News from Parliaments Around the Globe -- February 17, 2007

EU Parliament approves ‘rendition’ report

16.02.2007


On Wednesday the European Parliament approved the report criticising fourteen member states for their reprehensible involvement with the US in the illegal CIA rendition programme. The report, which concluded a yearlong high-profile investigation into clandestine CIA activities in Europe, failed to give direct proof that the intelligence agency ran secret prisons in Europe but accuses some governments of complicity with the US secret renditions programme. The UK, Germany and Italy are among the states who collaborated with the US in the detention and transfer of terror suspects to countries around the world where they were subjected to torture and other inhumane practices. The report was passed by a large majority, with 382 MEPs voting in favour, 256 against and 74 abstaining.
Italian Socialist Giovanni Fava, who drafted the report, said: “This is a report that doesn’t allow anyone to look the other way. We must be vigilant so that what has been happening over the past five years may never happen again.” Although the report has no force in EU law, Fava said during the parliamentary debate that the related investigation, over a year long, had uncovered much new evidence. Some of the governments accused in the report have already announced that they will initiate their own investigations regarding some of the points raised in the report.


Nepalese Maoists reject opposition in parliament
By DPA
Feb 17, 2007, 12:43 GMT



Kathmandu - Nepal's Maoist ex-rebels have expressed strong opposition to proposed amendments to the country's interim constitution, which include allowing opposition lawmakers in the parliament and permitting the prime minister to be deposed through a vote of no confidence.

The Maoist opposition over the two issues was made public by its chairman Prachanda in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu Saturday.

It came as eight main political parties, including the Maoists, began discussing ways to amend the constitution in the wake of violent street protests in south and south-eastern Nepal that left at least 24 people dead.

'It will be unacceptable to our party to incorporate provision to have opposition in the interim parliament,' Prachanda, whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, told journalists.

He also said his party opposed the idea of deposing the prime minister through a no-confidence motion.

'If the constitution is amended to oust the prime minister through no-confidence motion, then we also want the king to be deposed in the same way,' he said.

The amendment would mean smaller parties like the once pro-royalist Rastriya Prajatantra party would have a say in the issues tabled in parliament. This is something the Maoists are trying to avoid, political observers in the Nepalese capital say.

The Maoists have 83 members in the interim legislature and are the second-largest party.

However, none of their MPs were elected and most of their have never contested democratic polls.

The latest Maoist stand came days after it threatened to declare Nepal a republic in April if there were indications that the constituent assembly elections would not be held in time.

On Tuesday, Prachanda while addressing his first ever mass gathering made allegations of a conspiracy to disrupt the elections, which are scheduled for mid-June.

Political analysts say there are genuine fears among the Maoists that the longer they remain in the interim parliament and outside the government, the more they will lose their influence among the rural people and marginalised groups whom they depend on for support.

The ex-communist rebels waged a violent decade-long insurgency to convert Nepal into a communist republic. Nearly 15,000 people died in the violence.

The ex-rebels became part of the interim parliament under the terms of the comprehensive peace accord reached between the Seven- Party Alliance (SPA) and the Maoist rebels to end the conflict.


© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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Kuwaiti parliament may pass private sector tax bill -- MP

KUWAIT, Feb 17 (KUNA) -- The National Assembly (parliament), in its prerogative as the legislative authority, "may intervene in the future to pass a bill imposing taxes on the Kuwaiti private sector," said chairman of the parliamentary financial and economic committee MP Ahmad Baqer on Saturday.

Speaking at the conference on "The Role of the Private Sector in Infrastructure Projects VI", he criticized the weak role of the Kuwaiti private sector in local economy, saying this may compel parliament to intervene to "correct" the situation.

He cited, as an example, the bill for supporting national employment in the private sector which was a parliamentary initiative that raised the percentage of Kuwaitis working in companies and private institutions.

As for the current controversy over BOT projects, Baqer said there were a number of obstacles that brought about problems, namely corruption that led to halting work in these projects until the passing of a new law regulating BOT projects.

The MP criticized media for not focusing on major issues and drawing light to minor aspects, saying it was the role of the media to clarify topics to the public.

There is a common misperception that BOT projects are the same as joint projects between the public and private sectors, he said, and the media had to enlighten the public on the differences between the two.

On the new BOT bill that was currently being reviewed at parliament, he said it was "very transparent." Minister of Energy Sheikh Ali Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah had inaugurated the conference earlier this morning on behalf of Minister of Finance Bader Al-Humaidhi.

The two-day conference will discuss a number of BOT-related issues in light of controversy over the BOT system.(pickup previous) amf.

