Politics

Ambassador Hoza says Cameroon-US relations will witness a significant growth in Trump’s admin

3, December 2016

Ambassador Hoza says Cameroon-US relations will witness a significant growth in Trump’s admin 1

The U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon, Michael Stephen HOZA, has announced that Cameroon-U.S. relations will witness a significant growth in Donald Trump’s administration. He made this revelation on Friday 02 December 2016 at the Unity Palace after an audience with the Cameroonian dictator, Paul BIYA.

Ambassador HOZA said his meeting with the Head of State was aimed at reassuring Cameroonians that the U.S. will continue its trajectory with the next administration come 20 January 2017. Thus, efforts will be made to support Cameroon in; the fight against the Boko Haram terrorist group, peace and stability in the Central African Republic, and the promotion of maritime safety and security in the Gulf of Guinea.

The U.S. diplomat equally expatiated on a statement issued by the U.S. State Department on the strike actions led by Anglophone lawyers and teachers in Cameroon. He said the issue was raised during the audience and the Head of State shared the same viewpoint like him. Hence, he explained to journalists why Cameroonians need to preserve their great strength of unity in diversity, based on the principles of tolerance and dialogue.

Culled from the presidency of the republic

US: Clinton allies plot against Trump presidency

3, December 2016

US: Clinton allies plot against Trump presidency 0

The bitter 2016 US presidential race is turning into a battle even as elections are over, with the campaign aides of defeated Democratic presidential nominee vowing a four-year insurgency against incoming President Donald Trump. Clinton’s vast network of supporters, staffers and operatives, enraged by the victory of a president-elect they view as disgraceful, are plotting an anti-Trump resistance and venting with a fury they never could have expressed during the presidential campaign of their flawed and awkward candidate, Polititco reported.

“Clinton allies like David Brock have been actively recruiting Democratic donors to fund an anti-Trump movement modeled on the armada of organizations that sued, flacked, opposition-researched and insulted Clinton into a 55 percent disapproval rating,” Politico said.

“Brock and other Democratic operatives are contemplating a Freedom of Information Act barrage against the president-elect comparable to the one undertaken against Clinton by the conservative group Judicial Watch,” it added. Other left-leaning groups, including the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based advocacy organization, are looking into ways of holding Trump accountable for his job-creating promises during his campaign.

“We’re going to throw everything at him that he threw at us,” said one longtime Democratic operative active in the effort. During a discussion on Thursday at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, tensions erupted between top operatives of Trump and Clinton. The forum was intended to record history by drawing out the internal deliberations of both campaigns four weeks after the election.

There were many moments where tempers flared and advisers on the opposing sides shouted over each other, with acrimony echoing the 2016 White House race. “Hey guys, we won,” Trump Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway said at one point, challenging Clinton’s team to “accept the results of the election.” “He was the better candidate. That’s why we won.”

Trump won the US presidency despite extreme unpopularity among minorities, underscoring deep national divisions that have fuelled incidents of racial and political confrontation across the country. Large protests have erupted nationwide in response to Trump’s election victory following a contentious presidential campaign involving two of the least popular major-party candidates in recent US history.

Presstv

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two State Federation: Not a panacea

1, December 2016

Two State Federation: Not a panacea 4

Over the last month, Cameroon has been caught in a downward political spiral as students, lawyers, taxi drivers and teachers in the former Southern Cameroons take their frustrations to the streets after years of complaints and indifference on the part of the Yaoundé government. Cameroon, which for so many years, has been characterized as an oasis of peace in a chaotic and unstable region, is finally going the way of other countries in the region. Chad, Congo, DRC, CAR and Nigeria have all been theaters of violent conflicts shortly after independence, but Cameroon which is a union between East and West Cameroon also known as Southern Cameroons has enjoyed some relative peace. Though years of the Maquisard movement in East Cameroon threatened the country’s independence and unity, the country’s first president, Amadou Ahidjo, held the country together sometimes through brute force and sometimes through the carrot which he displayed to his enemies. After all, it is also possible to catch flies with honey. We don’t always have to use vinegar.

