Berisha-Rama, takimi të dielën

 

 Konfirmohet takimi mes Kryeministrit, Sali Berisha dhe liderit të Partisë Socialiste, Edi Rama për cështjen e Presidentit.

Burime të Top Channel treguan pak para mesnatës së djeshme se takimi mes tyre do të mbahet të dielën në orën 20:30 të mbrëmjes në mjediset e Kryesisë së Kuvendit.

Mësohet se pas takimeve qe kryeministri Berisha pati të premten në Vlorë, ku shoqërohej nga nënkryetari i PD-së dhe deputeti i këtij qarku, Astrit Patozi, ky i fundit i ka telefonuar homologut të tij socialist, Gramoz Ruci. Mësohet se zoti Patozi i ka kërkuar zotit Ruci që  takimi mes dy kryetarëve të partive të realizohet të dielën në mbrëmje në orën 20.30. 

Orari i vonë sipas zotit Patozi është argumentuar me axhendën dhe angazhimet e kryeministrit Berisha këtë fundjavë në jug të vendit, ku pas Vlorës dhe Orikumit, pritet të qëndrojë në Sarandë. Ndaj kjo është edhe arsyeja pse takimi do të zhvillohet në këtë orë të mbrëmjes, pak para se të mbahet votimi i dytë për zgjedhjen e presidentit të ri ditën e hënë.

Ky takim mes Berishës dhe Ramës shikohet si mundësi për të gjetur kompromisin për një kandidat konsensual për president.

Nuk dihet nëse shefi i qeverisë do të këmbëngulë sic edhe deklaroi një natë më parë që kandidati për president të jetë emri i përzgjedhur nga maxhoranca, Xhezair Zaganjori, apo në takimin me Ramën mund të flitet edhe për emra të tjerë të mundshëm.

Por pa paragjykuar takimin mes kryeministrit dhe liderit të opozitës, orari i pazakontë në të cilin do të zhvillohen negociatat, nuk paralajmëron shumë optimizëm. Kjo edhe për faktin se raundi i dytë për zgjedhjen e presidentit është të hënën në orën 10.00 të paradites.  

Read More

Cameron Holds First Meeting With Hollande

David Cameron has said his first face-to-face meeting with the French President was "very good", as world leaders start arriving at the G8 summit in the US.

Speaking at a joint news conference with the newly-elected Francois Hollande, the Prime Minister said: "President Hollande and I have had a very good meeting – we have reaffirmed the importance of the strong relationship between Britain and France."
Earlier this year, Mr Cameron snubbed the socialist presidential candidate when he visited London - but today said he had invited Mr Hollande to visit the UK "soon, to discuss all of the issues that are very much on our joint agenda."
Topics discussed at the meeting included defence, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and the economy, Mr Cameron said.

"We've discussed the economic challenges that we face and we both want to see stability in international markets," he said.

"We both want to see countries deal with their deficits and we both want to see economic growth, and I know we’ll be having many more discussions about this, obviously at the G8 and in the meetings that we have in the European union next week and in subsequent meetings."
Speaking ahead of the talks with Mr Hollande, who swept to power on a promise of putting growth before austerity, the Prime Minister insisted the pair would find common ground.
"There is no conflict between austerity and growth – you need to have a strong deficit reduction programme in order to get growth," Mr Cameron told Sky's Adam Boulton.
"President Hollande believes that and I believe that."
Mr Cameron said the tresident was not proposing extra spending and actually wanted to balance the books quicker than the UK Government was planning.

Mr Cameron invited Mr Hollande to visit the UK "soon"

"Indeed the French plan to balance their budget actually happens faster than the British plan," he said, adding: "I am sure we will find many common agendas."
One issue over which the two leaders were likely to disagree, however, is a Europe-wide financial transaction tax, supported by Mr Hollande.
The Prime Minister issued a blunt warning about the measure, which he said would not be supported by Britain.
"On the financial transaction tax I’m very clear: we’re not going to get growth in Europe or in Britain by introducing a new tax that would actually hit people as well as financial institutions," Mr Cameron said.
"I don't think it’s a sensible measure, I will not support it."
:: World stock markets have suffered further falls as a result of the eurozone debt crisis.
The G8 talks are expected to be dominated by the eurozone crisis and the threat posed to world economies, international currencies and markets by the financial collapse and political vacuum in Greece.
Before the summit began, Mr Cameron insisted Britain is in a good economic position.
"In Britain we have the advantage of having our own currency, our own central bank, a strong Government with a strong plan to get the deficit down, and taking strong action across the board to encourage growth," he said.
The Prime Minister has insisted he will do "whatever it takes" to protect the UK from the fallout from the Greek crisis - but said the coalition's deficit reduction plans would stay.
After the G8 gathering at the US President Barack Obama's country retreat at Camp David, Mr Cameron will attend a Nato summit in Chicago.

Read More

Greece crisis: Party chiefs in last-ditch talks

Greek President Karolos Papoulias has begun talks with the heads of the three main parties, in a last attempt to form a coalition and avert another election.