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KUNA 171249 Feb 07NNNN





Somali president flies to London as Islamic parliament in Malaysia calls for foreign troops withdrawal
Aweys Osman Yusuf
Mogadishu 17, Feb.07 ( Sh.M.Network) - Somali president, Abullahi Yusuf Ahmed,has flown to England for medical reasons, government sources said.

Mr. Yusuf told parliament early today that the new parliament speaker, Sheik Aden Madobe, would proceed the government functions.

Sources said he went to Kenyan capital Nairobi where he would directly fly to London.

His departure came as the security situation in the country, the capital in particular, has is going rampant.


Islamic parliament
Meanwhile, the Islamic parliament that was meeting in Malaysian capital, called for an immediate troop withdrawal from Somalia, where thousands of Ethiopian troops are in.

The parliament urged the Somali population to resolve their internal differences.






Algeria to hold parliament poll on May 17


Algeria will hold parliamentary elections on May 17, an official decree published by the newspaper ElMoudjahid said on Saturday.

The oil-exporting North African country's 380-seat parliament is controlled by the conservative National Liberation Front (FLN), led by Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem, a close ally of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

MPs are elected for a five-year term in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation.

The FLN won 199 seats during the last election in 2002 and is again expected to do well, with Belkhadem continuing as prime minister.

The second was the pro-government Rally for National Democracy (RND) with 47 seats.

Both parties are members of a ruling coalition of parties.

Islah, the main opposition party, won 43 seats.

In Algeria the presidency is the most powerful office of state with the prime minister playing the role of coordinator between cabinet and presidency.

Presidential elections are scheduled for April 2009.

OPEC member Algeria plunged into violence in 1992 after the military cancelled legislative elections that a radical Islamic party was set to win.

An estimated 200,000 people were killed in subsequent violence.

Bouteflika, in a move to turn the page of the conflict, offered a partial amnesty to Islamist militants in 2006 and freed over 2000 militants from prison.

But sporadic violence continues, mainly in the Kabylie region east of Algiers.

-Reuters-




Azerbaijani Parliament today approved the law 'Private security service.'


The head of Parliament's Standing Commission on Legal Policy and State-Building Ali Huseynov said that the law will balance entrepreneurship in the country.

He said the item on the use of arms in private security service was removed from the law.

Huseynov noted that private security service officers will have uniforms.

"The persons have not done military service will not be employed," he said.

Private security service can be formed only by legal entities. The bill was approved in the second reading, APA reports.


URL: http://www.today.az/news/society/36617.html





European Parliament takes hard line on Darfur
Saturday 17 February 2007.
Aegis Trust
Media Release

Feb 15, 2007 — Campaigners and survivors of ethnic cleansing in Darfur have warmly welcomed the lead taken on the crisis today by the European Parliament. Expected to be backed by all major parties, the joint motion for a resolution on the Darfur crisis will be put to the vote around midday today and is expected to pass with an overwhelming majority.

It calls for the UN to set a date for deployment to Darfur, with or without Sudanese Government consent; for the international community and EU to supply equipment for enforcement of the no fly zone over Darfur that it identified as established by UN resolution 1591, and for the EU to apply sanctions, possibly including an oil embargo.

Time for Foreign Office to act on Blair’s words

“This resolution is by far the strongest yet issued by any major international body. It raises the bar for EU Governments, including the UK,” says Dr James Smith, Chief Executive of UK-based genocide prevention organisation the Aegis Trust. “At the EU Foreign Ministers meeting earlier this week, Margaret Beckett did nothing to secure an EU commitment to sanctions against Sudan, despite Blair’s rhetoric on this just two months ago. The Foreign Office should stop wasting time and start acting on the Prime Minister’s words about sanctions and a no-fly zone.”

“We’re very pleased that the European Parliament has recognised our people need protection and that it’s the international community’s responsibility to provide that now,” says Ishag Mekki, Vice Chairman of the Darfur Union. “Mass murder continues in Darfur, it’s been going on for more than four years now, and every day that no protection is given, more of our loved ones die.”

UN Deployment to Eastern Chad vital

“For the sake of Darfur, it’s vital that sanctions and a no fly zone are implemented now,” says Stephen Twigg, the Aegis Trust’s Campaigns Director. “This is a shot across the bow for the Sudanese Government. Khartoum has to understand that it cannot continue stalling on implementation of the hybrid AU-UN force.

“A swift deployment of UN peacekeepers to eastern Chad is also vital to end the destabilisation of the region and put well-equipped international forces hours rather than months away from the 2.5 million people internally displaced in Darfur, should the crisis worsen to the point where non-consensual intervention is the only option to prevent largescale loss of life.”

