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South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
South Korea's ex-president Yoon answers summons after being threatened with arrest
South Korea 's former president Yoon Suk-yeol answered a summons on Saturday by a special prosecutor under the threat of another arrest as an investigation intensified over the ousted leader's failed bid to impose martial law in December. Advertisement Yoon , through his lawyers, has protested Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-suk's demands to appear for questioning under media attention as a violation of his rights and a tactic to publicly humiliate him. His lawyers said in a statement that Yoon would respond to the investigation on Saturday and tell the truth. They described the investigation as 'politically motivated' and 'full of falsehood and distortion'. Yoon did not answer questions from reporters as he entered the special prosecutor's office. 09:19 From president to political pariah: the rise and fall of South Korea's Yoon Suk-yeol From president to political pariah: the rise and fall of South Korea's Yoon Suk-yeol The martial law attempt in December shocked a country that had prided itself on becoming a thriving democracy, having overcome military dictatorship in the 1980s. Advertisement
The Sun
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Starmer is a clueless, cowardly windsock whose deceit has taken him from loveless landslide to landfill
FOR what it is worth, I am neither surprised nor disappointed by Sir Keir Starmer's calamitous first year as Prime Minister. Sir Shifty was always going to be a dud in Downing Street just as he was in opposition. What has really shocked me — along with millions of Sun readers — is his swift and spiteful attack on the social fabric which binds our nation and our trust in democracy. On July 4 last year, Britain carelessly elected an activist regime, whose sole but unstated objective is to unravel everything that makes us British. In the blink of an eye we have been divided by a narrow socialist cult against an overwhelming majority of decent, fair-minded law-abiding citizens. We are being routinely lied to, ordered to believe the unbelievable and threatened with jail if we refuse. For all his fine words to Nato and to Parliament, Starmer and his socialist rabble are intent on attacking the foundations of our democracy — the rule of law and the defence of the nation. Left-wing zealots Thin-skinned Starmer is not just clueless as a political leader. He is a coward who runs like a yellow streak from every tough decision that crosses his desk. Indeed, our windsock PM has just surrendere d even the pretence of leadership. This week, he became the publicly humiliated hostage of the Corbynite left he once boasted of defeating. Close to collapse, Downing Street has abjectly surrendered over a piffling £5billion cut in the bloated welfare bill. This places Starmer at the mercy of Jeremy's loony left. Two-Tier Keir might continue to strut the world stage as an international statesman. But this emperor has no clothes. If he cannot cut a few quid off the handouts to nine million people on employment-related benefits, how can he persuade left-wing zealots to cough up billions for defence? Or to cut illegal immigration and 'smash the gangs'? The people smugglers backed by the Kremlin's Vladimir Putin — as The Sun revealed this week — will keep sending us tens of thousands of bearded young men of fighting age. Corbynites do not believe in borders. Nor do they believe in crime and punishment — unless there is a Tory in the dock. Sir Shifty stubbornly defied calls for a proper inquiry into the rape of thousands of white teenage girls by mainly Pakistani gangs in mainly Labour-controlled authorities. Cabinet ministers were licensed to smear protesters as 'far right dog-whistlers'. A backlash was inevitable. Thousands of angry voters fled from Labour. Along with Tory defectors, they swelled the ranks of Reform UK and turned insurgent Nigel Farage into the man most likely to be our next PM. Now, in a screeching U-turn, there will be a national grooming gang inquiry after all. So, landslide to landfill in a single year. Farage is entitled to celebrate. He has reaped the whirlwind from the collapse of two-party politics. Still, Reform has only five MPs and virtually nobody in the House of Lords. Nor is it any consolation that Labour's Pyrrhic victory last July was entirely due to 14 years of dismal Tory failure. David Cameron, George Osborne, Theresa May, Liz Truss and — not least — Boris Johnson have much to answer for. 4 Along with Rishi Sunak, Boris hammered the final nails into the Tory coffin with Covid lockdowns and one million new migrants in a single year. The result was a great Fourth of July belch of anti-Tory revulsion, which handed Labour class warriors their 'loveless landslide' and absolute power for five years. We know now that it was a victory based on lies. Deceit runs through Starmer's brand of politics like 'Brighton' through a stick of rock. Deceit is more than telling blatant porkies, such as