CANNES, FRANCE – European Union leaders and the IMF, on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Cannes 3 November, have given Greece an ultimatum, saying that its citizens must decide if the country will remain part of the eurozone: a vote against a recently negotiated bailout would be seen as a vote against Greek participation in the eurozone.
The threat follows what the Guardian describes as “a blunt warning from Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the eurogroup, that the sixth tranche of the original €110bn bailout was now in jeopardy.” At risk: €8 billion approved just two weeks ago.
An emergency cabinet meeting was scheduled for 11:00 Thursday morning in Greece. More members of the prime minister’s own party are defecting Thursday morning, saying they will not support him in a confidence vote scheduled for Friday night, with the resulting loss of his majority in parliament.
George Papandreou, prime minister, has called for a referendum next month on the EU bailout plan and, under pressure from EU leaders at a Wednesday night meeting, he agreed to hold it earlier, 4 December.
Links to other sites: Financial Times, Guardian, Le Monde (Fr)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Thailand’s first woman prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was voted into office 3 July in a landslide victory but the promises of higher wages and a host of social improvements is prompting fears in the business world that inflation will rise. The country’s economic growth was strong in 2010, but inflation reached more than 4 percent (annual) in June and analysts say implementing even part of the promised package could have a significant impact on inflation in one of Asia’s most vibrant economies.
Shinawatra, sister of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is meeting with her party officials Wednesday to hammer out how to quickly implement some of the election promises.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, Reuters, Wall St Journal
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani made his first public address Monday 9 May following last week’s assassination of Osama Bin Laden. He admitted that a serious intelligence failure took place in allowing the al Queda figurehead to hide in the country for so long, but said that the failure “is not only ours but of all the intelligence agencies of the world.”
Following a week of public speculation over Pakistan’s possible collusion in Osama’s hide-out in the country, the Prime Minister insisted ”Allegations of complicity or incompetence are absurd”. He emphasized that the fight against terrorism is a national priority in the country. “We did not invite Osama bin Laden to Pakistan or even to Afghanistan.”
He admitted that Osama bin Laden’s death ”attests to the success of the anti-terror campaign” but stressed that the fight is far from over, “we are not so naïve to declare victory; mission accomplished, and turn around. The myth and legacy of Osama bin Laden remains to be demolished.”
Links to other sites: Times of India, Al Jazeera, Reuters
Exiled Tibetans, 49,000 of them worldwide, gave 55 percent of their vote to a Harvard professor, Lobsang Sangay, making him their new prime minister. The movement’s political responsibilities thus shift from the Dalai Lama, who remains their spiritual leader, to the 43-year-old professor of international law, signalling a shift in leadership to a younger generation.
Sangay has said he is committed to the Dalai Lama’s approach to meaningful autonomy for Tibet, a land Sangay has never seen, but there is speculation he may develop a new approach. He replaces Samdhong Rinpoche as prime minister, a monk of the Dalai Lama’s generation, who has been more in the background than Sangay is expected to be when he takes over in August 2011.
The new prime minister was born and raised in the tea region of Darjeeling, in India, and he graduated from Delhi University before going to Harvard to study law.
Links to other sites: AFP, Herald Sun, Australia, Indian Express
Italian PM told foreign press he would not stand again for election
Will he run or won’t he: Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, appeared to make it clear to foreign reporters at a dinner 12 April that he will not run for re-election after his current term runs out in 2013. The Guardian and the Wall Street Journal reported that he mentioned Angelino Alfano as his likely successor to head his PDL party. But the PM’s party and his personal spokesperson Paulo Bonaiuti now say Berlusconi’s words were “over-emphasized” and that “it’s better to keep in context statements made in a relaxed chat at the dinner table. They’re not the sort of thing you can report in such an incontrovertible manner. Nothing has been decided.”
Alfano is Berlusconi’s justice minister and the man who drafted a bill that will halt some of the Italian leader’s multiple court cases. Berlusconi is currently standing trial for having paid sex with an under-age girl but other cases involving corruption are in the wings.
One of the cases that will be stopped after Alfano’s bill was passed last week involves charges that the prime minister bribed his British lawyer, David Mills. The bill is designed to speed up Italy’s notoriously slow and backlogged court cases.
The Guardian reports that “one result is that action will not now be taken against builders, officials and property developers suspected of responsibility for deaths that occurred during the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake. More than 300 people died – many in buildings allegedly constructed with sub-standard materials.”
Links to other sites: Corriere della sera (Eng), Guardian
Italy’s Berlusconi in court circus is under way, with one of the four court cases in which he is a defendant opening, then adjourning today, the first in what is widely expected to be a series of legal maneuvers. The BBC reports that about 20,000 pages will be reviewed as part of the case where the Italian prime minister is accused of having sex with an under-age prostitute. He is charged with corruption in one of the other cases; he denies both charges and has said they are politically motivated.
Links to other sites: BBC, Los Angeles Times
LA Times video
Update Tuesday 8 March: The trial in Paris of former President Jacques Chirac has been postponed until late June to consider constitutional questions raised by the defense.
