ENB 221107
"Those who criticize defence expenditure, did nothing towards peace" -Douglas Devananda
Speaking in the Parliament yesterday (19) at the Budget debate the leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) and Minister of Social Welfare, Douglas Devananda said that those who have criticised the defence expenditure have done nothing towards finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
"They are in fact supporting the terrorism of LTTE leader Prabhakaran. They have become agents of the LTTE. They are criticising without offering any remedy to the issue. The MPs who have become agents of the LTTE have in fact declared war against the Government," he said.
Recollecting the history of the government's response to innumerable acts of provocation by the LTTE, the minister said "the LTTE created an environment that pushed the Government towards war. They engaged in activities to provoke Security Forces and the Police who were maintaining law and order. The LTTE unilaterally unleashed violations against the Security Forces."
Minister observed that over 6,000 ceasefire violations have been committed against the Security Forces by the LTTE. "It was the expectation of the LTTE that Mahinda Rajapaksa would declare war after becoming the President. But instead of doing that President extended his hands of peace to the LTTE. Without war there is no existence for the LTTE leader Prabhakaran," the Minister added.
Courtesy - Government Information Department
"They are in fact supporting the terrorism of LTTE leader Prabhakaran. They have become agents of the LTTE. They are criticising without offering any remedy to the issue. The MPs who have become agents of the LTTE have in fact declared war against the Government," he said.
Recollecting the history of the government's response to innumerable acts of provocation by the LTTE, the minister said "the LTTE created an environment that pushed the Government towards war. They engaged in activities to provoke Security Forces and the Police who were maintaining law and order. The LTTE unilaterally unleashed violations against the Security Forces."
Minister observed that over 6,000 ceasefire violations have been committed against the Security Forces by the LTTE. "It was the expectation of the LTTE that Mahinda Rajapaksa would declare war after becoming the President. But instead of doing that President extended his hands of peace to the LTTE. Without war there is no existence for the LTTE leader Prabhakaran," the Minister added.
Courtesy - Government Information Department
Lanka in top 10 seeking asylum
Sri Lanka was among the top 10 countries from where applications were received for asylum status in Britain during the third quarter of this year, the British Government said.
According to statistics of the Home Office, 245 Sri Lankans had sought asylum in Britain this year - a one percent increase from the first quarter.
Sri Lanka was also among the top 10 countries from where applications for asylum were rejected during the same period and the applicants deported. UK Home Office statistics stated that 125 Sri Lankans were deported during the third quarter of this year.
The UK Home Office further stated that the nationalities accounting for the highest number of asylum detainees were Nigerian (150), Chinese (125) and Sri Lankan (100). 84 per cent of asylum detainees as at September 29, 2007 were male.
Overall the number of applications for asylum in Britain, excluding dependants, was 19 per cent higher with 5,890 in the third quarter compared with 4,950 in the second quarter and less than one per cent higher than in the third quarter of 2006 which stood at 5,860.
Meanwhile Britain said illegal workers employed as security guards at key government sites posed a terrorism risk. A Cabinet Office security chief warned senior civil servants that Britain's defences could be compromised, according to the British media.
The letter, marked restricted, from Kennedy Humphreys, of the Cabinet Office's security policy division, appeared to contradict reassurances given by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith on the potential dangers posed by the illegal workers.
In August this year a landmark ruling by a British tribunal said that Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers in Britain are at risk of torture if returned to Sri Lanka. The tribunal ruled that a 2006 UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) report on Sri Lankan asylum seekers could be used as the basis for providing protection.
Sri Lanka was among the top 10 countries from where applications were received for asylum status in Britain during the third quarter of this year, the British Government said.
According to statistics of the Home Office, 245 Sri Lankans had sought asylum in Britain this year - a one percent increase from the first quarter.
Sri Lanka was also among the top 10 countries from where applications for asylum were rejected during the same period and the applicants deported. UK Home Office statistics stated that 125 Sri Lankans were deported during the third quarter of this year.
The UK Home Office further stated that the nationalities accounting for the highest number of asylum detainees were Nigerian (150), Chinese (125) and Sri Lankan (100). 84 per cent of asylum detainees as at September 29, 2007 were male.
Overall the number of applications for asylum in Britain, excluding dependants, was 19 per cent higher with 5,890 in the third quarter compared with 4,950 in the second quarter and less than one per cent higher than in the third quarter of 2006 which stood at 5,860.
Meanwhile Britain said illegal workers employed as security guards at key government sites posed a terrorism risk. A Cabinet Office security chief warned senior civil servants that Britain's defences could be compromised, according to the British media.
The letter, marked restricted, from Kennedy Humphreys, of the Cabinet Office's security policy division, appeared to contradict reassurances given by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith on the potential dangers posed by the illegal workers.
In August this year a landmark ruling by a British tribunal said that Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers in Britain are at risk of torture if returned to Sri Lanka. The tribunal ruled that a 2006 UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) report on Sri Lankan asylum seekers could be used as the basis for providing protection.
Thursday, 22 November 2007
Batik industry needs marketing strategy
Batik industry needs marketing strategy
SHIRAJIV SIRIMANE
The Sri Lankan batik industry which is neglected now, can be turned around to be a better forex earner to the country, winner of the first British Council/Hirdaramani Group International Young Fashion Entrepreneur Award, Darshi Keerthisena said.
Speaking at the British Council yesterday, she said Sri Lanka has its own identity for batiks.
“However, in the recent past, the industry has been neglected,” she said.
The main reason for it is that it was not properly marketed.
She said in Sri Lanka batik is now rated as a cheap souvenir sold to tourists while in Malaysia and Indonesia it’s a high forex earning industry with high export potential.
Keerthisena said batik is no longer a cheap souvenir and she has started her own businesses using new fabric such as saffron, satin and velvet, eco-friendly dyes, and new colours.
“We are already exporting to many countries under the brand name Buddhi batiks and trying to position the industry in a high place in the world market,” she said.
Director and Head of Design at her family-owned business, Buddhi Arts, she said the award would enable them to compete in the world competition next February in London along with winners from nine countries, Central South Asia (to select one finalist to represent the region), Ghana, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mexico, Middle East Nigeria and Poland.
“The exposure, I would get would help to enhance my career and I will also share my experience with the country,” she said.
The inaugural International Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year (IYFEY) 2008 award launched by the British Council in mid August offered an opportunity to a young Sri Lankan fashion entrepreneurs in the 25 to 35 age category.
Keerthisena has been working with a major manufacturer of swim wear in Sri Lanka on a range of Buddhi Batiks
“Sri Lanka has tremendous potential and this programme would unearth them,” she said.
Hirdramani Group is the principal sponsor of this programme while Gray Colombo is the event organiser.
The short-listed candidates were Lathika Gunaratne, Darshi Keerthisena, Anupama Nawalage, Nilupa Rajakaruna, Prabath Samarasooriya, Ruchira Silva and Linda Speldewinde.
The Sri Lankan batik industry which is neglected now, can be turned around to be a better forex earner to the country, winner of the first British Council/Hirdaramani Group International Young Fashion Entrepreneur Award, Darshi Keerthisena said.
Speaking at the British Council yesterday, she said Sri Lanka has its own identity for batiks.
“However, in the recent past, the industry has been neglected,” she said.
The main reason for it is that it was not properly marketed.
She said in Sri Lanka batik is now rated as a cheap souvenir sold to tourists while in Malaysia and Indonesia it’s a high forex earning industry with high export potential.
Keerthisena said batik is no longer a cheap souvenir and she has started her own businesses using new fabric such as saffron, satin and velvet, eco-friendly dyes, and new colours.
“We are already exporting to many countries under the brand name Buddhi batiks and trying to position the industry in a high place in the world market,” she said.
Director and Head of Design at her family-owned business, Buddhi Arts, she said the award would enable them to compete in the world competition next February in London along with winners from nine countries, Central South Asia (to select one finalist to represent the region), Ghana, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mexico, Middle East Nigeria and Poland.
“The exposure, I would get would help to enhance my career and I will also share my experience with the country,” she said.
