Indian Cong Party attacks BRS over EC’s withdrawal of permission for giving aid to Telangana farmers
New Delhi (PTI) The Congress on Monday slammed the BRS over the EC’s withdrawal of permission to the Telangana government for disbursements of financial aid to farmers under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme, alleging it was a result of the “irresponsible and self-serving” approach of the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led party. The Congress’ attack on the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) came after the Election Commission (EC) withdrew permission given to the Telangana government for disbursements of financial aid to farmers for rabi crops under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme following a state minister’s violation of the model code by making a public announcement about it.
The poll panel had given its nod to the state government to disburse the rabi installment during the model code of conduct period on certain conditions. The state was asked not to publicize the disbursement during the poll code as part of the condition.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary, organization, K C Venugopal said, “Due to the irresponsible and narrow self-serving approach of the BRS and Harish Rao, under the instructions of his boss KCR, the ECI has denied permission for the disbursement of the Rythu Bandhu installments.” The money is the right of the farmers and it is what they deserve for their year-long hard work, he said. “When this money is supposed to be released any time between October and January, it was the BRS’ desperation which compelled them to make such irresponsible statements,” he said.
“Yet another sin committed by the BRS, which will not be forgiven by the farmers of Telangana,” Venugopal said.
Telangana goes to poll on 30 November. The EC letter to the state chief electoral officer (CEO) read, “The Commission has observed that T Harish Rao, Minister of Finance and Heath and Family Welfare, Govt of Telangana has not only violated the provisions of MCC (model code of conduct) but also conditions laid down as above by publicising the release under the scheme, and thereby disturbed the level playing field in the ongoing election process.” The EC informed the state chief electoral officer about its decision to withdraw its permission.
The state finance minister had made a public announcement about the release of disbursements of rabi installments. He had reportedly said, “The disbursement will be made on Monday. Even before the farmers complete their breakfast and tea, the amount will be credited into their account.”
President Jokowi said, Wars, genocide in modern world are unbelievable
Jakarta (ANTARA) – Open wars and genocides that have occurred in today’s world are unbelievable and awful, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated.
“It is really absurd and does not make sense. It is not in accordance with our conscience that in this modern era, we still have wars and genocide,” he remarked at the R20 International Summit of Religious Authorities (ISORA) in Jakarta on Monday.
He called the genocide occurrence in Palestine a massacre that claimed the lives of innocent civilians, including women and children.
The president emphasized that the humanitarian tragedy in Palestine cannot be tolerated at all.
“The massacre (in Palestine) obviously claimed the lives of innocent civilians. A ceasefire must be implemented along with the delivery of humanitarian assistance and peace negotiations that must begin,” he urged.
The head of state said Indonesia believes that independence is the right of all nations, and this is clearly stated in the Indonesian Constitution.
Moreover, Indonesia had years of experience in maintaining diversity and bridging differences in uniting the country, he remarked.
“Indonesia is home to 280 million people consisting of 714 tribes, with more than 1,300 local languages. They believe in different religions and live on 17 thousand different islands. It is not easy to unite them all, but we manage to do such a thing,” he remarked.
According to Jokowi, Indonesia was able to erase tribal, religious, and regional egos to be able to realize its slogan of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, or Unity in Diversity.
“Unity in Diversity cannot be realized without support from religious leaders who teach that love for the country and tolerance are part of faith,” he remarked.
The president then affirmed that Indonesia believes the role of religion, religious figures, and society are very important in creating peace, harmony, and unity within a country, in the region, and in the world.
“Therefore, I really appreciate this forum. Let us realize a dialogue between religions and across nations to bridge differences and stop all forms of disputes. We need to create a peaceful, harmonious, and prosperous world together,” he stated while inaugurating the opening of R20 ISORA.
He tweets, I appreciate the implementation of R20 in the context of forming dialogue across religions and nations to stop conflict and create a peaceful and prosperous world.
Membuka R20 International Summit of Religious Authorities (ISORA), forum pertemuan para pemimpin agama dunia, di Hotel Park Hyatt, Jakarta, hari ini.
Peran tokoh agama dan masyarakat sangat penting dalam menciptakan perdamaian, kerukunan, dan kebersamaan dalam suatu negara,… pic.twitter.com/kgeA5RIcgz
Trump hints at expanded role for the military within the US. A legacy law gives him few guardrails
BY GARY FIELDS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Campaigning in Iowa this year, Donald Trump said he was prevented during his presidency from using the military to quell violence in primarily Democratic cities and states.
