France’s former prime minister Manuel Valls announced his candidacy for mayor of Barcelona on Tuesday, ending months of speculation over his intentions to enter the race.

Valls – who has dual French and Spanish citizenship – has made regular trips to the Catalonian capital throughout the summer.

On one of his most recent visits, he took part in an event to promote Anatomia del Proces, a book examining the challenges of Catalonian independence that he wrote the preface to. He has also joined the faculty at the city’s ESADE law school for the 2018-2019 academic calendar as a professor of “Migratory Processes and Urban Geography”.

Valls’ growing presence in Barcelona – and his increasingly outspoken views against Catalonian independence – set rumours swirling that he would run in the next mayoral election in May 2019. After months of teasing his interest, Valls officially announced his intention to run on Tuesday.

“Say what you will. But only one thing matters to me, how I will be perceived in Barcelona,” Valls told French newspaper L’Express in early September.

Political woes

Reports that Valls – who served as interior minister and then prime minister under former French president François Hollande – was seeking to reinvent his political career in Barcelona first emerged in April in the Spanish media.

He has watched his political fortunes steadily wane in France ever since resigning as prime minister to run in the country’s 2017 presidential election. After a strong start, he was forced to end his campaign after losing the left-wing primaries to fellow Socialist Benoît Hamon.

Valls, however, refused to endorse Hamon for the presidency. He instead gave his support to independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, who thanked Valls but ruled out bringing him into his future government.

His presidential dreams dashed, Valls mounted a campaign to run in the country’s June 2017 parliamentary elections as a representative for the Essone region, just south of Paris. He quickly sought to join Macron’s Republic on the Move (La République en Marche or LREM) party, which was set to win a sweeping majority.

But he was left humiliated and party-less after LREM ruled that he did not “fit the criteria” to run under its banner. He was eventually allowed to campaign as a LREM “aligned” candidate, narrowly winning his circumscription by 139 votes.

‘I want to give back to Catalonia and Spain’

After a year of bitter disappointment at home, Valls refocused his attention on Spain, wading into the debate on Catalonian independence. He confirmed that he was seriously “studying” the possibility of running for Barcelona mayor in an interview with Spanish television TVE.

“I implicated myself in this debate because I was born in Barcelona,” Valls said. “I want to give back to Catalonia and Spain everything they have given me.”

The same month, he also announced his separation from his wife of eight years, French violinist Anne Gravoin. He has since been photographed with Susana Gallardo, a Catalonia native and heiress to the Almirall pharmaceutical company. The pair recently appeared on the cover of Paris Match, prompting Valls to sue the magazine for invasion of privacy.

Valls will face an uphill battle in his run for Barcelona mayor. Despite being born there he grew up in France and wasn’t naturalised as a Spanish citizen until he was 20. He will have to convince voters that his campaign is more than a last-ditch attempt to save his political career – a point his rivals have already tried to exploit.

“He failed in France so he’s coming here,” incumbent Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau told French newspaper Le Parisien.

France 24

A junior minister in the government of UK Prime Minister Theresa May has suggested that a second referendum on Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union would be a possibility if May’s Brexit strategy is rejected by the UK Parliament.

Mel Stride, a junior minister in the British Treasury, said Wednesday that if May fails to go through with her plan for Brexit in the House of Commons, the ruling Conservative Party would be forced to accept a second Brexit referendum.

“There is a danger of that happening,” said Stride. “Those to the right of the party – the pro-Brexit wing – will be very concerned that if that deal doesn’t prevail, they’ll end up in the situation where we could have a second referendum and we could end up not leaving the EU altogether.”

Less than seven months before Britain is due to officially leave the EU, May has been struggling to win support for her Brexit strategy both in the country and in Brussels.

She has faced criticism from the Tories who believe her so-called Chequers plan, which was announced in July, would make the UK even more dependent on the EU after it leaves the bloc in March.

The opposition Labour Party has also announced that it will reject a deal that would come out of Chequers.

The comments make Stride the first government minister to admit that a new Brexit referendum is possible if the prime minister’s deal is thrown out. They appeared to be an attempt to put pressure on pro-Brexit Tories to accept the Chequers proposals, or risk seeing their dream of leaving the EU disappear completely.

Senior Labour politicians, including London mayor Sadiq Khan, have been advocating the idea of a second referendum. Khan said earlier this week that people should have a final say on Brexit as May’s negotiations with the EU will either end in no deal or a bad deal.

Most EU diplomats and officials are convinced that a no-deal Brexit would “be bad for everyone, but it would be so much worse for Britain.”

