MEPs strongly condemn the mass killing of civilians with chemical weapons on 21 August 2013 in the outskirts of Damascus and urge that measures be taken to prevent any further use of chemical weapons in Syria or elsewhere. They say the UN Security Council must get the report of the UN inspection team as soon as possible and they also voice support for the proposal to hand the Syrian chemical weapons to international community for its destruction as soon as possible.

The international community’s ultimatum must be accompanied by a binding United Nations Security Council resolution, which, if not respected, could be imposed on the basis of “all the instruments provided for in the United Nations Charter”, MEPs underline.

Parliament says Russia and China must face their responsibility as permanent members of the Security Council to achieve a common position and a diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis. In the event of a persistent blockage in the Security Council, the matter could be referred to the UN General Assembly, MEPs stress.

A lasting solution to the current crisis in Syria can be achieved only through an inclusive political process backed by the international community, MEPs say. They call for President Bashar Assad and his regime to step aside.

The EU must live up to its humanitarian responsibility and step up its assistance to Syrian refugees, MEPs say, urging all sides of the conflict to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid and assistance.

Until even yesterday, the government was withdrawing provisions and submitting new ones in a bid to ensure its deputies back the legislation and to avoid alienating hundreds of mayors who have angrily opposed the proposed reforms, Kathimerini writes.

In an attempt to win the backing of all 155 lawmakers of the 2-party coalition, the government made several concessions withdrawing or altering certain provisions (e.g. one related to disciplinary action for mayors exceeding their budget limits), Capital.gr says.

The last-minute changes included the withdrawal of an amendment that would have given the 2,656 former employees of the defunct state broadcaster ERT a larger compensation package than other state company workers. Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis introduced several changes including the exemption from a mobility scheme for civil servants of municipal police officers employed in municipalities with fewer than 5,000 residents.

Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras announced through a video message a VAT reduction on Greek food catering services (restaurants, hotel restaurants, cafeterias, etc.). VAT will be reduced from 23% to 13% starting on August 1st.

During his message, the Premier also said that the decision by the troika of lenders to adopt the suggestion for lowering of the VAT during Greece’s summer season, is the first announcement of a tax decrease in Greece.

Samaras said that certain measures included in the memorandum would not be introduced in 2014, “which means that there will be no new cuts in pensions and salaries of the armed forces; nor will there be an additional tax of 0,002% on business turnover,” achievements that showed “we have “If tax evasion continues as usual, VAT will climb back to 23%. But if it works out, I am sure more reductions in unbearable taxes will follow,” the PM said.

Samaras asserted that better days are coming. “We are not resting on our laurels. We will climb up the hill and get to the very end, which is not far,” he added.

However, Kathimerini understands that the troika only agreed to the VAT reduction in the food services sector after the government agreed to cut EUR 100 million from the Defense Ministry’s arms procurement programme. Athens and the troika disagreed about what kind of hole the change in VAT would leave in public revenues. Greece’s lenders thought it would be closer to EUR 130 million but eventually gave ground.

The omnibus bill was passed by 168-123 vote on Sunday night, with the support of the three parties comprising Greece’s ruling coalition.

About 2,000 civil servants will be laid off by the end of May, another 2,000 by the end of the year and 11,500 by the end-2014, a total of 15,500.

The measures in the bill had been settled with the troika earlier this month. Greece had to adopt them to qualify to receive its next tranche of loans worth 8.8bn euros.

The legislation included other reforms, such as the number of installments debtors to the state will have to pay the tax and social security contributions they owed, according to eKathimerini.

Athens now expects to receive 8.8 billion euros by mid-May.

Eurozone officials will now meet on Monday to approve the release of 2.8bn euros, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said, according to Reuters news agency. Eurozone finance ministers will then meet on May 13 to release a further 6bn euro installment, he added.

Although the number of public sector employees has fallen steadily since the start of the crisis, this is the first time that the government will directly dismiss bureaucrats, eKathimerini writes. They will, however, be replaced by new hires.

Greeks protested in front of the parliament against the government’s plan to lay off thousands of public-sector workers in advance of the voting.

According to protothema.gr, yesterday evening, and after many consultations on Greek Constitution and parliamentary Standing Orders, the majority (ND, PASOK, DIMAR) decided that the process be done in one sitting with 3 separate votes -one for each proposal- and a total of 7 polls.

The coalition has proposed that only former Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou be probed in connection with the handling of the Lagarde list following the revelation by prosecutors last month that the names of three of his relatives were removed from the list, Kathimerini writes.

SYRIZA wants Papaconstantinou’s successor Evangelos Venizelos, who leads PASOK, to be investigated along with the former. And the two smaller opposition parties, Independent Greeks and the Golden Dawn want former premiers George Papandreou and Lucas Papademos to be probed too. It is expected that, for each of the votes, MPs will be given ballot papers with the names of all four politicians and the charges they would face.

The participation of MPs in all 3 votes is not mandatory, but New Democracy says “we will participate to the end. There is no question of withdrawal.”

