International
Calm and messages of harmony mark Senegal’s presidential elections
The calm and messages of harmony of the main candidates marked this Sunday in Senegal the elections to elect the successor of the outgoing president, Macky Sall, in a day that takes place without relevant incidents.
More than seven million voters were called to the polls in 6,341 pollining stations that opened at 08.00 local time (same GMT), when there was a wide turnout of the electorate in the capital, Dakar, and other parts of the country.
Sall went to vote in his hometown, Fatick, about 150 kilometers southeast of Dakar, where he was congratulated that the Senegalese can exercise their democratic right in a “peaceful” way, since the country has “an experienced electoral system.”
“Tonight the polling stations will speak and reflect the election of the Senegalese. We hope that this election will be the best,” said the outgoing president, who has fulfilled the two mandates allowed by the Constitution since his coming to power in 2012 and whose successor will be elected from among 19 candidates.
The ruling party’s candidate, Amadou Ba, a 62-year-old former prime minister, who was elected by the governing coalition Benno Bokk Yaakaar (“United for Hope”, in the Wolof language) to continue Sall’s legacy, appealed to “calm” and was confident of achieving victory in the first round.
“I want to send a message of peace. All (the candidates) are children of this country. The important thing is that the Senegalese can return from tomorrow with tranquility to their occupations,” said Ba, who voted in the capital.
The economic development of Senegal since Sall’s coming to power, especially in infrastructure and energy, with a growth prospect of 10.6% for this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, has been the main argument put forward by Ba during the campaign, despite the high unemployment that affects, above all, young people.
His greatest rival, the opponent Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a 43-year-old fiscal inspector who represents the coalition of the same name, deposited his vote in Ndiaganiao (west), in the Thiès region.
“The elections are the encounter of a man with his people. May the winner be congratulated by the defeated and may life continue so that we can find peace,” asked Faye, who is running for these elections instead of the main opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, whose candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest electoral authority.
Faye demands an institutional renewal, with the abolition of the position of prime minister and the creation of a Vice Presidency, as well as the departure of Senegal from the CFA franc, a controversial regional currency created in 1945 by France (ex-metropolis), and the renegotiation of hydrocarbon extraction agreements.
Most of the 6,341 pollining stations officially closed this Sunday in Senegal at 6:00 p.m. local time (same GMT), although some remained open so that citizens who were still waiting at their doors could vote.
After the counting of the votes, the National Autonomous Electoral Commission (CENA) will proclaim the provisional results, no later than April 1, and will have to be validated by the Constitutional Council.
To win in the first round, a candidate must obtain more than 50% of the votes.
If no candidate achieves an absolute majority, a second round will be held between the two leaders with the highest number of votes.
Despite the controversy that has surrounded the presidential elections, initially scheduled for February 25, the election day is held without serious incidents, Jaly Badiane, of the “Senegal Vote” organization, in charge of monitoring the votes, told EFE.
On February 3, President Sall announced the postponement of the elections due to the alleged dual nationality of a candidate, something that the Constitution does not allow presidential candidates.
For the president, that discovery revealed an “allemed case of corruption of judges” that questioned the selection process.
The modification of the electoral date triggered the rejection of the opposition and strong protests in the streets, harshly repressed by the security forces and in which at least four people died.
That crisis undermined Senegal’s fame as one of the most stable democracies in West Africa.
Wide participation when opening the schools for the presidential elections in Senegal
The voters of Senegal went to the polls today massively at the opening of the polling stations, in elections to elect the successor of the president, Macky Sall, in which a high turnout is expected, according to EFE.
In the voting centers of the Senegalese capital, Dakar, long voter queues were the usual scene before the opening of the polls at 08:00 local time (same GMT).
“I am here to exercise my civil duty. We need a change in the country. Things can’t continue as before,” Alioune Jupiter, 57, who exercised his vote at the Alieu Samb school, in the Ngor neighborhood of the capital, told EFE.
The ruling party Amadou Ba and the opposition Bassirou Diomaye Faye are clear favorites to compete for the Presidency among the 19 candidates who attend the elections.
Ba, a 62-year-old former prime minister, was elected by the ruling coalition Benno Bokk Yaakaar (“United for Hope”, in the Wolof language) and symbolizes the interests of President Sall, who exhausts the two mandates allowed by the Constitution.