The French are waking up to a lively case of national politics Monday, with Marine Le Pen given the lead in a survey by Le Parisien newspaper, for the 2012 presidential elections, ahead of President Nicolas Sarkozy and Martine Obrey, Socialist candidate. Le Pen stepped into the shoes of her father Jean-Marie Le Pen as head of the National Front, France’s far right party. French media are debating the validity of the survey.
Meanwhile, the corruption trial opens in Paris Monday 7 March of former President Jacques Chirac, 78, who is charged with giving contracts for work that didn’t exist to friends during the early 1990s, while he was mayor of Paris, before he became president of France. The case reportedly could be cut short today on a legal technicality, however. Chirac served as mayor of Paris from 1977-1995 and as president of France from 1995-2007. He was also twice prime minister, from 1974-76 and from 1986-88.
Ireland is faced with the prospect of an election earlier than the one the prime minister has called for 11 March, with the Green Party leaving the ruling coalition Sunday 23 January. Prime Minister Brian Cowen called for an election Thursday, after six ministers resigned from the government, and he then said he would not lead his Fianna Fail party after the election. The Green Party says it will support Cowen’s austerity package, which is provoking anger among Irish voters, despite leaving the coalition. The government’s belt-tightening package is attempting to reduce the country’s high level of debt following the bailout of its banks.
Links to other sites: CNN, Irish Times, Telegraph
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen has won a vote of confidence among his party’s Fianna Fail members and is assured of leading the party into elections in March. It is widely expected by Irish political observers to lose the election. There were strong signs that Cowen would be dropped as leader when several MPs called for the vote 18 January.
Foreign Minister Micheal Martin resigned his post after losing his bid to topple Cowen.
The government has come under intense criticism for its handling of the country’s banking crisis, which led to Ireland accumulating massive debts that have affected the European Union as a whole.
Links to other sites: Irish Times, Reuters
David Cameron, the British prime minister, and his wife Samantha, were surprised by the early birth of a daughter Tuesday 24 August. The girl, who as yet has no name, was born a month early, during the family vacation in Cornwall. She is the first child in 20 years to be born to a prime minister in office and the previous such birth was in 1848, according to the Telegraph. The couple have two other children; their first-son, Ivan, died at the age of six in early 2009 from complications related to cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
Julia Gillard is the new prime minister of Australia, after Kevin Rudd stepped down in a last-minute shuffle of the Labor Party, ending Rudd’s two-and-a-half years at the helm.
She is the first woman to serve in the role. Gillard, a lawyer, says she will call for a general election in coming months, but did not give a date.
The Prime Minister elected praised Rudd but says she opposed him in the end because the party was losing its way.
Links to other sites: CNN, Sydney Morning Herald
British media are describing the budget that Chancellor George Osborne is expected to unveil Tuesday 22 June as the most “austere” in a generation, with sharp tax increases and cuts in spending. The budget deficit is 11 percent of GDP. US President Barack Obama, in the runup to the G20 Toronto meeting in four days, has cautioned other countries not to move too quickly to remove economic stimulus packages, but Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesperson said Monday that “For some countries, such as our own, there is a need to get on and deal with the deficit more quickly,” reports Reuters UK. The tough budget cuts and tax increases, possibly including higher VAT (value-added tax) are being viewed as the first real test of the coalition government, with warnings from the left that the country should well until it is stronger before taking such strong measures or it risks falling back into recession. Nearly one million of the country’s lowest paid workers will no longer pay income tax under the new measures.
The G20 meeting 26-27 June in Toronto, where the contrast between sluggish growth in advanced economies and more robust growth in developing countries will play an important role in determining the agenda.
Links to other sites: Financial Times, Guardian, Reuters, Telegraph, Xinhua
Naoto Kan was elected the new leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and Friday the Diet approved him as the new prime minister. Kan, 63, is the finance minister. The former civic activist has promised to “rebuild the country”. He replaces Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned abruptly Wednesday, under pressure over US bases and Japan’s troubled economy.
Links to other sites: Financial Times, Guardian, Xinhua
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigned early Wednesday 2 June and as the yen fell, over the news, giving exporters a boost, stocks rose. Hatoyama, in office only nine months, has suffered record low popularity, and is the fifth prime minister in four years.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg/Business Week, Financial Times
©2010 Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is keeping speculation alive about just how the UK general election will end, with his announcement Monday 10 May that he will step down as leader of the Labour Party – in a few months, when his party holds its annual conference. He explained that Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, had approached him to open negotiations. Clegg has been talking to David Cameron, leader of the Conservatives, who won the most votes of the three parties. If Labour and the Liberal Democrats form an alliance, Brown could head a coalition government, at least initially, but if they don’t, Brown is likely to be forced to step down.
