Established 1961 7 International Tuesday, May 29, 2018 president puts nation on path to fresh elections Polls to be held between September and early next year

ROME: Italy was hurtling to new elections within months Savona, and their approved nominee for prime minister, yesterday as the country is mired in political chaos after a lawyer and political novice , stepped bid by two populist parties to form a government col- aside. Mattarella, 76, said he had accepted every pro- lapsed. The latest crisis was sparked when President posed minister except Savona, who has called the euro a vetoed the nomination of fierce “German cage” and has said that Italy needs a plan to eurosceptic as economy minister in a coali- leave the single currency “if necessary”. The leaders of tion of the far-right League and anti-establishment Five Five Star and the League, and Matteo Star Movement. His on Sunday - which came after Salvini, furiously denounced the veto, decrying what they months of political turmoil in the wake of an inconclusive called meddling by Germany, debt ratings agencies and March election - sparked angry calls for his impeachment. financial lobbies. Yesterday, Mattarella chose Carlo Cottarelli, an econo- Cottarelli, 64, was director of the IMF’s fiscal affairs mist formerly with the department from 2008 to International Monetary Fund, 2013 and became known as to form a caretaker govern- “Mr Scissors” for making cuts ment to take Italy into new to public spending in Italy. He elections. The chaos sent will struggle to win parlia- Italian stocks tumbling by as Ex-IMF official ment’s approval with Five Star much as two percent at one and the League commanding stage, and bond yields surging. appointed as a majority in both houses. Cottarelli said that should his technocrat government win interim PM ‘First impeachment, then polls’ parliamentary approval, it “They’ve replaced a gov- would stay in place until elec- ernment with a majority with tions at the start of 2019. one that won’t obtain one,” “I will come to parliament said Di Maio, calling for the with a program that, if I win the vote of confidence, will president to be impeached. “I hope that we can give the : Italian President Sergio Mattarella (left) welcomes Carlo Cottarelli at the Qurinale presidential palace after include a vote on the 2019 budget. Then parliament will floor to Italians as soon as possible, but first we need to giving him the mandate to form a government. — AFP be dissolved, with elections at the start of 2019,” he said. clear things up. First the impeachment of But if parliament fails to approve his government, a new Mattarella...then to the polls.” Salvini, a fellow euroscep- election would be held “after August” - the most likely tic who was Savona’s biggest advocate, declared that billionaire former prime minister released a statement administrations together. “Berlusconi’s statement yester- outcome given only the center-left has Italy was not a “colony”, and “we won’t have Germany Sunday in which he praised Mattarella’s efforts to “safe- day was the same sort of thing that could have been writ- announced that it would vote in favor. tell us what to do”. guard this country’s families and businesses”. ten by (former centre-left prime minister Matteo) Renzi,” Yesterday, Salvini threatened to break his alliance with His partnership with Salvini as part of a grouping that Salvini told Radio Capitale. French far-right leader Marine ‘Mr Scissors’ the League’s pre-election rightwing coalition partner won the most votes in March, is still in place despite the Le Pen joined in their outrage, accusing the president of a The League and the Five Star abandoned their plans to Silvio Berlusconi should the media mogul’s League’s attempt to form a government with Five Star, as “coup d’etat” and saying the “ and finan- form a coalition government after the president’s veto of party vote for the caretaker government. The 81-year-old Forza Italia and the League hold local and regional cial markets are again confiscating democracy”.—AFP

she was thwarted by police, said she met Merkel met Merkel on Thursday. Li’s husband Wang Quanzhang is an attorney who represented political Berri upbeat on wives of jailed activists and disappeared in a 2015 police sweep. He has been charged with government as lawyers during “subversion of state power”. Li showed AFP a photo of her meeting with Merkel during which the chancellor rests her rivalries surface China visit right hand on her shoulder as they smile at each other. “I thanked Merkel for her BEIJING: German Chancellor Angela attention and support to 709 lawyers,” BEIRUT: Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Merkel met the wives of two detained Li told AFP, referring to a group of attor- Berri