*Putin’s Poodle Wants to Become US President!
* Pakistan Elections: Ex-PMs Both Declare Election Win
* Indonesia Election: An ‘Impossible’ Country Tests Its Hard-Won Democracy
By Shashi P.B.B. Malla
Trump the Traitor & the US Presidency
Former US President Donald Trump said last Saturday that he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending guidelines on defence in a stunning admission he would not abide by the collective-defence clause at the heart of the alliance if re-elected (CNN/Kate Sullivan, Feb. 11).
President Joe Biden said Sunday that Thump “is making it clear that he will abandon our NATO allies” and outlined the potential consequences of Trump’s comments.
“Trump’s admission that he intends to give Putin a greenlight for more war and violence, to continue his brutal assault against a free Ukraine, and to expand his aggression to the people of Poland and the Baltic States are appalling and dangerous,” Biden said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, meanwhile said Sunday that Trump’s comments about the alliance put European and American soldiers at risk.
“Any attack on NATO will be met with a united and forceful response,” Stoltenberg said in a statement. “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk.”
European Council President Charles Michel on Sunday described comments from Trump on NATO “reckless”, adding they “serve only Putin’s interest.”
The spineless Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who has endorsed Trump, said Sunday he had “zero concerns” about the former president’s NATO comments.
Like Rubio, are also the many gutless Senate and House Republicans who are afraid of Trump and his base. They all put self and party before country.
As president, Trump threatened multiple times to withdraw the United States from NATO, according to The New York Times.
Trump has described NATO as “obsolete” and has aligned himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who wants to weaken the alliance.
Nikki Haley warns that Trump allies himself with ‘a thug who exterminates all his opponents.’
Trump has long praised Putin and went as far as to side with the Russian leader over the US intelligence community over Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
For all intents and purposes, Trump is the “Manchurian Candidate”, and his blind and thoughtless supporters are oblivious to the very real danger he poses to America and the world.
Not for nothing, did Hillary Clinton, his rival in the 2016 presidential election, summed them up as a “basket of deplorables” characterized by “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic” views.
Pakistan Army Urges Unity as Imran Khan & Nawaz Sharif Each Claim Advantage
With all of the results now declared in Pakistan’s general elections, no political force has a clear majority (BBC/Malu Cursino).
Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan is claiming victory in last Thursday’s poll, as independent candidates linked to him have won most seats so far – 93 out of 265 National Assembly seats.
But another ex-PM, Nawaz Sharif, says his party has emerged the largest and urged others to join him in coalition.
There are reports that coalition talks between Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party and other groups are already under way.
The final official results have all been announced.
In a staunch video message posted on ‘X’ that was generated using AI, a message created to Khan said his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had won a landslide victory – defying what he has called a crackdown on his party.
“I congratulate each band everyone of you for winning the 2024 election…you have made history,” the message said.
The success of the PTI-linked candidates was unexpected, with most experts agreeing that Sharif – believed to be backed by the country’s powerful military – was the clear favourite.
Against all the odds, election shows Imran Khan’s support is solid
But the PTI is not a recognized party after being barred from running in the election, so technically Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), or PML-N, is the largest official political group with 75 seats.
The political horse-trading has begun in earnest, which means it could still be a while before anyone is able to claim outright victory.
In a speech last Friday, Sharif acknowledged that he did not have the numbers to form a government alone. But addressing supporters outside his party headquarters in Lahore, he urged other successful candidates to join him in a coalition and said he could remove the country from difficult times.
Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Khan’s former special assistant Zulfikar Bukhari said: “Knowing Imran Khan and knowing the ethos of our political party PTI, I don’t think we’ll be making any coalition, forming a government with any of the main parties.”
“However, we will be forming a coalition…to be in parliament – not as an independent, but under one banner, one party.”
And asked about whether Khan could potentially be released, Bukhari said: “I think the minute we go to the high court and the supreme court we are extremely confident that he will be released, and a lot of the charges – if not all – will be thrown out on legal merit and procedural merit.”
The third biggest party with 54 seats was the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of PM Benazir Bhutto, and former President Asif Ali Zardari.