Calling New York City and Chicago “crime dens,” the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination told his audience, “The next time, I’m not waiting. One of the things I did was let them run it and we’re going to show how bad a job they do,” he said. “Well, we did that. We don’t have to wait any longer.”
Trump has not spelled out precisely how he might use the military during a second term, although he and his advisers have suggested they would have wide latitude to call up units. While deploying the military regularly within the country’s borders would be a departure from tradition, the former president already has signaled an aggressive agenda if he wins, from mass deportations to travel bans imposed on certain Muslim-majority countries.
A law first crafted in the nation’s infancy would give Trump as commander in chief almost unfettered power to do so, military and legal experts said in a series of interviews.
The Insurrection Act allows presidents to call on reserve or active-duty military units to respond to unrest in the states, an authority that is not reviewable by the courts. One of its few guardrails merely requires the president to request that the participants disperse.
“The principal constraint on the president’s use of the Insurrection Act is basically political, that presidents don’t want to be the guy who sent tanks rolling down Main Street,” said Joseph Nunn, a national security expert with the Brennan Center for Justice. “There’s not much really in the law to stay the president’s hand.”
A spokesman for Trump’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment about what authority Trump might use to pursue his plans.
Congress passed the act in 1792, just four years after the Constitution was ratified. Nunn said it’s an amalgamation of different statutes enacted between then and the 1870s, a time when there was little in the way of local law enforcement.
“It is a law that in many ways was created for a country that doesn’t exist anymore,” he said.
It also is one of the most substantial exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits using the military for law enforcement purposes.
Trump has spoken openly about his plans should he win the presidency, including using the military at the border and in cities struggling with violent crime. His plans also have included using the military against foreign drug cartels, a view echoed by other Republican primary candidates such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor.
The threats have raised questions about the meaning of military oaths, presidential power and who Trump could appoint to support his approach.
Trump already has suggested he might bring back retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who served briefly as Trump’s national security adviser and twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during its Russian influence probe before being pardoned by Trump. Flynn suggested in the aftermath of the 2020 election that Trump could seize voting machines and order the military in some states to help rerun the election.
Attempts to invoke the Insurrection Act and use the military for domestic policing would likely elicit pushback from the Pentagon, where the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is Gen. Charles Q. Brown. He was one of the eight members of the Joint Chiefs who signed a memo to military personnel in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The memo emphasized the oaths they took and called the events of that day, which were intended to stop certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Trump, “sedition and insurrection.”
Trump and his party nevertheless retain wide support among those who have served in the military. AP VoteCast, an in-depth survey of more than 94,000 voters nationwide, showed that 59% of U.S. military veterans voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election. In the 2022 midterms, 57% of military veterans supported Republican candidates.
Presidents have issued a total of 40 proclamations invoking the law, some of those done multiple times for the same crisis, Nunn said. Lyndon Johnson invoked it three times — in Baltimore, Chicago and Washington — in response to the unrest in cities after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.
During the Civil Rights era, Presidents Johnson, John F. Kennedy and Dwight Eisenhower used the law to protect activists and students desegregating schools. Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to Little Rock, Arkansas, to protect Black students integrating Central High School after that state’s governor activated the National Guard to keep the students out.
“They really hammer into us the seriousness of the oath and who it was to, and who it wasn’t to,” he said.
File :In this june 1,2020 file photo,President Donald Trump departs the White House to visit outside St.John’s Church, in Washington. Walking behind Trump from left are, Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Miley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Photo : Patrick Semansky/AP
Ryan said he thought it was universally understood, but Jan. 6 “was deeply disturbing and a wakeup call for me.” Several veterans and active-duty military personnel were charged with crimes in connection with the assault.
While those connections were troubling, he said he thinks those who harbor similar sentiments make up a very small percentage of the military.
William Banks, a Syracuse University law professor and expert in national security law, said a military officer is not forced to follow “unlawful orders.” That could create a difficult situation for leaders whose units are called on for domestic policing, since they can face charges for taking unlawful actions.
“But there is a big thumb on the scale in favor of the president’s interpretation of whether the order is lawful,” Banks said. “You’d have a really big row to hoe and you would have a big fuss inside the military if you chose not to follow a presidential order.”
Nunn, who has suggested steps to restrict the invocation of the law, said military personnel cannot be ordered to break the law.