“The Brexit elite are desperate to deny the people a voice on Brexit, but there is no stopping an idea whose time has come,” said Labour Party MP Alison McGovern.

Source: Presstv

Campaigns for presidential elections scheduled for October 7, are currently underway and Southern Cameroonian fighters have vowed to disrupt an election they consider as foreign.  While other candidates are on the ground canvassing for votes, the incumbent, Paul Biya has not been seen anywhere close to the voters.

Eight very dull and obedient politicians, three of them former Biya cabinet ministers and the others representing obscure political organizations known for harboring election losers – have all been added to the hitherto Biya one-man presidential voting list.

So when I asked the so-called Cameroon government spokesman and Minister of Communications, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, if there was any danger of Mr. Biya losing, he wisely replied: “This is up to the Cameroonian people.”

Ah indeed, the Cameroonian people. Crushed, humiliated, tortured, imprisoned, slaughtered, forever crying for freedom from a vicious regime.  They have been invited to participate, at the height of their agony, in a counterfeit presidential election.

In this edition of the AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE we are asking our readers to make public their opinions as regards the upcoming presidential elections if it is “A Biya Francophone Gun and ELECAM Box or a Biya’s paper victory amid a bloody war?

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai

British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would not compromise with Brussels over her plans for Brexit as a media report said rivals in her party were set to publish their own proposal calling for a cleaner break with the European Union.

With under two months before Britain and the EU want to agree a deal to end over 40 years of union, May is struggling to sell what she calls her business-friendly Brexit to her own party and across a divided country.

The EU has tentatively welcomed what has become known as the Chequers plan which is designed to protect cross-border trade, but difficult negotiations lie ahead. “I will not be pushed into accepting compromises on the Chequers proposals that are not in our national interest,” May wrote in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

“The coming months will be critical in shaping the future of our country and I am clear about my mission.”

The plan would keep Britain in a free trade zone with the EU for manufactured and agricultural goods. But some Brexit supporters have said that would mean parts of the British economy would still be subject to rules set in Brussels.

Two of May’s most senior lawmakers – Boris Johnson and David Davis – quit as foreign secretary and Brexit secretary respectively in July in protest at May’s plan, saying it did not go far enough and would let down the millions of people who voted to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum.

According to a report in the Sunday Times newspaper, leading Brexiteer lawmakers in May’s party are ready to publish their own plan for Brexit ahead of the party’s annual conference which begins at the end of September.

That would be designed to heap pressure on May who needs to get any deal with Brussels through parliamentary votes in Westminster before Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29 next year. May reiterated that Britain would be ready to leave the EU without a deal if the two sides cannot agree on the divorce terms.

(REUTERS)

In a surprising U-turn, the UK Labour Party has announced that it is open to the idea of holding a second Brexit referendum if the parliament sees it necessary.

Speaking to BBC on Wednesday Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said his party preferred to keep “all options” on the table in case the Members of Parliament (MPs) decided to vote down Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal with the European Union (EU) to finalize the country’s divorce from the bloc.

In June 2016 over half of British voters opted for leaving the EU, triggering a political storm that saw then PM David Cameron stand down and hand over the position to May, his pro-EU home secretary.

After weeks of clashes over the legalities of the exit given Scotland and Ireland’s opposition to Brexit, May was finally able to get the MPs to support her Brexit plan, allowing her to trigger the Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

“If that vote is to reject the Article 50 deal parliament must decide what happens next,” Starmer told BBC. “In those circumstances it seems to me all options should be on the table.”

He said while Labour still preferred a parliamentary vote on the deal rather than a referendum, it was the parliament that was going to decide the next step.

“But I accept the proposition that if it’s voted down parliament then decides what happens next,” he explained. “And in those circumstances in my experience of the last few years, keep your options on the table not off the table.”

A year after the referendum, May, often threatening the EU with a no-deal Brexit, announced snap general elections in the hope of winning a bigger majority in Parliament to secure her footing and reduce the possibility of a rebellion.

But the gamble didn’t pay off as Labour won more seats and the ruling Tories lost their absolute majority only to get it back by forming an embarrassing coalition with the Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

The new Parliament caused more headaches for May by scrutinizing her Brexit bill and securing the final say on the outcome of the EU talks, a concession May never wanted to make.

Throughout all this, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, also a pro-EU, remained opposed to the idea of a second referendum while calling for a soft Brexit that involved keeping some trade ties with the bloc.

An online petition by The Independent for a Final Say referendum on any Brexit deal reached by May was signed by over 700,000 people as of Wednesday morning.

Source: Presstv

A British government minister has stepped down after being exposed for sending lewd social media messages to a number of women.

