Egypt: Situation precarious - Mubarack Under House Arrest After A Velvet Military Takeover?

Unconfirmed reports coming from different bloggers in Egypt now speak of a "velvet" military takeover of power in Egypt, with Mubarack in fact being sidelined. Apparently the military high command is now calling the shots without Mubaracks presence at their meetings.

The military apparently is saying that the dilemma  they are facing if Mubarack officially would step down now, is that based under the present Constitution there would have to be a new President "elected" within 60 days.  They are therefore arguing that the Constitution needs to get changed before Mubarack steps down. If not, they say, Egyptians could get saddled with similar political problems they are presently facing.

Opposing forces say all this is irrelevant and just rhetoric by Mubarack and his supporters to gain time. They say Mubarack has to resign immediately, followed by the formation of an interim-government, which among its tasks would also have to the write a new constitution and to prepare for free and democratic elections.

Given the ever increasing strength of the pro-democracy revolutionary forces all oat this point seem to be precarious, to say the least.

EU-Digest

Is Turkey becoming more democratic, or less so?

After a polarizing campaign that became more a referendum on his government than on the 26 proposed constitutional reforms, Mr. Erdogan was rewarded with a decisive victory: 58 percent of voters approved the changes in a charter that had been imposed by the military after a 1980 coup. Many of the changes are indisputably liberal and will strengthen democracy in a Muslim country that is a NATO member and has aspired to join the European Union.

For example, military officers will be subject to civilian trials; the rights of women, the elderly, handicapped people and children will be enhanced; restrictions on unions will be lifted; and individuals will have greater privacy rights and the ability to appeal to the Constitutional Court.

But the constitutional package, which was presented to voters for a single, up-or-down vote, also contains a sweeping reorganization of the Constitutional Court and Turkey's other top judicial body, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors. Each would be expanded, and the power of appointment would be shifted to the president and legislature. Until now, Turkey's judiciary has been a bastion of secularism and thus of resistance to Mr. Erdogan. The Constitutional Court struck down his initiative allowing women to wear head scarves in state schools and came within one vote of outlawing his party.

Now Mr. Erdogan will have the power to place his appointees in a dominating position. The opposition charges that the courts will become merely another arm of the ruling party -- which, it claims, is carrying out a "creeping coup" against the secular state. While some of the critics' rhetoric may be exaggerated, Mr. Erdogan's actions give cause for concern. In the last several years his government has used questionable tax charges to lean on opposition media. Sprawling investigations of alleged coup plotters have swept up not just military officers but also businessmen and journalists.

For more: Is Turkey becoming more democratic, or less so?

Divisive Turkish referendum passes

A divisive national referendum in Turkey over 26 proposed amendments to the country's constitution was set to become a resounding victory for the prime minister and the ruling party, results showed.
With more than 96 percent of the votes counted, 58 percent of voters favored the referendum, while 42 percent were opposed, Turkey's electoral board reported. Geographically, Western provinces along Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coasts voted against the reform package, while much of the central Anatolian highlands and eastern Turkey voted in favor.

The proposed amendments include articles that would allow collective bargaining for public sector workers and affirmative action measures for women. But when asked what was the most important achievement of the reform package, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made it clear that the main goal was to alter the judiciary system.

Analysts say Sunday's vote is the latest confrontation in a power struggle between Erdogan's Islamist-rooted party and Turkey's secularist establishment, which have repeatedly clashed since AKP swept to power eight years ago.

The AKP narrowly avoided being banned from politics in 2008 when it was fined by the country's constitutional court -- one of the last bastions of secular opposition -- for alleged anti-secular activities. The court has also blocked legislation to lift a ban on Islamic headscarves at public universities.

For more: Divisive Turkish referendum passes - CNN.com

Turkish vacationers to return early for referendum

Tourism firms say a majority of Turks planning vacations for the Şeker Bayram holiday are buying their return tickets for Sept. 11 to be able to vote in the forthcoming referendum on Sept. 12.

