News vom 24.01.2006

srilanka1998

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Conservatives headed for minority
[ Globe and Mail ] [ 04:05 GMT, Jan. 24, 2006 ]

Stephen Harper's Conservatives were headed for a minority government in Monday night's federal election, after picking up votes in Quebec and making inroads in Ontario, but didn't appear likely to scale the heights expected earlier in the campaign. The Conservatives were leading or elected in 121 seats, to the Liberals' 102. The Bloc Québécois were leading or elected in 50 and the NDP in 30. The Conservatives' gains came on the back of a swell in support in central Canada for the party, but the Liberals still managed to cling to seats in some key regions.


Harper wins Tory minority government, pledges to work with parties
Last Updated Tue, 24 Jan 2006 03:05:29 EST
CBC News

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, Canada's next prime minister, pledged to work with all parties in the next Parliament after Canadians elected a Tory minority government Monday, ending a 12-year reign of Liberal rule.

"Tonight friends, our great country has voted for change. And Canadians have asked our party to take the lead in delivering that change," Harper told his supporters in Calgary.

Harper acknowledged that Canadians have not given any one party a majority and have asked all parties to work together.

Earlier, Liberal Leader Paul Martin announced that he will step down as leader.

The Conservatives were elected in 124 ridings, the Liberals were elected in 102 (leading in one other), the Bloc was elected in 51 and the NDP was elected in 29. One Independent was elected, in Quebec.

"There will be another chance and there will be another time," Martin told a roomful of supporters in Montreal. He said he called Harper to congratulate him.

The Conservatives picked up more than 36 per cent of the popular vote, an increase of seven per cent from 2004. This compared to the Liberals with 30 per cent and the NDP with 17.5 per cent.

The NDP made major gains nationally, up 10 seats from the 2004 vote.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said that while Canadians voted for Harper to form a minority government, "they asked New Democrats to balance that government."

Layton was flanked by his wife, NDP candidate Olivia Chow, who won her Toronto riding.

The Tories made significant gains in Ontario and Quebec, elected in at least two dozen seats.

In Quebec, where they were shut out in 2004, the Tories made major inroads, elected in 10 ridings.

Related Story: Conservatives make breakthrough in Quebec at expense of Liberals and Bloc

In vote-rich Ontario, the Liberals, who captured 75 seats in 2004, were elected in 54 ridings. But the Tories increased their support, elected in 40 ridings, a gain of 16. The NDP was elected in 12 ridings, up five.

Related Story: Tories, NDP picking up seats in Ontario

The province, a Liberal stronghold, has 106 seats and is considered the key to victory.

Both Martin and Harper campaigned heavily in the strategic province.

In Quebec, the Bloc was elected in 51 of the province's 75 ridings, followed by the Liberals with 13 seats and the Tories with 10. In 2004, the Bloc received 54 seats, followed by the Liberals with 21. Independent candidate André Arthur, took the riding of Portneuf-Jacques Cartier from the Bloc.

While the Bloc ended up keeping most of its seats, it appeared it would do that with far fewer votes. Its share of the popular vote slipped to 42.4 per cent – a 6.5 percentage point drop from the 48.9 per cent it garnered in 2004.

Early in the campaign, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe, who appeared to set an electoral goal of 50 per cent of the popular vote, focused his attacks on Martin. With polls suggesting Conservative popularity soaring in the province, Duceppe began slamming Harper.

In the Atlantic provinces, the Liberals, who won 22 seats in the June 2004 election, were elected in 20 of the region's 32 ridings. The Conservatives, who were hoping to make bigger inroads in the region, were elected in nine ridings, a gain of two.

The Conservatives also took a hit in British Columbia, losing five of their 22 seats. The NDP gained five seats and the Liberals picked up one.

All four major party leaders held on to their ridings. Among the high profile Liberal political casualties were Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew, Transport Minister Tony Valeri, Heritage Minister Liza Frulla and Liberal Treasury Board president Reg Alcock.

Liberal Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell was defeated in Ontario by Conservative Tony Clement, former provincial Ontario health minister, by 21 votes.

LIVE ANALYSIS: CBC.ca's Reality Check Team on election day developments

The Tories swept Alberta and appear poised to tighten their hold on the Prairies by two seats.

Related Story: Tories sweep Alberta, boosting overall grip on Prairies

Many political observers have credited Harper for running a smooth campaign.

Related Story: Notable candidates

He regularly pumped out policy announcements throughout the unusually long 56-day campaign, leaving the Liberals mostly to react.

Martin campaigned on his record as finance minister and his implementation of eight consecutive balanced budgets. He also promised to lower personal income taxes, create a national child-care plan, ban handguns, subsidize post-secondary students and ban the federal use of the notwithstanding clause.

But he spent the last weeks of the campaign going after Harper. He accused him of having an extreme right-wing agenda that would threaten the rights of minorities and take away a woman's right to choose.

Unlike the 2004 election, the Tories were also able to keep their so-called controversial MPs in check. Indeed, reporters complained the party was purposely keeping some candidates away from the media spotlight.

In this campaign, it was the Liberals who were often in damage control mode.

In the early weeks of the campaign, Martin spokesman Scott Reid said parents would spend Harper's child-care subsidy on "beer and popcorn." Later, the Ontario vice-president of the party resigned after he compared NDP candidate Olivia Chow to a dog.

Martin was also questioned about a series of attack ads, in particular one that suggested Harper would post armed soldiers on the streets of Canadian cities.

And just last week, Martin again was on the defensive, having to declare Harper's patriotism after Canadian Auto Workers head Buzz Hargrove, who endorsed the Liberals, suggested the Tory leader was a separatist.

As Martin was forced to contend with the fallout of the sponsorship scandal, his party was hit with two RCMP probes, one into a possible government leak on income trusts and another into alleged illegal spending through the now-defunct unity lobby Option Canada. Opposition parties jumped on the investigations claiming it was proof of what they called more corruption in the Liberal ranks.
 
Killings amid Sri Lanka peace bid
[ BBC ] [ 11:19 GMT, Jan. 24, 2006 ]

Two Tamil civilians, one of them a local journalist, have been killed in eastern Sri Lanka amid fresh attempts to restart peace talks, officials say. The two men were shot dead in separate attacks by unidentified gunmen in the port town of Trincomalee. The fresh violence came as a senior Norwegian envoy met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. The envoy, Erik Solheim, is also due to head north to meet Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. No details are available of the discussions between Mr Solheim and the president, although the Associated Press reports that Mr Rajapakse has asked the Norwegian to set up fresh talks with the rebels. Mr Solheim told reporters on Monday that Sri Lanka was at a crossroads, but it was not too late to avert war.


Protests as peace envoy meets Sri Lanka president
[ Reuters ] [ 12:57 GMT, Jan. 24, 2006 ]

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse met a Norwegian peace broker on Tuesday as diplomats tried to avert a return to civil war, but in the north protesters burnt his effigy and accused the army of killing civilians. Envoy Erik Solheim flew in to the island on Monday hours after an ambush on an army patrol by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed three soldiers, and is due to head to the rebel-controlled area on Wednesday to meet their reclusive leader. "These talks will decide the future of the peace process," the rebels quoted their chief negotiator Anton Balasingham -- flown in from his London home to Kilinochchi in rebel-held northern Sri Lanka for the meeting -- as saying.


Peace envoy meets Sri Lanka president
[ Reuters ] [ 12:59 GMT, Jan. 24, 2006 ]

Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim met Sri Lanka's president on Tuesday for talks aimed at averting civil war, but officials said the government would probably not give in to rebel demands talks be held in Oslo. Suspected Tamil Tiger attacks on troops have strained the 2002 truce brokered by Solheim and raised the specter two decades of war will restart. The rebels say they will meet the government, but only in Norway -- but officials say they will have to be more flexible or talks will not happen at all. "The government is very likely not to go to Oslo for talks but ... would consider any alternative venue for talks other than Oslo," a senior official source said on condition of anonymity after President Mahinda Rajapakse met Solheim.


Real peace not yet on the agenda in Sri Lanka
[ AFP ] [ 12:59 GMT, Jan. 24, 2006 ]

Prospects for real peace in Sri Lanka remain distant if not bleak, analysts say, despite Tamil rebels and the government being pushed back to the negotiating table in the coming months. US and Norwegian envoys are making a concerted bid this week to stem the bloodshed and kickstart talks that the separatist rebels walked out of in 2003. After months of argument over a venue, officials say the government is now ready to compromise and they hope negotiations will resume with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Europe in February. But once the ice is broken and the two sides again face the real issues of a struggle that has cost 60,000 lives over three decades, analysts see little hope of an early breakthrough.
 
Five blasts rock Colombo
[ PTI ] [ 21:05 GMT, Jan. 24, 2006 ]


At least five simultaneous explosions rocked Colombo on Tuesday causing panic across the city. Norwegian mediator Eric Solheim and top US official Nicholas Burns were in the Sri Lankan capital to salvage the faltering peace process between the government and the Tiger rebels when the blasts took place. There were no casualties in the blasts in and around the capital which police said were aimed at creating panic. The explosions at a garbage dump near a hospital for women on Castle Street and along a railway line at Nugegoda could be heard in many parts of the capital.
 
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