The inaugural International Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year (IYFEY) 2008 award launched by the British Council in mid August offered an opportunity to a young Sri Lankan fashion entrepreneurs in the 25 to 35 age category.
Keerthisena has been working with a major manufacturer of swim wear in Sri Lanka on a range of Buddhi Batiks
“Sri Lanka has tremendous potential and this programme would unearth them,” she said.
Hirdramani Group is the principal sponsor of this programme while Gray Colombo is the event organiser.
The short-listed candidates were Lathika Gunaratne, Darshi Keerthisena, Anupama Nawalage, Nilupa Rajakaruna, Prabath Samarasooriya, Ruchira Silva and Linda Speldewinde.
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
21 Lankans arrested in Iraq
21 Lankans arrested in Iraq
Iraqi soldiers detained two US security guards along with 21 Sri Lankans, nine Nepalis and 10 Iraqis, after guards in their private convoy opened fire in Baghdad, wounding one woman.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday they were in touch with the Lankan envoys in Kuwait and Lebanon to get further details as Sri Lanka does not have an embassy in Baghdad.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hussain Bhaila has also met the Iraqi Charge d Affaires in Colombo to ascertain more details. US military and embassy officials had no immediate information about the report by the Iraqi military, which follows a series of recent shootings in which foreign security guards have allegedly killed Iraqis.
Brig-General Qassim al-Moussawi said the convoy was driving on the wrong side of the road in the central Baghdad neighbourhood of Karradah when the shooting occurred. Those arrested included two US guards, along with 21 people from Sri Lanka, the Baghdad military spokesman said.
"We have given orders to our forces to immediately intervene in case they see any violations by security companies.
The members of this security company wounded an innocent woman and they tried to escape the scene, but Iraqi forces arrested them," Brig-Gen Al-Moussawi said.
The role of private security guards has been highlighted following a shooting on September 16 in which Blackwater Worldwide guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians. The FBI is investigating the shootings, although the Iraqi government has concluded that the guards were unprovoked when they began shooting at Nisoor Square in west Baghdad.
The North Carolina-based company, the largest private security firm protecting US diplomats in Iraq, has said its convoy was under attack before it opened fire. The shootings occurred on a day in which at least 22 people were killed or found dead.
ABC News reported yesterday that a US grand jury has opened an investigation into the deaths of the 17 Iraqis.
AP
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday they were in touch with the Lankan envoys in Kuwait and Lebanon to get further details as Sri Lanka does not have an embassy in Baghdad.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hussain Bhaila has also met the Iraqi Charge d Affaires in Colombo to ascertain more details. US military and embassy officials had no immediate information about the report by the Iraqi military, which follows a series of recent shootings in which foreign security guards have allegedly killed Iraqis.
Brig-General Qassim al-Moussawi said the convoy was driving on the wrong side of the road in the central Baghdad neighbourhood of Karradah when the shooting occurred. Those arrested included two US guards, along with 21 people from Sri Lanka, the Baghdad military spokesman said.
"We have given orders to our forces to immediately intervene in case they see any violations by security companies.
The members of this security company wounded an innocent woman and they tried to escape the scene, but Iraqi forces arrested them," Brig-Gen Al-Moussawi said.
The role of private security guards has been highlighted following a shooting on September 16 in which Blackwater Worldwide guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians. The FBI is investigating the shootings, although the Iraqi government has concluded that the guards were unprovoked when they began shooting at Nisoor Square in west Baghdad.
The North Carolina-based company, the largest private security firm protecting US diplomats in Iraq, has said its convoy was under attack before it opened fire. The shootings occurred on a day in which at least 22 people were killed or found dead.
ABC News reported yesterday that a US grand jury has opened an investigation into the deaths of the 17 Iraqis.
AP
Get out of East: Pillayan warns TNA
Wednesday, November 21,2007 COLOMBO:
The Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP - Pillayan faction) has warned the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to move out from the East, claiming that the political party had reneged on an “agreement” reached between the two sides prior to Monday’s budget vote in Parliament. A Pillayan spokesman claimed the TNA had agreed either to vote in favour of the budget or abstain, following a meeting between the two sides. But it had subsequently reneged on the agreement and voted against it.The TMVP said TNA MPs representing the east had met Pillayan himself on November 17 and had agreed to abstain from voting.The TMVP said they were asked not to oppose the budget, as it would result in the government ignoring the east.The TMVP said the meeting between the two parties was held in a hotel near Colombo and that Pillayan had headed the TMVP. "Even Pirapaharan attacked other people when he attacked the TMVP. Mahinda Rajapaksa would totally ignore the east if the TNA MPs from the east voted against the budget," the TMVP said. The TMVP said that the TNA MPs, who had agreed on Saturday to abstain, were forced to change their minds due to pressure exerted by the LTTE. "Only Kanagasabai kept his word and we are grateful to him," the TMVP said.However, TNA Batticaloa MP K. Thankeswari said no one from the TNA had attended the said meeting."I never left my house after Friday until Monday. No TNA members attended any meeting on Saturday," she said.Meanwhile informed sources said some TNA Parliamentarians have already shut down their offices in Batticaloa in the face of threats posed by Pillayan.The Pillayan spokesman said the TNA should either go to the Wanni and fight alongside the LTTE and regain control of the East, or cease its activities in the province and leave it to the TMVP outfit to assist the government in its development activities in the area.“This is not a warning but a request to the TNA. It is also not coming from the government but directly from us. We had earlier reached the agreement with the TNA as we felt the government should be assisted in its development work and not obstructed,” the TMVP spokesman said.The Pillayan faction claimed on Monday, that they had reached an "agreement" with the TNA and were awaiting the conclusion of the budget vote to see if the TNA abided by the agreement. The claim came after a relative of a TNA Batticaloa Parliamentarian was reported to have been abducted by the outfit. The TNA complained to the Speaker that its Parliamentarians from the east had been threatened with death by the Pillayan cadres if they voted against Budget in Parliament. The missing relative of the TNA Parliamentarian however resurfaced on Monday nightTNA Party Secretary MP Mavai Senadhirajah had earlier said that Pillayan cadres had threatened the TNA MPs from the Ampara and Batticaloa districts and asked them not to vote against the budget.He also claimed that relatives of those MPs would be abducted if they voted against the budget.Senadhirajah also said that Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara had agreed to take up the issue with President Rajapaksa.
LANKA-INDIA
India seeks fast implementation of devolution package in Lanka
PALLAB BHATTACHARYAKAMPALA (UGANDA), NOV 21 (PTI)
India today asked Sri Lanka to expedite implementation of the package for devolution of powers for Tamils in the island nation to help solve the ethnic conflict there.
This was conveyed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee during his 40-minute meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama here this morning.
The quick operationalisation of the package was necessary so that non-extremist Tamils in Sri Lanka are not alienated and are retained in the mainstream of the island's population, official sources said.
Bogollagama, in turn, said the package prepared by a committee set up by President Mahinda Rajapakse consisting of representatives of almost all political parties is expected to be finalised by the year-end before being implemented.
At the same time, India encouraged Sri Lanka to carry on the dialogue with the LTTE for a solution to the problem within the territorial integrity of the country.
What India wanted to see happening in Sri Lanka was greater devolution of powers to Tamils in that country to retain their linguistic, cultural and ethnic identities, the sources said. (More)
The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister told PTI after the meeting that "we had a very productive meeting during which we discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations."
Replying to a question, he said the political process, including devolution of power, came up for discussion in the meeting with Mukherjee.
Bogollagama said Sri Lanka has entered the "final phase" of the all-party report on the power devolution and it is expected to be firmed up by the year-end.
The Indian side at the meeting said now that the Sri Lankan Parliament has passed the budget without depending on the support of Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP), even the devolution of power package could be given the go-ahead without its help.
PALLAB BHATTACHARYAKAMPALA (UGANDA), NOV 21 (PTI)
India today asked Sri Lanka to expedite implementation of the package for devolution of powers for Tamils in the island nation to help solve the ethnic conflict there.
This was conveyed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee during his 40-minute meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama here this morning.
The quick operationalisation of the package was necessary so that non-extremist Tamils in Sri Lanka are not alienated and are retained in the mainstream of the island's population, official sources said.