                                  The three leaders have each failed in earlier attempts to form coalitions


All three - conservative New Democracy, far-left Syriza and socialist Pasok - have failed in bids to form coalitions.
Voters deserted New Democracy and Pasok at last Sunday's polls, amid anger over tough austerity measures imposed as part of an IMF-EU bailout deal.
Polls suggest the popularity of anti-bailout Syriza continues to grow.
Analysts say a new election could make them the biggest party in an anti-bailout coalition, which would threaten Greece's membership of the euro.
The BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens says most Greeks appear to be in favour of remaining in the euro, but there are questions as to what sacrifices they are willing to make to achieve that goal.
New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras, Syriza's Alexis Tsipras and Pasok's Evangelos Venizelos arrived to meet the president at noon (09:00 GMT) on Sunday.
"The Greek people didn't just send us a message, they gave us a mandate," said Mr Samaras as he arrived for the meeting.
"A mandate of co-operation for all of us to change policy, but also to remain in the euro."
None of the three leaders managed to cobble together a coalition that creates a majority in Greece's 300-seat parliament.
The stumbling block appears to have been Syriza's insistence that any new government must cancel austerity measures agreed in return for EU-IMF loans worth 130bn euros ($170bn; £105bn).
Mr Papoulias, 82, will later meet individually with the leaders of the four other parties that won enough votes for parliamentary seats. They include Golden Dawn, an extreme right-wing anti-immigration group.

Syriza's Alexis Tsipras has refused to compromise over the bailout terms

Russian roulette

The talks are expected to take place over two or three days, although in theory they could drag on until the opening of parliament on Thursday.
If, as expected, they fail to produce a governing coalition, a new election will be scheduled for next month.
The uncertainty has alarmed Greece's international creditors, who insist the country must keep to the terms of the bailout deal if it is to continue receiving funds and avoid bankruptcy.

Correspondents say the anti-bailout vote that was shared among several small parties in the first election now seems to be consolidating around Syriza.
Several opinion polls have put Syriza - runners up to New Democracy in last Sunday's election - in first place in any future poll.
With a bonus of 50 extra parliamentary seats that winning would bring, an anti-bailout coalition led by Syriza is looking more likely.
"It is obvious that there is an effort to bring about a government that will implement the bailout. We are not participating in such a government," Syriza spokesman Panos Skourletis said on Saturday.
Mr Tsipras insists he wants to keep Greece in the euro, and says European leaders are bluffing when they threaten to eject Athens from the single currency if it reneges on bailout agreements.
Greece's socialist daily newspaper, Ethnos, warned on its Sunday front page that politicians were playing "Russian roulette" with the country's damaged economy, in its fifth year of recession.

 

Read More

Peaceful March Key To Police Cuts Protest

    Up to 20,000 police officers are expected to march

Police officers are not allowed to strike, so today's protest will be the most they can do to show how much they reject the planned cuts in policing.

As many as 20,000 officers are expected to march through Westminster in a demonstration against what they see as a Government attack on policing.
About 16,000 of the officers will don black caps representing each officer expected to be lost under the Government's budget cuts.
Any other remaining police officers marching will wear white caps.
It has also emerged that prison officers, who are not allowed to strike either, will hold protest meetings as well.

Prison officers  across England, Wales and Scotland are holding protest meetings against Government plans to link their normal pension age to the state pension age.
Like other public servants, the police face budget cuts of around 20%, in addition to changes in pay and conditions which they say will leave many of them worse off financially.

Read More

Coulson And Cameron 'Loyal To Each Other

    Andy Coulson leaves after giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry

He is one of the most discussed figures in the ongoing scandal about hacking and media ethics.

He is perhaps the only leading character in the story who has enjoyed senior positions at both News International and the Government.
He is - or was - very close to both Rebekah Brooks and David Cameron.
But - until now - Andy Coulson has hardly spoken in public on the scandal at all.
So it is little wonder that Mr Coulson's evidence at the Leveson Inquiry was one of the most hotly anticipated.
Most will, I think, feel the session was rather less explosive than expected.
This was, of course, mainly because Robert Jay QC was forced to steer away from questions about hacking, because of the ongoing police investigation. Hacking felt like the elephant in the room.
And anyone who expected Mr Coulson to turn on Mr Cameron was mistaken. It is clear the two men are loyal to each other - the PM only severed ties with Mr Coulson when he was forced.
In his witness statement, Mr Coulson could not have been clearer on his views: "He is a hard-working and inspirational boss, leader and a thoroughly decent, moral man."

     Andy Coulson was formerly David Cameron's press chief

That is not to say there was nothing in the evidence that did not put pressure on the Prime Minister.
The former editor made clear he saw sensitive documents at No 10 despite the fact his security status was not at the highest level. Mr Cameron himself told him that "background security checks had been made".
And the forensic questioning over how he was headhunted for the director of communications job will have left many wondering: just why did the Prime Minister hire someone who had resigned over hacking during his editorship?
But while Mr Coulson adopted a low-key style, he was firm in his assertions that he had done nothing wrong and was often pointed in his criticism of the inquiry.
"You seem to have a disparaging view of ex-showbiz journalists," he berated Mr Jay.
And he took exception to the suggestion that people in politics have friendships just due to "ulterior motives".
His concluding statement was clear: if more barriers are placed between politicians and the press, it will be harder to report politics and the result will be more apathy.