The process is expected to will begin at 10 am and the voting is expected at 6 pm.

The political frenzy surrounding the Lagarde list affair has resulted in limiting the parliamentary discussion to the process, to increasing or decreasing the number of ballot boxes and votes and losing the actual substance which is placing the blame where blame is due, political analysts have suggested.

SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras said that “it is inconceivable that this was decided in the meeting of the three political leaders. The smooth functioning of parliament is being undermined and essentially we have a procedure that removes the secrecy of the vote. This has never happened before in the Greek parliament and reveals panic. Venizelos is self-incriminating himself by asking Samaras for protection. But at the same time he becomes his hostage.” Venizelos, on the other hand insists that “the perpetrator of this conspiracy against PASOK” is the main opposition party.

Finally, late yesterday tovima.gr wrote that SYRIZA is examining the possibility of withdrawing from the voting process if the majority insisted on its proposal for setting up seven polls.

This tactic, SYRIZA people maintain, waves the secrecy of the vote, in a way ‘protecting Mr. Venizelos, who main opposition would like to see investigated about his responsibility regarding the Lagarde list affair.

Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis reiterated his opposition to further cuts in wages, pensions, benefits and other labour market reforms contained in the multi-bill. This means he will vote against the whole bill, since the government has decided to place all the bill’s provisions in a single article in a “take it or leave it” message to the MPs Associated Press writes.

A vote on the multi-bill will most likely take place on Thursday and the budget vote will take place at midnight on Sunday.

A deal on keeping Greece afloat and providing more bailout money for the near-bankrupt state is unlikely to be reached next week when Eurozone finance ministers meet in Brussels, a senior EU official said yesterday to Reuters. According to the same source, the Eurozone still had to find a formula to make the Greek debt sustainable and finance it and that several countries, including Germany, also had to discuss the matter with their parliaments.

“The November 12 meeting will not be the final stage. We’re not so much under the gun as it may seem,” the official said, adding that Greece could meet its financial obligations without further financial assistance until the end of November or even early December.

“A deal is still likely in November, but not necessarily on November 12,” the official added. “There will be no deal until there is a deal on all the different strings of the package. We will not disburse the next tranche until all details are in place”. Link

Meanwhile, GSEE and ADEDY umbrella unions have called a general strike Tuesday and Wednesday. Fixed-track and other public transport services will be affected throughout the week as well.

Lawyers across the country are suspending activity for five days starting yesterday, while prosecutors are extending their strike to November 18.

Athens Metro, ISAP and Tram will not run today. Train services are expected to be cancelled as well, after the rail union announced its participation to the strike.

Disruptions are also expected at Athens International Airport from a three-hour stoppage by air-traffic controllers, starting at 10 a.m.

Ships will remain tied at the ports on Tuesday and Wednesday as the Board of the Panhellenic Maritime Federation (PNO) decided to participate in the 48-hour general strike.

Taxis began rolling 24-hour strikes yesterday, while hospital doctors are on a three-day walkout through Wednesday. Also pharmacies across the country will be closed on Wednesday.

Bank employees, OTOE and OME-OTE will also join in the 48-hour strike.

Journalists also held a 24-hour strike yesterday, so no newspapers will be published today. Media workers have also announced a work stoppage for Tuesday from 10 am – 2.30 pm and on Wednesday from 4 pm to 7pm.

Talks about Greece exiting the euro will end after critical votes in Parliament this week on new austerity measures, labor reforms and the 2013 budget, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said yesterday in a speech he delivered to the meeting of the ND parliamentary group.

“As soon as the new measures are passed and we get the critical aid tranche, liquidity will start again to feed businesses and households, uncertainty will end, sentiment will change and the fear of a return to the drachma will disappear,” Samaras told New Democracy MPs at a party meeting, Kathimerini writes.

The Premier had separate meetings with his coalition partners, in an effort to restore unity around the austerity package and 2013 budget to be put up for voting in Parliament on Wednesday.

Although Maximos Mansion appears certain that the measures will pass the critical vote next Wednesday, it is watching with concern the intraparty shocks in the government partners that are also reflected abroad, protothema.gr reports.

Prime Minister’s office told the paper with certainty that despite the refusal of DIMAR the measures will pass with the majority of ND and PASOK. They add that on Sunday, November 11, just one day before the crucial Eurogroup meeting, all three coalition parties will vote for the budget that traditionally has the character of a confidence vote. The negative impressions about DIMAR due to its rejection of the labour package will decrease outside the country as well by its vote on the budget.

In a clear message to the Democratic Left, Samaras said: “I can understand why some of those who have are on our side are having seconds thoughts. I understand that the next crucial steps are big and difficult, but they are worth the trouble. I am making a plea to everyone to proceed with us till the end.”

Sources close to the Premier said that contact with the coalition parties and the troika would continue until Wednesday’s vote, when the structural reforms will be put to vote, but it was unlikely that any major concessions would be made. Should Democratic Left fail to support the measures, there is a possibility it will reject the budget, which will be voted on late Sunday. This would likely lead to the party quitting the coalition.

