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Tag: opposition

  • Opposition alliance: Mamata, Akhilesh likely to meet in Kolkata

    Opposition alliance: Mamata, Akhilesh likely to meet in Kolkata

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    Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav are likely to meet in Kolkata on Friday to discuss opposition unity for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Trinamool Congress sources said.

    According to the sources, the two leaders, at the meeting at Banerjee’s residence at Kalighat in south Kolkata, are likely to discuss possibilities of having a grand opposition alliance against the BJP but without involving Congress in that initiative.

    “Akhilesh Yadav will be attending a national working committee of his party at a hotel in Kolkata on Friday. After attending that meeting, he is likely to go to the Chief Minister’s residence at Kalighat at around 5 p.m. Before that on the same afternoon, the chief minister has convened a meeting of the core committee of her party at 3 p.m. which will also be attended by Trinamool Congress’s national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee,” said a senior member of the West Bengal cabinet who refused to be named.

    Last week, leaders of eight opposition parties, including Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi complaining that the central agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate are specially targeting the opposition parties in the country in a biased manner. However, there was no signatory from Congress or the Left parties in that letter.

    On Monday on the occasion of the last day of the extended budget session of the West Bengal Assembly, a motion was passed condemning the hyperactive role of the central agencies in West Bengal. Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay observed that if the central agencies decide to take any action against any member of the house, the office of the Speaker should be intimated first. However, when that motion was passed none of the opposition BJP legislators were present within the house.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • PDP will not remain silent about BJP’s onslaught on opposition parties: Mehbooba Mufti

    PDP will not remain silent about BJP’s onslaught on opposition parties: Mehbooba Mufti

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    Poonch: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said his party would not remain silent about the alleged onslaught of the BJP on the opposition parties in pursuit of its goal of “making India a BJP Rashtra”.

    The former chief minister said the gloomy faces of the people speaks about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, where thousands of youths have been jailed and an atmosphere of fear has been created.

    “I want to ask all political parties in the country to wake up as what happened to J&K (after 2019) is finally reaching their necks.

    You preferred to remain silent or speak in a half-hearted manner but we will not remain silent and will fight not only for ourselves but for you as well,” Mehbooba said addressing a public meeting in the border district of Poonch.

    The PDP leader, who is currently on a three-day tour of Pir Panjal region, said she was warning that BJP has turned J&K into a laboratory to experiment its policies before their implementation in other parts of the country.

    “The opposition parties in the country did not understand what was happening to us. Today when the BJP is trampling democracy by jailing opposition leaders with the help of the Enforcement Directorate and CBI, they have started feeling the heat,” she later told reporters.

    She said the abrogation of Article 370 was unconstitutional but majority of the leaders stayed silent. “I am of firm belief that we will get back Article 370 with interest. They will come and ask what else you want.”

    Referring to the slapping of Public Safety Act (PSA) on political leaders including her and two other former chief ministers, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba said J&K was turned into a jail and an atmosphere of fear was created to silence the people.

    Mehbooba said they are not in favour of making India a “Hindu Rashtra” but their policies are aimed at making it a “BJP Rashtra” where everyone who aligns with them will be welcomed.

    She also opposed the property tax and hiring of a previously black listed company by the J-K administration to fill vacancies in different government departments and said the youth are the worst sufferers of the policies of the administration.

    The PDP chief said from Lt Governor to bureaucrats, everyone has been brought from outside and they (BJP) are claiming to install a chief minister from Jammu.

    “Had they been serious, they would have installed a Lt Governor from Jammu or at least one of his advisors but they only believe in hoodwinking the public to get votes,” she said.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Opposition misguiding war widows on scheme for martyrs’ families: Ashok Gehlot

    Opposition misguiding war widows on scheme for martyrs’ families: Ashok Gehlot

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    Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday defended the benefits reserved for the martyrs’ families under a state scheme saying that the BJP leaders are misguiding the people and maligning the image of Rajasthan.

    “The kind of package given by Rajasthan government to the war widows, be it of the Pulwama, Balakot, or Kargil, doesn’t exist anywhere in the country. I had brought the package when I was chief minister around 25 years back,” Gehlot told reporters after attending a programme.

    He said that under the package the martyrs’ families are allotted land and housing, schools are named after martyrs, and jobs are kept reserved for their children.

    The Chief Minister’s remarks came on the heels of a protest being waged by three war widows, who have been demanding a change in rules so that their relatives and not just children can get government jobs on compassionate grounds.