Read More

Pasok's Venizelos in third bid for Greece coalition

Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos has been asked to make a third attempt to form a coalition government in Greece, amid turmoil after Sunday's elections.

 

Venizelos leads a once-dominant party - Pasok - that was beaten into third place on Sunday

Mr Venizelos was given the mandate to start new talks after failed bids by leaders of the centre-right New Democracy and radical left Syriza bloc.
Pasok is widely associated with deeply unpopular austerity cutbacks.
Sunday's elections revealed a country divided over plans to bring it out of its debt crisis.
Financial chaos has sparked huge social unrest in Greece and led to a deep mistrust of the once-dominant parties which backed austerity.
Under the bailout agreement, Athens is due to pass new austerity measures worth 14.5bn euros (£11.6bn; $18.8bn) next month - part of cuts required to qualify for bailouts worth a total of 240bn euros.
'Effort must continue' After the first two parties failed to find coalition partners, former finance minister Mr Venizelos will now meet President Karolos Papoulias to receive the mandate to try to form a government.
"It was clear that in the current stage of this process we cannot reach a solution but that we must continue this effort," Mr Venizelos said, according to AP news agency.
"So the mandate I will receive tomorrow will have substance and importance."
But Pasok is now deeply unpopular, says the BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens - seen as the architects of austerity, and tainted with allegations of corruption.
It dominated Greek politics for most of the past four decades, but saw its support slashed on Sunday - coming third with just 41 seats, a quarter of its pre-bailout support.
Its attempt to form a government also appears likely to fail, our correspondent says, making fresh elections - and weeks of fresh instability across the eurozone - seem inevitable.

The eurozone's rescue fund on Wednesday decided to withhold 1bn euros of its latest instalment of its bailout to Greece pending a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday.
But the fund said it would disburse 4.2bn euros of the 5.2bn euros due to the country on Thursday.

 

Austerity measures have sparked widespread protests

'Dream' dashed

The fresh coalition bid follows in the wake of a failed attempt by Alexis Tsipras, the leader of Greece's far-left Syriza bloc.
Mr Tsipras said he had failed to reach agreement with mainstream parties because of his insistence on rejecting austerity measures demanded by the EU and IMF as part of a bailout deal.
He made the announcement after failed talks with the Pasok and New Democracy parties, which support the bailout. Talks with the Communist KKE and smaller left-wing Democratic Left also failed.
He told Syriza MPs: "We cannot make true our dream of a left-wing government."
Earlier on Wednesday, New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras rejected Mr Tsipras's demand to tear up the bailout deal.
Mr Samaras told a party meeting that the proposal would "lead to immediate internal collapse and international bankruptcy, with the inevitable exit from Europe".
"[Amending] the loan deal is one thing, it is a completely different thing to unilaterally denounce it. The second option leads to catastrophe that is certain and immediate," he said.
If it rejects the deal with the IMF and EU, Athens will be unable to draw its international loan, meaning it would again face the prospect of bankruptcy and possible exit from the euro, our correspondent says.
Previous Greek governments agreed to make deep cuts to pensions and pay, raise taxes and slash thousands of public sector jobs in return for the bailouts.
Both Germany and the EU have made clear they expect Athens to honour its commitments.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Wednesday: "Germany would like to keep Greece in the eurozone, but Greece's fate is now in its own hands."

Are you in Greece? What do you think about Pasok's attempt to form a government? Would it be better to have fresh elections?  

Read More

Cashpoint Donations To Spur Charity Giving

76% of those polled said ministers should have considered the implications more carefully

People using cash machines will be invited to donate to charity each time they withdraw money, under new Government plans.

Royal Bank of Scotland cash machines and those owned by independent operator Bank Machine will be the first to allow donations to selected charities.
More than 12,000 UK cashpoints are set to allow donations from this summer, with more expected to follow.
Banks will be able to choose which charities they support and people using a debit or credit card will be able to donate between £1 and £250.
It is part of a government strategy to make it easier for people to give small amounts of money to charity, but the deal comes as ministers face criticism for their planned cap on tax relief on donations.
Two out of three voters say the Government's plan will have a serious impact on charitable gifts, according to figures released by the Charities Aid Foundation (Caf), as it prepared to meet ministers to discuss ways of promoting giving.
The poll, conducted for the Caf by ComRes, found 84% supported the principle that donations to charity should not be taxed, while 76% thought ministers should have considered the implications of a cap more carefully.
Tax Relief For Charities: New Rules Explained
Caf chief executive John Low said: "It is clear there is deep unease among the public at this unfair and damaging cap on tax relief for donations.
"People in this country are concerned that the economic situation will damage charities, whose vital work benefits everyone in society.
"This tax change will make a difficult time for charities even worse."
:: ComRes surveyed 2,044 GB adults online between April 27 and 29.

Read More