Isu tudung: Turki bakal bergolak

ANKARA 7 Jun – Parti memerintah Turki yang mengadakan mesyuarat tergempar semalam menolak keputusan Mahkamah Perlembagaan yang membatalkan undang-undang membenarkan pemakaian tudung di universiti.

Mahkamah Perlembagaan pada Khamis lalu membatalkan undang-undang yang diluluskan oleh Parti Pembangunan dan Keadilan (AKP) bagi membenarkan pemakaian tudung di universiti dengan alasan ia bertentangan dengan sistem sekular negara.

Naib Presiden AKP, Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat berkata, keputusan mahkamah itu ‘mencabul’ pemisahan kuasa apabila mengetepikan undi majoriti di Parlimen yang meluluskan undang-undang itu.

“Keputusan ini akan mencetuskan debat berpanjangan,” katanya selepas mesyuarat parti memerintah selama enam jam.

Ekoran keputusan mahkamah itu, Perdana Menteri Recep Tayyip Eerdogan telah memendekkan lawatannya ke Istanbul dan kembali ke Ankara bagi mempengerusikan mesyuarat tersebut.

Menurut Dengir, Recep akan memberi taklimat kepada Ahli Parlimen AKP berhubung isu itu pada Selasa ini.

Recep turut membatalkan lawatan ke Switzerland untuk menyaksikan perlawanan pertama Turki menentang Portugal pada Euro 2008.

Menggunakan alasan AKP meluluskan undang-undang tersebut, Ketua Pendakwa Raya Turki telah meminta Mahkamah Perlembagaan pada Mac lalu mengharamkan parti berkenaan kerana cuba memperkenalkan pentadbiran Islam.

Laporan media menyatakan sebahagian anggota parti mahukan Recep membubarkan Parlimen bagi mengadakan pilihan raya mengejut berikutan keputusan mahkamah itu.

Keputusan mahkamah itu juga menjadi ancaman kerana ia menguatkan kedudukan pendakwa raya yang berhasrat mengharamkan AKP dan melarang 71 pegawai parti termasuk Recep dan Presiden Abdullah Gul daripada terbabit dalam politik.

Keputusan pembatalan AKP dan larangan tersebut dijangka ditentukan tahun ini.

“Disebabkan mahkamah melihat pindaan membabitkan tudung melanggar prinsip asas republik, ia akan memberikan hukuman teruk kepada parti yang bertanggungjawab memperkenalkan undang-undang itu.

“Keputusan untuk mengharamkan AKP tidak dapat dielak,” ulas akhbar harian Vatan.

– AFP

Obama meets privately with Clinton

Friday June 6, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Likely U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama met privately with former rival Hillary Clinton on Thursday night, an Obama campaign spokesman said.

"They did meet tonight," Robert Gibbs, Obama's communications director, told reporters in response to media reports about the session.

US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) waves beside fellow candidate Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) before the Democratic Presidential Debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia April 16, 2008. (REUTERS/Jae C. Hong/Pool)

Gibbs said reports they met at Clinton's home in Washington were incorrect. He declined to disclose the location or details of what they discussed.

He spoke on the Obama campaign plane traveling to Chicago. Obama had been scheduled to fly back to that city on Thursday evening after a rally in northern Virginia but stayed behind for the meeting with Clinton, shedding his campaign plane and the traveling press corps.

CNN reported the Obama-Clinton session was "a small meeting" with perhaps just the two senators and a few aides in attendance.

The New York Times said the meeting with Obama was initiated by Clinton after a daylong series of talks between their aides.

There is intense speculation Obama might pick Clinton as his running mate for November's presidential election against Republican John McCain.

Obama has said the process would take time. Clinton, who has expressed an interest in running as vice president, sought to distance herself on Thursday from efforts by supporters to convince Obama to pick her, saying the choice was up to him.

Obama, an Illinois senator, clinched the Democratic nomination on Tuesday. Clinton, a New York senator and former first lady, did not immediately concede but told supporters in a letter she would formally back Obama on Saturday.

(Writing by JoAnne Allen; Additional reporting by Caren Bohan; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Copyright © 2008 Reuters

Obama looks to unify Democrats after historic win

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama turned on Wednesday to unifying a fractured party for a historic five-month battle for the White House against Republican John McCain, but Hillary Clinton offered no hints of her future plans.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington June 4, 2008. (REUTERS/Jason Reed)

Obama rocketed from political obscurity to become the first black presidential nominee of a major U.S. party on Tuesday when he locked up the 2,118 delegates he needs for victory at the August convention.

Clinton, the New York senator and former first lady who entered the race 17 months ago as a heavy favorite, did not concede and said she would consult party leaders and supporters about her next move.

Obama will be crowned the Democratic nominee at the convention in August and faces McCain in November to choose a successor to President George W. Bush.

The Illinois senator tried to ease relations with Clinton on Wednesday, calling her an "extraordinary candidate and extraordinary public servant" during a speech to a pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington.

During the speech, he reaffirmed his strong support for Israel and promised to do "everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. That starts with aggressive, principled diplomacy without self-defeating preconditions."

In a separate appearance before the group later on Wednesday, Clinton said "I know that Senator Obama will be a good friend to Israel."

She told New York members of Congress she would be open to becoming Obama's vice presidential running mate, and her backers turned up the pressure on Obama to pick her as his No. 2.

Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, said he wrote to the Congressional Black Caucus urging members to push Obama to choose Clinton.

The victory by Obama, son of a black Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, marked a milestone in U.S. history. It came 45 years after the height of the civil rights movement and followed one of the closest and longest nomination fights in recent U.S. political history.

Obama clinched the win after a wave of uncommitted delegates announced their support on Tuesday, pushing his total to 2,156, according to an MSNBC count. Clinton, who would have been the first woman nominee in U.S. political history, won more than 1,900 delegates.

HISTORIC JOURNEY

"Tonight, we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another," Obama said at a victory celebration in St. Paul, Minnesota, the site of the Republican National Convention in September.

"Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States," he told 17,000 cheering supporters. Another 15,000 gathered outside.

Five months of state-by-state delegate selection concluded on Tuesday with Obama winning Montana and Clinton capturing South Dakota.

More party leaders and uncommitted officials are expected to back Obama on Wednesday. Democratic leaders urged uncommitted delegates to announce a decision by Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, party chairman Howard Dean and West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin issued a joint statement saying Democrats must stand united against McCain.

"I am committed to uniting our party so we can move forward stronger and more ready than ever to take back the White House in November," Clinton told a cheering crowd of supporters in New York City on Tuesday night. But she made no public overtures to Obama.

The two are expected to meet soon to discuss Clinton's role in the looming election campaign. Clinton's campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, told CBS, "What she has always said was, 'I will do anything to help win in the fall.'"

The two rivals talked early on Wednesday, and Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama told her he would like to "sit down when it makes sense for you." But no meeting was scheduled.

McCain, an Arizona senator, also was looking forward to the general election battle with Obama.

The 71-year-old former Vietnam prisoner of war kicked off his race against Obama with a rally in Louisiana on Tuesday where he sought to distance himself from Bush and questioned Obama's judgment.

"If I am going to win this election, the key to winning this election will be independent voters and Democrats as well," McCain told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday.

Obama, 46, is serving his first term in the U.S. Senate and would be the fifth-youngest president. He was an Illinois state senator when he burst on the national scene with a well received keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic convention.

(Additional reporting by Donna Smith, Caren Bohan, Thomas Ferraro, Ellen Wulfhorst)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)

Copyright © 2008 Reuters