Elections
PHOTO: Reuters/Mukhtar Kholdorbekov. Interim President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is widely expected to win.
Exit polls for the presidential election in Kazakhstan on June 9, 2019 pointed to interim President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s victory with 70% of the vote, with his closest rival Amirzhan Kosanov winning 13.39% of the vote. 12 million registered voters went to over 9,000 polling stations throughout the country in a snap presidential election, which had a record number of seven candidates on the ballot. The election commission reported a turnout of over 70%. Interim President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, 66, was the former director-general of United Nations Office in Geneva, prime minister, and Speaker of the Senate. The snap election was called when former President Nursultan Nazarbayev abruptly resigned in March of this year.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48574540
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kazakhstan-election/nazarbayev-ally-set-to-win-kazakh-vote-as-hundreds-protest-idUSKCN1T90NY
https://www.rt.com/news/461462-kazakhstan-elections-president-vote/
PHOTO: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters. Moldova’s interim President Paval Filip held a news conference on Sunday.
Moldova’s Prime Minister and interim President Pavel Filip announced that snap parliamentary elections are due to take place on September 6, 2019. This announcement came after Moldova’s Constitutional Court relieved President Igor Dodon of his duties on Sunday. Dodon’s Russian-backed Socialist party had on Saturday announced it was forming a coalition government with the pro-European Union ACUM bloc, an unlikely alliance designed to keep the Democratic Party of Moldova run by tycoon Vladimir Plahotniouc out of power. The alliance held a special parliamentary session at which the deputies elected Socialist Party leader Zinaida Greceanii as Speaker of parliament and approved a new government led by Maia Sandu, the leader of the ACUM alliance. Plahotniouc criticized Dodon’s refusal to dissolve parliament after parties missed a court-mandated June 7 deadline to form a government, and the Constitutional Court ruled that the election of both the Speaker and the new government were unconstitutional, dismissed President Dodon for his refusal to dismiss parliament, and selected Filip as interim President.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-moldova-politics/moldovan-parties-agree-to-form-government-after-months-of-deadlock-idUSKCN1T90MT
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48572304
https://www.euronews.com/2019/06/09/moldova-court-relieves-dodon-of-duty-as-president
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-06/09/c_138129163.htm
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/09/world/europe/moldova-president.html
PHOTO: Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva.
On Friday, Finnish parliament elected Centrist MP Matti Vanhanen (center) as the new Speaker of Parliament with 141 out of 200 votes in parliament. Vanhanen, 63, served as the Prime Minister from 2003 to 2010. After the election in mid-April, Socialist Democratic leader Antti Rinne became the Speaker until he was officially appointed as the Prime Minister on June 6, 2019. Social Democratic MP Tuula Haatainen (left) was elected on Friday as the first deputy speaker and Finns Party MP Juho Eerola (right) became the second deputy speaker. Speaker Vanhanen expressed his gratitude to his fellow lawmakers and pledged to develop parliamentary work in an inclusive manner. “I want us all to think about our work and ways of working together,” he stated, before calling attention to the importance of parliamentary committees. “I especially want that representatives think about developing committee work.”
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-06/07/c_138125064.htm
http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/politics/16482-vanhanen-elected-as-new-speaker-of-finnish-parliament.html
Parliamentary Speaker News
PHOTO: Kazinform.
Chairman of the Majilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nigmatulin (left) met with Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan Nurdinjon Ismoilov (right) on June 7, 2019. Kazakh Speaker emphasized the symbolic significance of the visit during the Year of Kazakhstan in Uzbekistan, and continued strengthening of strategic partnership and good-neighborly relations. He also expressed interest in further strengthening the relations between the relevant committees, fostering inter-factional and inter-party dialogue, and actively using the potential of the cooperation group. The Uzbek Speaker appreciated the pace of Kazakhstan’s development and underlined the historical role of the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Kazakh Speaker also emphasized the importance of enhancing the interaction of parliamentarians within the framework of inter-parliamentary organizations, and invited the Uzbek Speaker to attend the fourth Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries Parliaments (MSEAP) to be held September 23-24 in Kazakhstan.
https://www.inform.kz/en/parliamentary-speakers-of-kazakhstan-uzbekistan-hold-talks_a3535183]
PHOTO: Newsfirst.lk
Sri Lanka’s parliament warned President Maithripala Sirisena not to scuttle a controversial investigation into security lapses before the Easter suicide bombings. The warning came after President Sirisena said he would not cooperate with the parliamentary probe and would not allow defense or police officials to testify before the select committee. The President called an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday night to oppose the legislature’s investigation into the April 21 attacks that killed 258 people and wounded nearly 500. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya responded by saying that “any public servant summoned by the Parliament Select Committee is obliged to give evidence…officials are fully aware of the serious consequences if they fail to respond.” The Parliamentary Select Committee which began its publicly televised sittings since late last month has suggested that the President failed to act on advance warning of the attacks, and testimonies suggest that the attacks could have been avoided.
https://www.newsfirst.lk/2019/06/09/clash-between-legislature-and-executive-heightens/
The Korea Herald
PHOTO: UNIAN.
Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Andriy Parubiy said that Ukraine has a very good chance of accession to the European Union in 2025-2027. He made this statement after the heads of parliaments of Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland has signed a resolution at the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in Kyiv. "The key document that we've signed is our joint resolution and our action plan for the next period. It was very important for us that the action plan we've agreed includes [the provision] that we will adhere to the 2025-2027 Strategy. This is a strategic plan for Ukraine's way towards the EU," Parubiy said at a briefing on June 8. He added that "We've jointly determined that we see that time as a period of great chances for Ukraine on the way to the EU. Indeed, Poland will preside in 2025, and Lithuania will preside from 2025 to 2027," Parubiy said.
https://www.unian.info/politics/10579536-ukrainian-parliament-speaker-ukraine-will-be-able-to-join-eu-in-2025-2027.html
BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr) |