promising not to raise tax or National Insurance. It means concealing the truth, like Labour's plan to axe the Winter Fuel Allowance. It involves gaslighting — coercing people to believe in fairytales, such as green energy, bending the knee to Black Lives Matter or claiming women can have a penis. And there are petty deceits, such as the gifts to our multi-millionaire PM of free suits and specs, and designer frocks for Lady Starmer, from an ambitious party donor. Sir Shifty stubbornly defied calls for a proper inquiry into the rape of thousands of white teenage girls by mainly Pakistani gangs in mainly Labour-controlled authorities. Starmer's Labour was deep in such tacky mire before last year's election, and it has continued in that style since. We were told porkies about £20billion 'black holes' in Britain's genuinely improving economy. We were promised the 'adults were back in charge', only to see Chancellor Rachel Reeves send borrowing into orbit while trashing our reputation as a magnet for foreign investment. We were told lies about gifting the strategically vital Chagos islands to China's military ally, Mauritius, with the true cost to the taxpayer being in excess of £30BILLION over 99 years. Starmer promised Labour would repair the sacred NHS, only for Health Secretary Wes Streeting to admit it is getting worse. But if there is one single issue that sums up the cant, hypocrisy and contempt for voters by both major parties, it is the flood of uncontrolled mass immigration. 4 4 Labour's traditional working class supporters, many in Red Wall seats, were shamed and silenced after Gordon Brown opened the floodgates to cheap imported labour. Those daring to protest are slandered as 'racist' or 'Islamophobic'. Yet the UK population has boomed by millions since, with a dire impact on the wages and living standards of voters Labour took for granted. Rightly or wrongly — rightly in my view — voters believe this inevitable clash of cultures has led to dangerous divisions in cities and major towns. It remains shocking that police failed to act against Pakistani grooming gangs for fear of stoking 'community tensions'. Growing anger Last year's Southport riots, stridently denounced by Starmer, were blamed on police silence over the racial background of the man who fatally stabbed three schoolgirls at a Taylor Swift dance class. There is growing anger over Labour's plans to create new blasphemy laws, meaning criticism of Islam would be a criminal offence, while police turn a blind eye to intimidation by pro-Palestinian protesters. Keir Starmer is a lifelong pro-Palestinian. His party and his government are beholden to Muslims who vote Labour. Labour lives in fear of moves by Muslim hardliners to set up their own party in Parliament with enough MPs to dictate coalition terms. The question now is whether Starmer can cling on for four more years as Prime Minister. Can his Labour government survive in power? More to the point, how do we as a country escape from the vicious cocktail of tension, deceit and distrust created not just by Sir Shifty's Labour, but by every government since Tony Blair took office in 1997? People want to feel change so speed up delivery. There is still time to turn it around By David Blunkett, Former Home Secretary IF I wrote here that everything had gone well in the last year in politics, you would stop reading. So this is an honest appraisal of how I think the Government, which I support, has fared since winning the election on July 4. The first big decision, which was intended to secure the confidence of the international bond markets, created a major political hit. Namely, the now-reversed decision on Winter Fuel Allowance, affecting up to 10million people in retirement. The intention was to offer economic rectitude and stability, but the consequence was an immediate collapse in popularity. This was matched by the 'miserabilist' messages that they were picking up the pieces from years of chaos. It was true that there were major gaps in public finances, which somehow had to be filled if services weren't to fall apart. But the electorate had already got that message. That's why, across the whole of the country, the Conservatives lost so badly. What people wanted was hope, and what they got was downbeat at best, doom and gloom at worst. Steadying the ship and balancing the books is worthy, but in a world of political turmoil, of populists and chancers, the electorate were looking for precisely what Keir Starmer had promised — 'change'. The truth is, there has been genuine action to put things right. Enormous cash for the NHS; a commitment to a dramatic housebuilding target; and investment in transport, clean energy and education to bring success in the long term. The problem is that they are 'long term' at a moment when so many people are looking for dramatic improvement in the here and now. That is why the opinion polls are so devastating for the two traditional mainstream political parties. As with American President Donald Trump, the audacious, bizarre, sometimes off-the-wall and completely incredible catch people's attention. The 'same old' of tinkering and ticking along feels like business as usual. But it is 'business as usual' that many people just do not want. So, if the first 12 months have been a learning curve, what are the lessons for the years ahead? Quite simply, build on what you've done best. 