Anti-graft party faces test as India votes in third round

NEW DELHI : India´s upstart anti-graft party faces a key test Thursday as the national capital votes in the first major stage of the country´s marathon general elections.

The third phase of voting begins at 7:00 am local time (01:30 GMT) in 92 constituencies, representing a fifth of the 543-seat lower house, across the capital and 13 other states, including Maoist insurgency-hit eastern India.

But analysts say the spotlight is on the Delhi birthplace of the Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party (AAP), even if support for it may have lost some steam.

"The enthusiasm, the hope has died. People have become disillusioned with them," Delhi-based veteran political analyst and commentator Amulya Ganguli told AFP.

The AAP has struggled to shake the "quitter" tag used by critics to dismiss it following the dramatic resignation of party chief Arvind Kejriwal just 49 days after it took power in Delhi´s state elections.

"They didn´t stay on to govern and their drama-creating behaviour put people off," Ganguli said.

The nine-stage elections, which kicked off Monday are expected to vault to power the Hindu nationalist opposition at a time of low economic growth, seething anger over widespread corruption and warnings about religious unrest.

The 814-million-strong electorate is forecast to inflict a punishing defeat on the Congress party after its decade-long rule and elect the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by conservative hardliner Narendra Modi.

The AAP is contesting its first general elections since it was spawned by a 2011 anti-graft movement and rode a wave of public anger over a string of corruption scandals.

It has promised to clean up politics by weeding out politicians with criminal cases.Nearly 10 percent of politicians who contested Monday´s first phase of elections that wind up May 12 were charged with attempted murder, rape and other crimes, according to advocacy group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Last month, ADR said 37 percent of BJP candidates and 25 percent of the Congress hopefuls announced so far faced criminal cases.

- National Ambitions -
The AAP has fielded over 400 candidates as it pushes ahead with its national ambitions and Kejriwal has pitted himself against Modi in the holy Hindu city of Varanasi.

The AAP won 28 of 70 seats in its maiden Delhi state elections. Although analysts say there is little chance the party will replicate its success nationally, the AAP still hopes to win at least 100 seats and says it is confident of wining five of the seven up for grabs in Delhi.

But Ganguli was skeptical. "Votes will go into their opponents´ hands this time. I would be surprised if they win even 10 seats nationally," he said.

There are mounting signs of disillusion with the AAP with some voters slapping and smearing ink on Kejriwal and his colleagues at rallies, while they campaign without security in a bid to end the VIP culture of India´s political elite.

Kejriwal, who adheres to independence icon Mahatma Gandhi´s non-violence credo, has consistently forgiven his attackers and went to the home Wednesday of a man who slapped him to hear his grievances.

Among the AAP candidates is the independence leader´s grandson Rajmohan Gandhi, Bollywood actor Gul Panag and former TV journalist Ashutosh.Voters "realise the BJP and Congress are thoroughly corrupt and they want a change", senior AAP leader Prashant Bhushan said, calling the party "the clean and honest alternative".

Anti-graft party faces test as India votes in third round

NEW DELHI : India´s upstart anti-graft party faces a key test Thursday as the national capital votes in the first major stage of the country´s marathon general elections.

The third phase of voting begins at 7:00 am local time (01:30 GMT) in 92 constituencies, representing a fifth of the 543-seat lower house, across the capital and 13 other states, including Maoist insurgency-hit eastern India.

But analysts say the spotlight is on the Delhi birthplace of the Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party (AAP), even if support for it may have lost some steam.

"The enthusiasm, the hope has died. People have become disillusioned with them," Delhi-based veteran political analyst and commentator Amulya Ganguli told AFP.

The AAP has struggled to shake the "quitter" tag used by critics to dismiss it following the dramatic resignation of party chief Arvind Kejriwal just 49 days after it took power in Delhi´s state elections.

"They didn´t stay on to govern and their drama-creating behaviour put people off," Ganguli said.

The nine-stage elections, which kicked off Monday are expected to vault to power the Hindu nationalist opposition at a time of low economic growth, seething anger over widespread corruption and warnings about religious unrest.

The 814-million-strong electorate is forecast to inflict a punishing defeat on the Congress party after its decade-long rule and elect the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by conservative hardliner Narendra Modi.

