Latest news with #SocialDemocratic
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
German minister backs Gaza statement signed by 28 countries
German Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan expressed regret on Tuesday that Germany had not joined the 28 countries demanding an immediate end to the war in Gaza, in a statement issued the previous day. The Social Democratic politician said the demand in the joint letter was "understandable," in comments to the Rheinische Post newspaper. "I would have wished for Germany to join the signal from the 29 partners," Alabali Radovan said. The letter was signed by 28 countries and the European Union. "What is happening in Gaza right now is unbelievable. Innocent children are dying. People are starving," she added. "What is needed now – not at some point – is an immediate and sustainable ceasefire." On Monday, the foreign ministers of 25 countries, including Italy, France, Austria, Britain, Belgium and Canada, as well as EU Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbib, signed a joint statement calling for the war in Gaza to "end now." Greece, Cyprus and Malta also joined the initiative. Germany - which for historic reasons sees its fate existentially tied to that of Israel - is not among the signatories. "The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity," the letter states. German Foreign Minister shares criticism Despite not signing the statement, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul expressed his concern on X about the "catastrophic humanitarian situation" in Gaza. He said he had telephoned with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar, adding: "We urgently call on Israel to implement the agreements with the EU to enable humanitarian aid." Brussels has not published details of the conditions agreed with Israel for the provision of aid to Gaza. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she had also spoken with Saar, telling him that "the killing of civilians seeking aid in Gaza is indefensible." "All options remain on the table if Israel doesn't deliver on its pledges," she wrote on X. Alabali Radovan further stated: "The civilian population in Gaza must not keep being crushed between the fronts. Children, families, the elderly – they need water, food, medical care and security." She appealed to the Israeli government: "International law must be observed! Allow aid deliveries to pass through unhindered! Permit safe humanitarian corridors and unimpeded access for the UN and humanitarian organizations!" Solve the daily Crossword
Irish Independent
7 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
United Ireland ‘very soon' says Catherine Connolly as she launches Presidency campaign with bid to woo Sinn Féin
Ms Connolly defended a trip to Syria with Mick Wallace, Clare Daly and Maureen O'Sullivan when dictator Bashir al-Assad was in power, and said she was "right at the time" when she previously backed journalist Gemma O'Doherty for a Presidential run. The Galway West Independent rejected the idea that she was the "continuity candidate" after 14 years of Michael D Higgins, for whom she wanted to be a running mate. She left the Labour Party when that bid was rejected, saying it had lost its soul - but refused to answer questions about taking its money for her campaign, which she believes will cost between €500,000 and €1 million. Ms Connolly, a former leas cheann comhairle, became emotional when she recalled seeing Catholic refugees from Northern Ireland arrive in Galway in the late summer of 1969. 'I think Northern Ireland is extremely important. I think we're going to have united Ireland very soon," Ms Connolly said in response to a suggestion from the Irish Independent that she had been described as a republican socialist. "I think the Good Friday Agreement has set the framework for that," she said, adding that she would welcome the backing of Sinn Féin. "I think tremendous work has been done on the ground with cross-border bodies, and I look forward to the day when we have a united Ireland," Ms Connolly said. But she added: "I absolutely value the diversity, and we must value the different backgrounds in Northern Ireland." Asked if there was any difference between her position and that of Sinn Féin, she said: "I can tell you my position. You're left to kind to compare and contrast that, which will fail. "But I grew up in Galway and witnessed the refugees coming to Galway. I was young at the time, and they came down, and they were put up in various colleges - and I witnessed their terror, their upset, and their utter desire for peace,' she said. So far the only other confirmed candidate is former MEP Mairéad McGuinness, who will run for Fine Gael. Neither Fianna Fáil nor Sinn Féin have decided whether they will run a candidate, while Labour is currently deciding whether to back Ms Connolly after she met them earlier this week. Ms Connolly said she was "fully ready now for the campaign", adding: "We don't have a huge, big machine, and I think we have conviction". So far backed by Independents and the Social Democrats, she added: "We believe in what we're doing, and I think we are happy to put forward that vision." Social Democratic support had "come from the ground up, and I understand it's similar with People Before Profit", Ms Connolly said. She said she was going to discuss the Presidential salary with her team. "There are lots of decisions to make here about the campaign and how I use the salary is one of those,' she said. "A I can say at this point is I have stood as a woman who speaks bluntly and who speaks as honestly as I can." She was asked about the war in Ukraine, and said the Russian invasion was "wrong, illegal and unacceptable", adding "we need to find a voice for diplomacy. We need to get peace." She added, however: "I think could have been prevented beforehand. What they've done is utterly wrong. It's just inexcusable. But I think we could have worked before that in terms of diplomacy." She said her clapping for a live video address by Volodomyr Zelensky to the Dáil had been scrutinised, and how long it had lasted. "I stood and I clapped, and the level of interest from certain quarters in the media was that I didn't clap long enough and I didn't clap hard enough," she said. "I was nauseous at the war. I would have stood in silence." She refused to comment on rival contender Ms McGuinness, except to say: "My views on the Fine Gael party are well-known.' Standing outside Leinster House, Ms Connolly added: "I'm going to be presenting myself as a credible candidate for the Presidency with my views, with my track record, and my work ethic. "That's what I will be presenting before the people, and I would hope the people would respond to that."
