News

The leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, will not attend a Victory Day reception set to be hosted today by President Abdullah Gül. 

Kılıçdaroğlu’s announcement came during a press conference yesterday at Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport before departing for the opening ceremony of the İzmir International Fair. 

However, Kılıçdaroğlu will be attending other ceremonies, theCHP headquarters announced. 

Mahfud MD, the former Constitutional Court chief justice, has said he will not participate in the Democratic Party’s upcoming convention to determine its candidate for the 2014 presidential election.

“I have decided not to join,” he said at a press conference on Thursday.

Mahfud arrived at the offices of the committee’s secretariat with the initial intention of attending a pre-convention event, he said, but changed his mind and decided to withdraw from the convention.

The democracy package is progressing in line with the “spirit of time” and cannot be rushed, according to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson Hüseyin Çelik. 

“We will do whatever needs to be done for an advanced democracy. But we will do so by managing the public understanding. Not all can be done in a day. There is something called the spirit of time. We do what we have to in accordance with the spirit of time, and we continue to do so,” Çelik said. 

Le FLN vivra demain, jeudi 29 août, l'une des journées les plus longues de sa vie. La crise qui s'est accentuée depuis le 31 janvier dernier, lors de la destitution de l'ex-secrétaire général, connait un autre rebondissement qui menace d'imploser définitivement le parti.
Deux groupes s'affrontent pour l'organisation de la session du comité central en vue d'élire un successeur à Abdelaziz Belkhadem et de contrôler la suite des évènements.

AMMAN — The government on Tuesday labelled the municipal elections a success despite the low turnout.

Officials said the overall number of the voters across the Kingdom reached around 880,000 out of the 2.357 million registered for the polls, or 37.3 per cent approximately.

A noticeably low participation rate was recorded in Amman, where only 10.5 per cent of eligible voters participated in the polls.

A survey by the Forum for Information Technology Academicians reveals that Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi" Widodo can significantly gain the votes of undecided voters in the upcoming presidential election.

The survey, which was released on Tuesday in Jakarta, also said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) politician had the potential to gain votes from voters leaning toward other parties.

BEIRUT: The specter of an imminent U.S. military strike against Syria and fears of more car bombings dominated Lebanon’s political landscape Monday, overshadowing President Michel Sleiman’s plea for the formation of an all-embracing government to deal with security challenges.