Saturday, November 25, 2017

Putin’s party resort to violence and aggressively confront opposition councillor after losing election in Moscow - reuters

Putin’s party resort to violence and aggressively confront opposition councillor after losing election in Moscow
Although Russia's constitution prohibits Putin from running for President again next year, it is widely expected that he will do so
Vladimir Putin is yet to decide whether he will run for re-election in 2018 REUTERS
More than 10 weeks after losing a local council election in western Moscow, Vladimir Putin's party is clinging to power there — by fair means or foul.
The standoff over control of Filyovsky Park Council came to a head when an opposition councillor, Vadim Korovin, tried to sit in the chairman's seat at a meeting on Tuesday. A councillor from the Russian president's United Russia party cut his microphone cable and then body-checked him as he tried to reach the seat.
"This is a violent occupation and seizure of power!" Korovin told the United Russia representative, Dmitry Prokhorov, who pushed him from his way as a police officer stepped in to prevent a fight.
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All four United Russia members on the council then walked out. Soon afterward, the electricity in the building, including all the lights, went off.
Using flashlights of mobile phones to see, the six opposition members of the 10-seat council continued the meeting. They elected Korovin as deputy chairman and, in effect, caretaker leader, but the United Russia members later refused to recognize the vote.
The battle to control the council, witnessed by a Reuter’s correspondent who attended Tuesday's meeting, shows how difficult some of Putin's allies find it to surrender power when confronted with the unfamiliar experience of an election defeat.
Vladimir Putin and the peoplel
Moscow is not typical of Russia, as support for Putin and his allies across the country is high. Opinion polls suggest he will easily win next year's presidential election if, as is widely expected, he runs.
But Putin, 65, is barred under the constitution from holding the position for more than two consecutive terms, so the question of who will succeed him — and how his allies will act when he leaves the political stage — will loom large in coming years.
United Russia representatives have refused to cede power in 10 districts of Moscow where they suffered defeats in local elections on September 10, according to the organizers of the opposition campaign in the Russian capital.
Dmitry Gudkov, a former lawmaker who runs what is known as the United Democrats project, said the Moscow administration, which controls the building where Tuesday's meeting was held, was in a position to play spoiling tactics.
"If they want to disrupt our work, they will do it," he said.
Alexander Semennikov, a United Russia deputy in the Moscow city Parliament who heads a commission that deals with relations with local councils, said any decisions made by the six Kremlin opponents on the council would have "close to zero" legitimacy.
He described Tuesday's events as part of a "stormy stage in the evolution of municipal institutions in Moscow" and urged the two sides to reach an agreement to resolve the situation.
A spokesman at the Moscow mayor's office referred questions to the city administration's western region, which includes Filyovsky Park. A spokesman for the western region declined to comment.
Contradictory Laws
United Russia defeated the opposition in most of the 125 Moscow districts where voting took place on September 10, but Kremlin opponents increased their share of the vote.
Since the election, opposition councillors in some districts have been stymied by contradictory provisions in the legislation that governs how the councils are organized.
The law states that a council's chair stays in the post until replaced after an election and must be elected by a two-thirds majority. It does not explain what happens if control of the council changes hands but, as in Filyovsky Park district, no party has a two-thirds majority.
In Filyovsky Park, a district with 90,000 inhabitants, Tigran Mkrtchyan, a United Russia member who was appointed interim chairman in August, was among officials who lost their seat on September 10.
But because no side has the two-thirds majority required to elect a new chair, Mkrtchyan, who runs a shopping mall, has continued carrying out his duties.
Official documents issued by the council since the election bear his signature, and the Moscow prosecutor's office supported Mkrtchyan's stance in October.
A document seen by Reuters says former heads of municipal districts can keep running a council until a replacement is elected, even if they have lost their place on the council. It cited a 2003 law in support of its argument.
Tuesday's meeting, the council's second since the election, had been intended by the opposition councilmember to break the impasse. But after leaving the meeting, Mkrtchyan told Reuters he would keep the position of temporary head of the council until a new leader is elected.
He and his associates still appeared to be in charge on Friday. When Reuters placed a call to the council, a member of Mkrtchyan's team picked up the phone.
Reuters

Trump holds 'great call' with Vladimir Putin after Putin hugs Assad and stresses Syrian sovereignty and 'territorial integrity' - Associated Press

