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Boris Johnson Abandons Leadership Race in UK

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Boris Johnson Abandons Leadership Race in UK

On Sunday, former UK prime minister Boris Johnson withdrew from the race to become Britain’s next leader, stating that he had the backing of enough legislators to advance to the next round but considerably fewer than front-runner former finance minister Rishi Sunak.

Johnson stated, “There is a good likelihood that I would win the election among Conservative Party members, and I might be back in Downing Street on Friday.”

“However, over the course of the last several days, I’ve concluded that this is not the appropriate course of action. You cannot govern effectively without a cohesive party in the legislature.”

Johnson, who never formally launched his candidacy to return to Downing Street, spent the weekend persuading Conservative legislators to endorse him. On Sunday, he claimed to have the support of 102 Conservative lawmakers.

He needed 100 votes by Monday to go to the next round, which would have pitted him against Sunak in a vote by the 170,000 members of the Conservative Party.

Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson’s Downfall

Sunak, whose resignation as finance minister in July contributed to Johnson’s downfall, secured 142 declared supporters on Sunday, surpassing the threshold of 100 parliamentarians needed to advance to the next level, according to Reuters.

On Monday, he will be named leader of the Conservative Party and become prime minister unless Penny Mordaunt receives the required 100 votes to necessitate a runoff vote by party members. On Sunday, she had 24 avowed supporters.

Lord Frost, a former minister for Brexit and close associate of Boris Johnson, urged his party colleagues to support Mr. Sunak.

The Conservative peer tweeted: “Boris Johnson will forever be revered as a hero for achieving Brexit.

“However, we must proceed. It is unethical to risk repeating the chaos and disarray of the previous year.

“The Conservative Party must support a capable leader who can implement a conservative agenda. That individual is Rishi Sunak.

“As I stated in July, (Rishi) would be an exceptionally competent prime minister. He comprehends the issues, can operate the machine and is a wonderful individual. He would bring about a significant shift in ‘feel’ from the Boris years.’

“That is what we require now. Let’s get behind Rishi.”

Mr. Sunak received the support of his predecessor as chancellor, Sajid Javid, who endorsed Ms. Truss in the previous election and Mr. Johnson in 2019.

Mr. Javid stated that Mr. Sunak possesses the “values our party needs” to “move on from previous mistakes.”

Former minister Johnny Mercer supported him, stating that he could not put himself or his constituents through another Johnson administration given the “awful” lows of the last one.

“Boris is my friend, I adore him, and he’s a fantastic individual, but I don’t think I can put myself through that again. I do not believe I can ask my constituents or my employees to, “He stated on the BBC Radio 4 PM show.

“I adore Boris, and he has incredible talents for this country, but it is time for serious, competent, straightforward, and values-based leadership.”

BBC Reports Boris Johnson Abandons Leadership Race

Source: Reuters, VOR News

 

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Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

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putin charged with war crimes

Vladimir Putin won a historic fifth term as Russia’s president on Monday, as the electoral commission announced the results of a referendum in which he faced no serious challenges and took place amid the toughest crackdown on dissent and free speech since Soviet times.

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Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

Putin claimed that the landslide majority demonstrated Russians’ “trust” and “hopes” in him, while lawmakers throughout Europe blasted the vote as a hoax and Russia’s efforts to conduct elections in seized portions of Ukraine that it claims as its territory.

Here’s what Putin, European leaders, and others say:

“Of course, we have a lot of work ahead. But I’d like to clarify one thing: no one has ever been able to intimidate or stifle our will or self-conscience since our consolidation. They have failed in the past and will fail in the future. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.

“The elections took place in an ever-shrinking political space, which has resulted in an alarming increase of violations of civil and political rights, and precluded many candidates from running, including all those opposed to Russia’s illegal war of aggression.” – Statement from the European Union.

“These Russian elections highlight the intensity of repression under President Putin’s administration, which tries to stifle all dissent to his illegal war. Putin eliminates his political opponents, controls the media, and declares himself the winner. “This is not a democracy.” — David Cameron, UK Foreign Secretary.