said a new coalition government should Chinese human rights lawyers during her neys rounded up in a crackdown on July be formed within a month, according to com- trip to Beijing last week in a rare move 9, 2015. ments reported yesterday, as Prime Minister- for a visiting leader, the women told AFP Wang was among more than 200 designate Saad Al-Hariri launched difficult yesterday. Heads of state or government Chinese human rights lawyers and negotiations over the new cabinet. often avoid making major public state- activists who were detained or ques- Underscoring the complications, the Christian ments about human rights during their tioned that day, the largest clampdown Lebanese Forces party demanded government trips to China and shun meetings with on the legal profession in recent history. representation equal to its main rival, the Free activists or relatives. Merkel did not While most were released on bail, a Patriotic Movement, and competition for cabi- mention the meeting with the two handful were convicted of various net portfolios also surfaced among rival Druze women during her two-day visit on crimes and sentenced to up to seven BEIJING: This handout picture taken on May 24 shows German factions. “Nobody has an interest in delaying Thursday and Friday, though she said years in prison. Wang is the last person Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) speaking with Li Wenzu.—AFP the birth of the government or putting compli- she brought up human rights during her in the so-called 709 crackdown to cations in its way,” Berri told people who had talks with Premier Li Keqiang. remain in legal limbo and no trial date visited him, the Hariri-owned newspaper Al- A German government spokesman has been set for him. child, and said she will continue to sup- later called for Yu’s release, drawing a Mustaqbal reported. told AFP that Merkel had met last “I asked Merkel to help me confirm port and pay attention to us.” rebuke from China. Human rights activists Hariri, who will be prime minister for the Thursday “with a group of human rights with Chinese officials whether Wang Merkel also met Xu Yan. Her husband had hoped that Merkel’s visit would help third time, said last week all parties agreed that lawyers and relatives of people detained Quanzhang is still alive, and if he is, to Yu Wensheng was charged with “inciting persuade Chinese authorities to allow poet economic risks at home and growing dangers in and discussed their situation with them”. please help me urge Chinese officials to subversion of state power” in January, a Liu Xia, the widow of dissident Nobel lau- the region meant a national unity government Li Wenzu, who last month had attempted allow my lawyer to meet him,” Li said in week after he was detained as he prepared reate Liu Xiaobo, to leave the country. But must be formed as quickly as possible. The to march 100 km to a detention facility an email. “Merkel showed concern over to take his son to school in Beijing. German Liu Xia remains under de facto house Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah aims to to highlight her husband’s plight before the situation to me, my husband and my human rights commissioner Barbel Kofler arrest in Beijing. — AFP secure a bigger say in the next government than it had in the last one, after the heavily armed group and its allies made significant News of the no-confidence vote helped drive the rocketed to their widest differential since the start of gains in a May 6 general election. Spanish PM to Spanish government’s borrowing costs to 2-1/2 month the year, though they were also hit by concerns over Lebanon’s dire economic situation and highs, while the blue-chip stock index, the IBEX, turned political uncertainty in Italy. unsustainable debt levels are seen as top priori- lower. Opposition parties are taking advantage of ties for the next government. So too is the face confidence Rajoy’s weakness after 29 people linked to the PP were Pressure from opposition Syrian refugee crisis for a country where one in convicted last Thursday of crimes including influence- Ciudadanos (Citizens), a liberal party ahead in opinion four people is a Syrian refugee. The head of vote on Friday peddling and falsifying accounts, in the culmination of a surveys and the most likely to win a snap election, urged Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammed long-running corruption trial. Rajoy yesterday to call an early poll, saying his govern- Raad, told reporters after meeting Hariri that The PP has closed ranks behind Rajoy, who said on ment was weak and tainted by corruption. The Socialists his party had requested a “weighty ministry” in MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will Friday he intended to serve out his four-year