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THE ONLY BI-LINGUAL AND BI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
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| Volume 11 Issue 302 Rabi ul Awaal 3, 1433 AH / January 27, 2012 |
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| :: International News |
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NDP would win B.C. election if held today, poll shows |
 The B.C. Liberals would be decimated if an election were called today, reduced to official Opposition status with 20 seats by the victorious Adrian Dix-led NDP, a new poll has found. The poll, conducted by Forum Research Inc., also predicted that the NDP would easily form a majority government if an election were called now, winning 57 seats, up from the 35 it won in May 2009 election. John Cummins’ Conservatives would win seven seats, they currently hold none, with independent Vicki Huntington (Delta South) poised to keep her seat, the poll found. The results are the latest in favourable polling for the NDP, which overtook the Liberals last month as the party of choice among voters, according to another poll by Angus Reid. Of the 988 randomly selected British Columbians contacted for the Forum Research poll, 39 per cent of decided voters said they would vote for the NDP, compared to the 26 per cent who said Liberal and the 22 per cent who said Conservative. That’s a five per cent increase for the NDP compared to another Forum Research poll in mid-December. In that poll, 23 per cent of respondents said they would vote Liberal and 23 per cent said they would vote for the Tories. Support for the Green Party, meantime, was down from 15 per cent to nine per cent, compared to the earlier Forum survey, suggesting green voters might be drifting toward the NDP, the poll concluded. Premier Christy Clark’s disapproval ratings remain high at 46 per cent, although her approval rating increased slightly since December to 34 per cent from 29 per cent. Men were more likely to approve of the job she was doing compared to woman, 40 per cent compared to 28 per cent, the poll found. Twenty per cent of respondents didn’t have an opinion, down from the 27 per cent last time. “Christy Clark’s B.C. Liberals still have much work left to do to win back approval of British Columbians,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, Forum Research president, in a release. “With the NDP party strengthening their lead in the province coupled with Clark’s high disapproval rating it will be interesting to see how the party moves forward with a possible election on the horizon.” Dix’s approval rating, meantime, remained relatively stable, decreasing slightly from 35 per cent from 37 per cent, an indication that the anti-Dix ads launched by the Liberals haven’t had their desired effect. His disapproval rating, however, increased to 34 per cent from 28 per cent. Men were more likely to disapprove than woman, according to the poll. Thirty-five per cent didn’t have an opinion. The poll also found a slight downward dip in Cummins’ approval ratings, with 21 per cent approving of the job he is doing as leader of the upstart Conservatives compared to 23 per cent in December. His disapproval rating this time around was 35 per cent. Forty-five per cent didn’t have an opinion. Despite the favourable results, Dix offered his customary response when asked about the poll. “I think there are going to be more than 50 polls between now and the election,” he said. “I think you have to earn the people’s support every day. We are going to keep doing what we are doing, holding them accountable and being positive.” The telephone poll, which was conducted Jan. 23, 2012, is considered accurate plus minus 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Source: Montreal Gazette
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| Iran oil halt ‘would raise price 30 per cent’ |
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that global crude prices could rise as much as 30 per cent if Iran halted oil exports as a result of US and European Union sanctions. If Iran halts exports to countries without offsets from other sources, it would likely trigger an “initial” oil price jump of 20 to 30 per cent, or about $20 to $30 per barrel, the IMF said in its first public comment on a possible Iranian oil supply disruption. The IMF highlighted the risks of rising tensions over Iran sanctions in a note on Wednesday sent to deputies from G20 countries who met in Mexico City last week. The price impact caused by a cut in Iranian exports could be exacerbated by below average oil stocks in many countries, the result of tight oil market conditions through much of last year, the IMF said. The fund’s comments add pressure on the Obama administration as it struggles to find a way to get countries to reduce shipments of Iranian oil without pushing prices higher ahead of the November US presidential election. President Barack Obama is tightening sanctions on Iran in a move aimed to deprive its nuclear programme of funds and technology, and the EU has slapped a ban on Iranian oil to take effect in six months. Western governments believe Iran is trying to build nuclear arms, a charge Tehran denies. In order to work around US and European sanctions, India reportedly plans to pay for oil it imports from Iran in gold. In response to the EU sanction plan, Iran’s parliament reportedly plans to begin debating a draft bill requiring the government to immediately halt oil exports to Europe, a prominent legislator said on Wednesday. The legislator said that the halt in oil production would do more damage to Europe than Iran, which sells only 18 per cent of its oil to members of the 27-member bloc. Financial sanctions against Tehran may be “tantamount to an oil embargo” and would imply supply declines of about 1.5m barrels per day from the world’s fifth-largest oil producer, the IMF said. That volume of supply disruption would be comparable to losses in output from Libya last year due to civil war that pushed oil prices over $100 a barrel. Iran exports about 2.6m barrels per day of oil. Iran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz shipping route, through which flows 20 per cent of oil traded globally. The IMF said in its global outlook on Tuesday that global oil prices would ease only slightly this year despite a sharp slowdown in world growth. The IMF projection of 2012 average oil price is $99 a barrel versus the $100 it forecast three months ago. The IMF’s concerns about a large Iran-related oil supply shock or an actual disruption has risen in recent weeks as powers in the West increase pressure on Tehran. Its view is based on data that shows limited inventory and spare capacity, and projections that oil demand will not slow despite falling growth in advanced and emerging economies.
Source: Al-Jazeera |
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Gilani retracts remarks against Kayani, Pasha |
In what was seen here as yet another backtracking, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday that his remarks about replies filed in the Supreme Court in the memo case were not against the army chief and the director general of ISI.
“The remarks were made in a different context,” the prime minister said, adding that the remarks on that occasion had been made in a unique situation when things were overlapping and there was no clarity.
“But since (then) there is clarity and now we have all met and that (remark) does not pertain to these two gentlemen (Gen Ashfaq Kayani and Lt-Gen Shuja Pasha),” he was quoted as saying by the official media before his departure for Davos to attend the World Economic Forum scheduled for Jan 25-29.
In an interview with the People’s Daily Online of China, Prime Minister Gilani had said that affidavits submitted to the apex court by COAS Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI chief Lt-Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha on ‘memogate’ were “unconstitutional and illegal” because they had not sought approval of the competent authority under the rules of business.
But on Wednesday Gilani said: “Later when we found out some of the discrepancies made by certain functionaries, I have taken action against them; now it does not pertain to those remarks unconstitutional or against the rules for the army chief and the ISI director general.”
Further clarifying the remarks which had created a sort of crisis situation in the country, he said: “There were a lot of events taking place and there was overlapping by lot of government functionaries on many issues, and I said in that context.”
Asked if his statement had anything to do with his Tuesday’s meeting with Gen Kayani and Lt-Gen Pasha, the prime minister said: “The comprehensive meeting was purely focused on the security situation of the country vis-à-vis Afghanistan.”
However, he said: “The country cannot work in an atmosphere of confrontation among state institutions. Therefore, in the national interest we have to be on the same page.”
The statement indicates that the mending of ties between civil and military leaders was a result of a series of meetings leading the last one on Tuesday. Political observers see the statement as an effort to defuse tensions between the government and the armed forces.
Only this week when reporters asked the prime minister about the army’s demand that he must take back his statement about their affidavits submitted to the apex court, Mr Gilani said: “I am only responsible to parliament and not to an individual.” A PPP leader said recent meetings between the army leadership and President Zardari had resulted in the thawing of relations between the two sides. “Yes, it’s quite obvious. During Tuesday’s meeting it was decided that Prime Minister Gilani |
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| :: Other Features |
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