    “Why are they asking for jobs after four years? The incident happened in 2019 but there was no demand then and now suddenly after four years the issue is raised. They (BJP leaders) are misguiding the people and maligning the image of Rajasthan,” Gehlot on Sunday said.

    “If they (BJP leaders) continue to act in such a manner, then people will give them a befitting reply. We are giving a good package to martyrs’ families. How can they ask for jobs for someone else other than the children,” he said.

    The CM said that he had met the war widows on Saturday who said they want jobs to be reserved for their children.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • As cases against opposition leaders pile up, BJP gets campaign issue for 2024

    As cases against opposition leaders pile up, BJP gets campaign issue for 2024

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    Patna: Corruption has been a plank for BJP to further its political goals. It happened in the run up of 2014 Lok Sabha election and it appears to be happening in the run up to 2024 Lok Sabha election as well.

    The recent raids on Lalu Yadav’s family and the way former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was sent to jail allegedly for liquor scam, corruption will be a core issue for BJP to raise in the Lok Sabha election 2024.

    “BJP is afraid of its position in Bihar. It is the only opposition party in the state. Moreover, the caste equation is not favourable for it. Hence, pressurising the opposition parties and eliminating their prominent leaders from the politics is the only ploy left for BJP,” said Mritunjay Tiwari, national spokesperson of RJD.

    “The Narendra Modi government has completely failed in the last 9 years. Hence, it is using constitutional agencies to target opposition leaders. We will remember it. They are not born to rule the country for their entire life. Political turn around will happen,” Tiwari said.

    In the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election, BJP arrived in the corridor of power by bringing up alleged irregularities in sale and purchase of lands. At that time, Robart Vadra was the target. In 2024, the target is shifted to Yadav family and Manish Sisodia.

    Why is BJP afraid of Bihar?

    Over the years, BJP has been contesting elections in Bihar behind the face of Nitish Kumar. Now, Nitish Kumar, in a bid to save his own party, teamed up with RJD last year.

    It has put an established leader like Sushil Kumar Modi aside after the 2020 assembly election, and brought Tar Kishore Prasad and Renu Devi as his substitutes. BJP top leadership realised that Sushil Kumar Modi is the one leader who could bat on the bumpy pitch of Bihar. Modi is spearheading in Bihar to target Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav.

    Sushil Modi justified Friday’s ED raids on Lalu’s family. He asked Tejashwi Yadav to reveal how he owned a luxury house in the upscale locality of Delhi at such a young age. At 29, Tejashwi Yadav was the owner of 52 properties.

    “Instead of answering these questions, he and other members of the family are crying foul,” Modi said.

    “There are two persons responsible for the plight of Lalu Prasad Yadav and they are Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and JD-U national president Lalan Singh. They have provided the documents of IRCTC lands for the jobs scam to CBI. Lalan Singh was the one who had discovered this scam in 2008 and also wrote a letter to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,” Modi said.

    In 2019, BJP along with JD-U had given an impressive show by winning 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats and one seat went to Congress party. In that election, BJP contested the poll on the face of Nitish Kumar in Bihar.

    Shivanand Tiwari, the vice president of RJD told IANS: “BJP is turning out to be politically bankrupt in the country. They never talk about real issues like price rise, unemployment, farmers related issues, education, health etc. Hence, they have only one option: communalise the society to win elections and remain in power.”

    “The situation of BJP in states like Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Tamilnadu and other non-BJP ruled states are not impressive at the moment. BJP think tanks believe that mission 2024 may take a big jolt if the party would not perform well in these states,” he said.

    Non BJP ruling states will hold the key in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll.

    At present, BJP has to take on Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav in Bihar, Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Navin Patnaik in Odisha, Hemant Soren in Jharkhand, Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh, Ashok Gahlot in Rajasthan, Arvind Kejriwal-Bhagwant Mann in Delhi and Punjab, Sharad Pawar-Udhav Thakeray in Maharashtra, KCR in Telangana, M.K. Stalin in Tamilnadu and left parties in Kerala. Recently, Tejashwi Yadav met Hemant Soren, Arvind Kejriwal, and M.K. Stalin in a bid to unite the opposition parties.

    These states and the leaders are holding the key in Lok Sabha election 2024 as West Bengal is having 42 Lok Sabha seat and Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is in power, Rajasthan and Chatishgarh have Congress governments and they respectively have 25 and 11 seats.

