Politics

26, February 2018

Yaounde: French Ambassador and Angolan Foreign Affairs Minister at Unity Palace ⁰

President Paul BIYA granted two audiences at the Unity Palace on Friday 23 February 2018. The French Cameroun dictator met with the French Ambassador to Cameroun, Gilles Thibault and Angola’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Manuel Domingos Augusto.

For over two hours, Biya and the French Diplomat discussed the socio-political situations in Cameroon. Ambassador Gilles Thibault revealed to reporters after the audience that they centred their discussion on issues such as economic development, security, the violence in the North West and South West Regions, 2018 elections, and the fight against terrorism.

The Angolan Foreign Affairs Minister was bearer of a special message from President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço. Manuel Domingos Augusto explained to news men and women that it was imperative to reinforce bilateral relations between Cameroon and Angola, since the latter is undergoing political transition.

He also highlighted the necessity to consult BIYA on the March 2018 summit of the Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa (COPAX), which will be held in Libreville – Gabon.

Source: The Presidency La Republique du Cameroun

26, February 2018

German chancellor appoints outspoken critic as minister ⁰

German chancellor Angela Merkel has named a key opponent of her centrist ideas as a minister in her cabinet for a fourth term in office.

Merkel said she would appoint Jens Spahn as health minister in her new government if a coalition deal with center-left Social Democrats (SPD) is finalized.

The 37-year-old Spahn, a leading advocate of sharper conservative profile, is known for his fierce criticism of Merkel’s moderate centrist approach, especially the one Merkel applied in talks with the SPD to reach a coalition deal.

Merkel hopes a congress of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) would on Monday sign off on the deal with the SPD which should also pass the major hurdle of gaining the approval of the congress of SPD members on March 4 before it goes into action.

Senior figures from Merkel’s CDU hailed the chancellor’s decision to include people like Spahn in a future cabinet, saying it was a sign Merkel had a desire to tolerate critics in her fourth term in office.

“It’s a good sign because he is a dedicated politician who has shown for years that he is acting in the interests of this country … He will certainly be a good health minister,” said Michael Kretschmer, a member of the CDU’s right wing and leader of Germany’s state of Saxony.

In a bid to quell surging discontent in the right wing of the CDU ahead of the Monday congress, Merkel also appointed newcomers like 45-year-old Julia Kloeckner as agriculture minister; 46-year-old Anja Karliczek as education minister and 45-year-old Helge Braun as her new chief of staff.

However, Merkel stood firm with loyalists like Ursula von der Leyen, the mother of seven who would be reappointed as defense minister and also close ally Peter Altmaier who would serve as minister of economy.

Based on the coalition deal reached this month, Merkel and the CDU would have six positions to fill in the future cabinet as she should relinquish the influential portfolio of finance ministry to the SPD.

Source: Presstv

26, February 2018

Ohio governor John Kasich says US witnessing ‘the end of a two-party system’ ⁰

The Governor of the US state of Ohio John Kasich says the two-party system that has dominated US politics for over a century might be nearing its end.

“We may be beginning to see the end of a two-party system,” Kasich, a Republican, told ABC News on Sunday. “I’m starting to really wonder if we are going to see a multiparty system at some point in the future in this country because I don’t think either party is answering people’s deepest concerns and needs.”

The governor, who ran a failed bid Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential primaries, said the Republican Party was his “vehicle” and not his “master.”

However, asked would he run as an independent if he was to mount another White House bid, the 65-year-old said he would not because he was still a Republican.

He is rumored to be preparing for a possible 2020 bipartisan bid with Colorado’s Democratic governor, John Hickenlooper, as his running mate.

Kasich has been a firm critic of Trump ever since he launched his presidential campaign and defeated all Republican and Democratic candidates to become president.

An elephant, the Republican Party’s symbol, and a donkey, the which represents the Democratic Party.

He did not have high hopes for his own party in 2018, the year both Republicans and Democrats face the fateful mid-term congressional elections.

