Sarkozy Out

France handed the presidency on Sunday to leftist Francois Hollande, a champion of government stimulus programs who says the state should protect the downtrodden--a victory that could deal a death blow to the drive for austerity that has been the hallmark of Europe in recent years.
Mild and affable, the president-elect inherits a country deep in debt and divided over how to integrate immigrants while preserving its national identity. Markets will closely watch his initial moves as president, AP reported.
He narrowly defeated the hard-driving, attention-getting Nicolas Sarkozy, an America-friendly leader who led the country through its worst economic troubles since World War II but whose policies and personality proved too bitter for many voters to swallow.
“Austerity can no longer be inevitable!” Hollande declared in his victory speech after a surprising campaign that saw him transform from an unremarkable figure to an increasingly statesmanlike one. He will take office no later than May 16. Speaking to exuberant crowds, Hollande portrayed himself as a vehicle for change across Europe.

By Mohammad Reza Erfanian

Hollande and France’s Multidimensional Political Chess

With the victory of Francois Hollande in France’s presidential elections, for the second time in history of the Fifth Republic, the Socialists have assumed power in the country. The question, however, is whether this victory will have as sweet an ending as its beginning.
Francois Mitterrand became the first Socialist president of France after winning the elections in 1982. His victory sent shockwaves throughout Europe and the West. Mitterrand led France toward the Socialist camp at a time when the world was at the peak of the Cold War. The Socialists’ victory in France meant a home defeat for Liberalism.
Now, 31 years on, Francois Hollande is trying to repeat the memory of that sweet event. But these two significant events (victories of Hollande and Mitterrand) are different in many ways.
First of all, Mitterrand was considered to be an influential and charismatic figure in the French political scene. He was one of Europe’s traditional and classic leaders with lot of experience in domestic and international politics. Hollande, however, lacks all of these qualities.
Secondly, the people of France voted for Socialist doctrine and the ideals of this political-economic doctrine. They elected Mitterrand as the symbol of this mind-set. This is while in recent elections, at least a portion of the electorate chose Hollande only to get rid of Sarkozy. In other words, the French did not view the elections ideologically anymore.
Thirdly, while Mitterrand overwhelmingly won the 1982 presidential elections, Hollande won by only a four percent margin (52 to 48 percent).
These three major differences show that French Socialists today are not in the same state of affairs as Mitterrand was and that Elysee 2012 has a long way to go to attain the same level of power.
Observers believe that the total votes of the right camp led by Marine Le Pen, as well as those supporting Sarkozy and those who did not vote in the elections form a large opposition against Hollande, that has been unprecedented or at least very rare in French political scene.

WB, IMF Against Sanctions on Central Bank

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Mahmoud Bahmani said on Monday that the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are opposed to the western sanctions against his institution.
“The WB and the IMF have declared that the CBI should not be sanctioned,” Bahmani was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency, adding that Iran has filed lawsuits against the West’s financial restrictions on the CBI.
He also said that Iran has held a number of meetings with the Group 24 (a chapter of the Group 77 of developing countries) and also the director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, Masood Ahmed, in this respect.
“They also believed that our requests are logical, and vowed to take action to settle this problem,” Bahmani said. The CBI chief noted the Iran’s revenues have passed $100 billion and there is no shortage of foreign currencies in the country.

Syrians Vote in Calm Parliamentary Polls

Syrians cast ballots on Monday in parliamentary elections billed by the government as key to President Bashar Assad’s political reforms.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. and Syrian state TV showed voters lining up and dropping white ballots in large, plastic boxes. Election officials say more than 7,000 candidates are competing seats in the legislature in a country of almost 15 million eligible voters out of a population of 24 million.
The elections are the first under a new constitution, adopted three months ago. The charter for the first time allows the formation of political parties to compete with Assad’s ruling Baath party and limits the president to two seven-year terms.
Nine parties have been created, and seven have candidates vying for a parliamentary seat.
Pro-regime parties led by the Baath are represented under a coalition called the National Progressive Front.
Assad has made a series of gestures toward reform to try to allay the crisis, but his opponents say his efforts are too little, too late. He set nationwide parliamentary elections for May 7. The vote was initially to take place in March but was postponed after last month’s referendum on the country’s new constitution that allowed new political parties to run.
The parliament is not considered an influential body in Syria, where the real power is concentrated around Assad and a tight coterie of family and advisers.
Some voters said they hoped the process would bring change. Damascus voter Hind Khalil, 23, said she’d vote for some independent candidates as well as members of the new parties.

