Associated Press. RABAT, Morocco — A Moroccan man climbed on top of the Algerian Consulate in the Casablanca on Friday and tore down its Algerian flag while an angry mob demonstrated outside, witnesses said.
The incident worsened the deteriorating relations between the two North African powerhouses, and Algeria summoned the chief Moroccan diplomat in Algiers to demand an explanation.
A senior member of the Indonesian Democracy Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said on Thursday that the party held no objection to nominating Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo as a presidential candidate in the 2014 national election.
“For Megawati [Sukarnoputri], it has never been a problem,” Sabam Sirait said. “The PDI-P has no objection if it is Jokowi, but let us see when the time comes. The time is not yet right, we only need to wait for the right moment.”
The Barisan Nasional government will continue to assist Chinese and Tamil schools for as long as there is the sun and the moon, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.
The Deputy Prime Minister said it was not true that the coalition was giving allocations to vernacular schools only when there was a general election or a by-election.
He said allocations announced ahead of the Sungai Limau by-election on Nov 4 were approved earlier and were not just “goodies” to entice Chinese voters, who number more than 1,800 here.
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday disqualified Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Sumaira Malik for contesting 2008 elections with a fake degree, Express News reported.
The apex court also ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to file a criminal case against her.
Malik had emerged victorious in the elections in NA-69 Khushab in 2008.
The SC further said that Malik should be asked to reimburse all the expenditure incurred while she was in office.
KABUL (PAN): The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Saturday announced relaxing certain conditions for presidential and provincial council candidates.
On Tuesday, the commission released a preliminary list of candidates for next year’s elections, featuring 10 of the 27 registered presidential hopefuls.
The General Election Commission (KPU) is optimistic that it can beat the two-week deadline given by the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) to fix the glitches in voter list data for the 2014 polls.
On Wednesday, the KPU postponed publication of the final voter’s list following protests from Bawaslu and political parties who said that the list was flawed and could leave millions of eligible voters disenfranchised.
Bawaslu had earlier said that more than 11 million voters could lose their right to vote if the glitches were not fixed.
PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has been returned unopposed as the party president for a sixth consecutive term.
Hadi, who assumed the post following the death of Datuk Fadzil Mohd Noor in 2002, had never been challenged in the biennial party elections.
He would have faced his first challenger this year had the party’s election committee not rejected the candidacy of Padang Serai chief Fauzi Tahir.
PAS has came under fire for making false allegations that Barisan Nasional will pay money to voters in a desperate bid to win in Sungai Limau.
Former Jerai Wanita chief Khalijah Arshad said it was unbecoming of a party that claims to uphold Islamic principles to make such baseless allegations.
“Even party workers who go down to the ground to campaign get only RM30 each.
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court issued an order to indict Defence Secretary Asif Yasin Malik on Friday for not holding local government elections on time in the cantonment boards,Express News reported.
The defence secretary had apologised to the court in Islamabad on October 22 and asked for more time to hold the elections. He will be indicted on November 4.
Any Amazigh who tries to stand for election to the Constitutional Committee will be considered a traitor, a meeting of Amazigh representatives has announced.
Sungai Limau may see a battle between an architect and an ustaz as Barisan Nasional devises an out-of-the box strategy to wrest control of the state seat from PAS.
Barisan will likely give architect Datuk Fadzillah Mohd Ali a second chance to win the seat, while PAS will possibly opt for fresh face Azam Samad, who is Jerai PAS Youth chief.
Both Barisan and PAS will name their candidates today for the Nov 4 by-election.
Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo and former general Prabowo Subianto aren’t considered real contenders in the upcoming election, despite their high chances of being elected as president based on their popularity, a survey showed.
Adjie Alfaraby, a researcher at the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI), told reporters on Sunday that Prabowo, founder of Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), might do what he did in 2009 by forming a coalition with Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Megawati Sukarnoputri, who served as president from 2001 to 2004, is chairwoman of the PDI-P.
The Golkar Party pledged that it would avoid transactional politics merely for the sake of power and avoid unhealthy competition within the party.
“We want to change the political tradition, which has always been filled with intrigue and defamation, into a qualitative competition that is based on ideas, innovation and political instruments,” Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie said on Sunday during the party’s 49th anniversary in Jakarta.
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to suspend the membership of 70 legislators, including 23 members of the National Assembly and Senate, for their failure to submit statements of their assets and liabilities as required under the law, Dawn has learnt.
Sources in the ECP said a notification in this regard was likely to be issued on Monday (today).
