Sen. Clinton, down but not out, bucking for VP bid?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton says she's not out, but with rival Sen. Barack Obama securing his long-held lead, many are asking what she plans to do next.


Sen. Hillary Clinton says Tuesday she will let her supporters and party leaders decide her course.

1 of 2 Both candidates were in Washington on Wednesday, first to each address the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and later when they are both expected in the Senate for a budget vote.

Obama became his party's presumptive nominee Tuesday and will be looking to unite Democrats divided by the long and contentious primary season.

"She's an extraordinary leader of the Democratic Party, and has made history alongside me over the last 16 months. I'm very proud to have competed against her," Obama told the Israel lobbying group Wednesday.

Some say putting Clinton on the ticket might fit the bill for uniting Democrats, but the former first lady promised Tuesday that she wouldn't make an immediate decision on her future.

"Now, the question is: Where do we go from here?" she asked supporters Tuesday at New York's Baruch College. "And given how far we've come and where we need to go as a party, it's a question I don't take lightly. This has been a long campaign, and I will be making no decisions tonight."

Clinton lavished her opponent with praise, saying he ran an "extraordinary race" and made politics more palatable for many. Watch how the primary played out »


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"Sen. Obama has inspired so many Americans to care about politics and empowered so many more to get involved," she said. "Our party and our democracy is stronger and more vibrant as a result. So we are grateful."

But with some Democrats clamoring for her to join Obama on the ticket, and with the Democratic National Convention -- and thus, the official anointment -- still more than two months out, the senator from New York gave no hint as to her plan. See VP prospects' pros, cons »

She again invoked the popular vote, saying she snared "more votes than any primary candidate in history," but primaries come down to delegates, and according to CNN calculations, Obama has her whipped, 2,156 to 1,923. Watch why some Clinton faithful aren't ready to back Obama »

Even the White House seemed convinced of Obama's victory. White House press secretary Dana Perino said Wednesday that President Bush congratulated Obama on becoming the first black White House nominee from a major party. She said his win shows the United States "has come a long way."

But Clinton's supporters seemed undeterred Tuesday, chanting as she spoke, "Yes, she will! Yes, she will!"

But now Clinton will have to ask herself, will what?

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She vowed to keep fighting for an end to the war in Iraq, for universal health care, for a stronger economy and better energy policy, but she didn't indicate in what capacity she would wage these battles. That, she said, would be up to her supporters and the party brass. See what lies in store this fall »

"This has always been your campaign," she said. " I hope you'll go to my Web site at HillaryClinton.com and share your thoughts with me and help in any way that you can. And in the coming days, I'll be consulting with supporters and party leaders to determine how to move forward with the best interests of our party and our country guiding my way."

The party's best interests were high on the minds of party leaders Wednesday, as Sen. Harry Reid, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin and DNC Chairman Howard Dean called on Democrats to focus on the general election. Watch Obama liken electing Sen. John McCain to re-electing Bush »

"To that end, we are urging all remaining uncommitted superdelegates to make their decisions known by Friday of this week so that our party can stand united and begin our march toward reversing the eight years of failed Bush/McCain policies that have weakened our country," said a statement from the four.

Billionaire businessman Bob Johnson, a close Clinton adviser and friend, told CNN's "American Morning" on Wednesday that Obama could best forge party unity by offering Clinton the vice presidential slot.

A day after the final two primaries in South Dakota and Montana, Johnson sent a letter to House Majority Whip James Clyburn to lobby the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Clinton as Obama's running mate. Read the letter (PDF)

Saying Clinton would "entertain the idea if it's offered," Johnson told CNN, "This is Sen. Obama's decision. If the Congress members can come together and agree as I do that it would be in the best interest of the party to have Sen. Clinton on the ticket, they carry that petition to Sen. Obama." Watch how the world reacted to Obama's win »

"This is not a pressure. This is elected officials giving their best judgment," said Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television.

Johnson's letter to Clyburn says, "You know as well as I the deep affection that millions of African-Americans hold for both Senator Clinton and President Clinton."

It continues, "But most important, we need to have the certainty of winning; and, I believe, without question, that Barack Obama as president and Hillary Clinton as vice president bring that certainty to the ticket." Watch Johnson urge Obama to pick Clinton »

Johnson is one of many influential Clinton supporters, including Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, who have raised the prospect of her joining Obama on the ticket. They say she has solid credentials and wide appeal, exemplified by her popular support in states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, which will be crucial to a Democratic victory in the fall.

