|
|
|
|
|
Egyptians vote in first post-Mubarak poll
Syrians protest Arab sanctions, back Assad
Malaysia grants $16,000 for gurdwara renovation
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Egyptians vote in first post-Mubarak poll Cairo, November 28 Turnout in the country's first free poll in decades was high but despite voters' enthusiasm, concern still lingered that the military was more focused on preserving its privilege and power than on nurturing democratic transformation. Frustration erupted last week into violent protests that cost 42 lives, mostly around Cairo's Tahrir Square, centre of the popular uprsing that forced the end of Mubarak's 30-year-rule in February. "We are at a crossroads," Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi said on the eve of polling, referring to successful elections or "dangerous hurdles" that the armed forces would not allow. Fears of unrest did not appear to have deterred voters. After a few hours of polling, the election commission chief said turnout was higher than expected but gave no details. Many analysts expect the Muslim Brotherhood's party and other Islamists to do well but much remains uncertain in Egypt's complex voting system of party lists and individuals. In Cairo, Alexandria and other areas festooned with posters, voters formed long queues, where many of them debated Egypt's political future, hoping that for the first time they could shape the destiny of this Arab nation of 80 million people. "Aren't the army officers the ones who protected us during the revolution?" one woman asked loudly at a polling station in Cairo's Nasr City, referring to the army's role in easing Mubarak from power. "What do those slumdogs in Tahrir want?" One man replied: "Those in Tahrir are young men and women who are the reason why a 61-year-old man like me voted in a parliamentary election for the first time in his life today." Parliament's lower house will be Egypt's first nationally elected body since Mubarak's fall and those credentials alone may enable it to dilute the military's monopoly of power. The world is closely watching the election, keen for stability in Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel, owns the Suez Canal linking Europe and Asia, and which in Mubarak's time was an ally in countering Islamist militants in the region. Political transformation in Egypt, traditional leader of the Arab world, will reverberate across the Middle East, where a new generation demanding democratic change has risen against autocrats who have ruled for decades. Washington and its European allies have urged the generals to step aside swiftly and make way for civilian rule. There were no reports of serious violence. Scuffles among women voters erupted at one Alexandria polling station that opened late because ballot papers had not arrived. Troops outnumbered police guarding polling stations. Judges and thousands of monitors were scrutinising voting procedures. Oppressed under Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties have stood aloof from those challenging army rule, unwilling to let anything obstruct elections that may open a route to political power previously beyond their reach. — Reuters
|
|
Syrians protest Arab sanctions, back Assad
Beirut, November 28 State television showed rallies "supporting national unity and rejecting foreign interference" in the capital Damascus and the second city of Aleppo. There were demonstrations also in the eastern cities of Deir al-Zor and Hasaka, the TV said. The Arab League approved the sanctions against Syria on Sunday, the toughest imposed against a member state, isolating Assad's government over repression now in its ninth month, which the United Nations says has killed 3,500 people. The European Union said the sanctions were a further "reaction to the regime's brutality and unwillingness to change course", and Britain said they could help enlist support at the UNfor action against Damascus. But Syria's closest trading partners, Lebanon and Iraq, said they would not support the Arab League measures, and the actual economic impact could be less severe than proposed. "We do not agree with these sanctions and we will not go along with them," Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour told Reuters in Beirut. Lebanon believes along with Iraq that the sanctions, which fall short of a full trade embargo, could harm their interests. — Reuters
|
|
Malaysia grants $16,000 for gurdwara renovation
Kuala Lumpur, November 28 Muslim-majority Malaysia has 8 per cent ethnic Indian population of which a small percentage are Sikhs who have been in this southeast Asian country for more than 200 years. The earliest Sikhs were brought in by the British to help maintain security. The Gurdwara Sahib Sikh in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah can now carry out renovation with the 50,000 ringgit ($15,633) grant from Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. "The allocation is proof of the government's commitment to help the people, regardless of their religious beliefs," a Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) leader of the Sabah state said while handing out the donation to gurdwara member Anup Singh. He said similar allocations would be distributed to temples in other areas. Built in 1924, it is the oldest Gurdwara in the country Early this month, Muhyiddin announced the 400,000 ringgit grant, following a request from Sabah MIC, at the Diwali function. — PTI
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Egyptians voted in droves today in the first election since the fall of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak, giving Islamists a chance to make political gains even as the army generals who replaced him cling to power.
