Slovak opposition led by the Ordinary People party (OLANO) won an emphatic victory in the country’s parliamentary election, as voters angry with graft routed the ruling center-left Smer that has dominated the political scene for more than a decade.Results from 96.16% of voting districts showed Sunday that OLANO, a politically amorphous, pro-European Union and pro-NATO movement focused on fighting corruption, took 24.95% of the vote, far ahead of the ruling Smer with 18.5%.Support for OLANO surged in recent weeks, from less than 6% late last year, concentrating a protest vote fed by the killing of an investigative journalist and his fiancée two years ago.Seats won by other liberal and conservative parties gave OLANO a strong position to lead negotiations to form a new center-right government.‘Let’s Beat the Mafia Together’OLANO leader Igor Matovic has pledged to clean up politics, an ambition encapsulated in his party’s slogan: “Let’s Beat the Mafia Together.”“We take the result as a request from people who want us to clean up Slovakia. To make Slovakia a just country, where the law applies to everybody regardless if he is rich or poor,” Matovic said after most of the votes were counted.Matovic said he would reach out to leaders of three other parties — the liberal Freedom and Solidarity, the conservative For the People of former president Andrej Kiska, and the socially conservative, eurosceptic We Are Family — to form an alliance that would have constitutional majority of more than 90 seats in the 150-seat parliament.Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini from Smer acknowledged defeat and said the party’s run in the office, for 12 out of the past 14 years, may be over.“A probable departure of our party into opposition is not such a surprise,” Pellegrini told reporters.Smer scored its worst result since 2002. Its nationalist and Hungarian minority allies did not win any seats, the first time in decades that Hungarians will not be represented.Killings spark changeThe political shift in the euro zone member state, which has avoided fights with Brussels unlike its central European Visegrad Group neighbors Hungary and Poland, started with the 2018 killing of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée.An investigation unearthed communications between a businessman now on trial for ordering the hit and politicians and judicial officials. The defendant has denied the charges.The killings led to the biggest street protests in the post-communist era, forcing Smer leader Robert Fico to resign, though his party held on to power.Matovic, 46, told Reuters last week he wanted to be a conciliatory voice toward the EU within Visegrad.A positive signalThe former owner of regional newspapers and a lawmaker since 2010, Matovic calls himself a social conservative and economic liberal but refuses to pin down OLANO on the left-right or liberal-conservative scale.In the European Parliament, OLANO is aligned with the center-right European People’s Party.“I would like to send a positive signal,” Matovic said, adding that he did not want European partners to feel Slovakia was a corrupt place “where journalists and their fiancees are murdered just because someone unearthed corruption.”He said he would strive for better education for the underprivileged Roma minority, and wanted the Roma, Hungarian and Ruthenian minorities to feel equal.Predictions that the far-right, anti-EU and anti-NATO People’s Party could make strong gains were not borne out and the party won just more than 8%.
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Month: March 2020
Takeaways from the South Carolina Primary: Joementum
South Carolina provided Joe Biden with a lifeline he desperately needed, propelled by the power of the black vote, but his victory does not necessarily provide clarity to the race.Both Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar finished well behind Biden, but they are still planning to compete in Super Tuesday states. They could draw just enough of the vote to deny Biden the numbers he needs to make the case for a one-on-one competition with Sen. Bernie Sanders.And if they don’t, the larger question for Biden is how he fares against Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor, who has spent more than $500 million and will be on the ballot for the first time Tuesday.Other takeaways from the South Carolina primary:Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden talks to Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., at a primary night election rally in Columbia, S.C., Feb. 29, 2020 after winning the South Carolina primary.Biden must broaden his appealThe win in South Carolina was the first primary victory for Biden in his three presidential campaigns. Super Tuesday will prove whether it signals a resurgence, where party leaders try to coalesce around him, or a mirage. Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe endorsed Biden after Saturday’s results.Biden demonstrated his oft-stated appeal to black voters, who historically play a decisive role in determining the Democratic nominee. Now he will have to show that he can broaden that appeal to college-educated suburban women who have been the fulcrum for Democrats in recent elections.The former vice president has still got a long way to go.Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, with his wife, Jane, speaks during a campaign event in San Antonio, Feb. 22, 2020.Sanders hopes second is a blipFor one brief moment after his commanding Nevada win, Sanders thought he could win South Carolina.Instead, he showed the limits of his progressive appeal in the South. But you can win the Democratic nomination without winning the South, and Sanders wants to show how on Super Tuesday. He has a commanding lead in polls for the biggest prize on the map, California, and is competitive in every state.Sanders’ schedule shows his confidence — he has campaigned in Massachusetts and will travel to Minnesota on Sunday and Monday, trying to win the home states of rivals Warren and Klobuchar.But he won’t be getting a pass, especially from Bloomberg, who has argued that Sanders’ democratic socialism is a loser for Democrats in November.While Biden is hoping South Carolina puts wind in his sails, Sanders just has to hope the current breeze keeps blowing.Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., greets supporters during a rally, Feb. 29, 2020, in Richmond, Va.Check, please?At some point in the nominating process, they stop handing out participation trophies. Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Sen. Elizabeth Warren have yet to prove they can win with diverse coalitions of the Democratic Party.Now all three will be under varying degrees of pressure to consider dropping out. Among the three, Warren has the most money and organization, but not necessarily the better rationale for staying in the race given the strength of Sanders, the leading progressive.None of the three has shown any notable appeal to African American voters, and they do not have the time or the resources to focus their campaigns more narrowly with an eye on just winning some delegates to maintain leverage.Will Bloomberg’s money equal results?A few hours before polls closed in South Carolina, Bloomberg announced he was buying three-minute ads on two television networks Sunday night. And that will follow an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”Bloomberg hasn’t been a factor yet in the early states — he sat them out in favor of an audacious strategy that he could fill the moderate lane if Biden faltered, by spending hundreds of millions on ads in Super Tuesday states.Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg speaks at the North Carolina Democratic Party’s Blue NC Celebration, Feb. 29, 2020, in Charlotte, N.C.It’s a theory of the case that’s never happened at this level of presidential politics. And it is about to be tested. If Bloomberg doesn’t prevail and merely fragments the moderate vote, that will be to Sanders’ benefit.At the same time, Bloomberg has to try to recover from his disastrous debut on the debate stage in Las Vegas and a second, still rough, session at the South Carolina debate last Tuesday. The Biden resurgence may drown out his hoped-for position as the most sensible alternative to Sanders.
With one voice, for onceFor once, self-described moderate and conservative Democrats spoke with something resembling a unified voice. This group has consistently been the majority of voters in previous contests, only to dilute their vote by splitting it among candidates.But in South Carolina, preliminary results from AP VoteCast found a solid share of moderate and conservative voters — more than half — went for Biden. No more than 1 in 10 backed Buttigieg or Klobuchar.Still, the survey also hints at the possibility of Sanders, who has dominated among liberals, having some crossover appeal. Among moderates and conservatives, 14% voted for the self-described socialist.
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Arlington Cornhole League Brings People Together
A number of bars in Arlington, Virginia, offer their customers more than a selection of craft beers and cocktails, they offer them a chance to try their hand at cornhole, a game in which players take turns throwing small bags of corn kernels at a raised platform with a hole in the far end. It’s a unique bit of Americana that’s bringing people together. Maxim Moskalkov has the story.
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Malaysia Swears in New Prime Minister as Mahathir Loses Out
Malaysia’s Muhyiddin Yassin, a Malay nationalist politician backed by the corruption-tarnished former ruling party, was sworn in as prime minister Sunday after the king picked him to replace 94-year-old Mahathir Mohamad.The swearing-in capped a week of turmoil that began with Mahathir’s resignation in an apparent bid to consolidate power, but ended with him sidelined and complaining of betrayal after decades dominating Malaysian politics.Mahathir promised to seek a vote in parliament to challenge Muhyiddin’s support, but conceded he might not win.Muhyiddin, 72, was sworn in at a palace ceremony in front of Malaysia’s king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, and promised to fulfill his duties as prime minister.FILE – People pass posters of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad and politician Anwar Ibrahim at a rally in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 16, 2018.The change in leadership comes less than two years after Mahathir joined old rival Anwar Ibrahim, 72, to defeat the ruling party of six decades, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), on an anti-corruption platform.“This is a very strange thing,” Mahathir said. “This is the losers that will form the government,” he added, referring to the outcome of the 2018 election.He said he had the support of 114 of parliament’s 222 members, but it was not guaranteed that they would all support him at a vote in a country of tangled political interests where horse-trading is commonplace.Mahathir questioned whether a government involving the former ruling party would be as ready to pursue graft cases against its politicians. Those include former prime minister Najib Razak, who is now on trial for corruption.A week of twists and turns in Malaysian politics began with Mahathir’s resignation, breaking his alliance with Anwar as he proposed a national unity government without party loyalties that would have given him greater authority.But Anwar then launched his own bid to become prime minister while Muhyiddin built his alliance.King’s choiceIt was down to the king to decide who would have the best chance to form a government. Although Mahathir and Anwar said they had reunited Saturday and now had majority support, the king announced Muhyiddin as the candidate.About 200 protesters gathered in Kuala Lumpur late Saturday to protest the king’s decision. Police said they were investigating a Twitter post that encouraged people to join the protest, which they said was illegal.Muhyiddin is from Mahathir’s Bersatu party, but had shown himself ready to work with UMNO, from which he had been sacked in 2016 after questioning former prime minister Najib’s handling of the 1MDB corruption scandal.Fortune’s riseUMNO’s fortunes have risen since its 2018 defeat, with the Pakatan coalition of Mahathir and Anwar losing five by-elections in the face of criticism from some Malay voters that it could do more to favor the biggest ethnic group in a nation of 32 million.UMNO, which Mahathir led from 1981 to 2003 during a previous stint as prime minister, supports Malay nationalism.“I think Muhyiddin would lead a more overtly pro-ethnic Malay government characterized by social division, economic nationalism, and possibly less fiscal restraint,” said Peter Mumford of the Eurasia consultancy.As well as personal relationships, politics in Malaysia is shaped by ethnic, religious and regional interests. Malaysia is more than half ethnic Malay, but has large ethnic Chinese, Indian and other minorities.
