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Geopolitics

Keita Wins Mali Presidency, Eight Months After French Intervention

AFP, JOURNAL DU MALI (Mali)

Worldcrunch

BAMAKO – Former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won Mali’s presidency after his opponent conceded defeat late Monday.

Former Finance Minister Soumaila Cisse, who had denounced electoral fraud during the first round, congratulated his rival on his victory in Sunday’s second round. Cisse told the AFP: “My family and I went and congratulated Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and wished him good look.”

Ma famille & moi-même sommes partis chez M. Keita, futur président du Mali, le féliciter pour sa victoire. Que Dieu bénisse le #Mali

— Soumaila CISSE (@Soumailacisse) August 12, 2013

"My family and I went and congratulated Mr Keita, the future president of Mali, on his victory. May God bless Mali"

Keita, known by his initials, IBK, had been expected to win the vote as he was backed by 22 of the 25 candidates who did not qualify for the second round. However, the newly elected president was pleased by the conduct of the elections and the visit of his opponent, the local newswebsite, Journal du Mali, reports. "That is a symbol of the new Mali," Keita said Monday evening.

[rebelmouse-image 27086112 alt="""" original_size="350x376" expand=1]

The hardest part is still to come for the new Malian president. Indeed the election comes only a year-and-a-half after a military coup and eight months after a French-led intervention to oust Islamist rebels from the North of the country.

To help rebuild the state, Keita will have at his disposal more than $4 billion in foreign aid promised after a democratically elected government would be established in Mali.

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Economy

Lex Tusk? How Poland’s Controversial "Russian Influence" Law Will Subvert Democracy

The new “lex Tusk” includes language about companies and their management. But is this likely to be a fair investigation into breaking sanctions on Russia, or a political witch-hunt in the business sphere?

Photo of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Piotr Miaczynski, Leszek Kostrzewski

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland’s new Commission for investigating Russian influence, which President Andrzej Duda signed into law on Monday, will be able to summon representatives of any company for inquiry. It has sparked a major controversy in Polish politics, as political opponents of the government warn that the Commission has been given near absolute power to investigate and punish any citizen, business or organization.

And opposition politicians are expected to be high on the list of would-be suspects, starting with Donald Tusk, who is challenging the ruling PiS government to return to the presidency next fall. For that reason, it has been sardonically dubbed: Lex Tusk.

University of Warsaw law professor Michal Romanowski notes that the interests of any firm can be considered favorable to Russia. “These are instruments which the likes of Putin and Orban would not be ashamed of," Romanowski said.

The law on the Commission for examining Russian influences has "atomic" prerogatives sewn into it. Nine members of the Commission with the rank of secretary of state will be able to summon virtually anyone, with the powers of severe punishment.

Under the new law, these Commissioners will become arbiters of nearly absolute power, and will be able to use the resources of nearly any organ of the state, including the secret services, in order to demand access to every available document. They will be able to prosecute people for acts which were not prohibited at the time they were committed.

Their prerogatives are broader than that of the President or the Prime Minister, wider than those of any court. And there is virtually no oversight over their actions.

Nobody can feel safe. This includes companies, their management, lawyers, journalists, and trade unionists.

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