After the Sunday Mirror newspaper published details of his chats with two barmaids, Small business minister Andrew Griffiths, Tory Prime Minister Theresa May’s former chief of staff, said he felt “deeply ashamed” and had already handed in his resignation letter on Friday.

“I am deeply ashamed at my behavior which has caused untold distress to my wife and family, to whom I owe everything, and deep embarrassment to the prime minister and the government,” the disgraced MP said in a statement.

“I tendered my resignation as parliamentary under secretary of state for small business on Friday,” he added.

Barmaid Imogen Treharne, 28, told the Mirror in detail how the married minister and member of parliament, whose first child was born in April, sent her over 2,000 offensive messages in just three weeks.

“I wanted him to be a nice guy, but by the end I felt dirty. I felt like I was being used for this wealthy man’s gratification,” she was quoted as saying.

The 47-year-old minister even sent the Treharne £717 in return for some explicit pictures and videos of the things she did with the other woman at his request.

“I do not seek to excuse my behavior and will be seeking professional help to ensure it never happens again,” Griffiths said. “In time I hope to earn the forgiveness of all those who put their trust in me and that I have let down so terribly.”

The MP is pending an investigation by the ruling Conservative Party and will sit in parliament as an independent.

A spokeswoman for the ministry told AFP earlier that Griffiths had stepped down “for personal reasons.”

Source: Presstv

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her rebellious interior minister have reached a compromise on a refugee dispute that threatened to disintegrate her coalition government.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, the leader of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU), told reporters after five hours of talks on Monday that he would maintain his post, saving Germany’s fragile government coalition.

He had threatened on Sunday to resign if he did not reach a deal with Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) on refugees.

“After intensive discussions between the CDU and CSU, we have reached an agreement on how we can in future prevent illegal immigration on the border between Germany and Austria,” Seehofer said late on Monday evening as he left the CDU’s Berlin headquarters.

Under the compromise, the refugees who have already applied for asylum in other European Union countries will be held in transit centers on the border while Germany negotiates bilateral deals for their return.

Merkel sounded pleased with the compromise.

“The spirit of partnership in the European Union is preserved and at the same time, an important step to order [has been taken],” the German chancellor said.

Merkel’s CDU relies on the CSU to maintain power through a coalition. The CDU/CSU bloc took 33 percent of the votes in September 2017 elections.

In March, Merkel’s conservative alliance (the CDU/CSU bloc) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) reached a coalition deal after weeks of fierce negotiations that saw Merkel relinquish the key ministry of finance, among other concessions, further weakening her hold on the government.

Both the CDU and SPD performed poorly in the general elections last year. The SPD initially resisted going into a coalition with the CDU but relented after Merkel failed to reach a deal with two lesser-known parties.

Merkel’s 2015 decision to open the doors to over a million refugees, many fleeing war in the Middle East, fueled the rise of anti-immigration parties, including the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which now threatens to unseat the CSU in regional elections scheduled for October.

Europe has faced its worst refugee crisis since World War II. The continent has been hit since 2014 by an unprecedented influx of refugees fleeing conflict-ridden zones in North Africa and the Middle East, in particular Syria.

Source: Presstv

British Prime Minister Theresa May hopes parliamentarians will support her proposal to offer them a say over a Brexit deal, according to her spokesman.

The prime minister cannot accept a competing proposal from Britain’s House of Lords because it would weaken the government’s authority to secure the best possible deal with the EU, the spokesman said on Tuesday, before a showdown in parliament over her plans to leave the European Union.

“We cannot accept the amendment on (a) meaningful vote agreed in the Lords. Agreeing to amendable motions would allow parliament to direct the government on its approach to exiting the EU, binding the prime minister’s hands and making it harder to secure a good deal for the UK,” he told reporters.

May has said that it is essential to ensure that parliament could not block Brexit.

On Sunday, May defended her way of passing the legislation that will pull Britain out of the European Union. On Tuesday, May defused a rebellion in parliament over her Brexit plans after she was forced to compromise and hand lawmakers greater control over Britain’s exit from the bloc.

May held talks with more than 14 Tory rebels in her Commons office that lasted 11 hours, giving them personal assurances that she would agree to the broad thrust of their proposals.

The premier’s concession may mean lawmakers could have more power if she fails to seal a Brexit deal, possibly resulting in a softer approach to Britain’s divorce. However, presently, MPs will not be able to send the government back into negotiations if they refuse to accept an agreement with the bloc.

The British government has faced fierce criticism both at home and by the EU for its lack of clarity on its Brexit strategy.