Observer
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Observer
Merz urges govt unity after row over top judges
ARNSBERG: German conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday praised the cooperation with his Social Democratic coalition partners, after a spat within the government led to a delay of the appointment of three new judges to the country's top court. "We even work really well together with the Social Democrats in this coalition," Merz said while visiting a local festival in his hometown of Arnsberg, some 45 kilometres east of Dortmund. "And that also shows that the political centre in our country is capable of working together, governing together and ensuring that our democracy remains stable in the middle," he said. It comes after a confirmation vote in parliament was postponed on Friday after Merz's conservatives unexpectedly withdrew support for a candidate to the country's Constitutional Court backed by the Social Democrats (SPD), the junior partner in government. Merz, who has been in power since May, has often promised that his government would avoid the constant coalition squabbles that characterized the term in office of his predecessor, Olaf Scholz. The new chancellor is likely also to be asked about the dispute during broadcaster ARD's widely watched summer interview. — dpa
Euractiv
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Euractiv
President of German parliament says ‘Nein, danke!' to Pride flag
BERLIN – The German parliament's administration has ordered lawmakers to remove Pride flags from public display, amid a pushback against LGBTQ+ activism within the institution. Since her election in May, the Bundestag's Christian Democratic President Julia Klöckner has rolled back several practices introduced under her Social Democratic predecessor, such as the flying of the rainbow flag over the parliament during Berlin's annual Pride parade. In the latest move, the Bundestag's administration has ordered an MP to remove a Pride flag and objects – including a rainbow-coloured towel – from display in their office window, according to an email seen by Euractiv. The email's author argued that the parliament's house rules prohibit putting up posters and signs on generally accessible and publicly visible parts of its buildings 'without exception." The administration also targeted other MPs in the last few days, including one who had hung up a Pride flag, according to two sources briefed on the matter. German newspaper Tagesspiegel , which also reported on the matter, named two of the affected MPs as Lina Seitzl, a Social Democrat, and Stella Merendino, from the Left party. Some flags had been on display for extended periods, even several years in one case, according to one of the sources. A Bundestag spokesperson said the violations were brought to the administration's attention by other MPs. "It's not specifically about the rainbow flag," he said, noting that a German or EU flag would also have to be removed. He added that removal orders were recurring "again and again" and were a "routine operation." A larger quarrel is looming, with the Social Democrats' parliamentary group expected to raise the matter with the executive committee of the Bundestag this week, asking for a more sensitive approach to enforcing the rule, according to a third parliamentary source. The removal is typically executed by the parliament's police, the Bundestag spokesperson said. In the Pride flag case, officers had scoured the parliament's corridors, taking pictures of door signs, to identify the culpable MPs, according to the first two sources. One of them noted that other MPs were displaying posters and signs unrelated to Pride in their windows without being reprimanded. Pride clash The display of the Pride flag remains subject to controversy in the Bundestag complex. Klöckner's Social Democratic predecessor, Bärbel Bas, had authorised the rainbow flag to be flown for the first time over the Parliament in 2022 to mark Berlin's Pride parade. But Klöckner announced in May that the German parliament would henceforth only fly the flag on the International Day against Homophobia. She also prohibited the parliament's queer staff network from participating in the event in an official capacity. The restrictions were necessary to maintain the parliament's political neutrality, Klöckner argued, which required it to abstain from supporting events with a particular political agenda, including Pride. If Pride flags were to fly, the observant Catholic argued, then so should the Vatican flag as 'Christians are the most persecuted group worldwide.' Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a fellow Christian Democrat, defended her decision, saying the Bundestag was 'not a circus tent', where flags could be hoisted at whim. The decisions and comments have been met with an intense backlash, including from Merz's coalition partner, the SPD. Social Democrat MPs branded the Bundestag's withdrawal from Pride "disconcerting". The government's commissioner on queer affairs, Sophie Koch (SPD), said it would be 'appropriate' for the chancellor to understand that raising the rainbow flag at the Bundestag is a powerful sign in times when queer people are under attack. Some 220,000 people have signed a petition calling on Klöckner to fly the rainbow flag at the Bundestag during Berlin Pride on 26 July. (mm, jp)
Daily Maverick
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Coalition governance: Will the GNU forge a new centrist political landscape?
