It’s not fair
Posted in General on 20. Aug, 2010
It’s not fair.”EU-US ties are already tense, with several trade disputes pending and America increasingly suspicious about Europe’s new defence initiative. Mr Patten warned against opening another front that could “contribute to a serious problem for our relationship”.”The EU and the US are still the principal champions of civilised values and it would be deeply damaging for the rest of the world, as well as for our individual interests, if we allow the debate about these issues to get out of hand and to poison or warp our overall relationship,” he said.European officials concede the complexity of EU procedures have hampered support for the UN administration in Kosovo and Mr Patten said his task was “to make clear that we are running our external assistance programmes as well as we can”. This would, he said, help close the gap between Europe’s ambitions and its delivery. “We are big players, we have big assistance programmes but we have even longer communiqués of good intentions.”Mr Patten said it remained “important” to talk to the Serbian opposition, “but the best thing we can do for the opponents of [President Slobodan] Milosevic is to demonstrate, by what happens elsewhere in their region, just how much he represents the forces of darkness”.. Jose Maria Aznar, leader of Spain’s conservative Popular Party, won a second term as prime minister last night, achieving the absolute majority he craved.
Winning more than 44 per cent of the vote, 183 seats, Mr Aznar surpassed the most optimistic predictions to achieve the biggest conservative victory in Spain’s 25-year-old democracy. Jose Maria Aznar, leader of Spain’s conservative Popular Party, won a second term as prime minister last night, achieving the absolute majority he craved. Winning more than 44 per cent of the vote, 183 seats, Mr Aznar surpassed the most optimistic predictions to achieve the biggest conservative victory in Spain’s 25-year-old democracy.
Thousands of ecstatic PP supporters, hooting, cheering and waving flags, besieged party headquarters in Madrid soon after polls closed. Mr Aznar appeared on the balcony shortly before midnight flanked by his wife, Ana Botella, who looked regal in sparkling white.”We have won the elections,” he said. “The Spaniards have been very generous with us, renewing your confidence in me I’m proud of you. I want to express my respect to all, including those who expressed a preference for other options. The next government will be open to permanent dialogue with all sectors, because we are all necessary for Spain’s progress.”Mr Aznar’s unexpectedly decisive victory swiftly produced its first casualty, when the Socialist leader, Joaquin Almunia, declared he was quitting as general secretary.
His surprise announcement produced gasps of dismay at his party headquarters.Winning 34.4 per cent, 125 seats, the Socialists’ vote fell sharply from four years ago when the party was ousted by Mr Aznar after nearly 14 years in power. Mr Almunia admitted last night that it had failed to convince voters with a left-wing programme, and failed to mobilise support by making a pact with the Communists. “Despite being the majority in society, we were not the majority in the polls.” He said the Socialists needed an urgent shake-up before they could expect to return to government.The pro-communist United Left party saw its vote collapse. Its 21-seat presence in parliament fell to just eight deputies. The unity pact that each left-wing party had hoped would rally a progressive majority was, for them, a disaster.The conservative Catalan nationalists led by Jordi Pujol held up with 15 seats, but Mr Pujol admitted their influence would be much reduced.
The left-leaning Galician nationalists led by the charismatic firebrand and intellectual, Xose Manuel Beiras, increased their MPs from two to three.Turn-out was nearly 70 per cent, down slightly from 1996, a decline that hit the left, whose supporters are traditionally harder to mobilise. But abstention in the Basque country, as usual a little higher than the national average, was less than feared. Basques were not intimidated by threats from armed separatists who had called for absention.Mr Aznar took a low-risk approach in an unexciting campaign, refusing live debates and shunning unfriendly media. His message of prudent optimism paid off, and voters were convinced by his insistence that the opposition were relics from the past.Extra security forces were mobilised in the Basque country, but there were fewer incidents than usual.
Mr Aznar will have to confront the problem of Basque violence as a priority. The conservative Basque Nationalist Party, which increased its presence from five to seven seats, urges more flexibility on the issue. With his stronger position, Mr Aznar may now feel able to listen.. Russian investigators have ruled out bombing as the cause of a plane crash at Moscow’s main airport, but have not excluded the possibility of sabotage. Russian investigators have ruled out bombing as the cause of a plane crash at Moscow’s main airport, but have not excluded the possibility of sabotage.
Investigators are also considering whether technical failure caused the Yak-40 jet to crash during takeoff from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo-1 airport on Thursday.The crash killed all nine people on board, including well-known Moscow investigative journalist Artyom Borovik and oil executive Ziya Bazhayev.Relatives and colleagues of Borovik and Bazhayev speculated that the crash was not an accident.