Trump holds 'great call' with Vladimir Putin after Putin hugs Assad and stresses Syrian sovereignty and 'territorial integrity'
President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by telephone Tuesday
The president called it a 'great call' as he set out for Florida for Thanksgiving
The men spoke for about an hour
They also met on the sidelines of a summit on Trump's recent Asia trip
Putin has been briefing leaders on his talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Sochi
The White House called for ensuring 'the stability of a unified Syria'
Syria has been consolidating territory after a bloody civil war that has raged for six years
By AFP and ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 19:18 AEDT, 21 November 2017 | UPDATED: 01:26 AEDT, 23 November 2017
President Vladimir Putin discussed Syria on Tuesday with his US counterpart Donald Trump, with both speaking of the need for progress toward a peace settlement following the Russian leader's surprise summit with Bashar al-Assad.
Trump called it a 'great call' Tuesday afternoon as he left the White House to spend Thanksgiving in Florida. Noting the length, he said he and Putin spoke 'very strongly about bringing peace to Syria' and 'very strongly about North Korea.'
Syria, Iran, North Korea and Ukraine were on the agenda, the White House said.
The two men spoke for an hour, according to the White House.
Putin's talks with Assad were part of Moscow's effort to reboot the Syrian peace process, after military successes on the ground.
Trump called it a 'great call' Tuesday afternoon with Russian president Vladimir Putin +6
Trump called it a 'great call' Tuesday afternoon with Russian president Vladimir Putin
Putin's flurry of diplomacy also included phone talks with Saudi Arabia's King Salman and the leaders of Egypt and Israel, ahead of a trilateral summit with the presidents of Turkey and Iran on Wednesday.
Putin informed Trump of 'the main results' of his meeting with Assad, held in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday, 'at which the Syrian leader confirmed his commitment to the political process, (and) conducting constitutional reform and presidential and parliamentary elections,' the Kremlin said.
During the phone call with Trump the Kremlin said Putin stressed the 'need to keep Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity intact.'
A political settlement in Syria should be based on principles to be worked out during an all-inclusive 'internal negotiating process'.
The White House called for the need to ensure 'the stability of a unified Syria,' a statement said.
The aim is 'to peacefully resolve the Syrian civil war, end the humanitarian crisis, allow displaced Syrians to return home and ensure the stability of a unified Syria free of malign intervention and terrorist safe havens,' it added.
Trump: I spoke with Putin about Syria and North Korea
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, hugs with Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia +6
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, hugs with Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad during a meeting in Sochi
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad during a meeting in Sochi
But there was no mention of Assad's future.
The Syrian president's fate remains a huge stumbling block, preventing global players from reaching a peace settlement over the six-year war.
In his talks with the Saudi king, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Putin touted Moscow's recent initiative to bring Assad's regime and its opponents together for a 'congress.'
Different factions of the Syrian opposition will meet from Wednesday in Riyadh in talks hosted by Saudi Arabia.
The aim of the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee is to reach consensus on a strategy for UN-backed talks in Geneva, which will focus on a new constitution for Syria and fresh elections.
"You won in Syria," Czech President Milos Zeman told Putin.
'You won in Syria,' Czech President Milos Zeman told Putin.
'You won in Syria'
Earlier Tuesday, Putin told visiting Czech President Milos Zeman that Assad's troops controlled more than 98 percent of territory.
'You won in Syria,' Zeman told Putin.
Analysts say that Russia's decision to intervene militarily in Syria in 2015 appears to have saved Assad's regime but a peace settlement seems ever more elusive.
Billed as a 'working visit', the meeting between Putin and Assad in Sochi was their first meeting in two years, after the Syrian leader travelled to Moscow in 2015 to thank Putin for his decision to intervene in Syria.
'As for our joint work in the fight against terrorism in Syria, this military operation is coming to an end,' Putin said in comments released Tuesday.
- 'Syria has been saved' -
'Thanks to the Russian army, Syria has been saved as a state. Much has been done to stabilise the situation in Syria,' Putin said.
Assad said he wanted to advance negotiations.
Ankara, Moscow and Tehran are cooperating with increasing intensity on ending the over six-year civil war in Syria that has left 330,000 dead and millions homeless
Ankara, Moscow and Tehran are cooperating with increasing intensity on ending the over six-year civil war in Syria that has left 330,000 dead and millions homeless
'We don't want to look back and we are ready for dialogue with all those who want to come up with a political settlement,' Assad said in translated comments.
Russia's army chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov, was quoted by national news agencies as saying that 'despite the fact that there remains a raft of unresolved problems' the military stage 'is coming to its logical conclusion'.
Putin's Wednesday summit with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani will take place ahead of parallel UN-led talks in Geneva set for November 28.
The meeting comes as Ankara, Moscow and Tehran cooperate with increasing intensity on ending the civil war in Syria that has claimed some 330,000 lives and made millions homeless.
The trio are cooperating despite Turkey still officially being on an opposite side in the Syrian conflict from Russia and Iran.
Russia, Iran and Turkey have backed negotiations in the Kazakh capital Astana that have brought together the representatives of the opposition and the regime.
Kremlin said meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad came during a "working visit" by Assad to Russia +6
Kremlin said meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad came during a 'working visit' by Assad to Russia
The talks led to the creation of four so-called 'de-escalation zones' that produced a drop in violence, but fighting and bombardments continued.
Moscow's military intervention in Syria in 2015 is widely seen as tipping the balance in the conflict.
Since then the Syrian army has reclaimed the ancient city of Palmyra from the Islamic State and driven rebels out of their northern bastion Aleppo.
This week regime forces ousted IS from its last urban stronghold in the country, Albu Kamal.