The governor predicted that Democrats were going to have a better year overall despite lacking a clear agenda.

It was this lack of agenda on both sides that could ultimately lead to a collapse of the two-party system, he further argued.

“That’s exactly why I’m saying that our young people are fed up and why I’m saying that the prospect of a multiparty system in this country is a real possibility,” Kasich said.

The Republican and Democratic Parties are able to take turns electing US presidents and controlling Congress because the American political system discourages people from supporting third parties, such as the Greens and Libertarians.

Third party candidates face major challenges in the United States, such as the failure to meet the criteria for ballot access. Due to debate access rules, they are even often excluded from participating in presidential debates.

According to political observers, the two major US political parties are heavily influenced by corporate money and the financial markets and lack the power to implement meaningful reforms in the country.

Source: Presstv

25, February 2018

Fru Ndi says Biya regime bears direct blame for Anglophone crisis ⁰

Leader of Cameroon’s main opposition party, Social Democratic Front (SDF) Ni John Fru Ndi, officially waded into the security crisis riling the country’s Anglophone regions. In a letter to addressed to President Paul Biya, the SDF leader denounced what he termed “atrocities” committed in the English-speaking areas of Cameroon by government forces.

“I must draw your attention to the daily atrocities in this part of our country (English-speaking areas),” Fru Ndi wrote in the letter. “Every day that passes, an innocent Cameroonian dies, a woman loses her husband,” he lamented.

The veteran opposition chief said he was also worried about “the rise of hate speech (between English-speaking and French-speaking Cameroonians)” which in his view “brings us closer and closer to a civil war”.

Since the outbreak of the so-called “Anglophone crisis in 2016”, many civilians and soldiers have been killed, but access to the affected areas remains difficult, making it difficult to access information on the spot.

The 77-year-old who says he is an Anglophone but against secession from Cameroon, has repeatedly blamed incumbent Biya for the crisis and the deterioration of the security situation in English-speaking Cameroon.

The government insists that the regions remain safe and secure despite guerilla style attacks that have claimed the lives of over twenty security officials.

Source: Africa News

25, February 2018

49-year-old Joshua Osih to face Biya ⁰

Joshua Osih, a 49-year-old lawmaker has been elected as flagbearer of Cameroon’s main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF). A native of the country’s southwest region, Osih is an aviation expert.

He was the overwhelming choice of delegates at the SDF congress polling 1,021 votes representing 88.4% as against 134 votes (12%) polled by his closest challenger, Forbi Nchinda. He, however, remains deputy chairperson of the party which is still led by Ni John Fru Ndi, 77, founder of the SDF.

Ndi who was the party’s candidate in the last election said he was leaving the stage for younger politicians at the party’s congress held in capital of the northwest region of Bamenda.

“I will not present my candidature for the Presidential election, I want you to chose who is best to be the flag bearer,” Ndii told delegates.

Cameroon has a busy electoral year in which they are set to pick senators in late March, 2018. The elections will in effect mark the start of a busy electoral calender as it is set to be followed by council, legislative and presidential elections later this year.

The respective dates are yet to be determined by the President. President Biya, 85, is expected to seek a mandate extension after over three decades in charge of the Central African country. His regime has faced secession threats in the predominantly Anglophone regions – northwest and southwest.

Source: Africa News

24, February 2018

Most Americans have grim outlook on US direction ⁰

A majority of Americans think the direction of the United States has worsened over the last year, mainly due to a surge in racism and violence fueled by President Donald Trump, according to a new survey.

Some 53 percent say the country’s overall direction is pretty grim, despite improvements in the economy, according to a poll released Friday by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Despite that gloomy outlook, Americans are more likely to see the US economy as having improved rather than worsened in the past 12 months, 39 percent to 24 percent, the poll found.