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Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

“Searches at voting stations’ entrances, attempts to examine ballots before voters place them in ballot boxes, and detentions of voters who arrived at noon. According to reports, at one voting location in Moscow, police asked that the chairman of a commission (of poll workers) unlock a ballot box and hand them a ballot with anything inscribed on it. This is the first time in my life that I have witnessed such ridiculousness.” — Stanislav Andreychuk, co-chair of Golos, the independent election watchdog, on Telegram.

putin

Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

“The Russian election was one without a choice. Holding so-called elections in portions of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia violates international law. It is all the more amazing that so many Russians made it known over the weekend that they do not agree with this Russian president. That you go to a polling station even if you’re surrounded by military earns me the highest respect.” — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

SOURCE – (AP)

 

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Russians Are Voting In An Election That Holds Little Suspense After Putin Crushed Dissent

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Russia began three days of voting on Friday in a presidential election that is very guaranteed to extend President Vladimir Putin’s authority for another six years after he suppressed dissent.

At least a half-dozen cases of vandalism at polling stations were reported, including a firebombing and several people pouring green liquid into ballot boxes — an apparent reference to the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was attacked in 2017 by an assailant splashing green disinfectant into his face.

putin

Russians Are Voting In An Election That Holds Little Suspense After Putin Crushed Dissent

Voting continues until Sunday at polling sites across the enormous country’s 11 time zones, in unlawfully occupied territories of Ukraine, and online. Putin voted online, according to the Kremlin.

The election takes place against the backdrop of a relentless crackdown that has devastated independent media and key rights groups, giving Putin complete control over the political system.

It also comes as Moscow’s campaign in Ukraine approaches its third year. Russia has the advantage on the battlefield, where it is making small but slow gains. A Russian missile assault on the port city of Odesa killed at least 14 people on Friday, according to local officials.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has made Moscow appear vulnerable behind the front lines by launching long-range drone attacks deep within Russia and high-tech drone assaults that have forced Russia’s Black Sea fleet to defend itself.

Russian districts bordering Ukraine reported an increase in shelling and repeated attacks this week by Ukrainian forces, which Putin condemned on Friday as an attempt to scare locals and sabotage the election.

“Those enemy strikes haven’t been and won’t be left unpunished,” he vowed at a Security Council meeting.

“I’m sure that our people, the people of Russia, will respond to that with even greater cohesion,” Russian President Vladimir Putin stated. “Who did they choose to scare? What about the Russian people? It never happened, and it never will.”

Officials stated that voting was taking place in an orderly manner.

However, according to local media, in St. Petersburg, a lady tossed a Molotov cocktail into the roof of a school that contains a polling booth. The deputy director of the Russian Central Election Commission stated that somebody poured green liquid into vote boxes in five cities, including Moscow.

A lady set fire to a ballot booth in Moscow, according to news reports and the Telegram messaging channel. Such acts are extremely dangerous; meddling with elections is punished by up to five years in prison.

The election has minimal suspense because Putin, 71, is running for a fifth term almost unopposed. His political opponents are either imprisoned or in exile; Navalny, the most ferocious of them, perished in an Arctic penal colony last month. The other three candidates on the ballot are low-profile lawmakers from minor opposition parties who back the Kremlin’s agenda.

Observers do not expect the election to be free and fair.

On Friday, European Council President Charles Michel made a biting statement about the vote’s predetermined character. “I’d like to congratulate Vladimir Putin on his overwhelming victory in the elections beginning today. There is no opposition. There is no freedom. “There is no choice,” he posted on X, which was previously known as Twitter.

Aside from the fact that voters have few choices, the opportunities for independent monitoring could be more extensive.

No prominent international observers were present. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s monitors were not invited, and only registered candidates or state-backed advisory bodies could deploy observers to voting sites, reducing the possibility of independent watchdogs. Truly monitoring is tough to achieve, with balloting lasting three days in roughly 100takes timeling places.

“The Russian elections as a whole are a fraud. The Kremlin decides who appears on the ballot. The Kremlin determines how they can campaign. “To say nothing of having complete control over the voting and counting process,” said Sam Greene, director of Democratic Resilience at the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington.

putin

Russians Are Voting In An Election That Holds Little Suspense After Putin Crushed Dissent

Ukraine and the West have also chastised Russia for holding elections in Ukrainian districts that Moscow’s soldiers have captured and occupied.