Bogollagama, in turn, said the package prepared by a committee set up by President Mahinda Rajapakse consisting of representatives of almost all political parties is expected to be finalised by the year-end before being implemented.
At the same time, India encouraged Sri Lanka to carry on the dialogue with the LTTE for a solution to the problem within the territorial integrity of the country.
What India wanted to see happening in Sri Lanka was greater devolution of powers to Tamils in that country to retain their linguistic, cultural and ethnic identities, the sources said. (More)
The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister told PTI after the meeting that "we had a very productive meeting during which we discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations."
Replying to a question, he said the political process, including devolution of power, came up for discussion in the meeting with Mukherjee.
Bogollagama said Sri Lanka has entered the "final phase" of the all-party report on the power devolution and it is expected to be firmed up by the year-end.
The Indian side at the meeting said now that the Sri Lankan Parliament has passed the budget without depending on the support of Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP), even the devolution of power package could be given the go-ahead without its help.
21 November, 2007 - Published 17:50 GMT
SLA 'threatens' Trinco resettlers
SLA 'threatens' Trinco resettlers
Over 100 resettled civilians in Eachilampathai, Trincomalee district are once again leaving their villages.
The refugees who arrived in Batticaloa say security forces have arrested around 30 villagers recently and they do not feel safe in their villages.
"Security forces one day surrounded us and arrested the young people. We told them that we just resettled after being refugees for a long time but they did not listen," a villager told the BBC.
He said people are afraid to stay in the villages after the incident.
Batticaloa District Secretary, meanwhile, has refused to register the refugees as the government control is currently established in Trincomalee.
Minister in charge of resettlement, Rizath Badiurdheen told BBC Tamil Service that he would discuss the situation with the security forces.
The refugees who arrived in Batticaloa say security forces have arrested around 30 villagers recently and they do not feel safe in their villages.
"Security forces one day surrounded us and arrested the young people. We told them that we just resettled after being refugees for a long time but they did not listen," a villager told the BBC.
He said people are afraid to stay in the villages after the incident.
Batticaloa District Secretary, meanwhile, has refused to register the refugees as the government control is currently established in Trincomalee.
Minister in charge of resettlement, Rizath Badiurdheen told BBC Tamil Service that he would discuss the situation with the security forces.
Outlawed
22 November 2007 09:24:29
Sri Lanka bans Tamil Tiger 'front'-TRO
Nov 22, 2007 (AFP) - Sri Lanka's government is to outlaw a charity believed to be a front organisation for separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, media minister Anura Yapa said Thursday. Ministers met Wednesday and decided to proscribe the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) whose bank accounts were frozen by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka last year, he said.
"The cabinet decided yesterday to ban the TRO and also ask other governments to do the same," Yapa said.
The United States last week froze TRO assets after accusing the charity of providing financial support to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at home.
The US Treasury designated the TRO a group that raises money for the rebels which Washington branded a terrorist organisation from October 1997.
The US embassy here alleged the TRO, which says it is a charity, helped the LTTE buy munitions, equipment, communication devices and other technology in the US.
The Tigers are leading a campaign for independence for the Tamil minority in this majority Sinhalese nation that has left tens of thousands dead since 1972. No date was announced for the ban to come into force but cabinet decisions usually take about a week to be ratified.
"The cabinet decided yesterday to ban the TRO and also ask other governments to do the same," Yapa said.
The United States last week froze TRO assets after accusing the charity of providing financial support to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at home.
The US Treasury designated the TRO a group that raises money for the rebels which Washington branded a terrorist organisation from October 1997.
The US embassy here alleged the TRO, which says it is a charity, helped the LTTE buy munitions, equipment, communication devices and other technology in the US.
The Tigers are leading a campaign for independence for the Tamil minority in this majority Sinhalese nation that has left tens of thousands dead since 1972. No date was announced for the ban to come into force but cabinet decisions usually take about a week to be ratified.
Central Bank expects 6.7% economic growth end of this year
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
The Central Bank announces that the annual economic growth for this year is expected to be 6.7% which has grown by 6.2% during the first half of the year. This growth would be supported by the strong performance in the Telecommunications and the Port Services sub-sectors and recovery in the Agriculture sector.Exports in September have recorded a growth of 19.2%, benefiting particularly from the impressive performance in the agriculture sector, led by exports of tea. The rising international commodity prices have caused the import expenditure also to increase compared with the previous month.
The tight monetary policy measures adopted by the Central bank has helped contain the growth in the money supply, though it still remains above the desired level.
High international commodity prices including petroleum prices have surged the inflation rate to 19.6, an increase of 2.3% compared with the same in September of 17.3%, according to Colombo Consumers’ Price Index. However inflation is expected to moderate when the one-off impact of such increases are diminished.
With the inflow of US dollars 500 million from the debut international sovereign bond issue, both interest rates and exchange rates have now stabilized.
The tight monetary policy measures adopted by the Central bank has helped contain the growth in the money supply, though it still remains above the desired level.
High international commodity prices including petroleum prices have surged the inflation rate to 19.6, an increase of 2.3% compared with the same in September of 17.3%, according to Colombo Consumers’ Price Index. However inflation is expected to moderate when the one-off impact of such increases are diminished.
With the inflow of US dollars 500 million from the debut international sovereign bond issue, both interest rates and exchange rates have now stabilized.
Thu, 22 November 2007 16:45:42
LBO >> Economy
Sri Lanka record money printing revealed
Sri Lanka record money printing revealed
Nov 22, 2007 (LBO) -
Sri Lanka has engaged in an unprecedented money printing and reserve appropriation drive running into 45 billion rupees to bridge a widening budget deficit that sent inflation skyrocketing in 2007, newly released data has revealed. By September 2007 total central bank credit to government (printed money) had risen to a massive 135.7 billion rupees up from just 90.5 billion in April, indicating that the government had taken 45.2 billion rupees from the central bank in just five months.
Up to April the Central Bank was running a tight monetary policy regime which stabilized the economy and brought inflation down.
But from May concerns over interest rate stability overcame inflation and central bank was unable to sterilize excess liquidity from a seasonal demand for cash.
The bank was then forced to finance the government with printed money sending inflation rocketing up and the exchange rate plunging down.
In Sri Lanka due to a flaw in the monetary law that makes the central bank subservient to the Treasury money can be officially printed in two ways; by making the central bank buy treasury bills in the primary auction and by taking printed money in the form of provisional advances.
The government had also devised a third unconventional method of printing money by overdrawing state commercial banks and forcing them to borrow from the discount window of the central bank.
In the first half of the year, the Central Bank all but closed the discount window and stayed away from primary Treasuries auctions.
From January to May consumer prices in Colombo fell from 20.5 percent to 13.7 percent. Country-wide inflation measured by the Sri Lanka Consumer Price Index fell from 17.8 percent in January to 15.8 percent in May.
But with rising money printing, inflation started to rocket up. By June 2007 Central Bank credit to government had topped 100 billion rupees. By August it hit 127.4 billion rupees.
Total credit from the banking system to government had reached 403.2 billion by September from 384.6 billion in August and 275.4 billion a year ago.
This showed that in the 12-months to September the government had borrowed a total 127.8 billion rupees from the banking system.
By October 12-month inflation in Colombo was 19.6 percent. Country-wide inflation in September was 22.1 percent.
On October 24, the government got 56 billion rupees from a 500 million dollar bond sale and suddenly repaid a large volume of short term debt, creating a liquidity shock in the system.
The Central Bank was unable to sterilize it in time, as it kept rejecting bids to short term bill auctions.
While rejecting bids may have saved a few millions to the monetary authority, analysts say similar games with dealers in May cost a population of 20 million dear in terms of high inflation.
Economic analysts have called for either a legislated inflation target of under five percent and full independence for the central bank or the abolition of the bank and the re-establishment of a currency board to protect the national currency.
Since its establishment in 1951 the central bank has debauched the currency from 4.76 rupees to the dollar to 112 rupees now as well as chronic double digit inflation.
Up to April the Central Bank was running a tight monetary policy regime which stabilized the economy and brought inflation down.