But the current political situation is threatening to tear the country apart. Anglophones or Southern Cameroonians are threatening to go their own way if the Yaoundé government continues to be deaf to their complaints. Many Southern Cameroonians are already looking at the possibility of a secession while others are thinking of a return to the pre-1972 political situation where Cameroon was a two-state federation. Many point to the political rigor that characterized Southern Cameroons. In those days, politicians were accountable to the people. The region’s parliamentary democracy was healthy and exciting and the people had a strong sense of ownership. In southern Cameroons, it was unusual for anybody to be arrested without a warrant of arrest. Senior civil servants had service cars, but after 6 p.m. all the cars had to be parked at the nearest police station. It was unacceptable for any politician to use his/her position to influence things in another department. Healthcare was within everybody’s reach and the future held a lot in store for young Southern Cameroonians. These are the type of things that are generating a lot of nostalgia among Anglophones, making them to always look back in anger. But is a two-state federation a panacea for all the issues facing Anglophones?

While the government in Yaoundé is to blame for the ugly situation playing out in the country, the leaders of the strike and those calling for a two-state federation must understand that there is no world without problems. While the political elite in Yaoundé has never paid attention to the sorry plight of the suffering masses, Anglophones must also understand that the generation of Anglophone politicians who played by the rules has completely disappeared. For Anglophone Cameroonians who are less than forty years, their knowledge of the glorious days of Southern Cameroons only comes from history books. Not many of them have practical experience of genuine and sincere democracy where the winner hardly takes it all. They may be speaking English, but the rigor and dedication that inspired faith and confidence in the population is lacking in both Anglophones and Francophones. Greed, self-interest, corruption and embezzlement that have characterized life in post-1972 Cameroon are more of a national problems than a linguistic issue. Anglophones just like their Francophone counterparts have willfully participated in the moral and political decline of a country that was once considered an earthly paradise.

Of course, federalism will be a welcome solution as it will inspire change and economic development in the various regions. It will empower the population. The ideal federalism will be a 10-region federalism that will grant power to the grassroots. While Anglophones might be having specific issues, it must be remembered that their Francophone colleagues are also victims of a political elite that thrives on divide-and-rule tactics that have spread a lot of poverty and pain in Cameroon. Cameroon is a country blessed with some of the finest human resources on the African continent, but years of misrule, corruption and indifference have seen this country export its best and brightest. This does not only affect Anglophones. Francophones like Anglophones are dealing with the consequences of an economic crisis that has been manufactured by the country’s leaders. Many are in exile and thousands want to return to their country of birth, but what will they be returning to when every well informed Cameroonian is aware of the political chaos that is hanging over the nation like the Sword of Damocles.

Besides economic hardship, both linguistic blocs are having serious infrastructure problems. Though being the lungs of the Central African region’s economy, Cameroon as a whole is bereft of modern infrastructure. Over the years, the government has been sleeping at the switch, leaving the poor people of Cameroon in the dark. Power supply in the country is at best epileptic. The roads are death traps and many have been consumed by these so-called roads. The hospitals are nothing more than consultation clinics and educational standards have taken a nosedive. Corruption is on the rise and political patronage has become the order of the day. It is every Cameroonian who is feeling the pinch of this chaos that has been engineered by a greedy political elite. The hardship manufactured by the government knows no language.