There is the potential that the ANC and DA partnership in the GNU may provide the impetus for a new centrist political consensus for South Africa, which spans ideology, race and class in the country's politics, economics and society. Given that coalitions at the national level will from now onwards be the dominant form of governance, South Africa's Government of National Unity (GNU), whether it is successful or not, may very likely be the catalyst over time to unleash a much-needed realignment of the country's current not-fit-for-purpose political party system, with its origins in our apartheid-era divisions, into future national coalitions that could group political party coalitions into pro-constitutional versus populist ones. There is the potential that the ANC and DA partnership in the GNU may over time provide the impetus for President Cyril Ramaphosa's social democratic, constitutionalist, and non-racial wing of the ANC to partner with the DA in a long-term governing pact, like for example the post-World War 2 coalition between Germany's Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian ally, the Christian Social Union (CSU), or they may even merge. Such a new political party arrangement could, over time, lead to the formation of a new pragmatic centrist political consensus for South Africa, which spans ideology, race and class in the country's politics, economics and society. South Africa needs such a new pragmatic, Constitution-based, evidence-based policy that is racially inclusive, with centrist governing consensus that goes beyond past entrenched apartheid-era political party divisions. South Africa's current identity-based, past-based, outdated ideology-based, narrow village-view outlook of political party politics, and slogans for policies, is not fit for purpose for the requirements of Constitutional democracy, or to ensure effective public service delivery or for non-racial unity. South Africa will not be able to tackle its complex problems based on the current flawed political party set-up. The reality is that South Africa is facing deep existential crises, which one ethnic group, party, or colour alone cannot solve. There is currently a fierce battle within the ANC between the party's constitutionalist, Social Democratic and non-racial wing that favours the ANC's GNU alliance with the DA and members of the former Multiparty Charter (MPC); and the left populist wing of the party, centred around the ANC's Gauteng provincial party, who want the ANC to align with the populist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party. The endgame of this internal ANC battle may be another split in the ANC, possibly this time between the party's constitutionalist, Social Democratic and non-racial wing on the one hand; and on the other hand, the remainder of its left populist wing that has not defected to either the EFF or MK party. Ironically, Zuma, immediately after the GNU announcement, angrily said that the ANC partnering with the former Multiparty Charter or 'Moonshot Pact' parties, the Democratic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party and the Freedom Front Plus, meant the ANC had now joined the Multiparty Charter. There is some truth in his statement. South African Communist Party Chairperson Blade Nzimande at the party's fifth Special National Congress in December 2024 said: '(The) Moonshot Pact whose aim was bringing the ANC under 50%… They attained their goal of bringing the ANC under 50%.' Moonshot and doomsday The Multiparty Charter was aimed at kick-starting the realignment of South Africa's politics. The original agreement was that the 15-party member Multiparty Charter would, if the ANC fell below 50% in the 29 May 2024 elections, form a government, if needed, with pro-constitutional, business-friendly, civil society-friendly and media freedom supportive and racial diversity supporting parties, not part of the Multiparty Charter, but part of a Multiparty Charter Plus, who would be willing to govern with the group. The idea was that if the charter was unable to put together a national government, they would go into opposition as a collective and fight the 2026 local and the 2029 elections together. By working together in a pre-electoral coalition, the Multiparty Charter's aim was, whether in power or in opposition, to lay the foundations for the possibility for some members of the charter to be in a permanent coalition, or some members even merging in the future. The outcome of the 29 May 2024 general elections were dramatically different from what Multiparty Charter members or even the ANC or EFF had projected. The ANC dropped below the psychological barrier of 40% to 39.7% after the IEC's final audit of the results. Many of the Multiparty Charter members obtained fewer votes than they thought they would get. Although the collective opposition secured 61% of the vote, the Multiparty Charter group — even with the additional Multiparty Charter Plus members, parties such as Bosa and Rise Mzansi, who were not part of the charter, but who were open to joining it in the government — could not put together a government, because they would have needed the support of anti-constitutional parties the MK party and EFF, which want anti-democratic changes to the Constitution. A key pillar of the Multiparty Charter agreement was not to