But from May concerns over interest rate stability overcame inflation and central bank was unable to sterilize excess liquidity from a seasonal demand for cash.
The bank was then forced to finance the government with printed money sending inflation rocketing up and the exchange rate plunging down.
In Sri Lanka due to a flaw in the monetary law that makes the central bank subservient to the Treasury money can be officially printed in two ways; by making the central bank buy treasury bills in the primary auction and by taking printed money in the form of provisional advances.
The government had also devised a third unconventional method of printing money by overdrawing state commercial banks and forcing them to borrow from the discount window of the central bank.
In the first half of the year, the Central Bank all but closed the discount window and stayed away from primary Treasuries auctions.
From January to May consumer prices in Colombo fell from 20.5 percent to 13.7 percent. Country-wide inflation measured by the Sri Lanka Consumer Price Index fell from 17.8 percent in January to 15.8 percent in May.
But with rising money printing, inflation started to rocket up. By June 2007 Central Bank credit to government had topped 100 billion rupees. By August it hit 127.4 billion rupees.
Total credit from the banking system to government had reached 403.2 billion by September from 384.6 billion in August and 275.4 billion a year ago.
This showed that in the 12-months to September the government had borrowed a total 127.8 billion rupees from the banking system.
By October 12-month inflation in Colombo was 19.6 percent. Country-wide inflation in September was 22.1 percent.
On October 24, the government got 56 billion rupees from a 500 million dollar bond sale and suddenly repaid a large volume of short term debt, creating a liquidity shock in the system.
The Central Bank was unable to sterilize it in time, as it kept rejecting bids to short term bill auctions.
While rejecting bids may have saved a few millions to the monetary authority, analysts say similar games with dealers in May cost a population of 20 million dear in terms of high inflation.
Economic analysts have called for either a legislated inflation target of under five percent and full independence for the central bank or the abolition of the bank and the re-establishment of a currency board to protect the national currency.
Since its establishment in 1951 the central bank has debauched the currency from 4.76 rupees to the dollar to 112 rupees now as well as chronic double digit inflation.
EU Warns Kosovo on Independence
PRISTINA, Nov 19--
The European Union on Monday urged Kosovo leader Hashim Thaci, who claimed victory in weekend elections in Pristina, to refrain from unilaterally declaring independence.
"We are trying to convince the Kosovans not to proceed with a declaration of independence without the support of the international community," said Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.
"With the elections, Thaci, who had a great influence during the war and now in peace time, knows what the score is and that a unilateral declaration of independence would be a very bad thing," Asselbaorn said.
Thaci claimed victory Sunday in Kosovo's elections, and declared that voters had sent the world a message that Kosovo was now ready for independence.
"I see that Thaci made some brave declarations," said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, as he arrived for talks between EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
"We understand that, but what Thaci must understand is that there is a difference between being a politician in the opposition and being a prime minister," he told reporters.
While acknowledging that Kosovo was "de facto independent from Serbia" he warned against making it "independent from the international community".
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said formal independence for Kosovo would require proper preparation.
In the election campaign, Thaci of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) promised ethnic Albanians, who comprise 90 percent of Kosovo's two million population, that he would "immediately" move to declare independence if elected.
Serbia is strongly opposed to any form of independence and is only prepared to offer broad autonomy for Kosovo, a southern territory it regards as the cradle of its history, culture and religion.
Unofficial results, compiled by independent poll observer Democracy In Action after around 80 percent of votes had been counted, indicated that Thaci had secured 34 percent of the vote, well ahead of his nearest rival.
Saturday's elections were boycotted by Kosovar Serbs and were marred by a low turnout with only 43 percent of 1.5 million voters casting their ballots.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since NATO's 1999 air war ended a months-long conflict that killed an estimated 10,000 Albanians and displaced hundreds of thousands.
"We are trying to convince the Kosovans not to proceed with a declaration of independence without the support of the international community," said Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.
"With the elections, Thaci, who had a great influence during the war and now in peace time, knows what the score is and that a unilateral declaration of independence would be a very bad thing," Asselbaorn said.
Thaci claimed victory Sunday in Kosovo's elections, and declared that voters had sent the world a message that Kosovo was now ready for independence.
"I see that Thaci made some brave declarations," said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, as he arrived for talks between EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
"We understand that, but what Thaci must understand is that there is a difference between being a politician in the opposition and being a prime minister," he told reporters.
While acknowledging that Kosovo was "de facto independent from Serbia" he warned against making it "independent from the international community".
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said formal independence for Kosovo would require proper preparation.
In the election campaign, Thaci of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) promised ethnic Albanians, who comprise 90 percent of Kosovo's two million population, that he would "immediately" move to declare independence if elected.
Serbia is strongly opposed to any form of independence and is only prepared to offer broad autonomy for Kosovo, a southern territory it regards as the cradle of its history, culture and religion.
Unofficial results, compiled by independent poll observer Democracy In Action after around 80 percent of votes had been counted, indicated that Thaci had secured 34 percent of the vote, well ahead of his nearest rival.
Saturday's elections were boycotted by Kosovar Serbs and were marred by a low turnout with only 43 percent of 1.5 million voters casting their ballots.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since NATO's 1999 air war ended a months-long conflict that killed an estimated 10,000 Albanians and displaced hundreds of thousands.
The EU is bullying the world's poor to rush into a dubious deal on trade
Millions of jobs and thousands of companies in the developing world are under threat for the quick fix the WTO wants
Madeleine BuntingMonday November 19, 2007The Guardian
Gordon Brown's commitment to Africa has been one of the most consistent themes of his political career, and as he arrives in Kampala, Uganda, at the end of this week for the Commonwealth summit, he might reasonably expect plenty of appreciation and warmth. Instead, what he's likely to face is some intense presidential lobbying that will range from the privately furious to the deeply anxious. What threatens to ambush Brown at the ceremonials is a trade deal with the European Union that has come seriously unstuck. In the next few days the pressure will be on Peter Mandelson, the European trade commissioner, to convince trade ministers he can extricate the EU from a very tight corner and what could be a public relations disaster.
At stake are the millions of jobs and thousands of companies in 76 of the poorest countries in the world that depend on exports to the EU. Kenya's horticultural industry, for instance, which lands beans on your plate and carnations on your dinner table. It's a sector worth $700m in foreign exchange to Kenya, but come January, Kenya could face a 10% to 20% hike in tariffs on all its exports to the EU, and that could be sufficient to bankrupt some of its most successful export companies, carefully nurtured through aid programmes - including those of the UK. It could be a story replicated across the globe from Lesotho to Namibia, from Papua New Guinea to the Pacific island of Vanuatu, from the Caribbean to Mozambique. The commission would stand accused of slamming the first tariff increase in more than 40 years on some of the least developed countries in the world.This would hardly make for flattering headlines. The EU likes to claim credentials for promoting development, and it would wake up to a nasty new year hangover as the villain of the piece. The tempo of negotiations to avoid this is becoming increasingly fraught as EU trade negotiators bully and cajole their counterparts in developing countries. The EU insists it has just six weeks to stitch together hugely complex trade deals; developing countries are furious that they are being rushed into agreements that will have far-reaching consequences for their economies.
So how did this pickle come about? How does trade policy end up being made on the hoof like this? Cast your mind back to 2005, and the talk during that year was that trade was as crucial as aid and debt relief to the long-term development of poor countries. The UK's Department for International Development made "fighting poverty through trade" part of its mission statement. But trade proved the failure of 2005, the Doha round of the World Trade Organisation talks ended in stalemate. The fallout of that failure to reform key rules of the WTO is now being felt, as the EU presses on to implement what many argue shouldn't still be in the WTO rulebook.
The basis of the present mess is that 76 former colonies of European countries have for more than 40 years benefited from a system of preferential, lower tariffs on their exports to the EU: it was a small gesture of colonial guilt. By the mid-1990s, other developing countries which didn't have access to the system challenged it, and the WTO ruled it as discriminatory. The hunt was launched to replace it with a system that still benefited these former colonies but wasn't going to land the EU in breach of WTO rules. The WTO gave the EU until December 2007 to sort it out. Without a deal, these countries would be subject to tariffs on their exports.