“Members of the military are legally obliged to disobey an unlawful order. At the same time, that is a lot to ask of the military because they are also obliged to obey orders,” he said. “And the punishment for disobeying an order that turns out to be lawful is your career is over, and you may well be going to jail for a very long time. The stakes for them are extraordinarily high.”
___
Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Michelle L. Price in New York, and Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.
Japan, China, South Korea to arrange summit at early date
BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA (AP) – The top diplomats of Japan, South Korea and China agreed Sunday to accelerate efforts to arrange a summit of their leaders at an early date in the nations’ first in-person foreign ministerial talks in four years in Busan, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said.
Kamikawa also told reporters the three diplomats discussed North Korea’s recent spy satellite launch and she asked China, which has significant economic influence over Pyongyang, to play a role in addressing the country’s missile program and past abductions of Japanese nationals.
The COVID-19 pandemic and strained bilateral ties over historical and territorial disagreements had kept the three nations from holding talks since the last leaders’ summit in December 2019 and a direct foreign ministerial meeting in August of that year, both in China.
Kamikawa also said she agreed with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi to promote cooperation among the three countries in six areas including public health, security and trade as they work toward the summit.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa speaks at a meeting with her South Korean and Chinese counterparts, Park Jin and Wang Yi, in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 26, 2023. Photo : Ahn Young-joon/AP
South Korea, the rotating chair of the trilateral framework, was seeking to host a leaders’ summit by the end of this year. But a senior official of the country’s presidential office said on a TV program Sunday that it would not be easy to hold the summit by the year-end.
The Japanese minister added she shared the view with her counterparts that promoting future-oriented and practical cooperation among the three Asian neighbors is “important for regional and world peace.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa pose for a photo prior to the 10th trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 26, 2023. Photo : Ahn Young-joon/AP
The meeting came days after Pyongyang’s satellite launch using banned ballistic missile technology that triggered condemnation from Japan and South Korea. China has stopped short of criticizing the launch.
South Korea’s Park said stability in the Korean Peninsula is “a prerequisite for the peace and prosperity” of the region at the outset of the talks. He told reporters the three ministers agreed to continue communication at all levels to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.
China’s Wang said Beijing is ready to work with Tokyo and Seoul to put the three-way cooperation back on the correct path and seek its sound and stable development. The ministers made the opening remarks in the presence of reporters.
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi speaks at a meeting with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa and Park Jin, in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 26, 2023. Photo : Ahn Young-joon/ AP
Ahead of the three-way ministerial talks, the Global Times, a tabloid affiliated with China’s ruling Communist Party, expressed caution in its editorial Saturday over the strengthened security ties between the United States, Japan and South Korea and called on Tokyo and Seoul to demonstrate “more strategic autonomy.”
Apparently reflecting Beijing’s cautious stance toward the two neighbors, both of which are U.S. security allies, Wang skipped a joint press conference and dinner originally planned for the three ministers, according to diplomatic sources.
On Sunday, South Korea, Japan and the U.S. held maritime drills involving the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula, their latest show of force against North Korea.
North Korea typically views such U.S.-involved military training as an invasion rehearsal.
__
Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Japan and Simina Mistreanu in Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.
Thai mother danced with joy after daughter released from Gaza
By Napat Wesshasartar
BANGKOK SAMRAN, (Reuters) – When Natthawaree Mulkan’s mother saw that her daughter was among the Thai hostages released by Hamas, she was so happy she danced with her 8-year-old granddaughter outside their home in northeastern Thailand.
“I was elated … I came out and danced,” Bunyarin Srijan, 56, said pointing to her patio.
Natthawaree, a mother of two, was one of 10 Thai hostages freed by Hamas during the first truce of a seven-week-old war that started with the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel.
Her mother lost touch with her after the attack and then stopped following reports, dreading bad news.
“During that hopeless period I didn’t watch the news for half a month,” Bunyarin recounts alone in her living room.
“I was afraid of seeing my daughter lying dead.”
Some 30,000 Thai labourers, mainly from the country’s impoverished northeast, work in the Israeli agriculture sector, one of its largest groups of migrant workers.
Natthawaree is seen in a photograph from the Thai foreign ministry in a clinic, smiling with her hands clasped in a traditional ‘wai.’
Natthawaree is seen in a photograph from the Thai foreign ministry in a clinic, smiling with her hands clasped in a traditional ‘wai. Photo : @Thavisin
Bunyarin said her daughter had planned to marry her boyfriend, Boonthom Phankhong, who was also abducted by Hamas and released on Friday.