The AAP is contesting its first general elections since it was spawned by a 2011 anti-graft movement and rode a wave of public anger over a string of corruption scandals.

It has promised to clean up politics by weeding out politicians with criminal cases.Nearly 10 percent of politicians who contested Monday´s first phase of elections that wind up May 12 were charged with attempted murder, rape and other crimes, according to advocacy group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Last month, ADR said 37 percent of BJP candidates and 25 percent of the Congress hopefuls announced so far faced criminal cases.

- National Ambitions -
The AAP has fielded over 400 candidates as it pushes ahead with its national ambitions and Kejriwal has pitted himself against Modi in the holy Hindu city of Varanasi.

The AAP won 28 of 70 seats in its maiden Delhi state elections. Although analysts say there is little chance the party will replicate its success nationally, the AAP still hopes to win at least 100 seats and says it is confident of wining five of the seven up for grabs in Delhi.

But Ganguli was skeptical. "Votes will go into their opponents´ hands this time. I would be surprised if they win even 10 seats nationally," he said.

There are mounting signs of disillusion with the AAP with some voters slapping and smearing ink on Kejriwal and his colleagues at rallies, while they campaign without security in a bid to end the VIP culture of India´s political elite.

Kejriwal, who adheres to independence icon Mahatma Gandhi´s non-violence credo, has consistently forgiven his attackers and went to the home Wednesday of a man who slapped him to hear his grievances.

Among the AAP candidates is the independence leader´s grandson Rajmohan Gandhi, Bollywood actor Gul Panag and former TV journalist Ashutosh.Voters "realise the BJP and Congress are thoroughly corrupt and they want a change", senior AAP leader Prashant Bhushan said, calling the party "the clean and honest alternative".

Calls for action as world faces fork in climate road

PARIS: A stark warning by UN scientists of menacing climate change prompted demands Monday for urgent action to curb greenhouse-gas emissions even as a global pact remained elusive.

Scientists, politicians, envoys and green groups united in calls for faster, more drastic action to avoid the worst-case scenarios of conflict, drought and massive displacement highlighted in the expert report.

"The path of tomorrow is undoubtedly determined by our choices today," United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres said after the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned of a "severe, pervasive and irreversible impact" if nothing is done.

"This report requires and requests that everyone accelerate and scale up efforts towards a low-carbon world and manage the risks of climate change in order to spare the planet and its people," she said.

Activist groups said governments now have all the proof they need that inaction will lead to disaster, as well as the scientific basis on which to plan an appropriate response.

Many voiced hope that the dire warning would give impetus to negotiations for a new, global pact on curbing carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels.

"The gap between the science and what governments are doing remains huge," said Sandeep Chamling Rai of green group WWF.

"Now it is up to people to hold their governments to account, to get them to act purposefully and immediately."

The Alliance of Small Island States said the new alert came as no surprise for nations already grappling with sea-level rise, droughts and record-breaking storms.

"We hope that it helps convince the international community, particularly those most responsible for climate change, to address the crisis with greater urgency and not at some abstract date in the future but immediately."

After a nearly 22-year effort under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), negotiators are seeking to sign a new, global pact in Paris next year, to take effect in 2020.

The aim is to contain warming to 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, though even this level would require adaptive measures for a changed climate.

Countries remain deeply divided on what the deal will look like, what it must contain, how binding its provisions should be and how they will be enforced.

- No denial, says US -

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the political system must "wake up" to the threat.

"Denial of the science is malpractice," he said in a statement. "There are those who say we can't afford to act. But waiting is truly unaffordable. The costs of inaction are catastrophic."

The IPCC warned that untamed greenhouse gas emissions may cost trillions of dollars in damage to property and ecosystems, and in bills for shoring up climate defences.

For Bjorn Lomborg of the Copenhagen Consensus Centre think-tank, "the best solution is to dramatically ramp up funding for research and development of effective green technology."

Today's renewable technology, such as solar and wind energy, required subsidies of at least $100 billion (73 billion euros) per year to become viable.

"Innovation can help us developing technologies to provide green energy more cheaply than fossil fuels, and then everyone will adopt them," said Lomborg.

