Politics

French President Macron says Russia is an important factor in solving many international problems

29/05/2017

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that Russia is a key factor in solving many international problems. “Many international problems cannot be resolved without Russia,” said Macron ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

While stressing that the dialogue with Russia will be “demanding,” he noted that the situation in Syria and Ukraine will be high on the agenda during his meeting with Putin. More than 10,000 people have been killed in a conflict between Ukraine and pro-Russia forces since 2014. Despite the original Minsk agreement, which was reached in September 2014, as well as another deal also struck in the Belarusian capital in February 2015, the Ukrainian government and the pro-Russians have continued to trade fire along front lines. “I am going to discuss the situation in Syria during the meeting in Versailles,” Macron added.

Source: Presstv

SDF flays Biya regime over Agbor Balla-Neba Fontem detention

29/05/2017

The so-called main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front, SDF has held its National Executive Committee meeting, NEC in Bamenda with focus on the life of the party, national issues and the recent French presidential elections.

The NEC members met in an enlarged forum grouping Mayors, Senators, Shadow Cabinet Ministers including the National Advisory Council and noted with consternation that the Biya regime has continued to wage a war of repression and with impunity against Southern Cameroonians. The think tank of the SDF wondered why the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime will negotiate and even pay ransom to the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram militants but was quick to arrest and imprison members of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium with whom they were negotiating.

The SDF supreme council observed that the CPDM government has continued to fight an undeclared war against the Anglophones community in Cameroon with heavy military deployment everywhere throughout Southern Cameroons territory. Saturdays’ NEC meeting was also an opportunity for the party to put in place a commission of inquiry which will probe into cases of torture, arbitrary arrest and detention in the two English speaking regions.

The National Executive Committee also pointed out that there were evil forces behind the case against the Southern Cameroon Roman Catholic Bishops. NEC added that the Roman Catholic Mission including the PCC have done a lot in educating Cameroonians and cannot be brought to court today by a CPDM backed Consortium of parents.

Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi and his group of wise men and women were also preoccupied with the party’s internal affairs especially the controversies in the Centre region in La Republique du Cameroun. To this effect, the party used article 18.8 and got rid of all the executive members of the Center region. The SDF congratulated the new French Head of State and announced it will hold a National Convention in the month of October.

Source: Cameroun Info.Net

Trump losing ground in the polls

28/05/2017

Prospects are fading for US President Donald Trump to get a big boost at home from his first foreign trip as two new polls show his approval rating stagnating or declining and doubts rising about his credibility. Fifty-four percent of voters say Trump is abusing the powers of his office, according to the latest survey by Quinnipiac. Only 37 percent approve of his job performance, about the same as the 36 percent who approved two weeks ago. Fifty-nine percent say Trump is dishonest.

Sixty-six percent support the appointment of a special counsel to investigate possible improper links between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. Trump opposed that investigation, but the Justice Department named former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel anyway.

“President Donald Trump remains mired in dreadful mid-30s approval numbers and the red flags that are popping up tell an even darker story,” Tim Malloy, the poll’s assistant director, told reporters. “But by far the most alarming determination is that President Trump is abusing his office.”

The latest Fox News poll finds that only 34 percent of registered voters say Trump was correct in firing FBI Director James Comey, who had been in charge of the agency’s investigation of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Sixty-eight percent approve of the Justice Department’s appointment of the special counsel to investigate the Russian meddling, including 46 percent of Republicans. The Fox survey also finds that only 40 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing, down from 45 percent last month. Fifty-three percent disapprove of his job performance, up by five points from 48 percent.

Eighty-one percent of Republicans approve of the president’s job performance, down from 87 percent when he took over in January. This is a troubling sign for Trump because if his base continues to erode he will probably lose influence among majority Republicans in Congress, damaging his agenda.

US: White House considers legal team to vet Trump’s tweets

27/05/2017

The White House is reportedly considering appointing a legal team to monitor President Donald Trump’s tweets, according to a report. The plan to scrutinize the president’s social media posts aims to avoid unnecessary political and legal troubles that have led to a number of investigations into administration officials, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump used Twitter as his main means of communicating with voters, a method that proved effective and far cheaper than advertising campaigns used by his opponents. However, aides and officials had hoped that Trump would be more cautious as president, but this has not been the case.