For his part, Faye, a 43-year-old fiscal inspector who represents the coalition of the same name, is running in place of the main opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, whose candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest electoral authority.
“We must liberate Senegal,” Bintou Mbengue, one of the more than seven million voters entitled to vote this Sunday, told EFE.
At 18 years old, Mbengue was the first time she voted and said she was particularly proud to be able to contribute to the country’s improvement through the democratic path.
Tranquility was the usual note in the opening of the voting centers, which are scheduled to close at 6:00 p.m. local time (same GMT).
The elections are held after the serious crisis caused by the postponement of the vote – initially scheduled for last February 25 – decreed by Sall for doubts about the suitability of the list of presidential candidates.
The electoral delay, which caused strong protests in the streets, dispersed harshly by the Police and in which at least four people died, has called into question the democratic health of the country considered the most stable in West Africa.
International
Brazil exceeds 100 deaths from floods in the southern region of the country
The number of deaths from the catastrophic floods in the southern region of Brazil has exceeded one hundred, in one of the greatest climatic tragedies in the country, according to the latest balance published this Wednesday by the Civil Defense.
The most hit state is Rio Grande do Sul, bordering Uruguay and Argentina and where 100 deaths have been reported, five more than Tuesday night, 128 missing and 372 injured, according to official figures.
The neighboring state of Santa Catarina has so far recorded a death, which brings the preliminary balance to the 101 deaths throughout southern Brazil, which since Monday of last week has been dealing with heavy rains linked to the effects of climate change.
In Rio Grande do Sul, 80% of the municipalities have been affected by severe floods, which have partially or totally flooded cities, including Porto Alegre, the regional capital and whose main airport has become a lagoon.
In that state, one of the prosperous of the country, about 230,500 people have had to leave their homes and in total there are 1.5 million victims, according to the Civil Defense.
Rainfall and the consequent floods have left a large part of the population without water and electricity and caused considerable material damage to roads, bridges and other urban infrastructure.
The rescue teams, with the support of the Armed Forces, are still working in the area to find more victims and save the incommunicado survivors, many of whom only had time to climb to the roof of their homes.
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said this Wednesday, during an event to present investments in the areas of infrastructure and prevention of natural disasters, that this climate tragedy is “a warning for the world” and “a bill that the planet is passing” to humanity.
The governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, has said that the state is experiencing “a war situation” in the face of what is already one of the worst climatic tragedies in the history of Brazil and that could worsen in the coming hours, since a new storm is expected in the extreme south of the region.
The heavy rains in the south of the country, an important agricultural pole, contrast with the high temperatures, above 30 degrees Celsius, which have been recorded in recent days in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, not common for this time of year.
International
Petro on the formulation of charges against him: “It’s the beginning of a coup d’état”
The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, assured on Wednesday that the country initiated “a coup d’état” with the favorable presentation presented by two magistrates of the National Electoral Council (CNE) to bring charges against him for the alleged irregular financing of his campaign.
“If the Constitution says that the President of the Republic cannot be tried by an entity other than the Commission of Accusations (of the Chamber) (…) Why have two entities belonging to an administrative entity said that they raise charges against the president? That is deeply unconstitutional and is the beginning of a coup d’état in Colombia,” the president said.
CNE magistrates Álvaro Prada and Benjamín Ortiz, who are in charge of the investigation, filed the presentation that also calls for charges to be made against Ricardo Roa, president of the state oil company Ecopetrol and who was its campaign manager, according to local media on Wednesday.
In this regard, Petro, who spoke during a day of ‘Government with the popular neighborhoods’ in Cartagena de Indias, and said that “11 and a half million Colombians (who voted for him in the second round of the 2022 elections) will lose their political rights.”
“Not because no criminal judge has ruled that they are criminals, but because it was decided by the Colombian oligarchy and the corruption regime. They want to determine, as they have done in so many Latin American countries, that the president of the Republic despite being elected by the people of Colombia has to stop being president because four or five vagabonds of the political so want it,” Petro added.
Finally, he said that he will remain in office “as far as the people say.”
“If the people say later, later I will go without any fear, without any fear, we will go to where the Colombian people orders. The president of the Republic has only one commander at the front,” he said.