Calling for a two-state federation is like blaming all Francophones for the calamity that has befallen the country when it is common knowledge that many Anglophones have willfully participated in the man-made catastrophe that is leaving a trail of death and destruction among the people who have been reduced to sorry spectators of events in their own country. Rather than look for solutions that may turn out to be phoney, it will be smart to seek solutions that will bring prosperity and peace to a federal Cameroon that will place the people’s welfare at the center of every policy and action. While this article is not intended to discourage those seeking to right some of the wrongs of the past, it must be understood that even among Anglophones there are deep divisions which are more tribal. The rivalry between the Northwest and Southwest regions has nothing to do with linguistic differences. The fear of the Bayangi domination in the Southwest region has nothing to do with the language. The share number of Bayangs in the Southwest region clearly implies that they will dominate politics in this region for centuries. These are people who are very prolific when it comes to procreation. Their nocturnal activities have almost neutralized all the other tribes in the region. In the Northwest, such rivalries also exist. Where there are humans such unfortunate situations must exist. A ten-region federalism will not be a panacea but it will enable the people to be in control of their lives and destiny, and the tensions that exist because of linguistic differences between Anglophones and Francophones will be reduced to the barest minimum. Let anger and frustration not rule the current movement for change. It’s good to be rational and not to act on the spur of the moment. Cameroon should be a federation, but a 10-region federation.

By Dr. Joachim Arrey

SDF Senators, MPs stage protest march in Bamenda, calls for a national conference

30, November 2016

SDF Senators, MPs stage protest march in Bamenda, calls for a national conference 0

Senators and members of parliament of the Social Democratic Front, SDF have staged a protest march in Bamenda. The elected representatives say the riots of Bamenda and the other street demonstrations are the direct consequence of bad governance by the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

The SDF MPs reportedly left the National Assembly Chamber on the 28th of November which is currently examining the budget and braved the bad roads to Bamenda, the capital of the North West Region and called for the holding of a national conference.

These elected representatives of the people carried placards condemning police violence on lawyers and the students with others stating that “Federalism remains the only solution”.  Hon. Tchinda Fobi, of the Bamenda constituency was quoted as saying that the Anglophone problem is real in Cameroon and that there was an urgent need for national dialogue.

On November 27-29, 2016, the SDF Senators and MPs told Marcel Niat Njifenji, President of the Senate, and Cavaye Yéguié Djibril, President of the National Assembly, to “apprehend the major grievances of the Anglophone people”.

By Rita Akana

After Nicolas Sarkozy: Alain Juppe told “left means failure, the far-right means bankruptcy”

27, November 2016

After Nicolas Sarkozy: Alain Juppe told “left means failure, the far-right means bankruptcy” 0

Former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has won the country’s center-right party’s nomination in the presidential primary. Fillon won the vote on Sunday night, after his opponent former Prime Minister Alain Juppe conceded defeat. “France wants the truth and France wants action,” said Fillon after vowing to “reach out to all those who want to serve the country.”

“The left means failure, the far-right means bankruptcy,” he added, stressing that he would be the candidate of “all those who in their hearts are proud to be French.” Juppe conceded after initial result showed Fillon had gained the majority of the votes, winning 67 percent of the ballots with results counted from 9,193 polling stations out of 10,229. During his speech, Juppe congratulated Fillon on his “large victory” and wished him “good luck” in his campaign for France’s next year presidential elections.

Mayor of Bordeaux and candidate for the center-right primaries ahead of France’s 2017 presidential elections, Alain Juppe looks on as he delivers a speech following the first results of the primary’s second round on November 27, 2016, at his campaign headquarters in Paris.

In the first round of the primary election, which had been held on November 20, Fillon took the lead among seven candidates with 44.1 percent of the votes. Juppe garnered 28.5.

During his campaign, Fillon vowed extreme free-market reforms, a hard line stance on refugees, and closer relations with Russia.
Projections show that Fillon will face far-right National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen in the first round of the presidential election in April 2017.

Presstv

US President-elect calls Wisconsin votes recount effort a “scam”

27, November 2016

US President-elect calls Wisconsin votes recount effort a “scam” 0

US President-elect Donald Trump has denounced the effort to recount votes in Wisconsin as a “scam,” insisting voters should “accept this result and then look to the future.” The recount has been requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein. The state has until the federal deadline of December 13 to complete the recount process and announce the final results. Trump narrowly defeated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by a small margin of over 27,000 votes in Wisconsin and grabbed all its 10 electoral votes.