Donald Trump: One year since the election and we're still in overdrive - ABC News

Donald Trump: One year since the election and we're still in overdrive
By Washington bureau chief Zoe Daniel and Roscoe Whalan
Updated 10 Nov 2017, 4:20pm
November 9, 2016. (Reuters: Andrew Kelly)
Happy Anniversary.
It's a year since Donald Trump won the election.
I know.
This time in 2016 our bureau was in overdrive after a year following the campaign, criss-crossing the country to primaries and caucuses, debates and conventions, visiting big cities and small towns ahead of a political rollercoaster ride into the election itself.
Election day, for us, lasted several days as we worked around the clock to cover the vote, the results and the aftermath.
The day after Donald Trump's victory, after about 90 minutes of sleep, I found myself in Pittsburgh attending celebrations with his supporters and recording their reactions to his victory, which for them, was not unexpected.
And, all of a sudden, we're 12 months into the Trump administration, and still in overdrive.
Phew.
Check out the year in push alerts by Slate. Scary.
This week has provided an opportunity for reflection — in more ways than one.
President Trump shared this celebratory tweet to mark the occasion while in Asia:
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Congratulations to all of the ”DEPLORABLES” and the millions of people who gave us a MASSIVE (304-227) Electoral College landslide victory!
5:17 AM - Nov 9, 2017
And Vice President Mike Pence wrote an op-ed in USA Today saying it's been "a year of accomplishments".
Depends on your perspective, but there's been plenty going on that's for sure.
Speaking of the Asia trip, here's a summary in tweets:
David Nakamura
Audible gasp from reporters as Trump tells biz leaders in Beijing on trade imbalance: "I don't blame China. Who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for benefit if their citizens? I give China great credit."
3:26 PM - Nov 9, 2017
Jake Tapper
The Chinese government never wants to take questions from US reporters. In the past American presidents have insisted upon it as a demonstration of standing up for the freedoms our nation believes in. 1/ https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/928494673668296704 …
11:52 PM - Nov 9, 2017
Zoe Daniel
'America does not seek conflict and confrontation but we will never run from it" @realDonaldTrump “The regime has interpreted America’s past restraint as a weakness. This would be a fatal miscalculation”
1:52 PM - Nov 8, 2017
Zoe Daniel
POTUS @realDonaldTrump is giving a landmark speech in South Korea. "Korean golfers are some of the best on earth".
1:36 PM - Nov 8, 2017
You're welcome.
Take a look at the comments to see what some of our readers had to say about the first year of Mr Trump's presidency.
Now back to Election Tuesday
There were a series of statewide and local contests across America.
The biggest of those was the race to become Virginia's next Governor.
It was a race stacked in Democrat Ralph Northam's favour: his campaign had more money, history favoured the candidate from the party not in the White House and Donald Trump remains deeply unpopular in the state.
However, Larry Sabato, a political analyst who knows Virginia like the back of his hand, warned pundits not to underplay the victory either:
Larry Sabato
Dear Pundit Friends, please stop attributing this D landslide in VA to "changing demographics". VA hasn't changed that much since last Nov. 8 (Hillary by 5%). The bigger explanation is a backlash to Trump and Trumpism, pure and simple.
1:25 PM - Nov 8, 2017
Twitter Ads info and privacy
So, Ralph Northam's win was not a huge surprise. However, the margin of victory has sent shudders down the spines of Republicans across the country.
The loss has been dubbed a "canary in a coal mine" for Republicans, others say President Trump is a "pariah" for GOP hopefuls moving forward.
