Mediaboss Marketing

press release

Senator Bukola Saraki, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria's main opposition party, has today announced the suspension of his bid for the presidency in 2015.

Even though his Presidential interest has sparked widespread excitement across the country, and has received major supports from key stakeholders and youth groups based on his leadership profile characterized by infrastructural development, economic growth and striving social wellbeing; Senator Saraki says he is deciding to step down his ambition because, according to him,

Nigeria's political outlook for 2015 is very complicated and "this is the time for every patriotic politician to situate his personal ambition in the context of the country's overall interest," he says.

According to him, party primaries in any healthy democracy would always leave several contenders disappointed and, sometimes bitter, as there would be only one winner. The party would then invest so much energy and time afterwards managing and reconciling various interests.

"I don't think our party can afford too much internal rancour going into next year's election. I therefore think some of us need to make the sacrifice and be part of the solution rather than part of the problem of the party," says the Senator who is regarded as one of the masterminds of a major breakaway from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) earlier in the year.

Senator Saraki recounted how he, along with other progressives in the PDP, decided to leave the party to join the APC when it was clear that PDP, especially at the national level, had become too invested in the personal ambition of one man at the overall detriment of the country and its democracy.

"I have always maintained that I did not leave the ruling party to join the opposition because of any personal interest. Anyone who understands Nigeria's politics would know that it takes courage and self-sacrifice to do that. Therefore, whether it is on the issue of the party or all other issues that I have been pushing in my position as a Senator of the Federal Republic, I have been driven primarily by my desire to see a better and more purposely governed country."

According to him, Nigeria desperately needs change. "We need to change the way the country is run, we need change in our security and the values we place on human life, we need to change the current disgraceful situation in security and corruption. And I believe only the APC can bring about this change and give our country the leadership it deserves."

He notes, however, that APC can only live up to the aspirations of Nigerians for change if it is not derailed by too much acrimony from its primaries which is coming so close to the general elections. "This is why some of us felt that we must make the necessary sacrifice and contribute to building a strong and united party that provides the only real alternative to the floundering Government that has become so constipated on power and lost touch with the realities that ordinary Nigerians grapple with everyday."

Go here to read the rest:
Nigeria: Saraki Suspends 2015 Presidential Bid

Try as they might, reporters and liberal critics can't quite get Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to go all in and criticize President Obama. In a new interview over atSalon, Thomas Frank lays out all of the complaints of disappointed Democrats, but Warren doesn't exactly bite:

FRANK: In some ways thats exactly the problem. When I talk to people, they often say Democrats aren't the party of working people at all. And they talk about NAFTA and deregulating Wall Street, and they say, look at these guys, they wont prosecute the financial industry. They say, Democrats talk a good game, but theyre always on the side of the elite at the end of the day. What do you say to these people?

WARREN: Were the only ones fighting back. Right now, on financial reform, the Republicans are trying to roll back the financial reforms of Dodd-Frank. In fact, Mitch McConnell has announced that if he gets the majority in the Senate, his first objective is to repeal healthcare and his second is to roll back the financial reforms, and in particular to target the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau the one agency thats out there for American families, the one that has returned more than four billion dollars to families who got cheated by big financial institutions. Thats in just three years.

There was also this exchange, which again lays out the disappointment something of a longing on the part of disaffected liberals to have someone of Warren's stature validate their frustration (emphasis ours):

FRANK: Heres the penultimate question: everything youre saying are issues that have been important to me most of my adult life. In 2008, I thought I had a candidate who was going to address these things. Right? Barack Obama. Today, my friends and I are pretty disappointed with what hes done. I wonder if you feel he has been forthright enough on these subjects. And I also wonder if you think that someone can take any of this stuff on without being president. You know, there are a lot of good politicians in America who have their heart in the right place. But theyre not the president. Well anyhow. You understand my frustration

WARREN: I understand your frustration, Tom and, actually, I talk about this in the book. When I think about the president, for me, its about both halves. If Barack Obama had not been president of the United States we would not have a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Period. Im completely convinced of that. And I go through the details in the book, and I could tell them to you. But he was the one who refused to throw the agency under the bus and made sure that his team kept the agency alive and on the table. Now there was a lot of other stuff that also had to happen for it to happen. But if he hadnt been there, we wouldnt have gotten the agency. At the same time, he picked his economic team and when the going got tough, his economic team picked Wall Street.

FRANK: You might say, always. Just about every time they had to compromise, they compromised in the direction of Wall Street.

WARREN: Thats right. They protected Wall Street. Not families who were losing their homes. Not people who lost their jobs. Not young people who were struggling to get an education. And it happened over and over and over. So I see both of those things and they both matter.

This is the harshest criticism could muster, and it's not exactly new. In fact, the original criticism of Obama's financial team when he picked them was that they were Clinton retreads, collected fat Wall Street paychecks and favored deregulation. Obama, in Warren's view, picked the wrong economic team, and they wound up pickingWall Street. Again, this isn't a new assessment of Obama, nor is it the kind of barn-burner denunciationsome liberals are apparently pining for.

Partly, it's because it wouldn't do Warren and her fellow Democrats any good to criticize the party and the president in a tough midtermyear. But Warrenhas shown plenty of reticence to criticize any of her fellow Democrats -- including Hillary Clinton.

Go here to read the rest:
The Fix: Sorry, liberals. Elizabeth Warren still wont really criticize Obama or Clinton.

South Australia's state Liberal opposition is preparing for two by-elections, following the death of long-serving independent MP Bob Such.

Dr Such's family released a statement to say the independent MP, who has held the seat of Fisher since 1989, died on Saturday morning after being diagnosed with a brain tumour six months ago.

A by-election for the seat of Fisher will provide the Liberals with a chance to add to its 21 lower house seats.

Labor holds 23 seats in the lower house but independent MPs Martin Hamilton-Smith and Geoff Brock have promised to back the government on supply and no-confidence motions, while voting freely on other issues.

A by-election will also be held in the neighbouring seat of Davenport, with Liberal MP Iain Evans planning to retire in the coming months.

Opposition leader Steven Marshall says nine Liberal candidates will contest preselection for Davenport, with a candidate to be chosen this week.

"Everybody is, at the moment, focused on celebrating the contribution that Bob Such has made," he said on Monday.

"But quickly, there will be people that will be turning their minds to what happens next."

University of Adelaide lecturer Clem MacIntyre said he expected the Liberals to win both seats but a strong independent candidate could draw strong support.

"Davenport is a long-time Liberal seat that the Liberals will expect to hold," he told ABC radio.

See the original post here:
SA Liberals prepare for two by-elections

Try as they might, reporters and liberal critics can't quite get Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to go all in and criticize President Obama. In a new interview over atSalon, Thomas Frank lays out all of the complaints of disappointed Democrats, but Warren doesn't exactly bite:

FRANK: In some ways thats exactly the problem. When I talk to people, they often say Democrats aren't the party of working people at all. And they talk about NAFTA and deregulating Wall Street, and they say, look at these guys, they wont prosecute the financial industry. They say, Democrats talk a good game, but theyre always on the side of the elite at the end of the day. What do you say to these people?

WARREN: Were the only ones fighting back. Right now, on financial reform, the Republicans are trying to roll back the financial reforms of Dodd-Frank. In fact, Mitch McConnell has announced that if he gets the majority in the Senate, his first objective is to repeal healthcare and his second is to roll back the financial reforms, and in particular to target the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau the one agency thats out there for American families, the one that has returned more than four billion dollars to families who got cheated by big financial institutions. Thats in just three years.

There was also this exchange, which again lays out the disappointment something of a longing on the part of disaffected liberals to have someone of Warren's stature validate their frustration (emphasis ours):

FRANK: Heres the penultimate question: everything youre saying are issues that have been important to me most of my adult life. In 2008, I thought I had a candidate who was going to address these things. Right? Barack Obama. Today, my friends and I are pretty disappointed with what hes done. I wonder if you feel he has been forthright enough on these subjects. And I also wonder if you think that someone can take any of this stuff on without being president. You know, there are a lot of good politicians in America who have their heart in the right place. But theyre not the president. Well anyhow. You understand my frustration

WARREN: I understand your frustration, Tom and, actually, I talk about this in the book. When I think about the president, for me, its about both halves. If Barack Obama had not been president of the United States we would not have a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Period. Im completely convinced of that. And I go through the details in the book, and I could tell them to you. But he was the one who refused to throw the agency under the bus and made sure that his team kept the agency alive and on the table. Now there was a lot of other stuff that also had to happen for it to happen. But if he hadnt been there, we wouldnt have gotten the agency. At the same time, he picked his economic team and when the going got tough, his economic team picked Wall Street.

FRANK: You might say, always. Just about every time they had to compromise, they compromised in the direction of Wall Street.

WARREN: Thats right. They protected Wall Street. Not families who were losing their homes. Not people who lost their jobs. Not young people who were struggling to get an education. And it happened over and over and over. So I see both of those things and they both matter.

This is the harshest criticism could muster, and it's not exactly new. In fact, the original criticism of Obama's financial team when he picked them was that they were Clinton retreads, collected fat Wall Street paychecks and favored deregulation. Obama, in Warren's view, picked the wrong economic team, and they wound up pickingWall Street. Again, this isn't a new assessment of Obama, nor is it the kind of barn-burner denunciationsome liberals are apparently pining for.

Partly, it's because it wouldn't do Warren and her fellow Democrats any good to criticize the party and the president in a tough midtermyear. But Warrenhas shown plenty of reticence to criticize any of her fellow Democrats -- including Hillary Clinton.

Continue reading here:
Sorry, liberals. Elizabeth Warren still wont really criticize Obama or Clinton.

ACT deputy opposition leader Alistair Coe. Photo: Jay Cronan

An administrative tribunal challenge to freedom of information charges brought by ACT deputy opposition leader Alistair Coe will begin this week, as he seeks information on profits made by the Labor Party from changing the status on the lease of a Weston Creek club.

In August, bureaucrats from the ACT Environment and Planning Directorate asked the Liberal opposition to pay $2087 for the release of documents about the Weston Creek Labor Club, citing the need for 65 hours of work to collate information.

The charge included provision for nearly 29 hours to deciding what could be released, at a cost of $614.56.

Locating the required documents would take public servants 36 hours and cost $376.62, as well as charges of $1096 for photocopying.

Advertisement

Mr Coe applied to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal for the cost decision by the directorate's deputy director-general to be reviewed, arguing the release of the information was in the public interest.

He had previously sought for the fees to be waived by the directorate in keeping with long-standing convention that members of parliament are not charged for freedom of information requests.

The matter has been listed for consideration at a directions hearing on Wednesday.

Debate about concessional leases resumed in the ACT after a tribunal challenge over the Canberra Raiders' planned redevelopment of asite adjacent to Northbourne Oval in Braddon.

Read more:
Canberra Liberals challenge costs decision on Labor club FoI request