Women’s Life Expectancy Rises

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Tehran Hosts 36th Surgeons Confab

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Greek Political Quake Rattles Eurozone

Greece stared into a chasm of uncertainty on Monday after a stunning election shake-up by parties opposed to further austerity cuts, sending shockwaves through markets on fears of renewed eurozone turmoil.
Results of Sunday’s elections showed that the two mainstream parties missed an absolute majority in parliament after their share of the vote was 32.1 percent--more than halved from 2009 election--plunging the country into political uncertainty, AFP reported.
Instead, voters angry after two years of cuts handed parties against the terms of Greece’s two international bailouts a stunning result--a total of 151 parliamentary seats between them, based on 99 percent of votes counted.
The shock outcome throws Greece into disarray since top vote-getter Antonis Samaras of the New Democracy conservatives will find it very hard to form a government--once he is officially tasked to do so by the president later Monday.
Athens has already committed to finding in June another 11.5 billion euros ($15 billion) in savings over the next two years.
Since left-wing Pasok and New Democracy, which formed the outgoing coalition led by technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, will not have a legislative majority, the possibility now looms of fresh elections. Pasok, which along with New Democracy has dominated Greek politics for nearly four decades, was even relegated to third place by the leftist Syriza, which more than tripled its share of the vote from 2009 to 16.7 percent.

C. America Action Plan

The economic crisis plaguing many countries in the European Union has forced Central America to look at preventive measures to mitigate the effects in this region, which could include a decline in tourism, migrant remittances, exports and investment.
The search for new markets and proposals for reforms to increase tax collection and impose exchange controls are some of the actions being taken in this region, made up of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, with the aim of strengthening the local economies and counteracting external shocks, IPS wrote.
“This region needs to look more within itself and towards its neighbors, because the agro-export economic model based on products like coffee, sugar and cardamom is not working,” Jonathan Menkos, an expert with the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (ICEFI), said.
Menkos added that “these countries must diversify their production and exports and invest in security, justice, education, health and nutrition, besides coming up with a strategic plan for investment in economic infrastructure.”

Tax Reforms & Trade Treaties
Along those lines, in February, Guatemala approved a package of tax reforms with which it aims to collect $154 million this year, $552 million in 2013 and $579 million in 2014.

Putin Back To Top Job

Vladimir Putin took the oath of office in a brief Kremlin ceremony on Monday.
Putin, 59, has ruled Russia since 2000, first as president and then during the past four years as prime minister. The new, now six-year term will keep him in power until 2018, with the option of running for a fourth term, AP reported.
“I consider service to the fatherland and our nation to be the meaning of my life,” Putin said in addressing 3,000 guests in a glittering Kremlin hall.
Despite unprecedented security measures in the center of Moscow, where streets were closed to traffic and passengers prevented from exiting subway stations, at least 1,000 opposition activists tried to protest along the route Putin’s motorcade took to the Kremlin. Many wore the white ribbons that are a symbol of the anti-Putin protest movement.

Japan Seeking Iran Oil Import Guarantees

Shalamche Demining Over by 2013

Leader’s Biography Well-Received at Book Fair

C. America Action Plan

The economic crisis plaguing many countries in the European Union has forced Central America to look at preventive measures to mitigate the effects in this region, which could include a decline in tourism, migrant remittances, exports and investment.
The search for new markets and proposals for reforms to increase tax collection and impose exchange controls are some of the actions being taken in this region, made up of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, with the aim of strengthening the local economies and counteracting external shocks, IPS wrote.
“This region needs to look more within itself and towards its neighbors, because the agro-export economic model based on products like coffee, sugar and cardamom is not working,” Jonathan Menkos, an expert with the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (ICEFI), said.
Menkos added that “these countries must diversify their production and exports and invest in security, justice, education, health and nutrition, besides coming up with a strategic plan for investment in economic infrastructure.”

Tax Reforms & Trade Treaties
Along those lines, in February, Guatemala approved a package of tax reforms with which it aims to collect $154 million this year, $552 million in 2013 and $579 million in 2014.