The President tweeted too — asserting that Republican Ed Gillespie lost because he distanced himself from the administration (he did do that):
Zoe Daniel
Dear Twitter. Revert to 140. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/928074747316928513 …
12:42 PM - Nov 8, 2017
However here's former head of the RNC, Michael Steele:
Michael Steele
Did YOU win Virginia?
Ouch.
This week, two more Republicans announced they won't contest the 2018 midterms: Texas Congressman Ted Poe and Virginia Congressman Bob Goodlatte.
Virginia also saw some interesting new faces elected.
First, there was Danica Roem, the first openly transgender person to be elected to a state legislature in America. She beat out the author of a bill who wanted to restrict access to bathrooms for transgender people.
While many are calling it a victory for minorities, she ran a grassroots campaign on local issues — specifically a local road. When asked about the significance of her victory she said, "It will be historic when a transgender woman finally helps fix Route 28."
The other notable victor was Chris Hurst, the former partner of Allison Parker, a TV reporter who was shot and killed live on air back in 2015. He ran a campaign, in part, on reducing gun violence.
His election was a reminder of one of the horrible, yet defining elements of life in America
Another mass shooting at a church in Texas left 26 dead and around 20 injured this week.
America moved on very quickly as the ever shortening news cycle and ever increasing tragedy fatigue reduce the attention that these deadly events receive.
At the same time, Steve Scalise, the Republican House Whip who was shot and nearly died at a congressional baseball training earlier this year, awarded medals of honour to the police officers who responded when a gunman attacked.
His emotional speech was a fitting tribute. He also compared his private security detail to the efforts by locals in Texas who shot and chased the shooter.
Earlier in the week, Scalise had challenged 87-year-old Texas Republican Sam Johnson to a scooter race around the Capitol.
Rep. Steve Scalise
I challenged @SamsPressShop to a scooter race.
Here's what happened next.
8:00 AM - Nov 9, 2017
There's been no discussion about changing gun laws since the Las Vegas massacre five weeks ago. Even the debate about restrictions on rifle modifying bumpstocks has died off.
However, next week is shaping up to be another busy one on Capitol Hill
There are hearings about firearm regulations, the President's use of nuclear weapons, and Jeff Sessions will face the House Judiciary Committee on issues facing the Justice Department (including Russia).
Speaking of Russia... Let me introduce you to CNN's new Russia tracker. It has everything.
This week's most exciting development was the stunning 243-page transcript from former Trump foreign policy advisor Carter Page.
The focus of the testimony centres on a trip Page made to Russia in July 2016, where he made a commencement speech at the New Economic School in Moscow.

The speech was made just weeks before Donald Trump accepted the nomination (Page stressed that the trip was made in a capacity independent to the Trump campaign) and is surely part of Robert Mueller's investigation as well.
The highlights include Page bragging about his frequent flier points with Delta:
7 Nov
Josh Barro
Replying to @jbarro
Lol pic.twitter.com/mOVFaA0ZSA
Josh Barro
In which Carter Page brags about his elite status on Delta: pic.twitter.com/Wtj8A4kgkq
12:34 PM - Nov 7, 2017
And the fact that he went to Russia — although it was controversial — because he was "trying to live my life".
By the numbers
Thirty-six per cent — that's Donald Trump's approval rating a year since he won, according to a new CNN/ Gallop poll. How does that compare to former Presidents at the same mark? George W Bush was 87 per cent, Nixon was 67 per cent and Obama 54 per cent.
Where's Obama?
Well, he reported for jury duty in Chicago, much to the delight of fellow jurors: