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Ahmadinejad’s rivals lead in Iran elections
Attack final option against Iran, warns Obama
Senate polls give a boost to Pak ruling coalition
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Gilani says no to early polls
2,000 Indians get visa-free entry into Lanka
Indian pilgrims landed at the disputed island of Kachchativu on Saturday for the annual feast at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Anthony. Photo by writer
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Ahmadinejad’s rivals lead in Iran elections
Tehran, March 3 The strong showing by loyalists of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in yesterday’s parliamentary elections also reflected staunch support for Iran’s theocracy and its firm stance in the nuclear standoff with the West. Early returns today in the capital Tehran showed Khamenei loyalists have pulled ahead. Partial results from provincial towns also show conservative Ahmadinejad rivals were elected in many constituencies. State media said the turnout was estimated at over 67 per cent from among 48 million Iranians eligible to vote. The conservatives’ lead had been expected as the balloting for the 290-seat parliament had boiled down to a popularity contest between two conservative camps those opposing Ahmadinejad and those backing the president. The elections were the first major vote since Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election in June 2009 and the mass protests and crackdowns that followed. With the opposition crushed in the brutal crackdowns over the past three years and major reformist factions absent from polling stations, the outcome of the elections is unlikely to change Iran’s course over major policies including its refusal to halt uranium enrichment that the West fears is geared toward weapons making, military and oil policies. A win by his rivals will weaken Ahmadinejad’s camp ahead of the 2013 presidential race. In another embarrassment, Parvin Ahmadinejad, a younger sister of the president, was defeated by a conservative rival in their hometown of Garmsar. Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, whose daughter is married to Khamenei’s son, was leading in Tehran, followed by other Khamenei loyalists. Another Ahmadinejad opponent and current parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, won a seat from the city of Qom, a religious centre. —
AP
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Attack final option against Iran, warns Obama
Washington, March 3 “I don’t bluff,” Obama said delivering his most explicit threat to Tehran to keep away from nuclear, warning that “all options are on the table” and that the final option is the “military component.” At the same time, the US president also warned Israel against a premature attack on Iran, cautioning Tel Aviv that any hasty military attack might inadvertently help Tehran to portray itself as “victim”. The tough comments yet on the Iranian nuclear issue came ahead of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister. “I also don’t, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are. But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognise that when the US says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say,” Obama said. —
PTI
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Senate polls give a boost to Pak ruling coalition
Pakistan’s ruling coalition, led by the Pakistan People’s Party, has consolidated its position in the upper house of Parliament easing the pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari after a slew of debilitating standoffs with the judiciary and military.
After the final count of the polls held on Friday, the PPP and its allies consolidated their position in the Senate building their total strength to 70 in a House of 104. Besides most of the independents, particularly from tribal areas traditionally support the government in power. The PPP previously has added its number to 41 from existing 27 seats to become the single largest party in the Senate. The main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won eight more seats to raise its strength to 14. An understanding reached between the PPP, MQM and PML-F in Sindh worked as all candidates fielded by them emerged victorious. Those elected on Friday include Aitzaz Ahsan, Ishaq Dar, Babar Awan, Mian Raza Rabbani, Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Syed Mustafa Kamal and Syed Muzaffar Shah. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar (PPP) and Ilyas Bilour (ANP) won the seats for technocrats in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa while former information minister and secretary general PML-Q, Mushahid Hussain Sayed won from Islamabad. The Jamaat Islami which had boycotted the 2008 elections was completely ousted from the Senate. Imran Khan’s PTI did not contest the election.
Gilani says no to early polls
“Now there will be no caretaker or chair-taker. The Prime Minister will not go up, inside or outside. He will stay right here,” Gilani told reporters on the sidelines of an official function in his hometown of Multan, a day after the PPP emerged as the single largest party in the Senate. The premier was responding to a question about the possibility of an early General Election. There has been rampant speculation that the beleaguered government would have to call an early election in the face of challenges from the judiciary and the military. Gilani noted that several predictions made in the past about the fall of his government had been proved wrong. The government held the Senate elections on time and will present its fifth budget in May, he said. A decision on the next general election will be made in consultations with the PPP's allies, he added. —
PTI
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2,000 Indians get visa-free entry into Lanka
More than 2,000 Indian pilgrims, mainly fishermen from Tamil Nadu, landed at the disputed island of Kachchativu situated off the tip of northern Sri Lanka on Saturday for the annual feast at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Anthony, which will be held on Sunday. Sri Lankan immigration officials said the pilgrims have been allowed visa-free entry as a “goodwill gesture’ with the hope of cooling down tensions between the two countries over the simmering fishing dispute involving thousands of poachers from India. The Indian pilgrims were handed over to the Lankan navy by the Indian Coast Guard at the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and they were later escorted to the island in their own boats, Sri Lanka navy spokesperson Kosala Waranakulasuriya said. He added that the Indian Coast Guard provided a head count of the pilgrims and a list containing the names in order to avoid any over-stayers. The Sri Lankan navy, which plays host at the annual event, had made all arrangements to provide food and refreshments for the Indians during their brief stay on the island. Apart from the Indians, more than 5,000 locals from the south and other coastline Catholic belts also arrived on the Island. The event has become a meeting place between the fishermen of the two countries who otherwise trade allegations of crossing over to each other’s territorial waters for fishing. The Catholic Saint of St. Anthony is regarded as the patron for seafarers and the church was built by an unknown fisherman over half a century ago. The island of Kachchativu has been an issue of contention, particularly with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa along with other TN politicians stating that the island belongs to India.
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More than 2,000 Indian pilgrims, mainly fishermen from Tamil Nadu, landed at the disputed island of Kachchativu situated off the tip of northern Sri Lanka on Saturday for the annual feast at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Anthony, which will be held on Sunday.
Islamabad, March 3