    In Jharkhand, JMM led by Hemant Soren is in power with 14 seats. Kerala has 20 Lok Sabha seats and the Left is ruling the state. In Telangana, KCR is ruling the state with 17 seats. DMK led by Stalin has a government in Tamil Nadu and it has 39 Lok Sabha seats.

    In Punjab, AAP government is ruling with 13 seats. YSR Congress led by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has 25 seats. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav are the big challengers in the 40 seats of the state.

    So, a total of 228 Lok Sabha seats fall under these states ruled by opposition parties where BJP leaders cannot influence the government machinery for the political benefits during Lok Sabha election 2024.

    Besides, Maharashtra is another state where the influence of NCP leader Sharad Powar cannot be ruled out. Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats.

    After the Maharashtra government changed, BJP has the upper hand in the Lok Sabha election.

    At present, BJP is wielding power in big states like Uttar Pradesh with 80 Lok Sabha seats. Besides, Uttar Pradesh, BJP is ruling in Karnataka with 28 Lok Sabha seats, Madhya Pradesh with 29 seats, 26 in Gujarat, Assam with 14 seats, 10 in Haryana, 5 in Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh has 4 seats. So the total reached 196 Lok Sabha seats.

    The BJP think tank knew that law and order is a state subject and BJP can influence the state machinery for its political benefits. The change of government in Maharashtra has given an edge to BJP as it can directly influence government machinery in 244 Lok Sabha seats.

    BJP won 303 seats in 2019 and formed the government at the Centre. Hence, JD-U national president Lalan Singh is claiming to cut 44 seats of BJP from Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand, it would tumble below 260 seats. In that case anything can happen. BJP won 17 seats from Bihar and 16 seats from West Bengal and 11 seats from Jharkhand in 2019.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Iran-Saudi Agreement: Why Israel Opposition Sees It A ‘Dangerous Development’?

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    SRINAGAR: As expected, the Tehran-Riyadh restoration of ties with Beijing’s help has led triggered a serious debate the world over. With most of the countries supportive of the agreement, a general perception is that the USA, the world’s most powerful nation, has been side-lined by an emerging China.

    US President Joe Biden with MbS of Saudi Arabia
    US President Joe Biden with MbS of Saudi Arabia on July 15, 2022. They barely shook hands.

    The most vociferous reaction has come from Israel where senior opposition leaders have termed the agreement Tel Aviv’s failure.

    “The restoration of relations between the Saudis and Iran is a serious and dangerous development for Israel that represents an Iranian diplomatic victory. It represents a critical blow to efforts to build a regional coalition against Iran,” Naftali Bennett, Israel’s former Prime Minister was quoted as saying by Times of Israel. “This is a resounding failure of the Netanyahu government and is the result of a combination of diplomatic neglect, general weakness and internal conflict in the country.”

    Bennett was not alone. Yair Lapid, also a former Prime Minister also termed the agreement as “a complete failure” for Israel, calling it “a collapse of our regional defensive walls that we had been building against Iran.”

    Iran and Saudi Arabia, barely separated by a 150-mile distance were representing two extremes in the Middles East. They were literally rivals in most of the conflict areas in the region. Besides, they were using Shia-Sunni sectarianism as part of their foreign policy in other Muslim countries.

    1Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to resume diplomatic relations after four days of intensive previously undisclosed talks in Beijing. Photo Chinese foreign ministry e1678465894546
    Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to resume diplomatic relations after four days of intensive previously undisclosed talks in Beijing.

    Israel, it may be recalled here had normalised relations with Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates in 2020. The agreement with Iran came as Tel Aviv was negotiating a relationship with Riyadh. While these efforts are likely to continue, the possibility of kicking Tehran out of the frame may not be possible. Israel sees Tehran as its enemy and dislikes its nuclear programme and Riyadh was almost thinking on the same terms. This had led to a sort of coalition with the Middle East excluding Iran. The agreement is expected to change that.

    Israel apart, the response from almost every other power centre has been positive. Some Western countries including USA and France have responded to the development with a bit of caution.

    “United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric expressed the gratitude of the United Nations Secretary-General to China for hosting the recent talks, and the United Nations Secretary-General welcomed the efforts of other countries in this regard, especially the Sultanate of Oman and Iraq,” Saudi Press Agency reported. “The UN spokesperson also stated that good neighbourly relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran are necessary for the stability of the Gulf region.”

    In Brussels, the European Union (EU) has also welcomed the agreement.