Links to other sites: Financial Times, Guardian, Times, UK
Gordon Brown will remain in office in Britain until a new government can be formed, if a hung Parliament is the outcome of voting Thursday 5 May in the UK, and this appears increasingly likely. The Conservative party, led by David Cameron, is ahead but even if it wins more seats than the other two parties it is not guaranteed Number 10 Downing Street: it would need a majority of 346 seats to reach that point. A hung Parliament will result in a scramble to form a coalition government. Former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Northern Ireland’s First Minister Peter Robinson, are two of the highest profile losers to date. Robinson‘s wife’s affair with a much younger man turned into a widely covered political scandal in 2009.
Thailand’s prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, has told the nation on television 15 March that he will not give in to demands by tens of thousands of red shirt protestors that he resign today, insisting that changes must be the result of elections where voices of people other than the protestors have a chance to be heard. The protestors gathered outside the army barracks Monday where Vejjajiva had gone when a rally with an estimated (BBC numbers) 100,000 took place Sunday, but he left in a helicopter shortly after his TV appearance.
The red shirts back former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has remained abroad following a two-year prison sentence for abuse of power, which he and his supporters say was politically motivated.
Opposition group UDD leader Natthawut Saikua responded by saying 1,000 litres of blood will be taken from donors Tuesday and spread outside Government House to force government workers to walk across a bloody trail.
Links to other sites: Bangkok Post, BBC,
Switzerland's air force provides air space security during the Davos WEF meeting which brings in world leaders
Update 23:00 Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper was given the unusual privilege, according to news agency Canadian Press, of an honour escort guard by two Swiss military jets as he left Switzerland Friday 29 January. The jets suddenly appeared, about 30 metres from the wingtips of the Airbus A340 carrying the prime minister, his team, security guards and media. For the Canadians, the honour guard is a sign of close friendship between the two countries. The Swiss have not made an official announcement about the flight (image on CTV Canada)
Harper was in Switzerland for the Davos World Economic Forum, but he also used the visit to meet with Swiss President Doris Leuthard.
Former Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has died in a Bangkok hospital after a year-long bout with cancer, his former secretary reported 24 November. While in government, he was accused of corruption for having accepted payment for a tv show on which he cooked and commented on national affairs. He had presented the show many times in the past, but not while he was prime minister.
Samak became prime minister in 2007 after street protests that led to the ousting of Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister in 2006. His government was widely accused of being a stand-in for the ousted Thaksin, and street protests resumed. He was forced out of office after a court ruling found him guilty of conflict of interest.
An estimated 1,000 people known as Forgotten Australians were part of a large crowd that attended a ceremony in Canberra, Australia Sunday 15 November where Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologized to the estimated 70,000 people who were abused in state care from about 1930-1970, many of them part of a group of British children forced to migrate to Australia and work as forced labour on farms, some of them sexually abused as children. The British prime minister will also formally apologize in 2010 for the British forced migration policy, his office has announced.
Links to other sites: ABC, Australia, BBC, Sydney Morning Herald
Italy is again debating the question of whether Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi should be granted immunity from prosecution. The country’s top court is debating whether a law passed soon after he came to office in 2008 is constitutional. It grants the prime minister immunity from prosecution while in office. Opponents argue that no one is above the law. His supporters claim that without the protection, Berlusconi would be “distracted” from governing and may be forced to resign.
Berlusconi has been the object of several court cases involving corruption, including one where his British lawyer, David Mills, was found guilty earlier this year. Prosecutors in that case are appealing to the Constitutional Court about Berlusconi’s immunity.
In a separate corruption trial a judge ruled 5 October on a case involving his media holding company Fininvest and ordered it to pay €750 million in damages. The judge said that as the owner of the company Berlusconi was “co-responsible.” BBC, Corriere della sere (Ita), Reuters
A pre-dawn commando raid 8 September by British paratroopers to rescue two NY Times reporters from their Taliban kidnappers in Kunduz province of Afghanistan ended in the release of the British-Irish journalist, Stephen Farrell, and the death of his Afghan colleague and interpreter, Sultan Munadi. A British paratrooper, an Afghan soldier, the owner of the house the hostages were being held in, and an unidentified woman, reportedly the house owner’s sister-in-law, were also killed.
Farrell and Munadi were captured 5 September when they were in a Taliban-controlled area without a military escort investigating the airstrike on two hijacked fuel tankers ordered by Nato troops 4 September in which up to 90 people were killed, many of them civilians taking fuel from the trucks, which were stuck in the river.
The commando raid was praised by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, but some commentators say that negotiations were underway with the kidnappers, and their release was imminent. Farrell was briefly held by insurgents while working for the The Times in Iraq in 2004. The Guardian,Kansas City Star, NY Times
Lyons, France (GenevaLunch) - Ireland’s former Taoiseach (prime minister) Garrett FitzGerald, 83, and a group of 20 people, mainly family, staying with him at a chateau in Auvergne, France, have been quarantined as a precaution after several members of the party showed symptoms of flu, reports AFP. The symptoms are reportedly mild and only one person was given Tamiflu as a precautionary measure.
Turkey’s top court has ruled that the prime minister was involved in anti-secular activities. The court published the ruling, given against the PM last July, on 24 October. NYT