Obama and Clinton spoke by phone for a few minutes Wednesday. He told her he wants to "sit down when it makes sense" for her, said Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Clinton said that would happen soon, Gibbs said, but he also said Obama did not raise the issue of the vice presidency. Clinton campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe confirmed there had been "absolutely zero discussions" on the matter. Watch how an Obama/Clinton dream team might fare against McCain »

The Clinton campaign issued a statement saying she was open to becoming vice president.

"She would do whatever she could to ensure that Democrats take the White House back and defeat John McCain," the statement said.

Though he made no allusions to his possible running mate, Obama had high praise Tuesday for his rival and downplayed division between the two camps.


The country and the party "are better off because of her," he said of Clinton, adding that she is driven by "an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be."

"And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country -- and we will win that fight -- she will be central to that victory," he said.
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All About U.S. Presidential Election • Democratic Party • Hillary Clinton • Barack Obama

Obama crosses historic milestone

(CNN) -- Barack Obama has done what many just a year ago thought was impossible. He took on the most powerful family in Democratic politics and won.


Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday became the first African-American to head the ticket of a major political party.

On Tuesday, Obama became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, marking the first time an African-American will head the ticket of a major political party.

The first-term senator captured the Democratic nomination by beating out Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was hoping to become the first female nominee.

He also had to campaign against the senator's husband, former President Bill Clinton, one of the great political talents of the 20th century who, at least going into the primary season, enjoyed widespread popularity among Democrats.

During one debate, Obama wondered out loud if he was running against the wife or the husband, given the former president's high profile on the campaign trail.

The two Democratic candidates fought a protracted and, at times, bitter battle that carried them through every state and brought nearly 35 million of their supporters to the polls.

When Obama declared his candidacy in February 2007, he faced an uphill battle. Clinton, a former first lady and New York senator, was the favored candidate.

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Eleven months later, Obama proved the cynics wrong. He won Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses and, in what he called a "defining moment in history," he told his supporters "change is coming." Watch a recap of the primary season »

In the weeks that followed, what was once a wide field of candidates narrowed. Obama, once a long shot for the nomination, was in the final two.

His competition was fierce. Clinton, who boasted 35 years of experience and top-dollar supporters on her side, campaigned relentlessly.

She and Obama took the stage for more than 20 debates.

As the competition stiffened, their exchanges got heated. The two endured preacher-gate, Bosnia-gate, a bitter battle over the race card and other controversies that framed the race.

Questions arose over Obama's experience. Did a 46-year-old junior senator from Illinois have what it took to become the Democratic nominee?

Obama, the son of a white woman from Kansas and a father from a small village in Kenya, said yes.

Obama was used to defying expectations. He was the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. He was the third African-American since Reconstruction to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

But he tried to avoid being cast as the black candidate.

In a speech in March given to address the controversy surrounding his former pastor, Obama challenged Americans to take a closer look at race relations.

"I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible," he said.

"It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts -- that out of many, we are truly one."

Stop after stop, he preached a message of hope and unity.

His opponents criticized him for offering rhetoric and not solutions. But month after month, millions of voters believed.

On the night of his first victory, he told his supporters, "This was the moment when the improbable beat what Washington always said was inevitable."

Standing before a crowd of thousands Tuesday in St. Paul, Minnesota, Obama declared himself the Democratic nominee.

"Tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another -- a journey that will bring a new and better day to America," he said.

"Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States." Watch Obama declare himself the nominee »

Obama's rally was at the same arena that will house the 2008 Republican National Convention in September.

Previewing the battle ahead, Obama laid out his case against Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.

"This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past," he said. Watch Obama take aim at McCain »

"It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year."

But just hours earlier, McCain argued he represents the change the country needs. Watch McCain go on the offensive against Obama »

"No matter who wins this election, the direction of this country is going to change dramatically. But the choice is between the right change and the wrong change, between going forward and going backward," he said.

In recent weeks, McCain and Obama have provided a glimpse of the issues that will become themes of their general election fights.

McCain says Obama doesn't have the necessary experience. Obama counters, saying McCain will only bring four more years of President Bush's "failed policies."


The presidential hopefuls have already exchanged jabs over foreign policy, economics, housing woes and judgment.