The referendum is set for the fourth and last day of the Şeker Bayram holiday, a religious festival, and many people who are traveling for the festival are planning to return home a day early to vote NO or yes on the constitutional amendment package backed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

For more: Turkish vacationers to return early for referendum - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

Democratic control of Turkish Armed Forces gains ground

The Turkish government’s steadfast rejection of its own army’s moves of self-interest and its self-defensive reflexes against a background of suspected generals who were ordered to be arrested in an ongoing investigation may signal that the democratic control of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) could be firmly settling itself in the Turkish political landscape.

“We are not the first country to try [to join the EU with a military-drafted constitution]. Spain, Portugal and Greece all applied for membership, but their membership processes sped up only after they changed their constitutions to civilian ones,” Egemen Bağış, Turkey’s chief negotiator for EU talks, said. “Our real EU process will begin in earnest on Sept. 12. It will be a turning point not only for Turkey but also for our EU process.”

For more: Democratic control of Turkish Armed Forces gains ground

Newsweek: Europe Defies The Skeptics: Why Europe Is Stronger Than Ever - By Andrew Moravcsik

For the complete report from Newsweek.com click on this link

Europe Defies The Skeptics: Why Europe Is Stronger Than Ever - By Andrew Moravcsik

Just six months ago, the media were rife with predictions about the collapse of the European Union and its currency in the wake of the economic crisis. Credit agencies issued downgrades or downgrade warnings for countries like Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Greece. Even more serious debt crises were expected in Central and Eastern Europe.

Today, it's clear that the crisis has renewed European solidarity and seriousness of purpose. Europe is stronger than ever. What explains the quiet turnaround? The leading nations of Europe did not lose their nerve, and they did not work only to protect themselves, as many pundits predicted. Instead, they rushed to save their neighbors. In monetary policy, small nations realized that they lack the capacity to act as a credible lender of last resort for domestic banking systems that conduct many of their transactions in foreign currencies. Large nations, Germany in particular, realized that their banks, investors, and exporters would take a catastrophic hit if smaller neighbors went belly up. So the European Central Bank responded by pouring money into euro-zone banking systems. The Stability and Growth Pact, which restricts public spending, was relaxed to permit governments to recapitalize their banks. And in an unheralded and entirely informal expansion of EU responsibility, perhaps the largest since the 1999 launch of the euro, the central bank accepted responsibility for stabilizing EU countries outside the euro zone—those that still use their own currencies. It extended guarantees and swaps to assist efforts to stabilize financial systems that otherwise might have been forced to impose a punishing interest-rate hike or devaluation. The most striking example was the bailout of Latvia, managed jointly by the IMF and the EU. The turnaround in trade is no less spectacular. In March, European leaders made a collective commitment to avoid further protectionist measures, and they stuck to it. The core of Europe's single market—a ban on tariffs, quotas, and subsidies, protected by the Schengen Agreement prohibiting border controls and competition policy—seems to be holding firm.

Note EU-Digest: Unity is the only way forward for our EU. As the saying goes: "United we stand, divided we fall".

Occidental Observer: The EU Rip Off - by Tom Sunic

For the complete report from the Occidental Observer click on this link

The EU Rip Off - by Tom Sunic

"The June 2009 elections for the European Parliament were held against the backdrop of global recession and a serious economic crisis. The behavior of voters in Western Europe was also influenced by a large number of non-European residents whose number now exceeds 20 million people. Given these circumstances, it was expected that nationalist parties from 27 member states would score major gains. In fact, they won 30 parliamentary seats in Brussels. The worst nightmares of establishment Euro politicians and their well-paid scribes came true. Despite an uncivilized media smear campaign against “rising neo-fascist parties,” accompanied by non-stop stories of the “danger of anti-Semitism,” and despite taxpayer-funded advertising against the so-called right-wing radicalism, the prose and the sermons of EU insiders did not have much effect on the behavior of a sizable chunk of the European population.

In addition, the entire EU election was a joke as the voter turnout all across Europe did not exceed 30 percent. With more than 70 percent of voters not showing up at the polls, the credibility of the EU is now in serious jeopardy."