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Opposition Urges ‘Russia Without Putin’ in Rally for Slain Liberal
Thousands rallied in central Moscow on Saturday to call on President Vladimir Putin not to stay in power indefinitely, in the first major protest by the Russian opposition since the Kremlin chief announced controversial plans to change the constitution. The rally marked five years since the assassination of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, but its organizers also wanted the event to send a message to Putin after he proposed major constitutional changes. Organizers, including the country’s most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, called for a mass turnout to show Putin that he must not consider staying in power by any means when his current mandate ends in 2024. Moscow authorities gave permission for the rally — after a succession of demonstrations urging fair elections last summer were roughly dispersed — and the street was packed by a flow of protesters, an AFP correspondent said. “The Putin regime is a threat to humankind,” said the slogan on one placard next to a portrait of Nemtsov. “Putin’s policies are based on total lies,” said another, quoting the liberal politician who was assassinated in central Moscow on February 27, 2015. “Russia without Putin!” the crowds chanted repeatedly as they marched. The White Counter monitor, which counts attendance at protests, said 22,300 people took part in the march. The Interior Ministry said 10,500 took part. Constitutional overhaulPutin, who has dominated Russia for two decades, in January unleashed a political storm, proposing an overhaul of the constitution, the first changes to the basic law since 1993. FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with students and researchers of an industrial college in Cherepovets, Russia, Feb. 4, 2020.Analysts see the plan as beginning preparations for succession when Putin’s fourth presidential term ends in 2024, while the opposition says the Kremlin strongman wants to remain leader for life. “I think that this is a crime, that it is mocking the constitution,” said pensioner Semyon Pevzner, 75. “The only aim is to stay in power by any means possible.” Putin first came to power as prime minister in 1999 under Boris Yeltsin before becoming president in 2000. He served the maximum two consecutive terms between 2000 and 2008 before a four-year stint as prime minister. He returned to the Kremlin in 2012 for a newly expanded six-year mandate and was re-elected in 2018. But opponents fear he could remain Russia’s number one even if the job of president nominally goes to someone else in 2024. Kseniya Telmanova, 21, a student, reflected that Putin had been president for her whole life, except her first few months. “Probably those were the best months of my life,” she said, laughing. “The leaders should fear the fact they can lose power.” Russia is planning to hold a referendum on the constitutional amendments on April 22. Greater turnoutOne of the organizers of the Moscow protest, opposition leader Ilya Yashin, said the event had shown an “important dynamic” in that more people had turned out than at a similar anniversary event last year. Asked whether the opposition was planning any more protests soon, he said: “I don’t know so far. This was the main event we had been preparing.” Around 2,000 people gathered for a similar demonstration in Saint Petersburg on Saturday, clutching flowers, portraits of Nemtsov and banners reading, “They feared you, Boris.” “This is basically the only chance we have to go out and say that we are against what is going on in the country and against this police state,” said Galina Zuiko, 55. Nemtsov — one of Putin’s most vocal critics and a former deputy prime minister in the Yeltsin government — was shot and killed on a Moscow bridge near the Kremlin. In 2017, a court found a former security force officer from Chechnya guilty of his murder and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Four other men were found guilty of involvement in the killing. But Nemtsov’s family and allies insist the authorities have failed to bring the masterminds to justice. “We have not seen any major progress” in the probe, Navalny said in brief comments to pro-opposition channel TV Rain. “We will continue to turn out [every year] until this case is solved.”
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UN: 13,000 Migrants Gathered Along Turkish-Greek Border
Some 13,000 migrants have gathered along the Turkish-Greek border after Turkey’s president threatened to allow some of the 3.6 million refugees in the country cross into Europe, the United Nations said Saturday. “Thousands of migrants, including families with young children, are passing a cold night along the border between Turkey and Greece,” the International Organization for Migration said in a statement. The U.N. agency said its staff had been tracking the movement of people from Istanbul and were providing humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable. “By Saturday evening, staff working along the 212-kilometre-long border between Turkey and Greece and in the capital had observed at least 13,000 people gathered at the formal border crossing points at Pazarkule and Ipsala and multiple informal border crossings,” it said. The agency said it had spotted “groups of between several dozen and more than 3,000.” This picture taken from the Greek side of the Greece-Turkey border near Kastanies shows migrants standing behind razor wire, Feb. 29, 2020.”The number of migrants moving through Edirne towards the border grew through the day as cars, taxis and buses arrived from Istanbul,” the head of IOM’s Turkey mission, Lado Gvilava, said in the statement. “Most of those on the move are men but we are also seeing many family groups traveling with young children,” he added. ‘Vulnerable people’Gvilava said the IOM was distributing food and other basic supplies, but with temperatures dropping close to freezing, “we’re concerned about these vulnerable people who are exposed to the elements.” IOM staff reported that buses continued into the evening to be “loaded to overcapacity” in Istanbul with people bound for the border area. The mass movement of people began after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to open the gates and allow refugees to travel to Europe as a way to pressure EU governments over the Syrian conflict. Turkey and Russia, who back opposing forces in the Syria conflict, have held talks to try to defuse tensions after an airstrike killed the Turkish troops, sparking fears of a broader war and a new migration crisis for Europe. At the border Saturday, Greek police clashed with several thousand migrants already gathered at the entrance to EU territory, where they hurled rocks at security forces firing tear gas across the frontier. In 2015, Greece became the main EU entry point for 1 million migrants, most of them refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.
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Turkey’s President Calls on Russia to Step Aside in Syria
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called on Russia to get out of Turkey’s way in Syria and allow Turkish forces to deal with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In a speech to supporters, Erdogan said Turkey had “entered Syria at the demand of the Syrian people and not at the demand of Assad.” Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the funeral of Turkish soldier Emre Baysal, who was killed in Syria’s Idlib region, in Istanbul, Turkey, Feb. 29, 2020.Erdogan said Turkey had retaliated against Syrian forces for killing 34 of its soldiers this week in the northwestern province of Idlib. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian war, reported Saturday that Turkey had killed 26 pro-Damascus troops around Idlib and the Aleppo countryside. It also reported that Russian planes continued to support Syrian government forces in the battle for Idlib, despite Turkey’s call for Russia to stand aside. Arab media reported Saturday that eight Hezbollah militiamen were killed in a Turkish drone strike on their headquarters near the town of Saraqeb. Talks failTalks between Turkish and Russian military advisers during the past several days apparently failed to produce a cease-fire. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told journalists Saturday that Erdogan would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 5. Migrants camp as they wait to cross the border, near Turkey’s Pazarkule border crossing with Greece’s Kastanies, in Edirne, Turkey, Feb. 29, 2020.Also Saturday, thousands of refugees gathered along the Turkish border with Greece after Turkey announced it was opening its borders with Europe. Greek forces fired tear gas at refugees to stop them from entering Greek soil. Erdogan said earlier Saturday that 18,000 refugees had entered Greece and that the number could rise to 25,000 to 30,000. He said Germany must send money to Turkey to deal with its refugee crisis in order to stop the flow. His decision to open Turkey’s borders with Europe was a departure from previous policy and was seen as a means to pressure Europe. “We can’t handle a new wave of migration,” Erdogan said Saturday, referencing the crisis in Syria’s Idlib region, where nearly a million people have been displaced. Turkey currently hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees and has sealed its border to new refugees. Edward Yeranian in Cairo contributed to this report.
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US-Taliban Sign Agreement in Doha
The United States signed a historic agreement Saturday with the Taliban in Doha. If all sides follow through, this could pave the way to end a 19-year-old war in Afghanistan. VOA’s Ayesha Tanzeem was at the signing ceremony and filed this report.
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