The differences between the two are not subtle, and if recent scuffles are any indication of what lies ahead, the fight for the White House will be anything but subdued.
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Eastern Europe starts repaying Africa

The fall of the Iron Curtain cost Africa much in terms of reduced investments and development aid, which in the 1990s was redirected to Eastern Europe. But now, following EU demands and increased wealth, country after country in the region is setting up development cooperation agencies focusing on Africa, with booming budgets.

Slovenia, an ex-Yugoslavian republic bordering Austria and Italy, was the richest of the eight formerly Communist countries that entered the European Union (EU) in 2004, priding itself with a GDP per capita at US$ 17,700. But as a moderately rich nation, not even Slovenia came close to EU goals of spending 0.39 percent of GDP in development aid - let alone the UN recommendation of 0.70 percent of GDP.

As most other formerly Communist nations in East and Central Europe, Slovenia had benefited from generous EU programmes during the 1990s to reshape its economy, boost economic growth and make it fit for entering the common market. At the same time, analysts were complaining about the reduced efforts by rich, Western countries to assist African development.

Both investments and development aid for Africa were cut dramatically in real term during the 1990s, something analysts blamed both on an "aid fatigue" following the poor performance of African economies in the 1980s, but also on the new, large investments in Eastern Europe.

But in the longer run, Eastern Europe's growth and EU membership is set to pay off for African countries. Indeed, among the demands made by the EU to applying countries were their definition of an international development aid policy, plans to set up development aid agencies and adopting the long-term goal of spending at least 0.39 percent of GDP in development aid.

This is what is happening in country after country right now, as in Slovenia. After independence from Yugoslavia, foreign aid was unsystematic, amounted to a microscopic percentage of GDP and was mainly given as ad hoc humanitarian aid to nearby countries, mainly war-ravaged ex-Yugoslavian republics. With the start of EU membership negotiations, however, aid turned more systematically.



By 2004, Slovenia's foreign aid had reached 0.10 percent of GDP and by 2007 it is estimated at 0.14 percent of GDP. This comes at the same time as a rapid growth in Slovenian GDP.

While the development aid budget is steadily growing, so is also the governmental development cooperation agency, which still is an integrated department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Like most other new EU members, Slovenia receives capacity building assistance from the EU and other countries with longer development aid traditions to make sure well functioning development aid agencies and programmes are established.

Also, as new funds emerge and the new agencies have received training, the geographical focus of these Eastern European aid agencies start shifting. Still, the poorer parts of South-eastern Europe "remains the priority of Slovenia's bilateral development cooperation," according to a whitepaper by the Ljubljana Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

But, "development policy which aims at poverty reduction must also be effective in Africa," the same document emphasises. "Slovenia's development cooperation will therefore also focus on Africa to a certain extent, in accordance with the EU development policy." There are already plans to co-finance projects carried out by Slovenian NGOs in Madagascar, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Uganda and Malawi.

The Czech Republic, also among the richest new EU members, has already come a bit further. In 2006, according to preliminary data by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prague government spent 0.11 percent of its considerable GDP on foreign aid. The government has promised to increase this percentage to 0.17 by 2010 and to 0.33 by 2015. Much of this will go to Africa.

Among the Czech development agency's eight - mostly European and Asian - priority countries, there are already two African ones; Angola and Zambia. According to Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, "in 2006, we implemented 18 bilateral development projects and 11 small local projects in eight countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2007, we expect to launch six new bilateral projects."

In 2006, the total value of the bilateral assistance projects in Sub-Saharan Africa by the Czech R
Medical aid provided by Polish medics from PolishAid to Angolans:
«Development aid is to more than triple by 2015.»

© afrol News / PolishAid
epublic nevertheless was only at about US$ 3 million. But according to Mr Schwarzenberg, this was only the beginning. "Encouraged by the good results of the pilot programmes, we have decided to allocate more funds and increase the number of what is known as micro-projects, projects bringing immediate and tangible results," he told African ambassadors in Prague in late May 2007.

Neighbouring Slovakia has even had time to set up a full-fledged development aid agency, Slovak Aid, on 1 January 2007 with the aim "to support implementation of the Slovak Republic's international commitments in the field of official development assistance." But the poorer half of former Czechoslovakia so far only has implemented one project i Africa (Kenya) and it lags behind in development aid spending (0.07 percent of GDP in 2006).

