No snap polls, next elections in 2010, Sri Lanka President says

Aug 27, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday (26) said that there is no hurry to hold a snap poll and the mandate given by the people for the ruling party is valid until 2010.

Addressing a ceremony sponsored by the Finance and Planning Ministry to hand over appointment letters to 246 accountants recruited into the government services at Temple Trees yesterday, the President said although winning a general election at this stage is not a challenge to the United People's Freedom Alliance he would not go for it as it would be a waste of public money.

President said the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe is calling for a general election only because his leadership in the party is challenged and a snap poll would only benefit him to survive and retain his post.

"The post of Opposition Leader is in doubt. He wants to keep his supporters and party members in suspense, He wants to keep his supporters and party members in suspense and save his position as long as he is agitating for a general election," President Rajapaksa said.

President also highlighted the importance of strengthening the public sector service with an object-oriented vision and a mission to build and develop the nation.

“This government considers the public service as an important part of the country’s development process. Around 150,000 had been recruited to the public service in the past two and half years,” President Rajapaksa said. President pointed out that the policy of the present administration is to unite the country, defeat terrorism, and achieve economic progress by encouraging local farmers and local industry.

Source : Colombo Page

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EC to announce parliament election schedule on finalisation of voters’ list: Chief Adviser

DHAKA: Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed on Tuesday said the Election Commission is the legal competent body to announce the schedule for general election and observed that the schedule might not be annou-nced before finalisation of the voters' list across the country.(The Bangladesh Today)

Briefing reporters after a meeting of the Council of Advisors at Khulna Circuit House in the afternoon, he said it is the responsibility of the Election Commission to conduct all elections, including the parliamentary polls, and announce the schedules in time.

"So far I know, it may not be possible for the Election Commission to announce the schedule for general election until the voters' list is finalised throughout the country," he told a correspondent.

About the timeframe of the election to the ninth parliament, stalled following the January 11, 2007 changeover amid a political crisis, the Chief Adviser said since he had already stated about the timeframe (3rd week of December), he wouldn't repeat it.

The questions cropped up as major political parties are insisting on immediate announcement of the election schedule and advancing the polls to October by jumping the timeline set in the EC-set roadmap. About oath of the newly elected Mayors of the City Corporations, LGRD Adviser Anwarul Iqbal said usually, the elected Mayors are supposed to take oath after a month of the elections. He said the LGRD ministry sent a summary to the Chief Adviser with a request to him to administer the oath to the city Mayors, and his response is awaited. Besides, the Adviser said the Mayors-elect would have to submit the affidavit of their statements of wealth before taking oath of office. In reply to a question, Iqbal said, "The government would consider applications for parole to take oath by the elected Mayors now in jail." It was the fifth and last meeting of the Council of Advisers at the Divisional Headquarters. Today's meeting, chaired by Dr Fakhruddin, approved in principle the Upazila Parishad Ordinance 2008 subject to some improvements.

The meeting also endorsed a 37-point development plan for Khulna division.

Asked about the disbursement of money for buying jute for jute mills, the Chief Adviser said the funds are being released.

Last year, Tk 150 crore was released during the winter to buy jute as he said the government wants timely purchase of jute for the jute mills. However, he said the jute associations must be accountable on this account.

About the reopening of closed jute mills, Dr Fakhruddin said the government wants the jute mills to be in production under private management. "Since the public-sector jute industries incur losses, some mills in Chittagong were leased and the same policy could be adopted in Khulna." The Chief Adviser said the government paid off the outstanding wages of the workers and it needs to be monitored whether the money was properly distributed.

About the operation of Khulna airport, he said it is difficult for the government if it is not financially viable. He noted that airports in Barisal and Rajshahi were closed down on the same grounds. He posed a counter-question whether it is possible to run an institution by giving subsidy.

The 37-point development plan to be implemented at a cost of Tk 10,131 crore includes development of roads, education, health, modernisation of Mongla port, resolving problems of water-logging, electricity, rural infrastructure, forest and environment, and sports and culture.

Anwarul Iqbal, who briefed the press on the development plan, said the government decided to activate Mongla seaport, and fertilisers and reconditioned cars would be imported through this port to increase its economic activities.

He said steps would be taken to increase the navigability of the Mongla port. The Adviser said two projects with estimated costs of Tk 628.70 crore and Tk 342.18 crore with assistance of ADB are now under implementation to supply gas to 21 southwestern districts, including Khulna. Iqbal said production has started from 40MW rental power station in Khulna and the electricity problem here will be eased with the commissioning of the 34.5MW power station in Bhola.

The Adviser said the bridge over the Teesta River in Narail was completed. It will be named after renowned artist SM Sultan.

He said work on the Padma Bridge would start in July 2010 and its design would be submitted in 2009. Advisers, Cabinet Secretary and Press Secretary to the CA were present at the Council-of-Advisers meeting that lasted two and a half hours since 11:00 am.

Source : The Bangladesh Today

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PML-N, PML-Q not in presidential race from Sindh

Karachi : Two major political parties, the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q), are not in the race for the presidential elections in Sindh. Neither party filed nomination papers for presidential candidates in Sindh. Meanwhile, the ruling coalition, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), and the Awami National Party (ANP), filed nine nomination papers on Tuesday for their joint presidential candidate, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) Acting Chief Justice, who is also the Returning Officer for these elections, Justice Azizullah Memon, received the nomination papers for Zardari and eight other independent candidates.

