ArchiveApril 2011 Politics
Showdown in Abidjan
Once again, the ghosts of war are haunting the Ivory Coast: young men going into battle for President Alassane Ouattara.
The Ivorian power struggle is a setback for democracy across the entire continent – By Bartholomäus Grill
The white helicopter, UN Flight 483, choppers across the Ebrié lagoon. Underneath lies the smallest republic in the world, one even smaller than the Vatican City State. It consists of only a single boxy concrete building surrounded by palm groves: the Hôtel du Golf. This is the official seat of Alassane Ouattara, President of the Ivory Coast. Though legitimately elected, he has no country to rule, no money and very little power. His government is recognized internationally but is completely cut off from the outside world, and for now, Ouattara’s rule extends over just 306 hotel rooms. It’s the “Republic of Golf,” Ivorians joke. It cannot be reached overland as the Ivorian Army has sealed off all the access routes and is accessible only by air courtesy of the UN.
During the helicopter flight five minutes earlier, it was possible to look down on the Présidence, the actual seat of power in the country. There, nestled between Abidjan’s skyscrapers, is where Laurent Gbagbo, president by self-appointment, lives. He clearly lost the runoff election held on Nov. 28, 2010, to Alassane Ouattara, as an Independent Election Commission certified. The Constitutional Council, unswervingly loyal to Gbagbo, immediately declared the results invalid and said that Gbagbo was the winner. A former history teacher, Gbagbo was the Big Man in the country, and clearly wanted to remain so permanently – like so many African autocrats.
My friend, the mass murderer
André had been sentenced to 25 years. He claims to be innocent. A prison visit in Rwanda – By Andrea Jeska
How do you recognize a murderer? By his hands? His eyes? His shifty gaze? The twist of his mouth? How much can one believe someone who has been accused of participating in genocide, in crimes against humanity, in torture, and who has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison?
It’s a dusty path that forks off here in Nyanza, the former royal city of Rwanda. At the end lies Golgatha. A long wall, topped with barbed wire, stretching off to an iron gate. Gareza Mpanga, the Prison of Mpanga, the sign above it reads. In front, a dozen women in the orange garb of the convicted have set up simple stands holding chard, corn, or nuts. Their faces are old and dried out. I try to make out the physiognomy of a murderer, to decide whether the man I am here to visit might belong to one of them. In the looks sent my way, I see only dullness and indifference.
I have to hand over my passport at the gate, and show the letter I’ve brought with me. It states that I am to be allowed to visit the prisoner André Kimonyo. Signed, Martin Ngoga, Attorney-General.
‘I feel ashamed’
Germany’s abstention in the UN Security Council was a big mistake – By Joschka Fischer
The German chancellor has a tendency to depart from her own political road map, sometimes at very short notice. That can lead to situations where she misses the turnoff and ends up in the wrong policy lane – which is extremely dangerous, not just for her but for many others too.
That scenario sums up Germany’s foreign policy on Libya. The ensuing damage for Germany and its international standing is plain to see: never has the Federal Republic been more isolated. The country has lost its credibility with the United Nations and in the Middle East; its claim to a permanent seat on the Security Council has been trashed for good; and one really must fear the worst for Europe.
UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which authorized the current mission to protect Libyans, had the explicit or tacit agreement of the Security Council’s five veto-wielding powers. It also had the backing of a majority of the Council, the support of the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and the open military participation of two Arab states. So what more did the German government need to endorse the intervention?
Politically wise
The rationale behind Germany’s cautious foreign policy
In a recent newspaper article, General Klaus Naumann admitted he is ashamed of his country. The former head of the Bundeswehr, who was also a senior NATO commander, said he was horrified that Germany had abstained from the UN Security Council vote on a resolution establishing a no-fly zone over Libya. Former army chief of staff General Helmut Willmann is also furious: “The German position is simply undignified,” the general complained in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine.
Military officers aren’t the only ones outraged by the German government’s noncommittal policy on Libya. Journalists, politicians and even some religious figures have criticized Berlin’s decisions to stand on the sidelines. A solid democracy cannot stand idly by while a ruthless dictator like Muammar Gaddafi orders his army and foreign mercenaries to murder innocent civilians, runs their argument.
The U-turn coalition
The policy zigzag of Angela Merkel’s government – By Theo Sommer
Three things can be relied on to jangle Germans’ nerves: worries about the safety of nuclear power plants, the specter of military engagements abroad, and the feeling that profligate EU members are after their money. In the past few weeks all three of them conflated. The resultant political turmoil would seem to herald the end of an era: the close of the nuclear age in Germany. Quite possibly, it also foreshadows the quietus of Chancellor Merkel’s increasingly hapless center-right coalition.
The eurozone debt deal, reached after months of haggling, saved the common currency and prevented, for the time being at least, a fatal split within the EU. In a way, it was a triumph for Angela Merkel – a step toward fiscal union imposing budget discipline on the spendthrifts. But at the same time the deal meant underwriting other, less disciplined governments’ risk; Berlin will have to cough up 27 percent of the €700 billion rescue fund. Such munificence is not exactly popular in Germany. Surprisingly, news of the agreement hardly made a splash. Fukushima and Libya dominated the headlines. But neither helped the government.
Humble pie from the voters
After losing two key regional elections, the German government pledges to listen more closely – By Peter H. Koepf
Humility was in the air. As the results came in for the state elections in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, the losers – there were many – were doing their best to demonstrate their meekness. The day’s biggest loser, Foreign Minister and FDP leader Guido Westerwelle, summed up the lesson learned in three words: “We have understood.”
The two regional elections were in effect a national referendum against nuclear power. Despite outstanding economic data, the CDU – the “nuclear power party” – was kicked out of government in Baden-Württemberg for the first time in 57 years. The pro-market (and pro-nuclear) FDP was catapulted out of the state legislature in Rhineland-Palatinate and almost suffered the same fate in Baden-Württemberg. And because Germans trust the Greens most on the nuclear issue, the Social Democrats also lost votes to the environmentalists.
The best way to save the climate
Even after Fukushima, nuclear power is indispensable – By Frank Drieschner
After Fukushima, is it still possible to be in favor of nuclear power? Of course it is, people in India, China and South Africa would answer. Anyone who finds that hard to understand should briefly try to look at it from the perspective of a slum dweller ruining her health while cooking over an open fire every day.
For her it would be crazy to think about nuclear power risks. For billions of people, electricity means health – regardless of where it comes from. So while countries like India and China may now rethink their nuclear programs, they certainly won’t abandon them.
Uncontrollable, unpredictable, unnecessary
Nuclear power does not forgive mistakes – By Manfred Kriener
Can the nuclear age survive Fukushima? Right now it seems inconceivable. The spectral silhouettes of the shattered reactors, the horror of the daily dispatches invading our living rooms make it blatantly obvious that we live in one and the same world.
The Soviet Union was able to hide Chernobyl behind the Iron Curtain. Today the world watches the catastrophe in Japan in slow motion. We cannot evade its power, we share their anxiety, we think of the helpless helpers and we follow the weather forecast with bated breath.