The eastern country that so far has come furthest in developing its aid policies is the region's most populous country, Poland, which also has the largest total GDP among the newer EU members. In Warsaw, the agency PolishAid has been set up as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Angola has been Poland's only African "partner country" for several years, but since 2004, PolishAid has also given assistance through its Small Grants Fund for the African continent. Still, in 2005 only 2 percent - or US$ 1 million - of PolishAid's bilateral aid went to Africa. More than half went to Europe's poorest countries. But the Warsaw government plans to change this as development aid is to more than triple by 2015, as percentage of GDP. Tanzania is already set to become Poland's next African "partner country".

Also Hungary, the second most populous of the countries joining the EU in 2004, is slowly discovering Africa. "We intend to pay greater attention to Africa," promised Hungarian Foreign Minister Kinga Göncz during the first celebration of Africa Day on 25 May 2007 in Budapest, meeting African ambassadors.

While Hungary reached a 0.1 percent of GDP spending in development aid in 2006, national humanitarian agencies complain that growth in spending is now all too slow. Given the country's current economic crisis, the development aid budget for 2007 was cut considerably. "Our goal is not only to keep the cooperation at the present level, but also to develop further the relationship that we established in the past decades," Minister Göncz nevertheless promised African ambassadors. His Ministry currently receives training from the Canadian development aid agency CIDA to empower it to launch projects in Africa.

Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia are among the fore-riders in setting up national development aid agencies and reaching EU spending targets among the new member states. But also poorer countries, like the Baltic ex-Soviet republics, are making steady advances.

Estonia, for example, only spent 0.01 percent of GDP on foreign aid in 1998, which steadily increased to 0,05 percent in 2004 and aims at reaching 0.10 percent in 2010 and 0.35 percent in 2015. Equally, Estonia still has no African development projects, but foresees this for the coming years.

In 2007, two new big eastern countries joined the EU, Bulgaria and Romania, both the poorest current member states. But the year before joining the EU, Romania had already started to adhere to EU demands and spent 0.04 percent of GDP on development assistance. Like other EU newcomers, Romania and Bulgaria have pledged to increase this percentage to 0.17 by 2010 and to 0.33 by 2015 - meaning an almost tenfold increase in just one decade.

At the moment, development aid for African countries is still very modest from the EU's new members. But the tide is just about to turn as most countries will have to double their aid by 2010, and then again triple it by 2015. In this process, the most advanced eastern donors have already shown, new relations with Africa have to be made. And African governments could start finding key partners in Eastern Europe right now, as the window is wide open.




By staff writers

© afrol News

Nigeria to press SA for compensation

28 May - Nigeria will press for compensation from the South African government, for its citizens victimised and chased away from their homes in the xenophobic violence that broke out two and half weeks ago.

At least 56 people have been reported dead and tens of thousands left homeless, mainly in South Africa's Gauteng province, since the attacks started. The situation has calmed down since humanitarian crisis agencies took centre stage in the country.

Nigeria's Foreign Minister, Ojo Maduekwe, announced late yesterday that his government would press South Africa for compensation for its citizens affected by the xenophobic attacks in that country.

Mr Maduekwe said the Nigerian Mission in South Africa was busy compiling a comprehensive list of Nigerians who lost properties during a wave of violence and also to evaluate adequate amount sought for compensation.

The Nigerian government has condemned the unjustified attacks that have been perpetrated on fellow Africans.

He said violence on other Africans would be a major setback for Africa to integrate and form one unified block, calling for a better education of South Africans to realise that other Africans were instrumental to their independence.

The violence has now spread to the Eastern Cape Province with a Tuesday petrol bombing of a Chinese-owned business negating claims by government just a day before that the unrest was contained.

South African opposition parties have lashed on President Thabo Mbeki's political decision to attend an international conference in Tokyo, Japan while his country was in crisis, saying he should have stayed in the country to visit and console the victims.

The xenophobic attacks which are a result of South African citizens complaining that foreigners were to blame for high crime rate and lack of employment opportunities, have opened new questions on the integrity and capability of South Africa in hosting the 2010 World Cup as well as a 'big brother' looked up by the smaller regional neighbours.



By staff writers

© afrol News

MOZAMBIQUE: Returnees at a loss after fleeing South Africa

MAPUTO , 27 May 2008 (IRIN) - Orlando Pereira and Agostino Antônio Bila are two of the more than 26,000 Mozambicans who have fled South Africa and returned to their country of origin with little more than stories of hatred.