The election commission had issued 21 nomination forms from Sindh but no nomination papers were filed for the PML-N candidate, Justice (Retd) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqi, and the PML-Q candidate, Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed. The PML-Q has nine MPAs in the Sindh Assembly and PML-N has no representation in the House, while ANP leader Shahi Syed said that the PML-N had no proposers or seconders for the nomination paper.

The ruling coalition held a joint meeting in the Sindh Assembly building before filing nomination papers, and decided to file nine nomination papers for Zardari.

Officials said that the PPP filed four nominations, while the MQM filed one nomination. One nomination paper each was filed jointly by the PPP-MQM and the PPP-ANP, while one each was filed by the women and minority members.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, his cabinet ministers, including ministers from the MQM and the ANP, were present in the court room when Zardari’s nomination papers were filed. PML-Q MPAs Dr Shajila Leghari, Ghalib Domki and Abid Sundarani was also present in the court room at the time.

Shah told journalists that Zardari was a suitable candidate for this office and he will get 100 percent votes from Sindh because no other candidate matched him. The chief minister said that the PPP still wants to bring all democratic forces together. He declared that the government did not believe in political victimisation, nor would it ‘force’ any votes because the PPP “wants to promote healthy democratic traditions in the country.”

MQM Minister Shoib Bukhari told journalists that Zardari is the candidate for the MQM as well, and MQM chief Altaf Hussain had been the first to nominate him.

Provincial ministers raised slogans of “Zinda hai BB” (BB lives) after filing Zardari’s nomination papers. A cordial and happy atmosphere was witnessed on the occasion and the coalition parties claimed the credit for proposing the PPP co-chairman as a presidential candidate.

Source : Daily News

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Soren takes oath as Jharkhand CM

RANCHI: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren was Wednesday sworn in as Jharkhand Chief Minister.

Governor Syed Sibte Razi administered the oath of office to Soren at a ceremony in the Raj Bhavan here in the afternoon.

Soren's party had staked claim to forming the government Monday, two days after Madhu Koda stepped down as chief minister.

Source : Times Of India

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Andhra Pradesh may see political realignment

HYDERABAD: With Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi launching a new political party, Andhra Pradesh appears to be heading for realignment of political forces before next year's elections.

The Praja Rajyam, launched by the actor at a mammoth rally at Tirupati on Tuesday, is likely to join hands with smaller parties to take on both the ruling Congress party and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

The priorities of the new party spelt out by Chiranjeevi and his stand on key issues indicate the possibility of an alliance before the simultaneous polls to the state assembly and the national parliament.

Political observers feel that the flexibility shown by Chiranjeevi on the issue of separate statehood to Telangana and his criticism of land acquisition for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) by the government all hint towards the possibility of pre-poll alliance(s).

While both the Congress and TDP dismissed Chiranjeevi's speech as dialogues from a film and the meeting as the first show of the star's movie, other parties want to adopt a wait and watch approach.

Both the major parties tried to put up a brave front by claiming that the new party would have no impact on their prospects.

"There is nothing new in the party and Chiranjeevi's speech. He wants to continue what Congress has been doing for the last four and half years," said state Congress president D. Srinivas.

The actor's stand on Telangana is being welcomed by parties fighting for separate statehood to the region. During his speech, Chiranjeevi promised to protect the self-respect of the region and remove sense of discrimination among people.

"Yet, if people conclude that parting between brothers is inevitable, we will assist in their amicable separation," he said.

However, both Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and Nava Telangana Praja Party (NTPP) want the actor to take a clear stand on the issue.

"He should make a promise to carve out a separate state of Telangana," demanded TRS leader E. Rajender.

As Chiranjeevi comes from coastal Andhra, he steered clear from making any promise as this would have an impact on his party's prospects in Andhra and Rayalseema regions.

The actor's criticism of the Congress government on the issue of SEZs and sale of government lands is likely to help him in finding friends in communist parties.

"In the name of budgetary support, the government is selling away lands. This amounts to selling away the future of our children. The government should act as a protector of people's land and not as broker," he said in a speech full of rhetoric.

Chiranjeevi also opposed acquisition of land, especially cultivable land, for SEZs and also indirectly criticised the government for corruption in construction of irrigation projects.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) have been opposing sale of government lands and acquisition of farmers' lands for SEZs.

However, the two parties want to wait for few days before saying anything on a possible alliance.

"There is a need for clarity on several issues. We hope that he (Chiranjeevi) will soon announce detailed policies and programmes," said CPI-M state secretary B.V. Raghavulu.

He feels that the actor, with his star appeal, would have tremendous impact on state politics.

Since Chiranjeevi declared that the Praja Rajyam would be a secular party, political observers feel that he would not join hands with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).

State BJP president Bandaru Dattatreya, however, said his party shares many of the thoughts expressed by Chiranjeevi.

Both the communist parties and the TRS were electoral allies of the Congress party in 2004 elections. However, they have drifted apart due to differences on various issues.

The Lok Satta, a political party launched by former bureaucrat Jaiprakash Narayan, welcomed Chiranjeevi's entry into politics but said it would wait for the new party's policies and programmes before making any move.

Source : Hindustan Times

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