“After she’s back, I’m going to take her to the temple to observe religious rites,” she said, wiping away tears.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Saturday that the government was still trying to secure the release of 20 Thai citizens who remain captive.
The Prime Minister of Thailand tweets today and shared some pictures of hostage that free from hamas,
ผมรู้สึกดีใจเป็นอย่างยิ่งที่ได้ทราบข่าวการยืนยันการปล่อยตัวประกันของพี่น้องแรงงานไทยทั้ง 10 ราย ที่ปัจจุบันรักษาตัวอยู่ที่โรงพยาบาล Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh) ในอิสราเอล ภายใต้การดูแลประสานงานของกระทรวงต่างประเทศอย่างใกล้ชิดครับ… pic.twitter.com/lrVyHsObM8
“I am very happy to hear the news confirming the release of the 10 Thai worker hostages who are currently being treated at Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh) in Israel under the coordinated supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
I would like to praise and thank the mediation efforts of all parties involved. We also welcome the agreement to a temporary ceasefire for 4 days so that humanitarian aid can be delivered to those in need in the Gaza Strip at the first opportunity. We reiterate and call upon it again. Please continue to release innocent Thai hostages as soon as possible.
Hamas delays hostage release, demands aid to northern Gaza
By Bassam Masoud and Maayan Lubell
GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The armed wing of Hamas said it had decided to delay Saturday’s scheduled second round of hostage releases until Israel committed to allowing aid trucks to enter northern Gaza.
Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades said the hostage releases would be delayed if Israel did not adhere to the agreed terms for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
There was no immediate Israeli response to the statement. Earlier an Israeli military spokesperson had told France’s BFM television station that, barring last minute changes, 13 Israeli hostages were expected to be freed.
He said 39 Palestinian prisoners would be released in return.
Under the truce deal between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, a total of 50 hostages are to be exchanged for 150 Palestinian prisoners, some of them convicted on weapon charges and violent offences, over four days.
Aviv Asher, 2,5-year-old, her sister Raz Asher, 4,5-year-old, and mother Doron, react as they meet with Yoni, Raz and Aviv’s father and Doron’s husband, after they returned to Israel to the designated complex at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Petah Tikva, Israel, in this handout picture released on November 25, 2023. Schneider/Reuters
In the first exchange on Friday, 13 Israeli women and children – out of around 240 hostages captured by Hamas fighters on a killing spree in southern Israel on Oct. 7 – were released. Twenty-four jailed Palestinian women and 15 teenagers were released from Israeli jails.
Saturday’s setback came just hours after Egypt, which controls the Rafah border crossing into southern Gaza through which vital aid supplies have resumed, said it had received “positive signals” from all parties over a possible extension of that deal.
Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS), said in a statement that Cairo was holding extensive talks with all parties to reach an agreement which would mean “the release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.”
Israel has said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continues to release hostages at a rate of at least 10 per day. A Palestinian source has said up to 100 hostages could go free.
Israel and Hamas have said hostilities would resume as soon as the truce ends, although U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday there was a real chance of extending the truce.
Israel foreign ministry tweets today that had written, we are sharing that tweet
“We are committed to returning all of the hostages, Israelis and foreigners alike.”
FM @elicoh1 visited the foreign citizens from Thailand and the Philippines who were freed from Hamas captivity.
The Foreign Minister emphasized that the foreign citizens will receive dedicated… pic.twitter.com/Bk43kOFS80
“We are committed to returning all of the hostages, Israelis and foreigners alike.” visited the foreign citizens from Thailand and the Philippines who were freed from Hamas captivity.
The Foreign Minister emphasized that the foreign citizens will receive dedicated care from Israel and will be entitled to all of their rights from Israel’s National Insurance.
“Israeli citizens and foreign citizens shared the same fate in the face of a cruel enemy on that dark Sabbath.
We are working with all of the parties to free all of the citizens from the hands of the Hamas terror organization, which still holds women, children and the elderly, as well as other foreign citizens.”
Reporting by Bassam Masoud, James Mackenzie, Maayan Lubell, Emma Farge, Aidan Lewis; additional reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; Writing by Ingrid Melander and Jon Boyle
Partnership with UAE important for Indonesia’s development: Airlangga Hartarto
Jakarta (ANTARA) – Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated that the partnership between Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has been established since 1976, plays an important role in supporting Indonesia’s development.
