The Star Online: World Updates
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- Cayman Islands' ruling party fails to reach consensus to oust premier
- Cayman Islands' ruling party fails to reach consensus to oust premier
- Japan's Abe to pick LDP veteran Aso as finance minister - media
| Cayman Islands' ruling party fails to reach consensus to oust premier Posted: 17 Dec 2012 08:18 PM PST GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (Reuters) - Members of the Cayman Islands' ruling party failed to reach a consensus on Monday to oust Premier McKeeva Bush, who was arrested last week on suspicion of corruption, a party official said.
Key members of the United Democratic Party met on Monday to determine if they would withdraw their support for the embattled leader, said Ellio Solomon, who represents the party in parliament. Bush has said he will not resign over the corruption allegations, but his support among ruling party legislators appears to be weakening and he could be ousted by a no confidence motion in parliament. Solomon said some members who would like to see Bush resign had reached out to opposition leaders about trying to force Bush from office through a no confidence vote. Bush, 57, was arrested on December 11 by members of the Financial Crime Unit of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service. He was released on bail until February, pending the possible filing of criminal charges against him. Authorities have declined to give specific details of the investigation but said it included allegations of theft and misuse of a government credit card. The three-island territory has about 55,000 residents and is a global tax haven and offshore home to more than half of the world's hedge funds. Bush, who has served as premier since 2009, has denied wrongdoing and said he had been the victim of a political witch hunt by the British-appointed colonial governor. "The governor and my opposition have some of my people stabbing me in the back," Bush told the Cayman 27 television station on Sunday. Steve Moore, who runs Governor Duncan Taylor's office, denied there was any political vendetta against Bush. Bush has faced growing pressure to resign. Opposition leader Alden McLaughlin said last week that allowing Bush to continue as premier after his arrest would undermine confidence in the Cayman government. In order for a no confidence motion to succeed a handful of ruling party members would have to break with Bush. The United Democratic Party holds nine seats in the parliament, which has 15 elected members. The opposition has four seats and there are two independents. General elections are scheduled for May 22. Solomon said he did not support ousting Bush since he has yet to be formally charged with any wrongdoing. "It is my personal opinion that it is a very dangerous precedent that we would actually be setting," Solomon said. (Writing by Jane Sutton and Kevin Gray; Editing by David Adams, Mohammad Zargham and Lisa Shumaker) Copyright © 2012 Reuters | ||
| Cayman Islands' ruling party fails to reach consensus to oust premier Posted: 17 Dec 2012 06:55 PM PST GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (Reuters) - Members of the Cayman Islands' ruling party failed to reach a consensus on Monday to oust Premier McKeeva Bush, who was arrested last week on suspicion of corruption, a party official said.
Key members of the United Democratic Party met on Monday to determine if they would withdraw their support for the embattled leader, said Ellio Solomon, who represents the party in parliament. But the meeting ended without an agreement by the party to call on Bush to step down, he told Reuters. Solomon said some members who would like to see Bush resign had reached out to opposition leaders about trying to force Bush from office through a no confidence motion in parliament. Bush, 57, was arrested on December 11 by members of the Financial Crime Unit of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service. He was released on bail until February, pending the possible filing of criminal charges against him. Authorities have declined to give specific details of the investigation but said it included allegations of theft and misuse of a government credit card. Solomon said he did not support ousting Bush since he has yet to be formally charged with any wrongdoing. "It is my personal opinion that it is a very dangerous precedent that we would actually be setting," Solomon said. The three-island territory has about 55,000 residents and is a global tax haven and offshore home to more than half of the world's hedge funds. Bush, who has served as premier since 2009, has denied wrongdoing and said he had been the victim of a political witch hunt by the British-appointed colonial governor. "The governor and my opposition have some of my people stabbing me in the back," Bush told the Cayman 27 television station on Sunday. Steve Moore, who runs Governor Duncan Taylor's office, denied there was any political vendetta against Bush. Bush has faced growing pressure to resign. The opposition People's Progressive Movement has urged the head of parliament to call a special session to hear a no-confidence motion to oust the premier. Opposition leader Alden McLaughlin said last week that allowing Bush to continue as premier after his arrest would undermine confidence in the Cayman government. The United Democratic Party holds nine seats in the parliament, which has 15 elected members. The opposition has four seats and there are two independents. General elections are scheduled for May 22. (Writing by Jane Sutton and Kevin Gray; Editing by David Adams, Mohammad Zargham and Lisa Shumaker) Copyright © 2012 Reuters | ||
| Japan's Abe to pick LDP veteran Aso as finance minister - media Posted: 17 Dec 2012 06:44 PM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's next Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will offer the finance minister's job to Taro Aso, media said, a veteran lawmaker and former prime minister expected to toe the party line calling for aggressive monetary easing and a public works splurge.
Asahi and Mainichi newspapers reported on Tuesday Aso would get the finance post while Yomiuri said Aso, 72, was also being considered as a possible foreign minister. Abe, whose Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its small ally New Komeito captured a two-thirds majority in Sunday's landslide, will announce his cabinet line-up on December 26. The choice of Aso suggests that Abe is looking to LDP veterans to fill important positions to avoid criticism that his ministers lack experience, a recurring complaint about cabinets of the Democratic Party of Japan that trounced the LDP in 2009, only to suffer a crushing defeat three years later. Abe's own first cabinet similarly suffered criticism that he picked lawmakers close to him personally rather than those best qualified for the job. When Aso was prime minister, he launched massive economic stimulus packages to combat the 2008-2009 financial crisis, but his efforts were overshadowed by gaffes, scandals and policy flip-flops that culminated with the LDP losing power after more than half a century of an almost non-stop rule. Like Abe, Aso has an elite political lineage and like the next premier is a grandson of a prime minister. Abe, who quit abruptly in 2007 after just one year in office, says he has learned from past mistakes and has been working hard to project an image of a strong, mature and decisive leader. Buoyed by the election victory, which political analysts saw more as voters' payback for the Democrats' troubled rule than a full embrace of the LDP, Abe has swiftly moved to press his agenda. On Monday, he turned up the heat on the Bank of Japan to boost its monetary stimulus when it ends its two-day meeting on Thursday and pressing it to adopt a more ambitious 2 percent inflation target as soon as next month. On Tuesday, Abe told reporters that he had agreed in a telephone call with U.S. President Barack Obama that the two would try to meet next month, part of a push to strengthen ties with Washington and give Japan a greater global security role. (Writing by Tomasz Janowski; Editing by Linda Sieg and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Copyright © 2012 Reuters |
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