“This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasn’t even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount,” Trump said in a statement on Saturday. Stein has raised millions of dollars for her push in just more than a week. She has called for an audit and recount of voting results in Michigan and Pennsylvania as well over fears that hackers might have manipulated the voting machines.

“All three states were won by large numbers of voters, especially Pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes,” Trump said. “This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing,” the president-elect added. The Clinton campaign, which had kept quiet about Stein’s crusade, said it would now back her efforts to review the voting results in order to ensure a “fair” process for all involved.

“Because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves,” campaign lawyer Marc Elias said. “But now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides.” Clinton won the overall popular vote by around 2 million ballots in the Nov. 8 presidential election. However, Trump clinched most of the key battleground states in play, albeit by narrow margins.

“It is important to point out that with the help of millions of voters across the country, we won 306 electoral votes on Election Day— the most of any Republican since 1988— and we carried nine of 13 battleground states, 30 of 50 states, and more than 2,600 counties nationwide – the most since President Ronald Reagan in 1984,” Trump said in his statement. Earlier this week, speculation that electronic voting in key states might have been hacked prompted Clinton supporters to urge her to contest the election results.

Culled from Presstv

 

 

 

USA: State of Wisconsin announces recount of votes for President of the United States

26, November 2016

USA: State of Wisconsin announces recount of votes for President of the United States 0

The US state of Wisconsin has announced a statewide recount of the ballots cast in the November 8 presidential election, upon a request by Green Party nominee Jill Stein. “The [Wisconsin Elections] Commission is preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States,” the Commission’s Administrator Michael Haas said in a statement on Friday. The state has until the federal deadline of December 13 to complete the recount process and announce the final results.

Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes went to US President-elect Donald Trump, who managed to beat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by a small margin of over 27,000 votes. Stein, on the other hand, finished fourth in the race by receiving only 30,000 votes in the state and over 1 million votes nationwide. Her campaign announced on Wednesday afternoon that the candidate was seeking an audit and recount of the voting results in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, following hacking allegations.

The candidate told CNN on Tuesday that “these concerns need to be investigated before the 2016 presidential election is certified.” A fundraiser launched by the Stein campaign to finance the costs of the recount bid had returned over $5 million as of Friday. Stein has reportedly set aside $2.5 million of the money for the recounts, which may cost around $1 million in Wisconsin alone.

Under the state’s rule, Wisconsin would pay for recounts only when the winner holds a margin smaller than 0.5 percent. This is while Trump won the state with a nearly 1-percent margin. Stein’s move came days after a group of academics and election lawyers called on Clinton to challenge the results of the November 8 vote in some counties of the same Rust Belt states.

According to the group, Clinton has “underperformed” in areas using electronic ballots compared to areas with paper ballots. In Pennsylvania, Trump won by over 60,000 votes, a surprising victory that brought him 20 more electoral votes. He also won Michigan’s 15 votes by a narrow margin of over 10,000. Trump defeated Clinton 306-232 in terms of electoral votes.

Presstv

 

 

Djibouti Head of State: Seeking for notice

25, November 2016

Djibouti Head of State: Seeking for notice 0

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has dismissed unfounded claims by Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh that the Islamic Republic is interfering in the affairs of regional countries, urging him to stop implementing the commands of others. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi on Friday urged Djibouti officials to avoid “making any remarks which are basically and fundamentally at odds with existing realities” and instead rely on their “wisdom, defer to unbiased sources and steer clear of the indoctrination of agitators in the region.” He added that the Djibouti president had better stop rehashing false and baseless remarks made by others and review his one-sided statements through realism and a genuine concern for stability and the interests of regional people.

Qassemi emphasized that such “stances will never help [promote] regional peace and security and solve the Syrian, Yemeni and Bahraini crises in particular.” The Iranian spokesperson urged Guelleh to “study the history and civilization of the world, particularly the region, more precisely.” The Djibouti president on Wednesday claimed that Iran has been intervening in the affairs of many Arab countries, including Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and Iraq, inciting sectarian strife and destabilizing peace and stability in these countries. He also said that Arabs have the right to combat this alleged destructive role played by Iran in the region using various available and possible means.

Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf said on January 6 that the African country has severed its diplomatic relations with Iran, following in Saudi Arabia’s footsteps. Riyadh cut off diplomatic relations with Iran on January 3, following demonstrations held in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in the northeastern city of Mashhad by angry protesters who slammed the Al Saud family for the killing of top Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Presstv

US: Trump’s victory fueling racial divisions

23, November 2016

US: Trump’s victory fueling racial divisions 0

Donald Trump won the US presidency despite extreme unpopularity among minorities, underscoring deep national divisions that have fuelled incidents of racial and political confrontation across the country.

Trump was elected to the White House with 8 percent of the African American vote, 28 percent of the Latino vote and 27 percent of the Asian-American vote, according to the Reuters/Ipsos Election Day poll. Hispanics were the target of some of Trump’s fiercest attacks during the campaign.

Many Hispanic voters turned against the real estate mogul after he pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. Trump did not stop there and drew more fire when he proposed to make a wall on the border with Mexico.

Among Asian-Americans, Trump’s performance was the worst of any winning presidential nominee since tracking of that demographic began in 1992. During his campaign run, Trump’s polarizing comments attracted notorious white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.

A protester holds an anti-KKK sign during an anti-Trump demonstration in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 19, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

His election victory over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton set the stage for white supremacist victory celebrations, anti-Trump rallies and civil rights protests across the US.

Thousands of protesters held rallies in major US cities like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, calling on the Republican president-elect to step down over his divisive policies.

More importantly, there was an immediate spike in the number of hate crimes after the vote, according to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Attorney General Loretta Lynch warned last week that hate attacks against minorities, Muslims in particular, were rising at an “alarming rate.”

Muslim protesters demonstrate against President-elect Donald Trump at Thomas Paine Plaza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 19, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Trump’s proposals to ban all Muslims from entering the US and using special IDs to track them has been blamed as a possible reason for the Islamophoic attacks. Trump also made a case against accepting Muslim immigrants, saying they were linked to the Daesh (ISIL) terror group.

Meanwhile, the Loyal White Knights of the KKK has planned a rare event to celebrate Trump’s election in North Carolina on December 3. Anarchist groups have called for their supporters to disrupt Trump’s inauguration ceremony on January 20 and thousands of women have staged a “Women’s March on Washington” the following day.

Presstv

France: Former President Sarkozy defeated in first round of presidential primary

21, November 2016

France: Former President Sarkozy defeated in first round of presidential primary 0

France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy has bid farewell to politics after conceding defeat in the first round of the country’s right-wing presidential primary.

“I did not manage to convince the voters,” said Sarkozy during a speech to his supporters given late on Sunday after partial votes showed his loss.

His former prime minister Francois Fillon took the lead in the two-round primary, which is widely expected to decide the country’s next president.

French politician Francois Fillon, member of the conservative Les Republicains political party, delivers a speech at his campaign headquarters after partial results in the first round of the French center-right presidential primary election vote in Paris, France, November 20, 2016. 

Fillon took over 43 percent of the votes while former prime minister Alain Juppe had over 26 and Sarkozy 23 percent. Sarkozy also said that he would be voting for Fillon in next Sunday’s second round, in which only two candidates progress.   “I have no bitterness, I have no sadness, and I wish the best for my country,” he added.

French politician Alain Juppe, current mayor of Bordeaux, and member of the conservative Les Republicains political party, reacts after partial results in the first round of the French center-right presidential primary election vote at his campaign headquarters in Paris, France, November 20, 2016.

France’s center-right Republican Party kicked off its nominating contest earlier in the day to determine the party’s presidential candidate in the next year’s election.

With the French left remaining divided until now, the next French president will possibly either be the Republican nominee or the far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

Presstv

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