Last year, the UAE was Indonesia’s second-largest trade partner among Middle Eastern countries, with trade value totaling US$5.06 billion. In addition, the UAE has become one of Indonesia’s main markets, with crude palm oil as the most important export commodity.
“Cooperation between Indonesia and the UAE plays an important role in supporting development in Indonesia. One of the agreements is the floating solar power plant project in Cirata dam, West Java,” he stated at the 52nd National Day Reception of the United Arab Emirates here on Friday.
According to Hartarto, this collaboration demonstrated the commitment of both countries in the field of renewable energy. In addition, opportunities are still wide open for joint efforts to boost trade volume and maintain trade balance.
Indonesia and the UAE signed the Indonesia-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IUAE-CEPA) on July 1, 2022. The agreement has been effective since September 1, 2023.
The two countries are committed to establishing stronger and broader cooperation, especially in the fields of economy, trade and investment, defense industry, and renewable energy.
“I am also pleased that the United Arab Emirates has been conferred as an ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner at the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on August 3, 2022, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia,” he remarked.
Last night, attended The 52nd National Day Reception of The United Arab Emirates in Jakarta.
Diplomatic relations between Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been well established since 1976, Airlangga Hartarto tweeted
Tadi malam, menghadiri acara The 52nd National Day Reception of The United Arab Emirates di Jakarta.
Hubungan diplomatik Indonesia dan Uni Emirat Arab (UEA) telah terjalin dengan baik sejak tahun 1976. pic.twitter.com/QXv0lQPPgr
An Israeli-owned ship was targeted in suspected Iranian attack in Indian Ocean, US official tells AP
BY JON GAMBRELL
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A container ship owned by an Israeli billionaire came under attack by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean as Israel wages war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, an American defense official said Saturday.
The attack Friday on the CMA CGM Symi comes as global shipping increasingly finds itself targeted in the weekslong war that threatens to become a wider regional conflict — even as a truce has halted fighting and Hamas exchanges hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The defense official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said the Malta-flagged vessel was suspected to have been targeted by a triangle-shaped, bomb-carrying Shahed-136 drone while in international waters. The drone exploded, causing damage to the ship but not injuring any of its crew.
“We continue to monitor the situation closely,” the official said. The official declined to explain why the U.S. military believed Iran was behind the attack.
Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, reported that an Israeli ship had been targeted in the Indian Ocean. The channel cited anonymous sources for the report, which Iranian media later cited.
CMA CGM, a major shipper based in Marseille, France, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the vessel’s crew had been behaving as though they believed the ship faced a threat.
In November 2022, the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Pacific Zircon sustained damage in a suspected Iranian attack off Oman. Photo : moneycontrol website
The ship had its Automatic Identification System tracker switched off since Tuesday when it left Dubai’s Jebel Ali port, according to data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by the AP. Ships are supposed to keep their AIS active for safety reasons, but crews will turn them off if it appears they might be targeted. It had done the same earlier when traveling through the Red Sea past Yemen, home to the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
“The attack is likely to have been targeted, due to the vessel’s Israeli affiliation through Eastern Pacific Shipping,” the private intelligence firm Ambrey told the AP. “The vessel’s AIS transmissions were off days prior to the event, indicating this alone does not prevent an attack.”
The Symi is owned by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which is a company ultimately controlled by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer. A phone number for Eastern Pacific Shipping in Singapore rang unanswered Saturday, while no one responded to a request for comment sent by email. The Israeli military also did not respond to a request for comment.
In November 2022, the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Pacific Zircon, also associated with Eastern Pacific, sustained damage in a suspected Iranian attack off Oman.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment. However, Tehran and Israel have been engaged in a yearslong shadow war in the wider Middle East, with some drone attacks targeting Israeli-associated vessels traveling around the region.
In this Israel-Hamas war, which began with the militants’ Oct. 7 attack, the Houthis seized a vehicle transport ship in the Red Sea off Yemen. Iranian-backed militias in Iraq also have launched attacks on American troops in both Iraq and Syria during the war, though Iran itself has yet to be linked directly to an attack.
___
Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Dutch election winner Geert Wilders is an anti-Islam firebrand known as the Dutch Donald Trump
BY MIKE CORDER
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — He’s been called the Dutch Donald Trump. He’s been threatened with death countless times by Islamic extremists, convicted of insulting Moroccans, and Britain once banned him from entering the country.
Now Geert Wilders has won a massive victory in a Dutch election and is in pole position to form the next governing coalition and possibly become the Netherlands’ next prime minister.
