28, October 2019
EU agrees to further delay Brexit until January 31 0
The European Union has agreed to grant Britain a new Brexit delay until Jan. 31 next year, EU Council chief Donald Tusk said in a Twitter post on Monday, just three days before the UK was due to exit the bloc.
“The EU27 has agreed that it will accept the UK’s request for a Brexit flex tension until 31 January 2020,” Tusk said of the idea of a “flexible extension”, which means Britain could go earlier if its fractious parliament ratifies the divorce bill.
The bloc now awaits an approval from London. Once that is in, a 24-hour countdown will start when member states can still object or else the decision will have been taken.
“This will allow for the decision to be formally adopted tomorrow,” an EU diplomat said.
An EU official warned, however, it might take as long as Wednesday, just a day before Britain would otherwise be due to leave the bloc on its current Oct. 31 deadline.
The decision came following a 30-minute meeting of the 27 EU ambassadors in Brussels after France dropped its objections that blocked the decision last week. Any delay to Brexit can only be granted unanimously by the 27 EU countries staying on together.
“The prospect of elections has strengthened significantly over the weekend,” a source close to French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier on Monday.
The third postponement of Brexit would come with conditions. They include a refusal to renegotiate their divorce agreement and giving a green light to the 27 capitals to meet without Britain to discuss the bloc’s future.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government on Sunday stepped up pressure on UK lawmakers to back an early election to break the impasse on Brexit three years after Britons voted to leave the EU.
A Downing Street source said the government would consider options including those proposed by opposition parties, after the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Liberal Democrats (LD) said they wanted a new poll on Dec. 9.
The delay envisages that Britain could also be out on Dec. 1 or Jan. 1, should parliament ratify the withdrawal agreement in November or December, respectively.
The bloc might ask London to name a candidate for the EU’s new executive European Commission, which is comprised of one representative from every member state and currently due to takeover on Dec. 1.
More than three years after Britain voted to quit the EU, the country and its parliament remain divided over how, when and even whether to leave.
The matter has triggered a spiralling political crisis in the country where Johnson is now sparring with the House of Commons over calling an early election.
For the EU, the unprecedented loss of a member is a historic setback. But the 27 are also fed up with the intractable divorce, which is sapping time, energy and political capital that should be spent on jump-starting their economies and tackling security and other challenges.
(REUTERS)
28, October 2019
Southern Cameroons Crisis: Mayor Ekema’s death triggers wild celebrations in Buea 0
The notorious Buea City Council Mayor, Patrick Ekena, has died in a La Republique hospital, a source in his native Buea has reported.
Reports of his death have triggered huge and wild celebrations in certain neighborhoods like Great Soppo and Molyko, neighborhoods inhabited by non-natives of the city.
The arrogant, uncouth and tactless mayor was noted for his clumsy ways of seeking the attention of the Yaounde political class.
Ekema, who had been found out as an academic crook, used the ruling CPDM to hide his crimes. He knew the ruling party was a crime syndicate and he made the most of it to feather his nest.
It was alleged that he had faked certificates from the University of Buea and those degrees actually helped him to rise to the prestigious position of Buea City Mayor.
Ekema has been a thorn in the side of Buea traders, given that they obeyed orders from separatists for the effective implementation of ghost town operations.
Ekema had been seeking higher political positions and he strongly held that the ideal way for him to achieve his goal was for him to frustrate the separatists whose ghost town operations had helped to cripple the city’s economy.
Confirming Ekema’s death from a native of the Southwest region, we were told that he had attended the funeral of a certain cleaner at the University of Buea and later went to BOVA, a town some five miles from Buea, for personal business.
The source added that it was being rumoured that he had been poisoned there. These are not tested allegations and without a conclusive autopsy, the rumor will continue to spread like wild fire.
However, it must be pointed out that his size was more than a lethal poison. His love of food and drinks had transformed him into “an elephant” and strokes, just like heart attacks, love those who pay little or no attention to their bulging waistlines.
Also, Ekema has been having numerous sleepless nights due to his desire to climb the political ladder at supersonic speed. His unwise involvement in the Southern Cameroons crisis was part of his strategy and this has surely cost him his life.
He saw the crisis as an opportunity for him to prove that loyalty to the ruling party pays off. From every indication, the stress of seeking social recognition and political appointment was, indeed, worse than the worst Russian biological weapon in existence.
Mayor Ekema bows out of the political scene young and bruised. He was embroiled in many scandals and these scandals went a long way in diminishing his reputation and chances at making giant strides in the political arena.
Buea has been offered another chance by nature. Ekema was an ill wind. He did not care about the city, but about his own political aggrandizement. The new city mayor will do himself a world of good by walking away from the path that Ekema had designed for the city. We hope he will find peace wherever he is today.
By Dr. Joachim Arrey