding that Southern Cameroonians only wanted to be considered as normal citizens of Cameroon and that they would never accept the second-class citizenship the country had imposed on them.

He said that the US administration was closely monitoring events in Cameroon, pointing out that only dialogue could put an end to the crisis in the country. Mr. Nagy also stressed that the route taken by the government to end the crisis was unnecessary and that the loss of human life and property was a clear indication of a disproportionate use of force by the government.

Mr. Nagy also said America would encourage the country to pursue other forms of government that might reduce tensions in the country, adding that Donald Trump’s administration was ready and willing to lend a hand in the development of a truly federal system in Cameroon, a message that had also been sent to the Cameroon government by the Canadian embassy in Yaounde.

Canada, it should be underscored, has significant experience in the handling of minority issues and is very willing to bring that experience to Cameroon so as to enable the two linguistic groups that make up the country to live in peace.

Mr. Nagy used the occasion to remind Mr. Biya that Cameroon was a major American ally in the region, stressing that chaos in Cameroon could spill over to other countries and this could result in disorder that might disrupt life in the entire region.

He hailed Cameroon’s economic potential, adding that the country was blessed with abundant human and natural resources that could be used to bring about shared prosperity and wealth, but for this to happen, there must be peace and justice.

Speaking to journalists after his meeting with President Paul Biya, the American diplomat said diplomatic discussions were always confidential, but added that his discussion with Mr. Biya was frank and direct. A statement which has made sources close to the government to hold that Mr. Biya has been delivered a tough message which he has to take seriously or face destabilization from the frustrated American administration.

Mr. Nagy however said he appreciated Mr. Biya’s wisdom, adding that the United States and Cameroon had much in common and that he would like to bring many American investors to Cameroon so as to create opportunities for the country’s youths.

He said America wanted the best for Cameroon, stressing that he would like young Cameroonians to have the best jobs possible, but that would require peace in the country.

By Linda Embi in Yaounde

There were smiles all around in Kenya as French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta shook hands over a series of infrastructure deals worth $3.3 billion.

It was the third stop on the French president’s East African charm offensive – and the first-ever visit to Kenya by a French head of state.

France wants trade and commercial relationships that are “fair and profitable for the Kenyan people,” Macron said. Alluding to Africa’s many relationships with China often freighted with debt, French investments would be respectful of the receiving country’s sovereignty and sustainable, he pledged.

Among the newly signed deals is a contract for a railway line from Nairobi to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, a trip of about 12 miles that can take up to two hours by car.

Other signed deals include a 30-year concession for a French company to operate a highway linking the Kenyan capital and Mau Summit in western Kenya, a contract for a solar power plant and a contract for coastal and maritime surveillance.

The railway, President Kenyatta said, “will help completely transform the lives of millions of urban workers”. It should be operational by 2021.

The two leaders then shared a photo op seated in Uhuru’s new Peugeot 3008 SUV – assembled in Kenya.

Still, France faces an uphill battle to win more deals in Africa, where China, Turkey and others have moved in quickly and competition is fierce.

In 2017, French exports to Kenya, a former British colony, were about $200 million — about half Uganda’s exports to its neighbor. China exported $3.8 billion, making it Kenya’s biggest trading partner.

Nonetheless, France made few missteps if any on its four nation African tour while U.S. Asst. Secretary of State Tibor Nagy earned negative headlines while in Cameroon for chiding President Paul Biya over a list of human rights violations.

Pro-government groups were unhappy with his references to the detention of opposition leader Maurice Kamto and 150 of his supporters and to the violence in the western Anglophone separatist regions. Other countries on Tibor Nagy’s itinerary are Uganda, the DRC and Rwanda.

Coincidentally, the official visits come as both French and America governments are under fire at home over the erosion of civil liberties, income inequality, racism and the rise of white nationalism and neo-Nazism.

Source: Indepthnews.net

Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the many Democrats running for 2020 US presidential election, has joined a partisan push to scrap the Electoral College, the constitutional entity tasked with electing US presidents, in order to prevent President Donald Trump from repeating his controversial 2016 victory.

The current election system in the US overrides the popular vote, which gives the victory to the candidate winning the most ballots, in favor of a so-called winner-take-all mechanism.

This means the Electoral College with its 538 electors across different states, who are chosen based on each state’s representation in Congress, is liable for electing the chief executive.

Despite losing the popular vote to his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, by a significant margin, Trump still won the 2016 White House race in a 304-227 electoral vote landslide. The threshold for winning presidency is 270 electoral votes.

Speaking in a televised CNN town hall in Jackson, Mississippi, Warren said Monday that it was impossible to have a “national vote” in America with the Electoral College in place.

“Well, my view is that every vote matters. And the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting. And that means get rid of the electoral college and everybody counts,” Warren said to enthusiastic applause.

The 69-year-old Massachusetts lawmaker called for amendment to the US Constitution that guaranteed the right to vote for all citizens, including convicted felons, and said it was equally important to scrap laws that made casting ballots more difficult.

This puts Warren next to Clinton, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and many other Democrats who have called for ending the Electoral College.

Last October, when she was running to represent New York’s 14th Congressional District, Ocasio-Cortez famously called the Electoral College a vestige of slavery.

“It is well past time we eliminate the Electoral College, a shadow of slavery’s power on America today that undermines our nation as a democratic republic,” she wrote on Twitter.

NY Dem Ocasio

Hillary Clinton made a similar call in an article published by The Atlantic last month, saying that the “legitimacy” of the US election system was in doubt.

 “And you won’t be surprised to hear that I passionately believe it’s time to abolish the Electoral College,” she wrote.

Ongoing efforts

Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee has introduced a constitutional amendment to eliminate the electoral college but it has yet to be brought up for a vote in the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Democrats.

At the same time, at least 12 states plus the District of Columbia – with a total of 181 electoral votes— have signed onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement that requires the signatory states to select their presidential electors based on who wins the popular vote nationwide regardless of the overall state outcome.

The compact would only take effect when enough states have signed to push the total electoral votes to 270, an objective that experts say is impossible to fulfill before the 2020 election.

Republicans in favor of keeping Electoral College

Unlike Democrats, most Republicans are against changing the current election system in US, a trend that rose sharply after Trump’s victory.

A Gallup poll conducted weeks after the 2016 Election Day showed that only 19 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents supported changing the system, down from 54 percent in 2011.

Democrats were a mirror image as 81 percent of participants in the survey said they supported an amendment to switch to a national popular vote, up from 69 percent five years earlier.

Republican state Senator Paul Lundeen, who voted against the compact in Colorado, said removing the Electoral College would hurt smaller and more rural states while giving more power to urban areas, where Democrats have a stronger base.

He also said the move undermines the principle of federalism by ceding power to larger states like California and New York, something he said was short-sighted and only fueled by Democrats’ opposition to Trump.

“If there’s a partisan element it’s the knee-jerk reaction: ‘I hate this current president and he didn’t win the popular vote,’” he said. “And I think that hurts us in the long run.”

Presstv