According to political analysts and opposition figures, Ukraine is essential to this election. They claim that Putin intends to use his almost certain electoral triumph as evidence that the conflict and his handling are popular. Meanwhile, the opposition aims to use the vote to express dissatisfaction with the war and the Kremlin.

Two anti-war candidates were barred from the ballot despite garnering genuine, if not overwhelming, support, depriving voters of a choice on the “main issue of Russia’s political agenda,” according to political analyst Abbas Gallyamov, a former Putin speechwriter.

Russia’s splintered opposition has urged individuals dissatisfied with Putin or the conflict to vote in protest at noon on Sunday, the final day of voting. Navalny backed the idea shortly before his death.

“We need to utilize election day to demonstrate that we exist and that there are many of us; we are actual, breathing, real people who oppose Putin… The next step is up to you. You may vote for any candidate except Putin. “You could ruin your ballot,” his widow, Yulia Navalnaya, warned.

It is still being determined how successfully this technique will work.

Golos, Russia’s famed independent election observer group, reported this week that officials were “doing everything to ensure that the people don’t notice the fact that the election is taking place.”

The watchdog branded the campaign leading up to the vote as “practically unnoticeable” and “the most vapid” since Golos was established and began monitoring Russian elections in 2000.

Putin’s campaigning was disguised as presidential operations, while other contenders were “demonstrably passive,” according to the report.

putin

Russians Are Voting In An Election That Holds Little Suspense After Putin Crushed Dissent

According to Golos, state media covered the election less than in 2018 when Putin was previously elected. The group added that instead of boosting voting to secure a target turnout, authorities appear to be counting on compelling voters within their control — for example, Russians working in state-run firms or institutions — to vote.

The watchdog has been caught up in the crackdown: its co-chair, Grigory Melkonyants, is in jail awaiting trial on accusations generally viewed as an attempt to pressure the group ahead of the election.

“The current elections will not be able to reflect the real mood of the people,” Golos stated in the report. “The distance between citizens and decision-making about the fate of the country has become greater than ever.”

SOURCE – (AP)

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Putin Can Point To A Resilient Russian Economy As He Orchestrates His Reelection

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MOSCOW — Russians are discovering that the prices of a few imported necessities, such as fruit, coffee, and olive oil, have risen dramatically. Most worldwide names have vanished or been reborn as Russian versions under new, Kremlin-friendly management. A lot more Chinese automobiles are cruising the streets. Those seeking a certain luxury cosmetic may be out of luck.

Aside from that, most people in President Vladimir Putin’s Russia have seen little economic improvement in the two years since he launched soldiers into Ukraine.

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Putin Can Point To A Resilient Russian Economy As He Orchestrates His Reelection

That’s despite the broad restrictions that have halted much of Russia’s trade with Europe, the United States, and its allies.

That sense of stability is a valuable asset for Putin as he plots his predetermined triumph in the March 15-17 presidential election for a fifth, six-year term.

Inflation is greater than most people would want, at more than 7%, which exceeds the central bank’s target of 4%. However, unemployment is low, and the International Monetary Fund predicts the economy will increase by 2.6% this year, doubling its previous prediction. That is far higher than the 0.9% growth forecast for Europe.

“There are difficulties, of course — they’re connected with the general situation in the world,” said Andrei Fedotov, 55, as he walked down Tverskaya Street, a popular shopping avenue a few steps from the Kremlin. “We know this very well, but I believe we’ll overcome them.”

Higher prices “They bother me, of course—like any consumer, I see them going up,” said Fedotov, who works in education. “It’s connected to the times that we’re in, and which will pass.”

Despite rising shop pricing, brand manager Irina Novikova, 39, remained optimistic: “More domestic products have surfaced, more agricultural products. Yes, we are all aware that certain products have vanished.”

“Prices have gone up — if I used to buy three items for a certain price, now I buy one,” she remarked. She said, “Go look for Russian products, the shops with Russian goods.”

“Industry may have suffered, we know there have been some setbacks in that regard, but again, we’re adjusting and we’re reorienting our thinking, and we’re starting to look to our Chinese friends,” she said.

Massive Russian military spending and generous payments to volunteer soldiers provide a significant economic boost. Government-subsidized mortgages are assisting apartment purchasers and provide a major boost to the thriving construction sector, as seen by many massive high-rise developments rising on the banks of the Moscow River.