    “Generally speaking, we welcome any efforts to help end the war in Yemen and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region. De-escalation and diplomacy together with deterrence are key pillars of the policy President Biden outlined during his visit to the region last year,” US NSA spokesperson John Kirby was quoted as saying. “The Saudis did keep us informed about these talks that they were having, just as we keep them informed on our engagements, but we weren’t directly involved.”

    President Xi Jinping with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Mbs in Riyadh on December 9 2022
    President Xi Jinping with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (Mbs) in Riyadh on December 9, 2022

    When asked by reporters, Biden said: “Better relations between Israel and their Arab neighbours are better for everybody.”

    What is interesting, however, is that the agreement is being seen as a side-lining of the US in the region. A general impression is that the US was selling arms to fuel the conflicts in the region and, instead, China used trade to get the rivals closer.

    Major Development: China Brokers Peace Between Iran and Saudi Arabia

    The agreement is expected to have a cooling effect on at least three ragging conflicts in the region. In Yemen, Iran was supporting Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabi was funding the exiled government. In Lebanon, Iran was backing Hezbollah and Riyadh money was surviving the Sunni political class. The two countries were the proxy players in Suria where Iran supported President Bashar Assad and Riyadh was closer to the rebels.

    Analysts believe t is too early to predict a major shift as the parties will have to work on the agreement. The divisive politics in the region has been played for such a long time that converting it into peace will take a long time. Those unhappy can contribute to making the agreement evaporate.

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    ( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

  • JK leaders will meet National Opposition Leaders; Election Commission in Delhi: Dr Farooq Abdullah

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    Jammu, Mar 11: Ahead of resumption of parliament session, Member Parliament and president National Conference, Farooq Abdhulla on Saturday said that a delegation of Jammu and Kashmir’s opposition parties will leave for national Capital Delhi and apprise all national political parties about the situation in the Union Territory.

    Addressing a press conference at his Jammu residence, Dr Abdullah, as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that uncertainty prevails in Jammu and Kashmir after union government changed its status and took over all its affairs.

    He said the delegation of Jammu and Kashmir will apprise national leadership about the ground situation in J&K and uncalled delay in starting the democratic process.

    “After day-long deliberations with all opposition parties we decided to leave for Delhi and call all national leaders to apprise them about the condition of Jammu and Kashmir,” Dr Abdhullah said, adding, “The delegation will also meet Election Commission of India over the delay in conducting the elections.”

    He further added that on one had Prime Minister and all sections of Government of India claimed that situation has improved in the Jammu and Kashmir, while in May G20 meetings also planned in the UT. “So, we don’t understand the delay in conducting the assembly elections,” the NC chief said.

    Dr Abdullah added that JK delegation apprised the national leadership about issues like land eviction drive, recruitment scams, imposition of taxes so they understand “our issue and raise it appropriately in upcoming parliament session”.

    Dr Abdhullah was flanked by former minster and National Panther’s Party Leader, Harshdev Singh, JK Congress Chief Viqar Rasool Wani, former Minister and Congress Vice President Raman Bhalla, DDC member and AAP leader Taranjit Singh Tony, former MLA M Y Taragami and others, JK Shiv Sena President Manish Sahwany, PDP leader Amrik Singh Reen

    “Property tax or any another tax is the right of assembly not the bureaucratic rules. Government should conduct elections and also respectfully return our statehood. This is a temporary arrangement and permanent arrangement is assembly, that why we are saying restore assembly let people decide about tax,” he added.

    Dr Abdullah said that we will discuss the issue of unemployment, compulsion of conducting recruitment to blacklisted company, property tax and others.

    On invitation to DPAP president Gulam Nabi Azad, Dr Abdhulla sad that he yet not be invited but doors has been opened for all.

    It is worthy to mention that Parliament’s Budget Session was commenced in January. It observed recess from February 14 till March 12 to enable the department related Parliamentary Standing Committees to examine the Demands for Grants and make reports relating to their Ministries/ Departments.

    The proceeding of session will commence again on March 13, ahead of which JK opposition likely to meet senior opposition leaders of the country—(KNO)

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    ( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

  • Opposition parties raise questions over UP encounters

    Opposition parties raise questions over UP encounters

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    Etawah: Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati expressed disquiet Tuesday over recent police encounters in Uttar Pradesh, with Yadav saying that one of the sons of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed might also be gunned down soon.

    Two men allegedly linked to the murder of Umesh Pal, the key witness in the 2005 murder case of former BSP MLA Raju Pal, have been killed in two police encounters in the last 10 days.