ENDS

For more information or to arrange interviews, contact Media Officer David Brown, +44 (0)7812 640873, or Parliamentary Officer Hratche Koundarjian, +44 (0)7905 911039




European Parliament urges UN force, non-fly zone in Darfur
Saturday 17 February 2007.
Feb 16, 2007 (BRUSSELS) — The European Parliament has adopted a resolution urging the UN to set a date for deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur, it also calls to enforce a non-fly zone in Darfur.

In a resolution adopted Thursday Feb 15, the European Parliament calls on the United Nations, even in the absence of consent or agreement from the Sudanese Government, to clearly set a date for deployment of a United-Nations-supported peacekeeping force to secure humanitarian aid corridors.

The resolution further urges the EU and the international community to supply equipment for the enforcement of a no-fly zone over Darfur and implement targeted economic sanctions, including an oil embargo, against those who impede the peace process.

The resolution also calls on the governments of the Member States of the EU, the Council and the Commission to assume their responsibilities and make every possible effort to protect the people of Darfur from a humanitarian disaster.

The Members of the European Parliament call on the international community, including the EU Member States, to make equipment available in the region for the enforcement of the no-fly zone over Darfur - a region the Sudanese Government has been bombing.

Another concern for the House is China who should cease to export arms to Sudan and to stop blocking decisions on targeted sanctions in the UN Security Council. The European Parliament is also in favour of targeted economic sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes and threatens to have an embargo on oil.

(ST)



Croatian Parliament approves plan for harmonization with EU legislation



17 February 2007 | 10:55 | FOCUS News Agency



Zagreb. The Croatian Parliament has approved a government’s plan for the harmonization of the Croatian legislation with the EU legislation. It envisages harmonizing 54 bills this year, the Croatian agency HINA reported. Apart from the plan, the government proposes an addendum, which envisages the adoption of almost 230 sub-statutory acts and 180 regulations. The total of 1,9 billion Croatian kunas (HRK) /HRK 7,5 = EUR 1/ have been envisaged in the budget for the purpose. The implementation of the EU regulations will be financed with foreign subsidies and credits.




Kuwaiti parliament speaker leaves Malaysia after PUOIC meeting

KUALA LAMPUR, Feb 17 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi concluded his visit to Malaysia on Saturday after participating in the Ninth Session of the Council of Parliamentary Union of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (PUOIC).

The PUOIC meetings, which concluded last night, witnessed the endorsement of Kuwait's proposal seeking to issue an international law to guarantee respect for religions. Malaysia would submit the proposal to the next meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, to be held in Malaysia between April 29 and May 4 of this year.

The final communiqu{ called for supporting the Iraqi government's efforts to restore stability and achieve reconciliation and condemned terrorist acts and operations against Iraqis people, especially against religious and intellectual figures. It affirmed respect for Iraqi sovereignty and its people's free choice.

It also strongly denounced Israel's desecration of religious sites in Jerusalem and called on the international community and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to impose sanctions on the state to force it to put an end to such "crimes." The Kuwaiti delegation grouped MPs Jamal Al-Kandiri, Abdullah Akkash Al-Abdeli, Abdulwahid Al-Awadhi, Adel Al-Saraawi, Mubarak Al-Khurainij, and Dr. Waleed Al-Tabtabaei.(end) asf.kd.




Parliament allows foreign doctors to work in Turkey
Saturday, February 17, 2007


ANKARA – TDN Parliament Bureau


Parliament's General Assembly late on Thursday approved a bill that would allow foreign doctors to work in Turkey in a professional capacity.

While some doctors and health sector unions objected to the bill, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was adamant about solving the doctor shortage in the East and the Southeast of the country.

He had complained about Turkish doctors refusing to serve in the rural or poorer regions around the country. The law that sets the regulations on doctors included a clause that required doctors to be Turkish citizens. The bill removed it.

The bill also establishes compulsory financial liability insurance to pay for compensation claims made against doctors. Doctors working privately will pay the insurance fee themselves.





Opposition takes the war for minimum constitutional changes to Uhuru Park as Government maintains hardline position
By DAVID MUGONYI
The rift over demands for minimum law reforms seemed to widen yesterday with Justice minister Martha Karua hardening her stand and opposition politicians vowing that today’s rally at Uhuru Park would mark the beginning of the end of President Kibaki’s rule.


From left to right: Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, Ms Martha Karua, Prof Kivutha Kibwana, Mr Raila Odinga, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka and Mr Paul Muite. Graphics Edward Mwasi.


Ms Karua repeated her support for a comprehensive law review which could be carried out in two months if the group demanding minimum changes agreed to return to the negotiating table.