“Well, I hold a job again,” said 67-year-old David Peterson of Torrance, California, a quality assurance manager at an aerospace company who was forced to work at a security job for a year. “But recent events would point toward things getting worse. … It’s a lot of violence in the news. A lot of violence in the country. A lot of natural disasters.”

Americans’ view of the nation has darkened in the 13 months since Trump took office, amid devastating mass shootings, a deadly race riot in Charlottesville, Virginia, record-setting hurricanes and Trump’s volatile White House and his feud with North Korea.

The poll also found that most people, nearly two-thirds, continue to disapprove of how Trump is handling his job as president, while just 35 percent approve.

Even among Democrats, just 8 percent of whom say they approve of how Trump is handling his job overall, 21 percent say they approve of his handling of the economy. Among Republicans, three-quarters approve Trump’s overall performance while 82 percent back his performance on the economy.

A recent US poll released last month showed that most Americans think Trump’s first year in office was a failure and that he has divided the nation.

Trump ended his first year in office in January with the lowest average approval rating of any elected president in his first year.

Source: Presstv

24, February 2018

President Ayuk Tabe aide says UN Secretary General is Biya’s henchman ⁰

A top adviser to the detained President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has dubbed the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres as a “henchman” of France and by extrapolation La Republique du Cameroun after he expressed support for the fake dialogue called for by President Biya.

The President Ayuk Tabe aide who opted for anonymity told Cameroon Concord News that the deliberate silence maintain by Mr. Guterres ever since he met the French Cameroun dictator in Paris, France demonstrates an absurd sophistry inappropriate to his duty as secretary general of the United Nations.

Discussing the long-running Southern Cameroons crisis, Guterres has only echoed the position of France and French Cameroun in resolving the conflict. Southern Cameroonians had denounced remarks made by Guterres and the Secretary General of the Commonwealth as ill-minded.

The UN Security Council is yet to apply sanctions on the Biya regime over its genocide campaign that has claimed the lives of hundreds of Southern Cameroonians. We gathered that the UN was responsible for the abduction and subsequent extradition of the Ambazonia Interim Government in Abuja, Nigeria.

By Chi Prudence Asong

23, February 2018

Lebanese Prime Minister receives Cameroon Presidential Candidate ⁰

The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri received this evening at the “Center House” the candidate for the Presidential elections in Cameroon, barrister Akere Muna heading a delegation.

After the meeting, Akere Muna said: “The relations between the Lebanese residing in Africa and the countries they are living in must be upgraded to an institutional level. As a Presidential candidate in my country, we must find ways to raise this relationship to this level, especially with the challenges that Lebanon faces at this stage.”

Earlier, Hariri chaired at the Grand Serail the meeting of the Ministerial Committee tasked with studying the draft budget. The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani, Ministers Ali Hasan Khalil, Michel Pharaon, Mohamed Fneich, Jamal Jarrah, Raed Khoury, Ayman Choucair and Youssef Fenianos and the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers Fouad Fleifel.

After the meeting, Minister Khalil said: “We completed most of the items of the budget draft, including some of the reform related items and we will continue the discussions with numbers on Monday.” He added: “If the political forces and the representatives of the committee bear their responsibility and if we work on decreasing the numbers to be able to reduce the deficit, this will be very important.”

He said: “New taxes were not discussed, contrary to what was said today, and the issue that was raised during the meeting had to do with increasing the electricity tariff when it would be supplied 24 hours a day. There are no numbers from outside the draft and all expenses should be from within the budget.”

Source: NNA

23, February 2018

SDF Congress: Joshua Osih’s coronation is on track ⁰

As the Congress of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) enters its second day, many analysts and SDF supporters are already agreeing that Joshua Osih is on his way to becoming the SDF’s presidential candidate in the upcoming presidential elections in Cameroon.

Though Barrister Mbah Ndam is also in the race, indicators about his success are trending low, as most delegates agree that it is time for a generational change within the party that almost brought down the ruling CPDM in 1992 presidential elections which, many say, was won by the emblematic SDF Chairman, John Fru Ndi, although Mr. Biya was granted the victory by a supreme court that was mainly composed of his supporters.