    Umesh Pal and his police security guards Sandeep Nishad and Raghvendra Singh were shot dead on February 24 outside his home in Prayagraj’s Dhoomanganj.

    Based on a complaint lodged by Umesh Pal’s wife Jaya Pal, a case was registered at Dhoomanganj police station against Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others.

    Speaking to reporters in Etawah’s Saifai, Yadav claimed, “There is pressure on the police from the top to kill whoever they find. Whoever gets caught will be killed. Both sons of Atiq Ahmed were caught by the police on the very first day. One of them will be killed in the coming days… You all will see.”

    “When our Constitution gives a man the fundamental right to live, then you cannot take someone’s life. There is no other way than the legal way. Those who carry out fake encounters are booked for murder,” he said.

    Two other accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, Arbaaz and Vijay Chowdhary alias Usman, were killed in encounters with the police on February 27 and March 6 respectively.

    Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati asked if the Uttar Pradesh government will follow the rule of law or eliminate criminals on the streets.

    Without directly mentioning the encounters, Mayawati said, “The police action which has come before the public following the killing of Umesh Pal in Prayagraj has raised suspicion among people if the government will conduct another ‘Vikas Dubey episode’ to cover up its failures.”

    Vikas Dubey, a Kanpur gangster, was shot dead in an encounter in 2020.

    In another tweet in Hindi, the BSP chief said, “The UP government is under a lot of tension and pressure, especially regarding the law and order situation after the murder of Umesh Pal, the witness in the Raju Pal murder case.”

    But the entire country is watching if the government will follow the rule of law to control crime or punish the criminals by eliminating them on the streets, she added.

    Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, however, said the police action in the Umesh Pal murder case is praiseworthy and it is wrong to raise questions over it.

    “The statement given by Professor Ram Gopal Yadav ji in favour of the murderers of Umesh Pal and the security personnel is an irresponsible one. The SP’s real character is to give patronage to criminals and increase their confidence.

    “This is the beginning of the dirty politics of Muslim appeasement. The action taken by the police in this case is praiseworthy and it is wrong to raise questions over it,” the deputy chief minister said in a tweet in Hindi.

    On Monday, Ahmed’s family held a press conference in Prayagraj and expressed apprehension that he, his brothers and sons would be killed in a fake encounter by the police and requested Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for help.

    There are reports that Ahmed, who is currently lodged in a Gujarat jail, will be brought to Uttar Pradesh for the investigation into the Umesh Pal murder case.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Opposition come out in Lalu’s support against CBI interrogation

    Opposition come out in Lalu’s support against CBI interrogation

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    New Delhi: The opposition has come out in support of Lalu Prasad and his family after the CBI on Monday reached at the residence of former Chief Minister Rabri Devi.

    Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress General Secretary, said, “Those opposition leaders who have not bowed down against BJP are being subjected to harassment through ED and CBI. Today, they are torturing Rabri Devi while Lalu Prasad and his family are being harassed for years because they did not bow down. BJP wants to crush the opposition voice.”

    Independent MP Kapil Sibal too slammed the CBI for interrogating former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi.

    Sibal said that it is being done to pressurise Lalu Prasad.

    “The CBI heat is on Lalu Prasad. We all know the fragile state of his health. To pressurise Tejashwi, the more the government does this, the more the people will turn against this government,” Sibal said in a tweet.

    The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told IANS that it was not any raid or search operation, but the team paid a visit to the house of the former Bihar Chief Minister for further investigation in connection with the land for job scam involving former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and others.

    The opposition leaders accused the CBI of conducting raids ahead of Holi.

    In this case, Rabri Devi, Lalu Prasad and others have been summoned by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue District Courts to appear before it on March 15. The CBI has got the prosecution sanction against Lalu Prasad in the case.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Washington supports the opposition march in Mexico in defense of the electoral authority

    Washington supports the opposition march in Mexico in defense of the electoral authority

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    Thousands of people gathered in the center of Mexico City to protest against the electoral reform proposed by the López Obrador party.Isaac Esquivel (EFE)

    “The United States supports independent and well-resourced electoral institutions.” With these ten words, the Department of State has entered into the controversy over the reform of the Mexican electoral authority, the National Electoral Institute, the INE. Washington has issued a statement a day after 100,000 Mexicans took to the streets in various cities to defend the autonomy of the organization in the face of the changes proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his party, Morena. “All over the world there have been challenges to democracy that have tested and continue to test the strength of independent electoral and judicial institutions,” said Ned Price, the Foreign Affairs spokesman for the Joe Biden government.