work with the ANC or with unconstitutional, violent parties or those that opposed non-racialism. The combination of bringing the ANC to below the 40% floor, and the inability to put together an alternative government of opposition parties, left the Multiparty Charter with one of two alternatives. The Multiparty Charter could stick with its founding agreement not to partner with the ANC and go into opposition, using the time also to forge closer unity. The charter, in opposition, could then benefit from the country's doomsday crash and in the 2029 election come to power. However, this would leave the ANC to partner with the EFF and MK in a 'doomsday' populist coalition that could lead to capital flight, skills flight, the rand to crash, and more state failure, lawlessness and corruption. In such a scenario, the Multiparty Charter would take over an Argentinian-collapse-like country. The other option was to ditch the Multiparty Charter principle of not partnering with the ANC, in order to try to prevent a South African crash, by partnering with the ANC to create a centrist leaning growth coalition. Key members of the Multiparty Charter, such as the DA, the IFP and Freedom Front Plus, decided to co-govern with the ANC, to prevent a 'doomsday' crash government. ActionSA and the African Christian Democratic Party declined to work with the ANC, deciding to stay true to the original Multiparty Charter agreement, that if the charter could not put together a government, it must as a group oppose the ANC in opposition, and then fight the 2026 local government elections and the 2029 national elections together. Unintended realignment The GNU is likely to change the ANC — and may lead to another breakaway in the ANC, between the pro-GNU and anti-GNU groups. There is a coming fallout within the ANC tripartite alliance of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and SACP, between the factions that want to continue the ANC having a partnership with the former Multiparty Charter members; and the factions wanting the ANC to align with the EFF and MK, formed by breakaway ANC members. The SACP claimed the ANC's partnership with the DA, IFP and FF Plus was the party embracing 'white monopoly capital'. The SACP will now contest the upcoming local elections as a separate party to the ANC. Cosatu said it remained 'concerned' about the DA/IFP/FF Plus inclusion in the GNU, and that it wanted the ANC to pursue a 'different option', meaning a GNU partnership with the EFF/MK. The endgame of this internal ANC battle may be another split in the ANC, this time between the party's constitutionalist, Social Democratic and non-racial wing and the remainder of its left populist wing, that has not defected to either the EFF or MK party. South Africa desperately needs a consolidation of parties. Many of the current parties should ideally close down, fold into bigger parties, or smaller parties should merge. If a consolidation of parties is not the route taken, then South African parties should form coalitions whereby they operate almost as one party, but retain their individual identity. Most of South Africa's parties share the same policies, ideologies, slogans and even colours, which can rarely be distinguished from one another, beyond having different leaders. Despite the many parties, South African voters have little choice, as parties are all the same. This is one of the reasons why so many parties get so few votes in elections, and why many South Africans refrain from voting. Sadly, gangsters, populists, ideologues, the prejudiced, the narrow-minded, the violent, the ignorant, and the corrupt are increasingly dominating South Africa's mainstream politics, economic, public and cultural discourse. The failure of the ANC-run state, the decline of the economy and the rising fracture of society, because the ANC, before the GNU, had become increasingly racially exclusionary, gave the space to populists, the corrupt, the violent and ideologues to mobilise support based on narrow identity laager politics, and to secure parliamentary and municipal positions. It is critical that the angry, violent, ignorant, narrow-minded and populist 'leaders' and groups on both the far left and far right be prevented from dominating South Africa's mainstream politics. South Africa needs a new pragmatic centre based on the embrace of the Constitution, common sense, reality, pragmatism and racial inclusivity. Such a new pragmatic centre must be based on honesty, decency, rationality and compassion that goes across race, identity or political affiliation and on governing in the widest public interests of all South Africans. The unintended impact of the GNU could just be such a realignment of the country's political parties, which could transform components of the current GNU political parties into a long-term centrist national coalition. DM Professor William Gumede is based at the School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, and is the author of the bestselling Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times; and former Independent Chairperson of the negotiations to establish the Multiparty Charter (Moonshot Pact), the 15-party pre-electoral opposition coalition group before the 29 May 2024 general elections, and advised parties in their negotiations to form the Government of National Unity.