Speaking to a delegate who elected anonymity at the Congress Center on Friday, February 23, 2018, our correspondent in Bamenda gathered that almost all the delegates were looking in the same direction.

“We seem to be in for a coronation. Joshua Osih appears to be more popular with the delegates than any other candidate. We trust him and he has what it takes to give the ruling CPDM a good run for its money. Besides, many young Cameroonians want to see new faces in the political arena. Cameroonians are tired of seeing the same old people who have been in the corridors of power for more than five decades. They want change, I mean real change and we of the SDF believe that a younger and fresher face will bring us more votes,” the delegate said.

“We are in good spirit here at the Bamenda Congress Center. We initially thought the congress would not hold here in Bamenda following threats by unknown armed groups. The groups are mad at us because they hold that we are collaborating with the government. But that is not true. We want to bring the Anglophone problem to the National Assembly and if Cameroonians give us a chance at the upcoming elections, we will be able to address this issue. We think federalism will be able to address some of the issues Anglophones have raised. We do not need bloodshed in our country. Anglophones have legitimate grievances and those grievances must be addressed and the SDF is willing and capable of addressing those grievances in a federal system,” the delegate stressed.

He added that “the atmosphere is very conducive with more than 2,500 delegates coming from the ten regions.The elections of NEC members will soon take place while that of the presidential candidate will take place tomorrow.”

Speaking yesterday during the opening session, the SDF Chairman used the occasion to deliver his policy speech. Chairman Fru Ndi said he would not stand for presidential elections,but would hand the baton to a young man who resembled his father. This statement was interpreted by many delegates as implying that he was referring to Mr. Osih who is the youngest of the candidates and whose candidacy has been approved by both Anglophones and Francophones.

A highlight of the event was when Mr. Osih’s campaign materials arrived the congress hall today morning. The posters and calendars caused commotion as all the delegates rushed to have copies. As at the time of producing this report, no photos or campaign material of the other candidates had been seen anywhere close to the Congress Center and this is causing many delegates to hold that the young Osih is heading for a landslide.

It should be recalled that this congress is taking place amid high tension as unknown armed groups in the region had threatened to disrupt the event following criticisms by Mr. Fru Ndi, of the Southern Cameroons struggle for independence.

To ensure that the congress takes place as scheduled, the Yaounde government is providing top security to Mr. Fru Ndi, a situation that has further fueled rumor that he is playing ball with Mr. Biya. Even the location of the event is heavily guarded, as the armed groups are determined to wreak havoc.

It should be recalled that the Biya government that is providing security for the SDF today, was the same government that had maimed and killed many young SDF supporters in 1990 when the political party was launched because the Biya regime felt threatened that multiparty politics could sweep it out of power. It therefore declared the party launch illegal, creating a chaotic situation that resulted in the arrest and detention of many SDF supporters.

Similarly, due to threats, the SDF congress location has been changed as the owners of the previous locations were scared that their property could be burnt down or destroyed. The SDF has been seeking to bring the Southern Cameroons crisis to the floor of the National Assembly, but the ruling CPDM has been blocking all efforts at seeking institutional solutions to the Anglophone crisis.

The SDF has taken the threats of the armed groups seriously. It should be recalled that last week, the Batibo Divisional Officer was kidnapped and taken into a thick forest and attempts by government officials to locate him have been futile. Not even his body has been located even when rumor had swirled that he had been killed. For now, it is believed that he is being held by Anglophone separatists who are seeking to restore their independence from the Republic of Cameroon.

It is worth mentioning that the SDF is known to be in favor of a federal system in Cameroon and the party chairman as well as other officials have always chided the government for mismanaging a problem that has metamorphosed into a crisis that has already consumed more than 500 lives, including both civilians and soldiers.