She dismissed the 10-point plan put forward by the pro-minimum reforms team.

As Ms Karua was making her case, four MPs in the group campaigning for minimum changes visited the venue of today’s rally and declared that Uhuru Park would set the stage for the removal of President Kibaki from power.

MPs Fred Gumo, Charles Keter, Otieno Kajwang’ and Reuben Ndolo warned the Government that the same venue where declarations were made to propel President Kibaki to power in 2002, would be used to bring him down.

The MPs were accompanied by civil society leaders Betty Murungi, Cyprian Nyamwamu and Muungano wa Katiba Mpya publicity secretary Tony Gachoka.

They repeated threats to ensure the General Election did not take place without the changes.

“The committee on Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs tabled the minimum reforms we want and President Kibaki should tell us which ones he wants to amend so that we can talk,” said Mr Kajwang’.

They invited youths who did not have identity cards to attend the rally to pass their message to President Kibaki.

At the Grand Regency Hotel, Ms Karua dared the Opposition to take its demands for piecemeal changes to Parliament and see if it could garner the 148 MPs required to change the Constitution. She dismissed the minimum reforms demands saying they were politically motivated and had nothing to do with the General Election.

Piecemeal amendments should be rejected because they affected the consistency of the Constitution, she said.

Ms Karua said it was not possible to develop a criteria for minimum reforms because Kenyans had other needs they considered more important than those being demanded by the Opposition and civil society leaders.

“One cannot help but see that majority of the proposed minimum reforms have to do with electoral reforms which strictly speaking are only urgent and necessary for the political class,” she said.

Ms Karua tore into the proposals by the committee of Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs which tabled the minimum reform package in Parliament saying they were unreasonable and were meant to fundamentally change the Constitution without involving the people.

Lacked coherence

She said the proposals by the committee were contradictory, lacked coherence and if enacted would destroy the consistency of the Constitution.

Describing the move as political and citing one demand in the package, she said: “What has the calendar of Parliament got to do with elections?”

Ms Karua argued that the power to summon and prorogue Parliament was vested in the presidency to check Parliament because Kenya was a mixed system (presidential and parliamentary).

Therefore, Parliament had no power to amend sections 58 and 59 of the Constitution that give the President powers to call and prorogue the House because the matter touched the core of the document. This, according to her, could only be done by the people through a referendum.

“It does not make much sense to undertake minimum reforms and in the same breath pursue comprehensive reforms,” she said while addressing members of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Nairobi.

The minister also questioned another demand that the next president gets 50 per cent of the total votes cast plus one, saying it did not make the elections free and fair as MPs would still be elected by a simple majority.

She asked: “How will the 50 per cent plus one make the elections free and fair? ? some of us are employed by simple majority.”

Demands for minimum constitutional reforms before the General Election are being pushed by opposition politicians and members of the civil society, under the Muungano wa Katiba Mpya lobby, the organisers of today’s rally. Yesterday, Lang’ata MP Raila Odinga said minimum law reforms would ensure that President Kibaki did not rig himself back to power using a “Government friendly” Electoral Commission.


ODM Kenya MP Fred Gumo (right) addresses journalists at the city's Uhuru Park yesterday. With him are party members Otieno Kajwang' (left) and Irshad Sumra. The park is the venue of today's rally to impress for minimum constitutional reforms. Photo/Chris Ojow


“We will ensure that minimum reforms are enacted. The voice of the people will be speaking today at Uhuru Park on what they want,” the MP added.

Eldoret North MP William Ruto said the Uhuru Park rally would be the starting point of ensuring that the Government “listened to its people”.

Mr Ruto said: “The Government should know that it cannot be intransigent forever and especially so when the people want change.”

Mwingi North MP Kalonzo Musyoka said: “When Kenyans rejected Wako’s draft, it never meant they rejected a quest for a new constitution. Today’s rally continues this struggle.”

“Uhuru Park is a sign post of a journey we will complete... Kenyans will eventually get what they want,” he said.

Other than Ms Karua, others in government who have been critical of the reforms call include Environment minister Kivutha Kibwana and his Trade counterpart, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi.





State selection of MPs backed

Story by ZEPHANIA UBWANI in ARUSHA
Publication Date: 2/17/2007
Kenya’s National Assembly has the powers to nominate representatives to the regional Parliament, a court in Arusha was told yesterday.

Article 50 that established the East African Community stipulates that each partner State shall elect nine members for regional assembly, “in accordance with such procedure as the National Assembly of each partner State may determine’’.