'The best' includes Britain's standing on the world stage. Dealing with world security and defence; alliances to tackle conflict across the world; reaching trade deals and even managing to square the circle of relationships with the US President. All of this in the last six months has been both impressive and vitally necessary. More of this decisiveness, and grasping of nettles here at home, would make all the difference. For instance, stop using phrases like 'working at pace' and actually get on with the job. One of the features of the last year, and long before that, is a kind of inertia. I'm sure that civil servants genuinely believe they're working hard. I'm sure that ministers believe they have joined up policies and that, when they pull a lever, something is happening on the ground. For millions of voters, however, nothing has changed. That is why action in the pipeline now needs to be accelerated. That is why relentless focus on delivery at local level is so vital, and tangible change in the lives of men and women who can only watch on as global conflict and turmoil unfold. However — and it has to be said — not everything is down to government. The lousy service you receive (public or private), gross incompetence and indifference to the wellbeing of others is as likely to be the fault of someone living down your street as it is elected politicians. This government has three years to demonstrate that they can really make a difference. Three years in which to stop Reform UK leader Nigel Farage deluding the nation into believing there are simple and easy answers to the greatest questions of our time. Failure to live up to those expectations or get it wrong, the consequences will be felt for generations to come. Self-evidently, I didn't get everything right in my time in government. So, learning from mistakes and shifting up a gear is the way forward for Keir Starmer and his ministerial team. There is still time to turn this around.
Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on the next election: anyone for the presidency?
Who would run for president of Ireland? Not many , to judge from the long list of potential candidates who have already ruled themselves out of the contest to succeed Michael D Higgins when his second term ends in November. There are a multitude of reasons for early contenders to opt out. Some know they would not win. Others have been told, or have come to realise, that they would not secure their party's nomination. For frontline politicians or those with ambitions to serve in government, the thought of occupying a largely ceremonial role in the relatively sleepy surroundings of the Phoenix Park for at least seven years may not be all that enticing. The high financial cost of running a campaign is also no doubt a factor. But it is surely undeniable that the bruising, even brutal, nature of recent Irish presidential campaigns is also deterring prospective nominees from putting their names forward. There is a long list of candidates from previous elections, including people of real standing and professional accomplishment, who say the campaign left them feeling damaged or humiliated. To anyone who values the democratic system, that's regrettable, and everyone– including parties, candidates and the media – must reflect on it. At the same time, it is vital that candidates for such an important office are subjected to serious, robust scrutiny. Candidates complain that it's all about playing the man – or woman – and not the ball. The problem is that, in presidential elections, there is no ball. The president has no executive powers and virtually no influence on policy. Their influence is softer, more nebulous and symbolic. Campaign discussions about housing or healthcare or taxation are useful only insofar as they provide an insight into the personality and worldview of the individual. READ MORE Ultimately, a presidential election is about finding the personality whom the electorate deems most suitable to represent the country and its values at a particular moment. In their different ways, each of the last three presidents have done exactly that, embodying an outlook or a set of preoccupations that both reflected – and helped to define – their eras. To say that the president's power is largely symbolic is not to imply that the role is less important. On the contrary. It is vested with important constitutional functions that require sound judgment and sharp political instincts. It is in many ways a harder role to fill than most other public office because the holder must have that rare ability to both understand politics and stand above it, to show a deep, sophisticated knowledge of the Irish experience and the ability to articulate a national vision that transcends day-to-day preoccupations. If that person is to be found, the strongest candidates must enter the contest.