Burzine Waghmar, a member of the Centre for the Study of Pakistan at SOAS University of London, told the BBC that the elections “may well prove to be one of the most divisive and dangerous this chronically unstable, episodic democracy has ever confronted.”
As results trickled in, the UK and US voiced concerns over restrictions on electoral freedoms during the vote.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron [and former prime minister] said the UK urged authorities in Pakistan to “uphold fundamental human rights including free access to information, and the rule of law.”
In a statement, he went on to express “regret that not all parties were formally permitted to contest the elections.”
Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller criticized what he described as “undue restrictions on freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly” during Pakistan’s electoral process.
He also cited “attacks on media workers” and “restrictions on access to the internet and telecommunications services” as reasons to worry about “allegations of interference” in the process.
Who is really pulling the strings in a divided Pakistan?
Pakistan’s powerful army chief has urged the country to leave “anarchy and polarization” behind as two ex-prime ministers declared victory in an election that has defied expectation.
With no clear outcome, General Asim Munir called on all parties to show maturity and unity, saying the politics of polarization did “not suit a progressive country of 250 million people” [the fifth most populous country in the world].
“Elections are not a zero-sum competition of winning and losing but an exercise to determine the mandate of the people,” Gen. Munir said (BBC/Lipika Pelham).
14 National Assembly seats are yet to be determined – all in the vast and sparsely-populated Balochistan province – but both Khan and Sharif say they have won.
About 101 of the winning candidates are independents and all but eight of them are backed by the PTI.
Many analysts have said this is among Pakistan’s least credible elections.
Voters in Lahore told the BBC that the internet blackout on polling day meant it was not possible to book taxis to go and vote, while others said they could not co-ordinate when to head to polling stations with their family members.
An interior ministry spokesman said the blackouts were necessary for security reasons.
Support from the military in Pakistan is seen as of the utmost importance to succeed politically, and analysts believe Sharif and his party, the PML-Ncurrently have their backing, despite their differences in the past
Maya Tudor, associate professor at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, said the lead taken by Imran’s Khan’s PTI was “shocking” in the context of the country’s past.
“A win would be remarkable – in every single bother election in Pakistan’s recent history, the military’s preferred candidate has won,” Dr. Tudor explained.
As many as 128 million people were registered to cast their votes, almost half of whom were under the age of 35.
More than 5,000 candidates – of whom just 313 are women – contested 265 directly-elected seats in the 336-member National Assembly.
Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States, Maleeha Lodhi, said Pakistan “desperately needs political stability to address what she described as “the worst economic crisis in its history.”
But, in a hopeful note, Ms. Lodhi said Pakistan’s voter numbers show a “belief in the democratic process.”
Because of the election results, Pakistan is facing a “prolonged period of political instability,” said Dr. Farzana Shaikh from the Chatham House think tank in London.
She told the BBC the Khan-linked independents were unlikely to be allowed to form a government.
Meanwhile, many people feared a “weak and unstable coalition” would result from any tie-up between Sharif’s PML-N and Bhutto-
But Dr. Shaikh also said the election also showed growing distaste for the military’s central role in political life.
“Millions of people voted to defy what many believed was the preferred outcome by Pakistan’s unaccountable military establishment,” she said.
The army has been described by analysts as “a state within a state” in Pakistan, and it has influenced national politics and power transitions since Pakistan gained independence from Britain in 1947 [simultaneously with India].
The generals have staged three coups and no prime minister in Pakistan has so far served a full five-year term.
The real complication is what happens next.
The election results may change in the coming days as candidates from different parties challenge the results. But that is not the only thing to watch out for.
Pakistan requires all independents to join a political party within 3 days from the moment they are officially declared or they must stay independent.
PTI will need to come up with a solution soon.
There is also often talk of wheels within wheels in Pakistan; intricate power dynamics and moves, alliances and grudges.
What many had thought would be a relatively predictable election has proved anything but (BBC).
Indonesia’s Future is in the Hands of Young Voters
Background
- Indonesians will vote for a new executive president this week Wednesday, 14. February.