Fair enough, but the sting was that the new system - Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) - had to meet the WTO requirement for reciprocity: what had started out as the EU doing some poor countries a favour became a trade deal in which the EU was given duty-free access to the markets of developing countries. In return for its generosity, the EU would get a handsome dose of trade liberalisation.
Needless to say this agenda, which has been energetically pursued by the EU's small army of trade negotiators, has made plenty of developing countries very jumpy - and has made campaigning groups extremely suspicious. They fear that this is an instance of how the old trade liberalisation agenda that achieved notoriety in Seattle in 1999 is reappearing through the back door; the US and the EU are skirting the much higher profile negotiations in the WTO to use bilateral negotiations that barely surface on the media radar in order to achieve the same objectives - market access for their companies
For the developing countries herded into six regional negotiating blocs, the EPAs have become a nightmare. They have a Damoclean sword hanging over their heads in the form of the December deadline, with all the economic disruption and chaos that would entail, but they also have deep anxieties about what they're being rushed into agreeing.
There are three big concerns on EPAs. First, every developed country has used tariff protection in its history to develop industry, but EPAs restrict that capability and could unleash a surge in European imports that could wipe out fledgling industries such as Kenya's dairy sector, as well as undercut prices of agricultural products. Second, governments themselves stand to lose a major chunk of their revenue that comes from tariffs; for instance, Zambia would lose $15.8m - the equivalent of its annual HIV/Aids budget. EU assurances that there would be aid to compensate only underline how this would increase dependency on aid. Third, the most complex and most important issue of all is how EPAs will affect regional trade. If you can get cheap widgets from the EU, why bother importing from your neighbour in Africa or the Pacific? UN studies have indicated that EPAs could lead to contraction in exactly those low and medium technology industries that are the basis for successful industrialisation.
The stakes are too big to rush into this, insist a growing chorus of voices in the developing world that are demanding to know why exactly this is the one WTO deadline the EU is insisting must be met. There are plenty of ways to postpone the deadline, but having snarled up the negotiations in unnecessary complications, the commission is now using the deadline as "a battering ram", as one of those involved put it. There are plenty of rumours of heavy lobbying of individual governments - "We just talked to them as a friend of what was in their best interests," said one official of recent discussions with Ghana, hotly denying any suggestion that this amounted to lobbying. And there have been squeals of outrage from the Pacific, where a commission email seemed to tie future promises of aid explicitly to getting an EPA signed.
It sounds grim. One of the biggest economic trading blocs in the world, on which the fortunes of many of these 76 countries are entirely dependent through both aid and trade, and here it is behaving like a bully-boy in the playground. But its bad behaviour is all behind closed doors; the arm-twisting is behind the bike shed, to play out the metaphor. International trade is such a complex subject and public attention so fleeting and rare that the EU is gambling on getting away with it.
Millions of jobs and thousands of companies in the developing world are under threat for the quick fix the WTO wants
Madeleine BuntingMonday November 19, 2007The Guardian
Gordon Brown's commitment to Africa has been one of the most consistent themes of his political career, and as he arrives in Kampala, Uganda, at the end of this week for the Commonwealth summit, he might reasonably expect plenty of appreciation and warmth. Instead, what he's likely to face is some intense presidential lobbying that will range from the privately furious to the deeply anxious. What threatens to ambush Brown at the ceremonials is a trade deal with the European Union that has come seriously unstuck. In the next few days the pressure will be on Peter Mandelson, the European trade commissioner, to convince trade ministers he can extricate the EU from a very tight corner and what could be a public relations disaster.
At stake are the millions of jobs and thousands of companies in 76 of the poorest countries in the world that depend on exports to the EU. Kenya's horticultural industry, for instance, which lands beans on your plate and carnations on your dinner table. It's a sector worth $700m in foreign exchange to Kenya, but come January, Kenya could face a 10% to 20% hike in tariffs on all its exports to the EU, and that could be sufficient to bankrupt some of its most successful export companies, carefully nurtured through aid programmes - including those of the UK. It could be a story replicated across the globe from Lesotho to Namibia, from Papua New Guinea to the Pacific island of Vanuatu, from the Caribbean to Mozambique. The commission would stand accused of slamming the first tariff increase in more than 40 years on some of the least developed countries in the world.This would hardly make for flattering headlines. The EU likes to claim credentials for promoting development, and it would wake up to a nasty new year hangover as the villain of the piece. The tempo of negotiations to avoid this is becoming increasingly fraught as EU trade negotiators bully and cajole their counterparts in developing countries. The EU insists it has just six weeks to stitch together hugely complex trade deals; developing countries are furious that they are being rushed into agreements that will have far-reaching consequences for their economies.
So how did this pickle come about? How does trade policy end up being made on the hoof like this? Cast your mind back to 2005, and the talk during that year was that trade was as crucial as aid and debt relief to the long-term development of poor countries. The UK's Department for International Development made "fighting poverty through trade" part of its mission statement. But trade proved the failure of 2005, the Doha round of the World Trade Organisation talks ended in stalemate. The fallout of that failure to reform key rules of the WTO is now being felt, as the EU presses on to implement what many argue shouldn't still be in the WTO rulebook.
The basis of the present mess is that 76 former colonies of European countries have for more than 40 years benefited from a system of preferential, lower tariffs on their exports to the EU: it was a small gesture of colonial guilt. By the mid-1990s, other developing countries which didn't have access to the system challenged it, and the WTO ruled it as discriminatory. The hunt was launched to replace it with a system that still benefited these former colonies but wasn't going to land the EU in breach of WTO rules. The WTO gave the EU until December 2007 to sort it out. Without a deal, these countries would be subject to tariffs on their exports.
Fair enough, but the sting was that the new system - Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) - had to meet the WTO requirement for reciprocity: what had started out as the EU doing some poor countries a favour became a trade deal in which the EU was given duty-free access to the markets of developing countries. In return for its generosity, the EU would get a handsome dose of trade liberalisation.
Needless to say this agenda, which has been energetically pursued by the EU's small army of trade negotiators, has made plenty of developing countries very jumpy - and has made campaigning groups extremely suspicious. They fear that this is an instance of how the old trade liberalisation agenda that achieved notoriety in Seattle in 1999 is reappearing through the back door; the US and the EU are skirting the much higher profile negotiations in the WTO to use bilateral negotiations that barely surface on the media radar in order to achieve the same objectives - market access for their companies
For the developing countries herded into six regional negotiating blocs, the EPAs have become a nightmare. They have a Damoclean sword hanging over their heads in the form of the December deadline, with all the economic disruption and chaos that would entail, but they also have deep anxieties about what they're being rushed into agreeing.
There are three big concerns on EPAs. First, every developed country has used tariff protection in its history to develop industry, but EPAs restrict that capability and could unleash a surge in European imports that could wipe out fledgling industries such as Kenya's dairy sector, as well as undercut prices of agricultural products. Second, governments themselves stand to lose a major chunk of their revenue that comes from tariffs; for instance, Zambia would lose $15.8m - the equivalent of its annual HIV/Aids budget. EU assurances that there would be aid to compensate only underline how this would increase dependency on aid. Third, the most complex and most important issue of all is how EPAs will affect regional trade. If you can get cheap widgets from the EU, why bother importing from your neighbour in Africa or the Pacific? UN studies have indicated that EPAs could lead to contraction in exactly those low and medium technology industries that are the basis for successful industrialisation.
The stakes are too big to rush into this, insist a growing chorus of voices in the developing world that are demanding to know why exactly this is the one WTO deadline the EU is insisting must be met. There are plenty of ways to postpone the deadline, but having snarled up the negotiations in unnecessary complications, the commission is now using the deadline as "a battering ram", as one of those involved put it. There are plenty of rumours of heavy lobbying of individual governments - "We just talked to them as a friend of what was in their best interests," said one official of recent discussions with Ghana, hotly denying any suggestion that this amounted to lobbying. And there have been squeals of outrage from the Pacific, where a commission email seemed to tie future promises of aid explicitly to getting an EPA signed.