In the run-up to the conclusion of this year's global climate negotiations in Lima, Peru, in December, UN chief Ban Ki-moon will host heads of state and government in New York on September 23 "to mobilise action and ambition on climate change".

European Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said the world should oppose "hitting the snooze button" on the issue.

"Europe is preparing an ambitious reduction target for 2030 to be adopted later this year. I appeal to all major emitters to do the same thing," she said in a statement.

Tom Mitchell, a climate expert at Britain's Overseas Development Institute (ODI), cautioned against hopes the Paris meeting will be the definitive solution.

"The real challenge is in what happens after 2015," he said in a phone interview with AFP in Tokyo.

"If countries say they are going to reduce emissions, what is the architecture for holding countries to account, and ensuring that they are contributing their fair share in the first place?"

NATO chief says ’peace at risk’ as Russia faces G8 sanction

BRUSSELS: NATO's chief warned that Europe's peace and security were at risk from Russian threats of a military incursion in Ukraine as Moscow faced a barrage of warnings of reprisals, including the loss of its prestigious G8 seat.
"What Russia is doing now in Ukraine threatens peace and security in Europe. Russia must stop its military activities," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said as he went into crisis talks on Ukraine with the alliance's 28 ambassadors.
Speaking as the interim authorities of the former Soviet state called up all military reservists, Rasmussen said he had convened the North Atlantic Council "because of President Putin's threats against this sovereign nation."
"Today we will discuss the implications for European security." The talks, held on the eve of an emergency EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels, come as global powers scramble to respond and amid talk of a possible extraordinary European Union summit next week.
Britain and France meanwhile announced they were suspending preparations for a June summit in Sochi of the Group of Eight developed nations, joining Canada and the United States in sanctioning President Vladimir Putin for his stance on Ukraine.
Saying Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity had been violated, Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague flew to Kiev for talks with its new leaders, adding: "This cannot be the way to conduct international affairs."
His US counterpart John Kerry warned that Putin might even lose his G8 seat as well as face asset freezes on Russian business.
"There is a huge price to pay," Kerry told NBC. "If Russia wants to be a G8 country it needs to behave like a G8 country," he said on CBS.
Held only four days after NATO defence ministers gathered in Brussels to warn Russia apparently with little effect -- not to take steps that could be "misinterpreted", Sunday's closed-door talks come as the escalating tension in Crimea threatens to open the West's worst crisis with Moscow since Cold War days.
Poland earlier called for the NATO meeting over the developments in Ukraine, citing Article 4, which provides for consultations with allies.
NATO however said the meeting was not being held under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the alliance's founding document.
Most recently used by Turkey over Syria, Article 4 enables a member state to call a NATO meeting for consultations if its independence or security are under threat.
Upping the military stakes:
Ukraine signed up to a partnership deal with NATO in 1997 but is not a full member. It was given the nod to eventually join at a 2008 summit in a move that infuriated Russia.
It was then that Putin is famously reported to have said to then US president George Bush that "Ukraine is not even a state."
Two years later, the country's now ousted pro-Russian leader, Viktor Yanukovych, ditched the NATO membership bid.
Diplomats said little more than a statement of concern was expected from the talks and one senior diplomat said on condition of anonymity that neither economic sanctions nor NATO action seemed appropriate at the moment.
"We need to talk to Putin, who has his own good reasons for doing bad things," the source told AFP. "The situation is extremely dangerous. We need a way out of this 'us' and 'them' Cold War syndrome."
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who along with Hague have urged Ukrainians and Russians to engage in direct talks over the crisis, appeared to have a similar views.
"Russia is traditionally our friend. We want a traditional friend far more than sabre-rattling," Fabius said.
Scenarios being mulled include calling the two sides to communicate through organisations such as the United Nations or even finding a mediator nation, for example among the non-aligned, or traditional Russia ally China.
Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation moreover appear divided over what stand to take on the tug-of-war with Russia over Ukraine, with former Soviet satellites far more hawkish than some.
"No one seriously believes there will be a military response," said a diplomat from one of the larger members who asked not to be identified.
Some nations believe "waving the NATO flag" could be counter-productive, upping the military stakes instead of de-escalating the tension.
"If Putin stops now, he can have both: annexation of Crimea and good relations with West," tweeted Uli Speck, a Carnegie Institute analyst.