There are three candidates, but the latest polls suggest former General Prabowo Subianto will win. If no candidate secures over 50 % percent of the vote, the top two will move to a run-off election in June.
- Prabowo is ahead thanks to the backing of the popular outgoing president and a campaign promising to keep the good times rolling.
Prabowo would bring a chequered past and authoritarian instincts to the top job.
- Indonesia has a lot going for it right now, including youthful demographics, geo-political advantages, strong GDP growth, and a remarkable recent history of pulling people out of poverty.
- By virtue of Indonesia’s position at the crossroads between Asia and the world, its next president will be forced to deal with some of the world’s most complex problems, including the US-China rivalry, territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and the looming possibility of war over Taiwan.
(Newsletter International Intrigue, Feb. 11).
Some Facts
Indonesia is probably the most underrated country in the world.
It is very much more than the paradise island of Bali.
Here are some interesting facts about Indonesia:
- The world’s 4th largest population
- The world’s largest Muslim population [ahead of Pakistan]
- More than 700 languages across 17,000 islands
- One of the world’s fastest-growing economies, and
- The same flag as Monaco.
As the world’s third-largest democracy heads to the polls this week, it is important to share not only what makes Indonesia matter, but also what makes it so intriguing!
The Candidates
The difference between Indonesia’s elections and others:
- The presidential election is now a three-way race (heading to a two-way runoff in June if nobody clears 50 % percent this week).
The new president and vice president will be sworn in on October 20.
- Framing the elections as “left” vs. “right” is almost useless when thinking about Indonesia.
- Unlike in much of the world, this is an election to replace ‘Jokowi’ an extremely popular president, who is term-limited.
Jokowi’s unlikely life-story has taken him from furniture manufacturing to the presidential palace.
He has a track record of a collaborative style and an ability to get things done.
When he leaves office, he will hand over an enviable record of any president in the world — a fast-growing economy, gleaming new infrastructure, and plummeting poverty rates.
For these reasons, this electoral race has really become about who’s the rightful heir to Jokowi’s formidable legacy. It’s about who can continue the prosperity of the ‘Indonesian model of development’.
Although Jokowi has not formally/officially endorsed any of the candidates, his own son,
Gibran Rakabuming Raka , 36, is Subianto’s vice presidential running-mate, and, therefore, it is clear where his sympathies lie.
In fact, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court lowered the age restriction for vice president from 40 to 35, just for Raka [it did help that the Chief Justice happened to be Jokowi’s brother-in-law!].
Thus, many Indonesians say that the president has chosen his own successor.
- Therefore, the favourite is without doubt
Prabowo Subianto.
He has been a familiar face in Indonesia as a commander of the country’s special forces, defence minister, and son-in-law of Indonesia’s long-time dictator Suharto, and a two-time presidential candidate.
But the top job was always beyond his reach.
He has long been dogged by allegations he was involved in atrocities, particularly those committed during Timor Leste’s struggle for independence from Indonesia.
But his choice of Jokowi’s son Raka cemented his position as frontrunner.
- Anies Baswedan is the dark horse.
The former education minister is doing particularly well with college-educated voters.
He has generated some momentum lately and hopes to prevent an outright win for Subianto on Wednesday. He then hopes to unify all anti-Subianto voters before the run-off in June.
It is at best a long-shot.
- Ganjar Pranowo is the fading star.
The former governor of Central Java is, in fact, the official candidate of the outgoing president’s own ruling party.
However, following an internal power struggle, Jokowi declined to endorse his own party’s ticket.
Then, Pranowo made an own goal. Last year (before the Gaza war) he criticized Israel and the world football body FIFA promptly stripped Indonesia of the right to host the 2023 Under-20 FIFA World Cup. Consequently, his popularity sank dramatically in the football-mad nation.
Gordon LaForge, a senior policy analyst at New America and a former Indonesia Fulbright Scholar, has his doubts about Prabowo, and thinks democracy is under siege in Indonesia.
However, he grudgingly concedes: “Indonesia’s transformation into a stable democracy over the past quarter century was as improbable as it was remarkable” (NYT, Feb. 13).
The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.com
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.
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