It sounds grim. One of the biggest economic trading blocs in the world, on which the fortunes of many of these 76 countries are entirely dependent through both aid and trade, and here it is behaving like a bully-boy in the playground. But its bad behaviour is all behind closed doors; the arm-twisting is behind the bike shed, to play out the metaphor. International trade is such a complex subject and public attention so fleeting and rare that the EU is gambling on getting away with it.
EU ministers try to head off Kosovo breakaway
Mark Tran and agenciesMonday November 19, 2007Guardian Unlimited
EU foreign ministers today cautioned the winners of Kosovo's election against a unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia.The former guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci, who is expected to become prime minister of the breakaway province, said parliament would declare independence after the December 10 deadline for international mediation efforts, which have gone nowhere.
With 90% of the votes counted, independent election monitors said Thaci's Democratic Party (PDK) had come first with 34%, ahead of the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
Thaci is determined to push for independence, but even Kosovo's strongest backers are urging him not to rush matters, amid fears that it could trigger further instability in the Balkans."Kosovo should have her independence, (but) it shouldn't be an unmanaged unilateral declaration. It should be one that is coordinated with the international community," Britain's minister for Europe, Jim Murphy, told reporters in Brussels.
Britain, along with the US, backs independence for Kosovo, but acknowledges that it would be better if such a move had the UN's approval. The EU is split on the issue, with Spain and Greece the most hesitant to back a unilateral declaration because of their own separatist problems.
The Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt, urged Thaci not to stoke tensions in the ethnically divided province and warned that any hasty moves could lead to isolation.
"Mr Thaci has to understand there is a difference between being a politician in opposition and a responsible prime minister," said Bildt. "I don't think they (Kosovars) want to be independent from the international community."
The Austrian foreign minister, Ursula Plassnik, said Thaci's call was not a surprise, but she urged Kosovo Albanians and Serbs not to exacerbate the already growing tensions between the two sides.
"The EU has asked all parties in this climate to behave carefully. That applies to both Belgrade and Pristina," she said.
Kosovo has been a virtual UN protectorate since 1999, when a Nato air campaign drove out Serbian troops after Kosovo guerrillas took up arms to end a decade of repression under the late Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic.
Kosovo Albanians, who form 90% of the population, are increasingly disenchanted by the heavy presence of international bureaucrats and Nato forces and want independence from Belgrade.
High unemployment and regular power outages are fuelling discontent.
A mass boycott of Saturday's parliamentary elections by Kosovo Serbs - in protest at the wide support for independence among Kosovo Albanian politicians - underlined the deep divisions in the province.
A moderate Serb leader in Kosovo, Oliver Ivanovic, said Belgrade's call for a boycott was a mistake that will make things worse for the beleaguered minority in the north.
"Who will now take care of the Serb interests?" Ivanovic asked. "What do these [Serb] people have to hope for?"
Belgrade, for its part, is warning that independence for Kosovo would mark the first stage of further disintegration of the Balkans, starting with Kosovo itself, as the Serbs in the north break away to join Serbia proper, followed by a similar move by the Bosnian Serb republic in Bosnia.
Kosovo is looming to be a major foreign policy headache for the EU, which is anxious to avoid a repeat of the dilemma it faced in the 1990s, when internal splits over how to deal with the Balkan wars showed its ineffectiveness in forging an effective foreign policy.
"This is a European challenge. It is not one we can ask the United States to solve for us," Murphy said.
Communists set to gain from Putin's squeeze on democrats
Restrictive new electoral rules could mean only two parties in the new Duma
Luke Harding in KorolyovMonday November 19, 2007The Guardian - UK
Gennady Zyuganov grinned at his wrinkled audience as a voice boomed out: "Comrades, let us salute the heroes of the revolution!" A procession of rather ancient men shuffled forward. Zyuganov gave them each a medal.One 94-year-old hero - born under the tsar - had problems mounting the wooden stairs of the theatre where the election rally was being held. Zygunov bounded down from the stage. "Ninety-four," he exclaimed, pinning on a medal for long service. "Amazing," he said.
Ninety years after the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia, Russia's Communist party is still alive and well, if rather long in the tooth.Lenin may have been dead for 83 years, the Soviet Union may have disappeared, and the prospects for world revolution look dim. But as Russia prepares for a parliamentary election next month, the Communists are enjoying a revival.
Opinion polls suggest the party will finish second in the December 2 poll with 15% of the vote - behind President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. With Russia's liberal opposition in a state of disarray, the Communists are the last democratic force left. Even Lenin might have appreciated the irony.
Zyuganov, the party's long-standing leader, was campaigning in the grim concrete town of Korolyov, 15 miles outside Moscow. It was once famous for its cosmonauts. Now, though, its engineers and rocket designers are among capitalist Russia's many losers.
Speaking beneath a faded Soviet era stucco ceiling, Zyuganov said that the Communists were the only party in Russia to care about social justice. "If all of Russia's resources were divided fairly you'd have $160,000 [£80,000] each," he told his supporters.
Instead pensioners survive on just barely 3,000 roubles (£60) a month. "When Putin came to power there were seven oligarchs. Now there are 61", he said. It wasn't Stalin's fault that Hitler invaded Russia, he added, in response to a note passed from the floor.
Zyuganov told a Roman Abramovich joke. Roman arrives in heaven only to find his way blocked by St Paul. St Paul asks Abramovich: "Do you own Chelsea, five yachts, and a 5km stretch of beach in the south of France?" Abramovich replies: "Yes". St Paul replies: "I'm not sure you're going to like it in here."
Zyuganov's message is a seductive one for the vast majority of Russia's 142 million inhabitants - and, in particular, its 38 million pensioners. They have failed to benefit from the country's enormous oil wealth, he says, while a kleptocratic Kremlin clique has grown prodigiously rich.
"We are the only party stopping Russia from descending into full-blown corruption," he told the Guardian. Is Russia a democracy? "Not really," he admitted.
Russia's Communists still enjoy widespread support despite serial attempts by Kremlin technologists to kill them off. The 90th anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution this month drew some 20,000 on to the streets of Moscow. Steered away from Red Square they ended up outside Moscow's new £500 a night Ritz-Carlton hotel, where young Communist pioneers danced and waved red pom-poms while men in cloth caps sang patriotic songs with the eyebrow-raising words: "For motherland and for Stalin."
"Life was much better under communism," Pavel Kotov, 16, said. How would he know? '"My parents are both Communists. I started to support them two years ago".
Other protesters said they were fed up with bureaucratic corruption, which had grown rampant under Putin. "Some aspects of life are better. But in many ways we're worse off. You can travel abroad now but only 10-15% of the population has enough money to do so," said Oleg Nevsky a retired physicist.
Some were angry. "Putin is worse than Hitler," one man said, waving a homemade banner showing Russia's leader disappearing down a toilet. "Eight million men have died," - a reference to Russia's spectacular population decline under Putin, especially among Russian men, who on average are dead by 58. "Russia now has 9,000 villages where there are only old ladies."
United Russia already dominates Russia's sycophantic State Duma. But early last month Putin announced he was putting his name at the top of the United Russia party list, a move that boosted its poll ratings from 47% to 56%.
Under Russia's constitution, Putin is obliged to step down as president next May. But most observers believe he will carry on in power, either as prime minister, president or in a new role.
New electoral rules raising the threshold for getting into parliament from 5% to 7% will make it hard for any opposition party to win seats.
This means that the party that once believed in proletarian dictatorship is now Russia's last democratic option - and the only thing preventing the country from becoming a one-party state. The Communists and United Russia could well be the only two parties in the new Duma, analysts say.
"The others have been excluded from the parliamentary sphere. The Communists will be the only oppositional force. This means voters who want to retain opposition in any form have to vote for the Communists," said Leonid Sedov, of the Levada Centre.
Sedov said that after seven years of Putin most Russians no longer believed their country was a democracy. They also felt the Kremlin would probably tweak the election result. "I think at the stage of counting the vote it will be done somehow by giving fake details of turnout," he predicted.
He added: "I don't think the Kremlin cares very much about its image in the west any more."