Inflation is unpleasant, but it is not uncommon. Russia became more self-sufficient in food production after seizing Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014, and the following Western sanctions prompted the Kremlin to ban a wide range of European food imports.

This year, the government plans to spend about twice as much as 2018. However, the deficit remains manageable as taxes and oil money trickle in.

Parallel imports through third countries such as Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan have allowed wealthy Russians to continue purchasing Western products ranging from sneakers to mobile phones and automobiles from businesses that no longer do business in Russia, usually at a hefty markup.

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Putin Can Point To A Resilient Russian Economy As He Orchestrates His Reelection

A BMW SUV is still widely accessible, albeit at double the price in Germany. IKEA closed its 17 Russian locations, but its furniture and home items can still be purchased online – for a fee.

Apple has left, but an iPhone 15 Pro Max with 512 gigabytes sells for the ruble equivalent of $1,950 on Russia’s Wildberries shopping site, comparable to the phone’s price in Germany.

The economy is not without problems. Companies are facing labour shortages after hundreds of thousands of men fled the country following the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine to avoid mobilization, while hundreds of thousands more signed military contracts.

Meanwhile, boycotts by Ukraine’s supporters caused Russia’s oil shipments to move from Europe to China and India. To escape sanctions and a price cap on oil exports, Russia was forced to spend billions of dollars on a shadow fleet of outdated tankers that do not utilize Western insurers who must adhere to the price ceiling. Russia also lost a lucrative European natural gas market after turning off most of its pipeline supply.

The auto sector was ravaged when foreign owners such as Renault, Volkswagen, and Mercedes pulled out. According to Ward’s Intelligence, China has displaced the European Union as Russia’s primary trading partner, and Chinese automobiles quickly absorbed half of the automotive market last year.

Many foreign corporations have also exited or sold their operations to local partners at reduced costs. Others, notably Danish brewer Carlsberg and French food firm Danone, have had their Russian operations seized by the government.

“The economy plays a very important role in all of Putin’s elections,” said Janis Kluge, a Russian economic researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “For most Russians, who choose to ignore the war, the economy is really the biggest issue.”

Economic stability “is a signal that Putin can use to show the other elites that he is still capable of mobilizing the masses.” Kluge stated that the number must be legitimate and not altered.

“So it is still important that there is this genuine support, even though there is no chance at all for the voters to change who is in office,” he said.

Gross domestic product, or the economy’s total output of goods and services, is still “an abstract number” to ordinary people, and the ruble’s exchange rate is less of a symbol than it once was because most people cannot travel and there are fewer imported products to buy, according to Kluge.

“What matters is inflation,” he remarked. “And this is an issue where the regime actually did some preparation.”

The central bank has fought price increases by hiking interest rates to 16%. The Russian government has maintained the currency by mandating exporters convert foreign earnings from commodities such as oil into rubles, keeping import costs low.

putin

Putin Can Point To A Resilient Russian Economy As He Orchestrates His Reelection

A six-month restriction on gasoline exports, effective March 1, will help keep fuel costs in Russia low.

The government has also been giving apartment mortgages at dramatically reduced interest rates, boosting people’s perception of personal affluence but eventually costing the country a lot of money.

Kluge emphasized Russia’s ability to continue selling oil and natural gas to new Asian clients. As long as oil prices remain stable, Russia can continue to spend heavily on military and social projects “indefinitely.”

According to the Kyiv School of Economics’ Russian oil tracker, Russia generated approximately $15.6 billion in oil export earnings in January, which is approximately $500 million per day.

The economy’s prospects in the longer term are uncertain. A lack of foreign investment will impede innovation and productivity. Government generosity may one day outweigh the central bank’s power to control inflation. Putin will decide the extent to which generous programs will continue after the election.

The main risk to today’s stability is a dramatic decrease in oil prices, already trading at roughly $70 per barrel for Russia’s Urals blend. Because of sanctions and boycotts, there represents a discount from the worldwide benchmark Brent crude price of roughly $83 per barrel.

For now, however, state finances are stronger than many had anticipated.

Former Russian central bank official Alexandra Prokopenko posted on X, formerly Twitter, that “I have no good news” for individuals who expect Russia’s economy to collapse “tomorrow” due to sanctions. “It’s a big and resilient animal.”

SOURCE – (AP)

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