Pereira, 20, hawked washcloths and dishtowels in Jamestown, a small town in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, while Bila, 17, sold CDs in Pretoria, about 50km north of Johannesburg.

Both have now returned to Chamanculo, a sprawling township on the outskirts of the Mozambican capital, Maputo, driven home by an outbreak of xenophobia that has left 56 people dead, most of whom are thought to be Mozambicans.

The young men sat at a table in a small bar, passing around a bottle of locally produced gin, and told IRIN how their homes were burnt by mobs, and about their journey to safety.

"They invaded the suburb where we were and ordered us out, saying that there are no jobs for them because Mozambicans accept little money for a lot of work," said Bila, who was staying with his sister-in-law in Pretoria. "They said, 'We only want the Machanganas,'" a slang term used by South Africans for Mozambicans. He has since lost touch with his sister-in-law.

Asked about their future, the men shrugged and said they hoped to find work in Mozambique. "I'm not going back," said Bila. "I'm staying right here."

They invaded the suburb where we were and ordered us out, saying that there are no jobs for them because Mozambicans accept little money for a lot of work
Amid the blind hatred there were incidents of kindness: Donaldo Ramos Paz Amade, 20, said a South African neighbour allowed him to store his possessions at his house before his own dwelling was razed.

"My boss [in South Africa] gave me his phone number and said to call him if things get better and he will come pick us up," said Amade, who worked in construction for two years. "I'll go back to get my things, but to work, no."

Mozambicans have a long tradition of working in South Africa, even during the apartheid years, and are viewing the treatment of their fellow citizens with a sense of betrayal. "Ingratos" (ungrateful people) said the headline of the latest edition of a Mozambican weekly newspaper, Savana.

At a concert in Maputo on Friday, pop singer Stewart Sukuma denounced the xenophobic violence and referred to the high cost Mozambique bore by hosting South Africa's guerilla armies when they were fighting apartheid. The audience applauded when he asked: "Have they forgotten who helped South Africa in its struggle to free itself?"

But beyond the condemnation of South Africa's violence against foreigners, in which some people were burnt alive while those watching laughed callously, there was trepidation that the wave of returnees, who arrived with little more than the clothes on their back, would aggravate the problems at home.

Crime wave fears

The predominant concern of Maputo residents was that crime would increase, particularly in the capital's suburbs, where many of the returnees have arrived.

"It's necessary to know that unemployment is one of the premises that can put people on the path to practicing illicit acts for their survival, and we have to gather our forces so that this doesn't happen," Vice-Minister for the Interior, José Mandra, told the local news agency, MediaFax.

Antônio Bonifacio, spokesman for Mozambique's Institute for the Management of Calamities (INGC), which coordinated the transport for the returnees and set up a resettlement centre, said only 18 people were still there on 25 May. "It's just a transit centre," he said. "People arrive, get in a car and go home. We give them a ride and a meal."

According to MediaFax, even Mozambicans working on South Africa's mines and housed in compounds, fearing invasion by xenophobic mobs, were pleading with their employers to let them return home until the situation calmed down.

MediaFax reported that J.C. Gold Mine, on Johannesburg's East Rand, had suspended its operations and allowed 190 of its Mozambican miners to return home after mobs attempted to assault them at their compound on 18 May.

Mozambican government officials were reportedly in discussions with the owners of the East Rand Proprietary Mine (ERPM), in Boksburg, to repatriate another 700 miners, who were currently under police protection. An estimated 72,000 Mozambicans are employed in South Africa's mining industry.

Malawi and Zimbabwe

Jeffrey Kanyinji, principal secretary in Malawi's ministry of information, reportedly told an international news agency that "As of now, 3,000 Malawians have registered to return home. The number may increase, depending how the situation settles down in South Africa." The first busload of people arrived in Blantyre, the country's second city, on 26 May.

The International Organisation for Migration, quoting estimates by the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said about 25,000 Zimbabweans had fled to Zambia to escape the economic chaos and political crisis in their home country, and thousands more were seeking refuge in other Southern African countries.

Estimates of the number of Zimbabweans in South Africa range from one million to more than three million; a consequence of unemployment rates of more than 80 percent and recent post-election violence.

According to reports, about 80,000 to 100,000 foreign nationals are thought to have been displaced by the outbreak of xenophobic violence 16 days ago in South Africa.

em/go/he




Theme(s): (IRIN) Economy, (IRIN) Migration, (IRIN) Refugees/IDPs

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