BBC News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Georgia jails six political figures in one week in crackdown on opposition
Georgian opposition leader Nika Melia has become the latest opposition figure to be sent to jail this week in a crackdown described by observers as an unprecedented attack on the country's South Caucausus state has seen months of political turmoil since the government halted its path to join the EU in the wake of disputed prominent politicians have been given jail terms, and another two are in pre-trial detention, so that most of the leaders of the pro-Western opposition are now behind Friday, Nika Melia, one of the leaders of Coalition for Change, was jailed for eight months by a court in Tbilisi and former opposition MP Givi Targamadze was given seven months. The scale and speed of the crackdown has come as a shock, and Nika Melia accused the government of trying to break the courage of Georgians. All of the jailed politicians have been convicted of refusing to testify before a parliamentary commission and barred from holding public office for two years. In what it called "the most severe democratic collapse in Georgia's post-Soviet history", anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International said the governing Georgian Dream party, led by billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, had launched "a full-scale authoritarian offensive".In a matter of days, jail terms have also been handed down to four other opposition leaders: Giorgi Vashadze, Zurab Japaridze, Badri Japaridze and Mamuka Khazaradze. Another prominent opposition leader, Nika Gvaramia, is in pre-trial detention as well as a former defence minister."The Soviet Union has returned to our present and wants our minds to cling to the past," Nika Melia wrote on Facebook. Georgia regained its independence when the Soviet Union collapsed in said this week that the arrest of opposition leaders was an "unprecedented attack on Georgia's democracy" and it called for an end to "repressive actions". After last October's elections, the opposition accused Ivanishvili's party of stealing the vote. Opposition parties then boycotted parliament and, when the European Parliament denounced the election as neither free nor fair, the ruling party halted Georgia's bid to join the European have since protested in central Tbilisi every night for more than 200 nights, demanding new elections and the release of all prisoners arrested during pro-EU government then set up an investigative parliamentary commission into the "alleged crimes" of the previous government before Georgian Dream came to power in 2012, specifically the period covering Georgia's war with Russia in 2008. Failing to comply with a "lawful request" by a parliamentary commission is a criminal offence under Georgia's criminal code. Opposition politicians have refused to testify, partly because of their boycott of parliament, but also because they reject it as a politically motivated attack on government critics. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told parliament on Friday that the commission was doing very important work exposing a previous government that was "entirely built on crime"."Everyone must understand once and for all that there is no place for criminals in Georgian politics."Human rights groups say 500 people have been arrested during the recent street protests and that 300 of them were subjected to torture. As many as 60 people are being held as political prisoners, they journalist Mzia Amaglobeli remains imprisoned, and independent TV stations face censorship and financial ruin. Earlier this week 40 civil society groups said that Bidzina Ivanishvili had "chosen to maintain power through dictatorship, and fundamental human rights are violated every day".Ivanishvili, who is under US sanctions, accumulated his wealth in Russia during the 1990s. He formally retired from politics but is widely believed to have control over all branches of month, a former confidant of Ivanishvili who went on the run said he was "kidnapped from abroad" and flown back to Georgia by force as a political Bachiashvili had been on trial in Georgia accused of misappropriating millions of dollars in a case he said was politically authorities say Bachiashvili, 39, was convicted of a crime while in absentia and will serve his jail lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, told the BBC he was deeply concerned for his safety: "Too many people see him as a highly competent political figure."