term and have proposed their leader Pedro Sanchez as a replace- the new government. face a vote of confidence in his leadership on Friday as that the corruption convictions did not affect a single ment for Rajoy. The party, with just 84 seats in parlia- Senior political sources have said Hezbollah corruption convictions handed down to dozens of peo- member of his government. The 63-year-old survived a ment, must get at least 176 votes to carry its proposal. is seeking at least one service-provision min- ple linked to his center-right People’s Party (PP) threat- no-confidence vote last June. “We are deeply sorry that Leftist party Podemos, with 67 seats, has said it will sup- istry and will have three instead of two min- ened his six-year rule. Spain’s parliament agreed yes- there were people who used the PP for self-enrich- port the motion, but that would not be sufficient. The istries this time. The group has typically taken terday that the debate and vote would take place on ment,” party spokesman Pablo Casado told a news con- Socialists would also have to seek backing from small ministries of marginal importance. Hezbollah, Thursday and Friday, although the opposition Socialists ference on Monday, adding that the no-confidence vote regional parties who would attach politically difficult along with groups and individuals that support who proposed the vote may struggle to garner enough was irresponsible and put Spain’s economic stability at conditions in return for their support such as the free- its possession of arms, won at least 70 of par- support in the fragmented legislature to unseat Rajoy. risk. Spanish borrowing costs relative to Germany’s dom of Catalan politicians from custody.— Reuters liament’s 128 seats in the election, a reversal of Lebanon’s last legislative election, which in 2013, but critics say he has been slow to returned an anti-Hezbollah majority in 2009. pursue top officials. No high profile con- The staunchly anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Kenya charges victions have occurred since he took Forces party is seeking more government min- office. Reuters could not immediately istries to reflect its gains in the election. The LF, 54 in graft contact any of the people named in a tele- led by Maronite politician Samir Geagea, nearly vised news conference by Haji, who said doubled its number of seats in parliament, win- 20 of the individuals had been taken into ning 15. “The (LF) representation must be equal investigation, custody. He called on the rest to hand to the representation of the FPM,” LF lawmaker themselves in and said the suspects would George Adwan said after meeting Hariri. The be charged in court on Tuesday with FPM was founded by President Michel Aoun, to probe banks crimes including abuse of office. and has been led by his son-in-law Gebran The government ministry responsible Bassil since 2015. The group has been political- NAIROBI: Kenyan authorities charged 54 for the National Youth Service and a ly allied to Hezbollah since 2006. people, mainly civil servants, yesterday in spokesman for the treasury did not Bassil, foreign minister in the outgoing gov- an investigation into the theft of nearly immediately respond for requests for ernment, said the FPM’s share of cabinet posts $100 million of public funds, a rare move comment. The effort by Haji, a former should include either the ministry of finance or to hold officials to account for graft in a deputy director of Kenya’s National the interior, saying his party had been denied nation where it is widespread. Among the Intelligence Service, differs from past both since 2005. Berri is insisting that the civil servants and businesspeople charged graft investigations in that he has said he finance ministry remains with his Shiite Amal was the head of the National Youth will examine the role of local banks. “In Movement. Hezbollah supports that demand, Service, where the corruption allegedly phase two of investigations, the director according to sources familiar with the group’s took place, senior accountants at the gov- of criminal investigations will focus on thinking. The interior ministry was controlled by ernment agency, and the chief internal additional areas including companies or Hariri’s Future Movement in the outgoing gov- auditor at the national treasury, chief entities that benefited from the fraudu- ernment. Hariri lost more than a third of its prosecutor Noordin Mohamed Haji told a lent payments and banks that were com- seats in the election, many of them to Hezbollah news conference. plicit,” he said, adding that he will allies. — Reuters President Uhuru Kenyatta’s pledged to appoint four special prosecutors to assist stamp out graft when he was first elected in the investigation.—Reuters