Despite the increasing tension, many political analysts hold that the SDF congress is necessary, as it will enable the party to choose its candidate for this year’s presidential election. Many Cameroonians – both Francophones and Anglophones – hold that a new political class must emerge, as the old one has been a huge disappointment to the people.

For now, there are two outstanding candidates seeking the party’s top job. Joshua Osih and Barrister Mbah Ndam. So far, echoes from the congress give to understand that it is a coronation for Mr. Osih who is very much respected in the country.

Mr. Joshua Osih is smart, bilingual, and patriotic, and he understands the people’s plight. After serving for long as his party’s vice-president and parliamentarian, Mr. Osih believes that this is the right time to help pull the country out of the political mess created by the Biya government.

His possible coronation will come as a relief to many young Cameroonians who clearly hold that it is time to walk away from the ineffective and inefficient gerontocracy that has brought pain and death to many Cameroonians. Many young Cameroonians hold that the country needs younger hands to transform the country’s economic and political landscape and Joshua Osih has a safe pair of hands.

It is also widely believed that his understanding of both Francophone and Anglophone cultures makes him the ideal candidate for the post of president in a country that might implode if the right person does not step in. His moderate stance on many issues has earned him the respect of the entire nation.

Joshua Osih’s time has come. He is being considered as the comprise candidate even by Anglophones who have clearly demonstrated their frustration with the Yaounde government. Cameroon needs to heal and only someone with Joshua Osih’s temperament and charisma will be able to help the country walk away from its ugly past.

By Fosuh Tamajung and Betek Kingsley in Bamenda, with contributions from Soter Agbaw-Ebai in the United Kingdom.

23, February 2018

Australia’s scandal-hit deputy PM resigns ⁰

Australia’s scandal-hit deputy leader Barnaby Joyce announced Friday he was quitting and moving to the backbench amid claims of sexual harassment and controversy over an affair with a now-pregnant former aide.

Joyce, whose National Party rules alongside Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberals, has been front-page news in Australia for two weeks since it emerged he had left his wife of 24 years for his younger former media adviser, who is now expecting their baby boy.

The 50-year-old had insisted he would ride out the storm but his position became untenable on Friday when a sexual harassment complaint against him, which he denies, was lodged with the party.

“I will say on Monday morning at the party room (meeting), I will step down as the leader of the National Party and deputy leader of Australia,” Joyce said at a press conference in Armidale, his country New South Wales electorate.

Joyce was due to be the acting prime minister this week with Turnbull meeting US President Donald Trump in Washington, but opted to take leave.

With Foreign Minister Julie Bishop also out of the country, the role has been assumed by Senate leader Mathias Cormann, who said ahead of Joyce’s decision that any harassment claim must be taken seriously.

“Any allegation of sexual harassment is a very serious allegation,” he told reporters.

Joyce called the allegation “spurious and defamatory” and said he wanted it investigated by the authorities.

“I have asked that that be referred to the police,” he said, while admitting it had been “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

His decision to quit came with colleagues reportedly growing increasingly frustrated with his handling of the love-child scandal.

Joyce had opted to give several media interviews this week, at a time when he was expected to be on leave and out of the spotlight and two of the party’s backbenchers had publicly called on him to resign.

A furious Turnbull, who relies on the smaller National Party to govern, slapped a formal ban on sex between cabinet members and their staff in the wake of the Joyce affair.

He twice declined to offer support for his deputy when asked by reporters in Washington on Thursday.

Junior Nationals minister David Gillespie has indicated he would be a candidate for the vacancy, while reports said Veterans Affairs Minister Michael McCormack had significant backing.

The new Nationals leader will automatically become deputy prime minister, under a coalition agreement between the two major parties of the center-right.

The daily media headlines on the scandal have riveted the Australian public and sparked debate about workplace culture amid the global #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.

But it has also highlighted the perilous state of the coalition government, which just a few months ago survived a crisis over lawmakers’ dual citizenship that threatened its wafer-thin parliamentary majority.

(Source: AFP)