Trump has caused controversy during his time in office by issuing unverified claims on Twitter about former FBI Director James Comey and his predecessor, Barack Obama. Without evidence, Trump accused Obama of wiretapping him during the election, and also hinted that his conversations with Comey, whom he fired this month, could have been taped at the White House.

Comey has authored a memo that said the president asked him to drop an inquiry about former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s ties to Moscow. Some members of Congress have demanded access to that memo. The White House also seeks to expand its legal team to deal with ongoing investigations into whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the November election.

The Justice Department has named a special counsel to lead one of the inquiries. Meanwhile, Trump has appointed longtime legal adviser Marc Kasowitz to represent him on matters related to the Russia investigation.

The appointment of a private attorney may signal that Trump is seriously concerned about the impact the federal investigation could have on him personally, especially if others in his administration turn against him. Reports suggest that the White House might have major changes in store when Trump returns to Washington this weekend from his first trip abroad.

Culled from Presstv

Trump presidency total and complete disaster

27/05/2017

Former US House Speaker John Boehner has chided President Donald Trump, saying his young presidency has so far been “a complete disaster” except for foreign policy. Boehner’s spokesman, Dave Schnittger, confirmed on Friday that the former congressman had made the scathing remarks at the KPMG’s 15th Annual Global Energy Conference in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday.

Trump’s fellow Republican hailed the president’s purported attempts to fight the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the Middle East but was highly critical of his other efforts. “Everything else he’s done has been a complete disaster. He’s still learning how to be president,” added Boehner, who was the speaker of the House of Representatives from January 2011 to October 2015.

The former Ohio congressman further said that although he had been friends with Trump for 15 years, he never thought the real estate mogul would one day occupy the White House. “But president? I just never envisioned him in that role,” he acknowledged.

Boehner also said at the event that Trump should not be allowed to post further tweets. Many have blamed Trump for being obsessed with his Twitter account, publishing controversial or provocative posts. In an interview with Press TV in March, former US diplomat in Germany Michael Springmann said Trump “has better things than tweet hour after hour and day after day… a lot of which do not make sense.”

Boehner, however, rejected calls to impeach Trump. Democratic Representative Al Green has formally put forward articles of impeachment for the US president, but such an effort has not been supported by most Democratic legislators as the probe continues.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Boehner blamed the Republicans for trying to ‘repeal and replace’ the Affordable Care Act, even after the House passed an overhaul measure with a low margin. He also lambasted Trump for dismissing tax reform efforts, which form a basis for the Republican policy agenda, as “just a bunch of happy talk.”

Since taking office in January, Trump has raised controversial issues such as imposing an entry ban on Muslims and building a wall on Mexico’s border, causing rifts among American politicians and drawing condemnations from across the globe.

Source: Presstv

SDF Mayor says the party has remained committed to democracy

26/05/2017

The Deputy Mayor of the Ndu Council in Donga-Mantung division, has said, Cameroon’s leading opposition party, the Social Democratic Front Party, SDF has not drifted from the policies which accompanied its birth in 1990.

Martin Fon Yembe said despite the reduction in number of seats in parliament and Councils, the SDF has remained unbeaten as the main opposition and is still waxing strong and kicking.

He was reacting to questions from Equinoxe Radio based in Douala as the interlocutor quizzed to know what he thinks about the fact that the SDF party today has become a shadow of itself. Martin Fon Yembe said if it is a shadow today it means the party exists and will continue to pride itself as the number one opposition.

Asked what he thought of the fact that the party is preaching change in the management of state affairs but within itself leadership has not changed since 1990.

The Ndu deputy Mayor said Ni John FRU NDI who is the party’s National Chairman is the right man to run the party no matter his longevity. He said being at the helm of a party for decades is different from being at the head of a state, concluding that State should not be compared with political parties.

Militants of the SDF party did not celebrate like in previous editions the so-called National Day celebrated every May 20^th– a decision that was taken by the National Chairman NI John Fru Ndi.

Source: Cameroun Info.Net

Coup threat warning in Nigeria

24/05/2017

Nigeria has paid a high price to achieve democracy and will foil attempts by those hoping to stage a coup, the national leader of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party said. Bola Tinubu’s warning came after the chief of army staff last week ordered officers to steer clear of politics and said he had received information some soldiers were approached by individuals for “undisclosed political reasons”.