Zyuganov, who nearly beat Boris Yeltsin in Russia's 1996 presidential election, is accused by some of secretly conspiring with the Kremlin. In 2004 he mysteriously dropped plans to run against Putin. Zyuganov rejects such claims as smear stories.
"There are no completely independent actors in Russian politics," said Grigorii V Golosov, a professor in the faculty of political sciences and sociology at St Petersburg's European University. "But I would still say that the Communists are relatively autonomous among Russia's not completely autonomous political parties."
At the theatre Tatiana Viktorovana, an engineer, said she was impressed by Zyuganov. She thought he was a strong leader. "Putin doesn't think about the needs of ordinary people. Zyuganov does".
The State Duma
Russia's December 2 elections may well return only two parties to parliament - Putin's United Russia and Zyuganov's Communist party - thanks to new electoral rules that penalise small blocs. The Kremlin raised the threshold for getting into the State Duma from 5% to 7%, meaning that western-orientated reform parties like Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces are unlikely to muster the necessary votes to get in. The Kremlin has also abolished first-past-the-post constituencies, meaning independents will lose their seats, and only 11 out of 85 parties have been allowed to register.
EU foreign ministers today cautioned the winners of Kosovo's election against a unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia.The former guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci, who is expected to become prime minister of the breakaway province, said parliament would declare independence after the December 10 deadline for international mediation efforts, which have gone nowhere.
With 90% of the votes counted, independent election monitors said Thaci's Democratic Party (PDK) had come first with 34%, ahead of the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
Thaci is determined to push for independence, but even Kosovo's strongest backers are urging him not to rush matters, amid fears that it could trigger further instability in the Balkans."Kosovo should have her independence, (but) it shouldn't be an unmanaged unilateral declaration. It should be one that is coordinated with the international community," Britain's minister for Europe, Jim Murphy, told reporters in Brussels.
Britain, along with the US, backs independence for Kosovo, but acknowledges that it would be better if such a move had the UN's approval. The EU is split on the issue, with Spain and Greece the most hesitant to back a unilateral declaration because of their own separatist problems.
The Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt, urged Thaci not to stoke tensions in the ethnically divided province and warned that any hasty moves could lead to isolation.
"Mr Thaci has to understand there is a difference between being a politician in opposition and a responsible prime minister," said Bildt. "I don't think they (Kosovars) want to be independent from the international community."
The Austrian foreign minister, Ursula Plassnik, said Thaci's call was not a surprise, but she urged Kosovo Albanians and Serbs not to exacerbate the already growing tensions between the two sides.
"The EU has asked all parties in this climate to behave carefully. That applies to both Belgrade and Pristina," she said.
Kosovo has been a virtual UN protectorate since 1999, when a Nato air campaign drove out Serbian troops after Kosovo guerrillas took up arms to end a decade of repression under the late Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic.
Kosovo Albanians, who form 90% of the population, are increasingly disenchanted by the heavy presence of international bureaucrats and Nato forces and want independence from Belgrade.
High unemployment and regular power outages are fuelling discontent.
A mass boycott of Saturday's parliamentary elections by Kosovo Serbs - in protest at the wide support for independence among Kosovo Albanian politicians - underlined the deep divisions in the province.
A moderate Serb leader in Kosovo, Oliver Ivanovic, said Belgrade's call for a boycott was a mistake that will make things worse for the beleaguered minority in the north.
"Who will now take care of the Serb interests?" Ivanovic asked. "What do these [Serb] people have to hope for?"
Belgrade, for its part, is warning that independence for Kosovo would mark the first stage of further disintegration of the Balkans, starting with Kosovo itself, as the Serbs in the north break away to join Serbia proper, followed by a similar move by the Bosnian Serb republic in Bosnia.
Kosovo is looming to be a major foreign policy headache for the EU, which is anxious to avoid a repeat of the dilemma it faced in the 1990s, when internal splits over how to deal with the Balkan wars showed its ineffectiveness in forging an effective foreign policy.
"This is a European challenge. It is not one we can ask the United States to solve for us," Murphy said.
Communists set to gain from Putin's squeeze on democrats
Restrictive new electoral rules could mean only two parties in the new Duma
Luke Harding in KorolyovMonday November 19, 2007The Guardian - UK
Gennady Zyuganov grinned at his wrinkled audience as a voice boomed out: "Comrades, let us salute the heroes of the revolution!" A procession of rather ancient men shuffled forward. Zyuganov gave them each a medal.One 94-year-old hero - born under the tsar - had problems mounting the wooden stairs of the theatre where the election rally was being held. Zygunov bounded down from the stage. "Ninety-four," he exclaimed, pinning on a medal for long service. "Amazing," he said.
Ninety years after the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia, Russia's Communist party is still alive and well, if rather long in the tooth.Lenin may have been dead for 83 years, the Soviet Union may have disappeared, and the prospects for world revolution look dim. But as Russia prepares for a parliamentary election next month, the Communists are enjoying a revival.
Opinion polls suggest the party will finish second in the December 2 poll with 15% of the vote - behind President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. With Russia's liberal opposition in a state of disarray, the Communists are the last democratic force left. Even Lenin might have appreciated the irony.
Zyuganov, the party's long-standing leader, was campaigning in the grim concrete town of Korolyov, 15 miles outside Moscow. It was once famous for its cosmonauts. Now, though, its engineers and rocket designers are among capitalist Russia's many losers.
Speaking beneath a faded Soviet era stucco ceiling, Zyuganov said that the Communists were the only party in Russia to care about social justice. "If all of Russia's resources were divided fairly you'd have $160,000 [£80,000] each," he told his supporters.
Instead pensioners survive on just barely 3,000 roubles (£60) a month. "When Putin came to power there were seven oligarchs. Now there are 61", he said. It wasn't Stalin's fault that Hitler invaded Russia, he added, in response to a note passed from the floor.
Zyuganov told a Roman Abramovich joke. Roman arrives in heaven only to find his way blocked by St Paul. St Paul asks Abramovich: "Do you own Chelsea, five yachts, and a 5km stretch of beach in the south of France?" Abramovich replies: "Yes". St Paul replies: "I'm not sure you're going to like it in here."
Zyuganov's message is a seductive one for the vast majority of Russia's 142 million inhabitants - and, in particular, its 38 million pensioners. They have failed to benefit from the country's enormous oil wealth, he says, while a kleptocratic Kremlin clique has grown prodigiously rich.
"We are the only party stopping Russia from descending into full-blown corruption," he told the Guardian. Is Russia a democracy? "Not really," he admitted.
Russia's Communists still enjoy widespread support despite serial attempts by Kremlin technologists to kill them off. The 90th anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution this month drew some 20,000 on to the streets of Moscow. Steered away from Red Square they ended up outside Moscow's new £500 a night Ritz-Carlton hotel, where young Communist pioneers danced and waved red pom-poms while men in cloth caps sang patriotic songs with the eyebrow-raising words: "For motherland and for Stalin."
"Life was much better under communism," Pavel Kotov, 16, said. How would he know? '"My parents are both Communists. I started to support them two years ago".
Other protesters said they were fed up with bureaucratic corruption, which had grown rampant under Putin. "Some aspects of life are better. But in many ways we're worse off. You can travel abroad now but only 10-15% of the population has enough money to do so," said Oleg Nevsky a retired physicist.
Some were angry. "Putin is worse than Hitler," one man said, waving a homemade banner showing Russia's leader disappearing down a toilet. "Eight million men have died," - a reference to Russia's spectacular population decline under Putin, especially among Russian men, who on average are dead by 58. "Russia now has 9,000 villages where there are only old ladies."
United Russia already dominates Russia's sycophantic State Duma. But early last month Putin announced he was putting his name at the top of the United Russia party list, a move that boosted its poll ratings from 47% to 56%.
Under Russia's constitution, Putin is obliged to step down as president next May. But most observers believe he will carry on in power, either as prime minister, president or in a new role.
New electoral rules raising the threshold for getting into parliament from 5% to 7% will make it hard for any opposition party to win seats.
This means that the party that once believed in proletarian dictatorship is now Russia's last democratic option - and the only thing preventing the country from becoming a one-party state. The Communists and United Russia could well be the only two parties in the new Duma, analysts say.