An exit poll revealing his landslide appeared to take even 60-year-old political veteran Wilders by surprise.
In his first reaction, posted in a video on X, formerly Twitter, he spread his arms wide, put his face in his hands and said simply “35!” — the number of seats an exit poll forecast his Party for Freedom, or PVV, won in the 150-seat lower house of parliament.
Wilders, with his fiery tongue has long been one of the Netherlands’ best-known lawmakers at home and abroad. His populist policies and shock of peroxide blond hair have drawn comparisons with Trump.
But, unlike Trump, he seemed destined to spend his life in political opposition.
The only time Wilders came close to governing was when he supported the first coalition formed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte in 2010. But Wilders did not formally join the minority administration and brought it down after just 18 months in office in a dispute over austerity measures. Since then, mainstream parties have shunned him.
“The PVV wants to, from a fantastic position with 35 seats that can totally no longer be ignored by any party, cooperate with other parties,” he told cheering supporters at his election celebration in a small bar in a working class suburb of The Hague.
Whether he can piece together a stable coalition with former political foes remains to be seen.
As well as alienating mainstream politicians, his fiery anti-Islam rhetoric also has made him a target for extremists and led to him living under round-the-clock protection for years. He has appeared in court as a victim of death threats, vowing never to be silenced.
Voting Wednesday at The Hague City Hall, Wilders was flanked by burly security guards scanning the cavernous space for possible threats. He has moved from one safe house to another over nearly two decades.
In 2009, the British government refused to let him visit the country, saying he posed a threat to “community harmony and therefore public security.” Wilders had been invited to Britain by a member of Parliament’s upper house, the House of Lords, to show his 15-minute film “Fitna,” which criticizes the Quran as a “fascist book.” The film sparked violent protests around the Muslim world in 2008 for linking Quranic verses with footage of terrorist attacks.
To court mainstream voters this time around, Wilders toned down the anti-Islam rhetoric and sought to focus less on what he calls the “de-Islamization” of the Netherlands and more on tackling hot-button issues such as housing shortages, a cost-of-living crisis and access to good health care.
His campaign platform nonetheless calls for a referendum on the Netherlands leaving the European Union, an “asylum stop” and “no Islamic schools, Qurans and mosques,” although he pledged Wednesday night not to breach Dutch laws or the country’s constitution that enshrines freedom of religion and expression.
Wilders is set to become the longest-serving lawmaker in the Dutch parliament later this year. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1998, first for the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, where he mentored a young Rutte before quitting the party and setting up his Party for Freedom. He demonstrated a softer side Wednesday night by thanking his Hungarian-born wife Krisztina for her support.
He also is a staunch supporter of Israel and advocates shifting the Embassy of the Netherlands there to Jerusalem and closing the Dutch diplomatic post in Ramallah, home of the Palestinian Authority.
Wilders is known for his hardline politics, but also for his witty one-liners. And his pets. His two cats, Snoetje and Pluisje, have their own account on X, formerly Twitter, with nearly 23,000 followers.
Pope Francis meets at Vatican with relatives of Israeli hostages and Palestinians living in Gaza
BY VATICAN CITY
VATICAN CITY(AP) — Pope Francis met separately Wednesday with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living through the war and begged for an end to what he called terrorism and “the passions that are killing everyone.”
Francis spoke about the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians after his meetings, which were arranged before the Israeli-Hamas hostage deal and a temporary halt in fighting was announced. Francis didn’t refer to the deal, which marked the biggest diplomatic breakthrough since the war erupted following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
Francis said he met at the Vatican with relatives of some of the 240 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and separately with a delegation of Palestinians, whom the Vatican said had relatives in Gaza. In the VIP seats of St. Peter’s Square were people holding Palestinian flags and scarves as well as small posters showing apparent bodies in a ditch and the word “Genocide” written underneath.
“Here we’ve gone beyond war. This isn’t war anymore, this is terrorism,” Francis said. “Please, let us go ahead with peace. Pray for peace, pray a lot for peace.”
He also asked for God to help both Israeli and Palestinian people “resolve problems and not go ahead with passions that are killing everyone in the end.”
Francis has spoken out repeatedly calling for an end to the war and has tried to maintain the Vatican’s typical diplomatic neutrality in conflicts. The Vatican is particularly concerned about the plight of Christians in Gaza.
The Hamas attack last month killed about 1,200 people in Israel. Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Gaza have killed more than 11,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