“Just a few days ago we heard a warning that some people were trying to entice the military out of the barracks. I want to add my voice to that warning,” Tinubu, who leads President Muhammadu Buhari’s APC party, said in a speech to the state assembly in Lagos.

“Those who think they can break the democracy for which so many laboured and which too many sacrificed limb and life, are sorely mistaken. Nigeria has come too far for such a thing…. don’t think about it.” He did not specify who he was referring to in the speech.

President Buhari, on his second medical leave this year for an undisclosed ailment, has been widely criticised over his handling of Africa’s largest economy since taking office in May 2015. Nigeria has entered its second year of a recession, largely caused by low oil prices, that has seen a dollar scarcity and high inflation.

His deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, has been acting president since the 74-year-old former military ruler left for Britain on May 7. Nigeria has been under civilian rule since 1999 after military dictatorships held power for years following independence from Britain in 1960. Buhari was also the nation’s military head of state from December 1983 to August 1985, when he was deposed in a coup.

Source: Defenseweb

20th May Palaver: SDF National Executive Committee to meet in Bamenda

23/05/2017

The Secretary General of the Social Democratic Front, SDF has announced the holding of a National Executive Committee meeting in Bamenda. Cameroon Intelligence Report sources say the session will be extended to Mayors, Members of Parliament, Senators, members of the Shadow Cabinet and the Councilors’ Cell.

Senator Jean Tsomelou did not make public the reason behind the holding of the emergency Bamenda NEC meeting on the 27^th of May 2017. However, what we do know is that the NEC members will be discussing sanctions against mayors and senators who defied the orders of the National Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi.

The SDF leadership has called on all its elected representatives and militants to boycott the so-called National Day celebrations. However, some mayors and senators were seen participating in the parades marking the 45th edition of the Francophone imposed National Day of Unity.

By Sama Ernest

Cameroon Intelligence Report

20th May Celebration: Kumbo CPDM militants says yes to ghost town operations

22/05/2017

The leadership of the ruling CPDM party in Kumbo in Bui Division in Southern Cameroons was visibly stunned when several militants staged a parade during the so-called National Day celebrations and displayed placards in support of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. The humiliation suffered by the CPDM barons who had trooped in from Yaoundé, the nation’s capital was complete and total. The party has failed to win most of the elections in Bui ever since the advent of multiparty politics and was attempting to use the 45^th edition of the National Day to rally support.

The Bui CPDM is bitterly divided over whether the party should stick with Southern Cameroon demands for an independent state or remain an integral part of La Republique du Cameroun with an 84 year old leader who intends to run in 2018. Most political commentators are wary of putting it more firmly—that, whether or not Mr Paul Biya stays at its head, the CPDM’s mighty cash-laden machine may lose power. And that could turn the Francophone Beti Ewondo politics upside down.

The Bui CPDM militants have taken it upon themselves to rescue the party from its dictatorial leadership and have accused President Biya and his ruling Francophone elites of allowing “political repression, restrictions of freedom of association and arbitrary arrest of Anglophones.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Intelligence Report

20th May Crisis: SDF vows to punish Senator, Mayors who defied Chairman Fru Ndi

22/05/2017

Two mayors of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) took part in the so-called National Day celebrations in Bamenda. The SDF elected officials were seen in the front row during the 45^th edition of the Francophone feast of unity. A statement from the National Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi released by the National Executive Committee had called on all SDF militants to boycott the celebration of the said festival. The SDF has vowed to punish all elected representatives who disrespected the National Chairman.

The Social Democratic Front observed in the press release that the boycott action was in protest against the management of the Anglophone crisis by the Government. It was shocking therefore in the city of Bamenda in the North-West Region that these mayors were seen demonstrating support and loyalty to the Biya Francophone regime.

In the photo attached to this report, the SDF mayors of Bamenda II and III Fidelis Balick Awa and Cletus Fongu mischievously appeared in the first rank and demonstrated absolute disregard for the SDF leadership and the National Executive Committee. The situation was same in Meiganga with an SDF Senator in attendance.

However, the SDF did not take part in any of the activities in Bamenda. A source close to the Mezam SDO’s office was quoted as saying “We believe that Mayors cease to belong to political parties, since they are an important link in the institutions”.

By Fru James

Cameroon Intelligence Report with files from CIN

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