"The others have been excluded from the parliamentary sphere. The Communists will be the only oppositional force. This means voters who want to retain opposition in any form have to vote for the Communists," said Leonid Sedov, of the Levada Centre.
Sedov said that after seven years of Putin most Russians no longer believed their country was a democracy. They also felt the Kremlin would probably tweak the election result. "I think at the stage of counting the vote it will be done somehow by giving fake details of turnout," he predicted.
He added: "I don't think the Kremlin cares very much about its image in the west any more."
Zyuganov, who nearly beat Boris Yeltsin in Russia's 1996 presidential election, is accused by some of secretly conspiring with the Kremlin. In 2004 he mysteriously dropped plans to run against Putin. Zyuganov rejects such claims as smear stories.
"There are no completely independent actors in Russian politics," said Grigorii V Golosov, a professor in the faculty of political sciences and sociology at St Petersburg's European University. "But I would still say that the Communists are relatively autonomous among Russia's not completely autonomous political parties."
At the theatre Tatiana Viktorovana, an engineer, said she was impressed by Zyuganov. She thought he was a strong leader. "Putin doesn't think about the needs of ordinary people. Zyuganov does".
The State Duma
Russia's December 2 elections may well return only two parties to parliament - Putin's United Russia and Zyuganov's Communist party - thanks to new electoral rules that penalise small blocs. The Kremlin raised the threshold for getting into the State Duma from 5% to 7%, meaning that western-orientated reform parties like Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces are unlikely to muster the necessary votes to get in. The Kremlin has also abolished first-past-the-post constituencies, meaning independents will lose their seats, and only 11 out of 85 parties have been allowed to register.
63 killed in Ukraine mine blast
By SERGEI CHUZAVKOV, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 13 minutes ago
A methane blast ripped through a coal mine in eastern Ukraine early Sunday, killing at least 63 miners in the ex-Soviet nation's worst mining accident in years, emergency officials said.
More than 360 miners were rescued but 37 others remained trapped inside the mine — one of Ukraine's largest and deepest — with a raging fire hampering efforts to save them, officials said.
The explosion occurred around 3 a.m. more than 3,300 feet deep inside the Zasyadko mine in the regional capital Donetsk, the heart of the country's coal mining industry, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.
Authorities evacuated 367 miners. Twenty-eight were hospitalized, the ministry said.
Vitaliy Kvitkovsky, a miner in his thirties, was among those evacuated. He said he had to walk over the bodies of his dead colleagues in order to climb to the surface.
"The temperature increased sharply and there was so much dust that I couldn't see anything," Kvitkovsky said in footage broadcast on Ukraine's Channel 5 television. "So I was moving by touch over dead bodies along the rail track."
The accident — the worst in Ukraine in seven years — highlighted the lack of attention to safety in a country with some of the world's most dangerous mines.
President Viktor Yushchenko blamed his Cabinet for not doing enough to reform coal mining and ordered an official panel to investigate the accident and bring those responsible to account.
Local authorities declared three days of mourning for the dead miners.
Dozens of teary-eyed relatives gathered at the mine's headquarters in Donetsk waiting for news on their loved ones. As grim-faced officials emerged to announce the names of the workers found dead, the relatives broke into sobs and cries, some fainted.
Natalia Piskun, a middle-aged woman, who waited for news on her husband believed trapped inside the mine, said she would never forgive the mine's director, if her husband was found killed.
"If, God forbid, he is lost, I promise I will, if I manage, I will bite this fat beast on his leg! I promise, I swear to you," Piskun, her face distorted by anger and pain, told AP Television News.
It was the deadliest mine accident in Ukraine since an explosion at the Barakova mine in the eastern Luhansk region killed 81 miners in March 2000.
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, a native of the mining region, visited the site about 450 miles southeast of Kiev, pledging to help victims' families.
Yanukovych said a safety watchdog had reported that miners were working in accordance with norms. "This accident has proven once again that a human is powerless before the nature," he said.
Experts say Ukraine's mines are dangerous largely because they are so deep, typically running more than 3,280 feet underground. In comparison, most European coal beds lie at a depth of 1,640 to 1,970 feet.
Methane is a natural byproduct of mining, and its concentration increases with depth. More than 75 percent of Ukraine's some 200 coal mines are classified as dangerous due to high methane concentrations.
Mines must be ventilated to prevent explosions, but some rely on outdated ventilation equipment, officials said. Safety violations and negligence add to the problem.
Last year, a blast at the mine killed 13 workers. In 2002, an explosion killed 20 and 54 died in a similar explosion in 2001. In May 1999, 50 miners were killed in a methane and coal dust blast there.
Since the 1991 Soviet collapse, more than 4,700 miners in Ukraine have been killed. For every 1 million tons of coal brought to the surface in Ukraine, three miners lose their lives, according to official data.
Despite the dangers, there is growing appetite for Ukraine's rich coal reserves, particularly amid rising natural gas prices. The government has called for production to be increased by a third to 80 million tons this year.
A methane blast ripped through a coal mine in eastern Ukraine early Sunday, killing at least 63 miners in the ex-Soviet nation's worst mining accident in years, emergency officials said.
More than 360 miners were rescued but 37 others remained trapped inside the mine — one of Ukraine's largest and deepest — with a raging fire hampering efforts to save them, officials said.
The explosion occurred around 3 a.m. more than 3,300 feet deep inside the Zasyadko mine in the regional capital Donetsk, the heart of the country's coal mining industry, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.
Authorities evacuated 367 miners. Twenty-eight were hospitalized, the ministry said.
Vitaliy Kvitkovsky, a miner in his thirties, was among those evacuated. He said he had to walk over the bodies of his dead colleagues in order to climb to the surface.
"The temperature increased sharply and there was so much dust that I couldn't see anything," Kvitkovsky said in footage broadcast on Ukraine's Channel 5 television. "So I was moving by touch over dead bodies along the rail track."
The accident — the worst in Ukraine in seven years — highlighted the lack of attention to safety in a country with some of the world's most dangerous mines.
President Viktor Yushchenko blamed his Cabinet for not doing enough to reform coal mining and ordered an official panel to investigate the accident and bring those responsible to account.
Local authorities declared three days of mourning for the dead miners.
Dozens of teary-eyed relatives gathered at the mine's headquarters in Donetsk waiting for news on their loved ones. As grim-faced officials emerged to announce the names of the workers found dead, the relatives broke into sobs and cries, some fainted.
Natalia Piskun, a middle-aged woman, who waited for news on her husband believed trapped inside the mine, said she would never forgive the mine's director, if her husband was found killed.
"If, God forbid, he is lost, I promise I will, if I manage, I will bite this fat beast on his leg! I promise, I swear to you," Piskun, her face distorted by anger and pain, told AP Television News.
It was the deadliest mine accident in Ukraine since an explosion at the Barakova mine in the eastern Luhansk region killed 81 miners in March 2000.
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, a native of the mining region, visited the site about 450 miles southeast of Kiev, pledging to help victims' families.
Yanukovych said a safety watchdog had reported that miners were working in accordance with norms. "This accident has proven once again that a human is powerless before the nature," he said.
Experts say Ukraine's mines are dangerous largely because they are so deep, typically running more than 3,280 feet underground. In comparison, most European coal beds lie at a depth of 1,640 to 1,970 feet.
Methane is a natural byproduct of mining, and its concentration increases with depth. More than 75 percent of Ukraine's some 200 coal mines are classified as dangerous due to high methane concentrations.
Mines must be ventilated to prevent explosions, but some rely on outdated ventilation equipment, officials said. Safety violations and negligence add to the problem.
Last year, a blast at the mine killed 13 workers. In 2002, an explosion killed 20 and 54 died in a similar explosion in 2001. In May 1999, 50 miners were killed in a methane and coal dust blast there.
Since the 1991 Soviet collapse, more than 4,700 miners in Ukraine have been killed. For every 1 million tons of coal brought to the surface in Ukraine, three miners lose their lives, according to official data.
Despite the dangers, there is growing appetite for Ukraine's rich coal reserves, particularly amid rising natural gas prices. The government has called for production to be increased by a third to 80 million tons this year.
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