In Britain’s 2016 referendum, 52 percent, or 17.4 million people, voted to leave the EU while 48 percent, or 16 million, voted to stay.

Source: Presstv

The European Union is threatening to nullify any EU-UK security partnership following Britain’s exit from the bloc if the UK leaves the European Court of Human Rights.

Under plans suggested by Brussels, the EU will trigger a “guillotine clause” that will cancel any post-Brexit security partnership with London to fight crime and terrorism.

In its latest publication on a joint security partnership, the bloc has dismissed a number of the UK’s proposals in order to strike the “closest possible” security pact.

In April, the European Council announced its commitment to “establish a partnership in the field of fighting against terrorism and international crime.”

EU member states want to see the UK-EU security partnership to continue after Brexit, according to one EU diplomat. But, huge differences remain in both London and Brussels’ plans to strike such a partnership.

Both sides have stated that they are determined to find an arrangement where they can freely exchange information and support in order to combat terrorism and other crimes across the EU.

However, Brussels has scrutinized British proposals in the Commission’s latest publication on the Brexit negotiations and has proposed several stipulations for a potential deal.

The Commission demanded that in order to protect “fundamental rights,” Britain will have to remain party to the European Convention of Human Rights.

“We will not repeal or replace the Human Rights Act while the process of Brexit is underway but we will consider our human rights legal framework when the process of leaving the EU concludes,” the document said.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has been highly critical of the court in the past. The court, based in Strasbourg, France, was established by the European Convention on Human Rights.

Source: Presstv

Italy has plunged into political uncertainty after the president refused to endorse the eurosceptic pick for the post of finance minister, prompting the premier-designate to drop the mandate to form a government and pushing the country to the verge of fresh elections.

President Sergio Mattarella refused on Sunday to accept the nomination for finance minister of Paolo Savona, who had formerly said that the country’s entry into the European Union’s single currency, euro, was a “historic mistake.”

This prompted prime minister-designate Giuseppe Conte to give up his mandate to form a government, said an official from the presidential palace following talks between Mattarella and Conte.

“The uncertainty over our position has alarmed investors and savers both in Italy and abroad,” the president said in a televised speech. “Membership of the euro is a fundamental choice. If we want to discuss it, then we should do so in a serious fashion.”

Under the country’s law, the president is authorized to reject the appointment of a cabinet member.

​Mattarella said he will appoint a technocratic, or non-political, prime minister. His office later said the president has invited Carlo Cottarelli, a former senior director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for talks on Monday.

Cottarelli, 64, is widely known at home as “Mr. Scissors” for making cuts to public spending. To become prime minister, he is required to gain the approval of parliament with Five Star and the League holding a majority in both houses.

Italy – a founding member of the European Union — has been without a government since elections on 4 March and is now expected to go to the polls again later this year.

Two populist parties— far-right League and anti-establishment 5-Star Movement – which were trying for form a coalition government, responded with fury to the president’s veto of their choice and accused him of abusing his constitutional powers.

The two parties also slammed the president’s decision as “meddling” by Germany, ratings agencies and financial lobbies.

Some lawmakers within the coalition have even called on the parliament to impeach Mattarella.

League chief Matteo Salvini also threatened mass protests unless early elections were called.

“In a democracy, if we are still in democracy, there’s only one thing to do, let the Italians have their say,” Salvini said.

He also wrote in a Facebook post that “it won’t be an election, it will be a referendum between Italy and those on the outside who want us to be a servile, enslaved nation on our knees.”

Under article 90 of the Constitution, the parliament can demand that the president step down based on a simple majority vote.

If that majority is secured, the constitutional court should then make the final decision on whether to impeach the president.

If it manages to form a government, the coalition would be the first eurosceptic alliance to head a founding member state in EU history.

Five Star Movement and the League have vowed to battle the European Union over its financial and immigration policies. The two have formerly been open to the possibility of Italy holding a referendum on euro.

According to recent polls, the League, which won 17 percent of the vote in March, would surge in any early ballot, while support for 5-Star remained strong on around 35 percent.

Center-left and center-right parties, however, are said to be losing further ground in the face of high unemployment, the sluggish economy and rising poverty.

The center-right Forza Italia Party and the center-left Democratic Party (PD) both censured calls for impeachment, with former PD leader Matteo Renzi saying his party would organize street demonstrations to defend the country’s institutions.

“Today, we need people to say ‘no’ to those who want to break us apart, who make excuses rather than assuming their responsibilities, who are playing on the anxieties of others,” Renzi wrote on Facebook.

The prospect of a eurosceptic government in Rome has concerned European Union leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who are pushing for further political and economic integration.

Source: Presstv