BBC News
14 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Why new political parties dey appear ahead of election year
Na two years remain for di 2027 general elections to happun but political association and politicians don begin prepare. One of di ways wey dem dey prepare na by forming associations wey fit later become political parties. On Wednesday June 26, di Independent National Electoral Commission confam say ova 100 associations don show interest to register as political parties ahead of 2027. "As of Monday, 23rd June 2025, di Commission don receive letters of intent from 110 associations wey wish to register as political parties. We dey take our time to process di requests in line wit di procedure outlined in law as well as our regulations and guidelines. We don acknowledge all requests wey we receive. "So far, we don acknowledge all applications we don receive, except for six, wey dem submit recently. We go acknowledge dem bifor di end of di week," Oga Mahmood Yakubu tok. Di commission also drop di full list of political parties wey apply for Inec registration ahead of 2027. Political parties na one of di pillars of democracy for any goment, and witout am elections no go fit happun to sustain democracy. Since Nigeria comot from military regime enta democratic rule fully for 1999 till now, di kontri don witness different political parties inside di multi-party system wey dem dey run. Why political parties full evriwia According to Inec, na 19 political parties bin officially dey dia register to contest for positions for di 2023 general elections. But wit di trend wey dey follow registration of political parties evri election year, e no go surprise pipo if by 2027 di political parties for Nigeria double. But why pipo wan register new parties evri time even wen dem no get any chance to survive di political terrain of Nigeria. Political analyst, Sani Bala tell BBC Pidgin why political parties dey full evriwia. Im tok say dis trend dey since and no be today e start - some of di reasons wey im give include na: Financial benefit: According to Mr Bala, bifor now, federal goment bin dey give political parties money during election time, especially di small-small ones wey no too strong. Di money na to encourage and support dem for dia expenses. "To run political party, you need some requirements, one of dem be say di political party gatz get office for Abuja, di Nigeria capital, and to get a place for office you need money. Di party need money for elections, campaigns, travels, even to print forms, so to support dem wit dis expenses na why goment bin dey give dem money. But some political parties just dey wait for dis money to come, afta election di parties go vanish, di good tin be say goment stop to dey give dem money since, na why di number no dey plenti like bifor again." Oga Bala add say dis political parties dey also make money from selling of expression of interest forms to candidates wey wan contest for different positions for election. Underground work for big parties: Di political analyst say most of dis small-small parties dey do underground work for di big parties. "E go surprise you to know say na some of dis big parties dey register di small political parties wey go do underground work for dem during elections". Dis small-small parties get agents for elections wey dey work for di big parties to secure votes." Political ideologies and negotiations: Mr Bala tell BBC Pidgin say anoda reason wey political parties dey full evriwia na sake of political ideologies and negotiations. Im explain say wen di big political parties fail to meet di ideologies of some big members dem go comot to create di one wey go fit dia political ideologies. Im also tok about di negotiation wey dey go on wit di small political parties about who go get ticket for which position. "Sometimes di pipo for di big political parties know say dem no go get ticket for di position wey dem wan run for, so dem gatz do bargain or merger wit dis small parties for future benefit". Political parties for Nigeria From di Third Republic, wey former military Head of State Ibrahim Babangida bin establish, na two political parties bin dey officially recognised. Dem be di National Republican Convention (NRC) and di Social Democratic Party (SDP). Sabi pipo tok say dis two-party system bin dey good well-well for Nigeria history and na during di transition time di parties bin come. Di fourth republic start from 1999. Between 1999 and 2015 Nigeria don get plenti political parties like di Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), di All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), di Alliance for Democracy (AD). Since PDP come from 1999, dem still be one of di big political parties for Nigeria. Oda parties wey bin dey dat time na di United Nigeria Peoples Party (UNPP), di All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), di National Democratic Party (NDP), di All Peoples Party (APP), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and many more wey pipo no fit remember again. For more dan 25 years of democracy, di Peoples Democratic Party na one of di political parties wey don stand gidigba even as dem dey for opposition. Di ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) na coalition of oda parties wey join togeda for 2015.