The National Electoral Council (CNE), which will study a paper that recommends charging the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, for the alleged irregular financing of his campaign and violation of the electoral expenses cap, rejected the statements of the president, who considered that decision the beginning of a “coup d’état”, because they “put their magistrates at risk.”
“The serious statements against the members of this corporation break the normal functioning of the democratic system and put at risk those who are in charge of making decisions in fulfillment of their constitutional functions,” the CNE said on Wednesday in a statement.
Magistrates Álvaro Hernán Prada, former congressman of the right-wing Democratic Center party, and Benjamín Ortiz, former secretary general of the CNE, presented a presentation favorable to the positioning of charges against Petro and against Ricardo Roa, president of the state oil company Ecopetrol and who was manager of his 2022 presidential campaign, due to the alleged irregular financing of it.
The presentation presented by the two magistrates will be discussed by the full chamber of the CNE, composed of nine members, who will decide whether to admit it to continue with the process, for which they need the votes of at least five magistrates, or if, on the contrary, they file it.
This case dates back to February 2023 when the CNE opened a preliminary investigation against Petro’s presidential campaign for alleged irregularities in its financing.
As reported by that body at the time, the investigation was opened “based on the anonymous complaint filed for alleged irregularities in the financing and presentation of income and expenditure reports of the first and second presidential electoral campaign” of the Historical Pact, the left-wing coalition that led Petro to the Presidency in 2022.
International
EU countries agree to use profits from frozen Russian assets in defense of Ukraine
The ambassadors of the member states to the European Union (EU) reached an agreement on Wednesday in principle to use the benefits of frozen Russian assets to support “the recovery and military defense” of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression.
“The EU ambassadors agreed in principle on measures on the extraordinary benefits of Russia’s fixed assets,” the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU wrote in its profile of social network X.
He added that the money “will serve to support the recovery of Ukraine and military defense in the context of Russian aggression.”
The European Commission proposed last March to use the extraordinary benefits of Russian assets frozen by the sanctions in relation to the war in Ukraine, which amount to between 2.5 and 3 billion euros per year, to finance weapons and ammunition for that country mainly.
The first transfer of profits to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia is expected to take place in July.
Community sources detailed that 90% of the profits of fixed assets will go to the European Peace Support Fund (FEAP) for military support. The FEAP is an instrument through which EU countries co-finance the shipment of weapons to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
The other 10% will go to the macro-financial aid package to Ukraine from the general budget of the European Union. This year, the community club agreed on an aid of 50 billion euros to Ukraine that is part of the revised community budget, covers the next four years until 2027 and is disbursed in the form of loans (33 billion euros) and grants (17 billion).
Most of the frozen Russian assets are deposited in Euroclear, a Brussels-based body that owns about 192 billion euros.
Belgium keeps a part of the profits of those securities in terms of corporate taxes, a fact that has been criticized by other Member States.
That country argues that it is a “general tax, not something that has been invented for Ukraine” and that part of what is collected serves precisely to help Kiev with its weapons needs and to support refugees.
The sources specified that the tax revenues generated in Belgium by those profits will continue to be allocated to Ukraine in its entirety.
The corporate tax is 25% in Belgium and applies to all companies, according to the sources, who insisted that it is impossible to eliminate it.
However, they recalled that in 2022 Belgium decided to allocate all those extraordinary corporate tax revenues to support Ukraine and that in 2023 they created a specific fund for it.
For the fiscal year of 2024, an amount of 1.7 billion euros of national corporate taxes is expected from immobilized Russian assets, of which about 1 billion have already been allocated to Ukraine.
The new legislation will apply to the remaining extraordinary benefits after this mandatory taxation, according to the sources.
The ambassadors of the Member States decided that the rate that Euroclear will charge for handling the assets will be 0.3%.
Some States such as Austria, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus are reluctant to buy weapons for Ukraine because of their policy of neutrality and Hungary has repeatedly said that it does not support the idea.
Brazil exceeds 100 deaths from floods in the southern region of the country
Petro on the formulation of charges against him: “It’s the beginning of a coup d’état”
EU countries agree to use profits from frozen Russian assets in defense of Ukraine
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