The EA treaty gave Kenyan Parliament, and other partner States, flexibility to determine the rules under which it would pick the candidates for the regional House, Prof Githu Muigai told the East African Court of Justice.

He is representing the Government in a case in which Opposition parties are challenging the nomination of Narc candidates.

Prof Muigai said the House Business Committee of the Kenyan Parliament scrutinised the names of candidates from all political parties represented in Parliament and nine were approved and submitted to Arusha for the EA Legislative Assembly.

Other lawyers in the panel headed by the deputy solicitor general, Ms Muthoni Kimani, also spoke on the omission of some names of Narc candidates from the list endorsed by the Parliament and subsequently submitted to Arusha. They said the coalition had sent two lists, one of which originated from Narc leader Charity Ngilu.

The coalition, which defeated Kanu in 2002, is made up of several political parties.

Another list came from breakaway Narc Kenya and was endorsed by the Government chief whip, Mr Norman Nyagah, the court heard. The final nine MPs-elect were picked through “an elective process”.

However, lawyer Amollo Otiende for the claimants, said copies of Hansard made available to them, have shown that there were no elections of the nine MPs-elect, whose names were submitted to Arusha.

Lists of candidates

Mr Tom Kajwang, also for the claimants, objected that there were two lists of candidates presented, arguing that if that was the case, then it was against the rules.

“The House Business Committee (of the Parliament), he insisted, had no powers “whatsoever” to change the list of proposed candidates for EALA under Article 50 of EAC,” he insisted.

The five Narc candidates, whose names were proposed but later omitted by the Government, filed a suit at EACJ last November, seeking the reinstatement of their names.

They are Ms Yvonne Khamati, Mr Ochieng’ Mbeo, Ms Rose Waruhiu, Mr Gervase Akhaabi and Mr Fidelis Nguli— all from the Narc.

The Government replaced them with Ms Safina Sungu Kwekwe, Ms Catherine Ngima Kimura, Mr Clarkson Otieno Karan and Mr Agustino Lotodo Chemonges.

The hearing continues.







Kenyan Parliament to resume on March 20

Story by NATION Reporter
Publication Date: 2/17/2007
A new session of Parliament begins on March 20 even as leaders wrangle over the reforms required before the next General Election.

Politics is expected to dominate the homestretch round of the Ninth Parliament, whose due date was formally announced by President Mwai Kibaki through a legal notice yesterday.

MPs are split over the type of necessary reforms to even the playing ground before national elections are held later in the year.

And the holding of a pro-reform rally today at Uhuru Park in Nairobi by Muungano wa Katiba lobby - grouping the Opposition and the civil society - is an example of the hardened positions MPs are likely to extend to the august House when the President officially opens it at 2.30pm on March 20.


Parliment Building.


The Muungano and Opposition group is rooting for minimum changes to the country’s laws before the General Election.

Draw more money

Their position is opposed by Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua and a host of Cabinet colleagues who argue that it is possible to make comprehensive constitutional changes prior to the polls.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Francis ole Kaparo, will have to ensure MPs comply with the rules of procedures to ensure debates are not interrupted through individual or party grand standing.

The Government’s priority will be to ask MPs to allow it draw more money from the Consolidated Fund to seal the shortfall in the Budget.

The mini-budget is also to provide funds for the Electoral Commission of Kenya to prepare for the polls.

Then there are more than 13 important Bills and several motions which lapsed with the end of the last session on December 7, and will now have to be re-introduced.

They include the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment) seeking to amend several existing laws.




Changes to 17 th Amendment soon in Parliament
Constitutional Affairs and National Integration Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera said yesterday that the changes to the 17th Amendment will be presented to all the political parties representing the Parliament and the final report will be submitted to Parliament as soon as possible.
“We have identified a minor error in the 17th Amendment which prevents the Constitutional Council from meeting. We hope to remove this flaw and expect the approval of the other parties to this amendment,” the minister said.
He added that the crisis arose due to the specification in the amendment that a representative of the minor political parties represented in Parliament should be appointed to the Constitutional Council and the Council cannot sit without all the appointments being made. Both the JVP and TNA have requested that one of their members should be nominated. When this question was raised in Parliament, the Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara referred the issue to the Attorney General. The latter’s opinion was that the JVP is not in a position to nominate one of their members to the Constitutional Council as they are part of the UPFA, which is the current governing party and not a separate entity in Parliament.
Minister Gunasekera said that the changes were done especially with this issue in mind and they only require the approval of other political parties representing the Parliament.
There are about 20 parliamentarians including Karu Jayasuriya, Joseph Michael Perera and Nimal Siripala de Silva in the Committee headed by Minister Gunasekera to look into the necessary changes to the 17th Amendment.