    In this way, Washington recognizes the “intense debate” that is taking place in Mexico between supporters of the government and the opposition, which has found in the defense of the electoral authority the best cause to unite weakened and dissimilar groups. This discussion reflects “a dynamic democracy”, according to the Americans. The State Department, headed by Antony Blinken, indicates that an independent electoral authority and respect for the judiciary are vital to have a healthy democracy. The opposition assures that these are under siege by the Mexican president and the Morena politicians in the Legislative. From the government party, for its part, they have linked the president of the organization, Lorenzo Córdova, with the opposition side.

    This is the second comment that Washington issues in the context of the opposition demonstration. “Today we see a great debate on electoral reforms that test the independence of electoral and judicial institutions,” he wrote on Twitter late afternoon. Sunday Brian Nicholsthe Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, an area where Mexico has great weight as one of the main partners of the United States.

    Although Washington indicates in its communiqués that it respects the sovereignty of Mexico, the issue has strained relations between some of the authorities of both countries. Last week, Ignacio Mier, the leader of Morena in the Chamber of Deputies, asked Americans to “keep their comments” on the electoral reform that his caucus pushed through the Legislature last year, popularly known as Plan B.

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    Last week the legislative process of said reform was consummated. The senators from Morena imposed their majority in the upper house to complete the transformation of the INE, which will see its structure decimated despite the fact that it is in charge of organizing thousands of elections in the country, helping the 32 electoral institutes. Plan B also makes it more difficult to punish public officials who meddle in campaigns. To ensure approval, the majority block, made up of Morena and her political partners, withdrew from the table a clause that allowed the transfer of votes between the parties united in an alliance. This provision, called “eternal life”, was postponed.

    In accordance with The New York Times, Morena’s plan B set off alarm bells among US diplomats. The newspaper assures that the United States embassy in Mexico has sent messages of concern to Washington about the background of the electoral reform. The Biden Administration, however, had remained silent on the issue. Until this week’s messages.

    This morning, during his daily conference, President López Obrador, as expected, charged the protesters. “Strictly speaking, they don’t care about democracy, but what they want is for the predominance of an oligarchy to continue, that is, a government of the rich, of the powerful; They don’t care about the people,” said the president.

    The message issued from Washington not only endorses the role of the electoral authority, a body that ceased to depend on the Executive in 1996, but also recalls the importance of judicial independence. The clash with the judges of the Supreme Court will be the new episode between the fight proposed by López Obrador. It will be the constitutional judges who must analyze the unconstitutionality appeals to which the opposition will appeal to stop Plan B of the electoral reform.

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    ( With inputs from : pledgetimes.com )

  • Israel greenlights controversial judicial reform despite opposition

    Israel greenlights controversial judicial reform despite opposition

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    Jerusalem: Israel’s parliament voted on Tuesday to advance Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary, despite widespread public opposition.

    After a stormy debate, the first two bills of the judicial reform passed in a first, non-binding reading, reports Xinhua news agency.

    Out of the 120 seats in Parliament, 63 lawmakers voted in favour of the bills, 47 against, and 10 were absent.

    Members of Netanyahu’s new ultra-religious and ultranationalist coalition government celebrated the outcome.

    “A great night and a great day,” Netanyahu wrote on Twitter after the vote.

    The first bill would alter the composition of the nine-member committee that appoints judges, limiting the influence of legal professionals and giving the government an outright majority.

    If approved, the law would enable the government to choose judges.

    The other bill would eliminate the Supreme Court’s authority to cancel basic laws passed by Parliament, even if they are unconstitutional.

    The vote means the ruling coalition could now bring the two bills for the final second and third readings in Parliament, after which they will become laws, kick-starting the reform.

    Opposition members warned that the bills will weaken the legal system and politicize it.

    Yair Lapid, the centrist leader of the opposition, criticized the coalition on Twitter, saying: “Members of the coalition — history will judge you for this night for the damage to democracy, for the damage to the economy, for the damage to security, for the fact that you are tearing the people of Israel apart and you simply do not care.”

    The divisive reform has also sparked a massive uproar in Israeli society.

    Tens of thousands of Israelis rallied outside the parliament in Jerusalem on Monday as the votes began. They held flags of Israel and chanted “Democracy!”

    A major concern of the protesters is that the reform will concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu.

    The longest-serving leader of Israel is facing a criminal trial over corruption charges and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has warned his involvement in the proposed reform puts him in a conflict of interest.

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