Meanwhile, GSEE and ADEDY umbrella unions have called a general strike Tuesday and Wednesday. Fixed-track and other public transport services will be affected throughout the week as well. According to media reports, the Athens Metro will operate only on Wednesday.

Lawyers across the country are suspending activity for five days starting today, while prosecutors are extending their strike to November 18.

Municipal workers are expected to hold sit-ins at city halls, garbage truck depots and waste management facilities today.

Disruptions are also expected at Athens International Airport on Tuesday from a three-hour stoppage by air-traffic controllers, starting at 10 a.m.

“The change met the expectations of most Somalis and has raised higher expectations for more change,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), Augustine P. Mahiga, told a Security Council meeting on Somalia.

The war-torn Horn of Africa nation now has a new Constitution, a new Parliament and new elected Speaker and President. Earlier this month, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud appointed Abdi Farah Shirdon as the new Prime Minister. Once confirmed, Shirdon will form the country’s first post-transition Government.

Briefing the 15-member body via video-conference, Mr. Mahiga added that the Somali authorities now urgently need assistance to meet new challenges. Among the priority tasks facing the new administration is to move quickly to lead in the stabilization of the liberated areas.

“This is critical in filling the vacuum which could otherwise emerge from the retreat of the insurgents,” the envoy said. “The immediate challenge which the Government faces is, hence, the establishment of local and district administrations, justice and rule of law, as well as to provide basic services to the population.”

He noted that the security situation in Somalia has “vastly improved,” thanks to the continuing efforts of the UN-supported African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the Ethiopian forces and the Somali Government and its local allied forces.

“The fall of Kismayo, the last stronghold of the extremist Al-Shabaab insurgents, in late September, marked a decisive turning-point in the conflict,” he stated, referring to the southern port city that was liberated by AMISOM. “The challenge now is to align the security and political strategies in Kismayo as part of the overall stabilization strategy in the newly-recovered areas.”

Although the Al-Shabaab has now dispersed into a “rag-tag militia,” it has nonetheless, embarked on more asymmetrical, terrorist and hit-and-run tactics as it occasionally does in Mogadishu, said the UN official.

“These are tactics which AMISOM and the Somali forces must be equipped to deal with, as they control more territory and their lines of supply get extended. Another worrying trend is the ongoing assassinations and targeted killings of civilians,” Mahiga said. “These trends call for the expeditious deployment of AMISOM to its full strength, with the necessary logistical support and the enhanced training and strengthening of the Somali Security Forces.”

It is also essential that AMISOM – the current mandate for which expires on 31 October – is supported to control more effectively the coastal waters around Mogadishu, Marka, Baraawe and Kismayo, in order to protect its own forces, supply lines, interrupt Al-Shabaab re-supply lines and effectively secure the ports for commercial use, Mahiga added.

The African Union (AU) has informed the Council that, working together with the UN, it intends to undertake a thorough assessment of AMISOM and how best it can contribute to the stabilization of Somalia in light of the gains made on the ground and the challenges ahead. This process is expected to start in the next few weeks and to be concluded in the coming months.

In the meantime, the AU has requested that the Council authorize a technical rollover of the current support package for AMISOM for four additional months, until February 2013, with some slight adjustments “to take into account pressing issues on the ground,” according to a letter before the Council.

This includes requests for the deployment of an additional 50 civilian personnel across the Mission area, as well as a maritime component, taking into consideration “the critical role of naval assets for the effective implementation of the AMISOM mandate and the stabilization of Somalia.”

Mahiga said that UNPOS had begun a consultative process to review the future presence of the UN in Somalia, and that this would be led by the needs and expectations of the Somalis. He added that the political and security strides that Somalia has made must not distract the international community from the ongoing dire humanitarian situation, in which more than two million Somalis remain in urgent need of food aid and other assistance.

Funding is drying up, less than one year after famine raged and despite negative humanitarian indicators, he noted. “I urge the international partners to sustain and expand their assistance to Somalia, to prevent it from sliding back into famine and misery,” he said.

“After two decades of civil war, a collapsed state and innumerable indignities to the proud Somali people, we are hours away from the election of a new president – the event that will completely end the transitional period and move us towards a phase of political and socio-economic transformation,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Augustine P. Mahiga, said in an open letter to the country’s parliamentarians.

Mahiga, who also heads the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), called on the parliamentarians to choose the candidate who will be “honest and effective in leading the country with a vision appropriate for the next four years of transformation and peace-building.”

After decades of warfare, Somalia has been undergoing a peace and national reconciliation process, with the country’s transitional governing arrangements coming to an end with the implementation of the so-called Roadmap for the End of Transition.

The 10 September election will mark the culmination of a series of landmark events in recent weeks, including the adoption of Somalia’s provisional constitution, the inaugural meeting of its new parliament – which Mahiga described as the “most qualified and representative” in the country’s history – and the appointment of that body’s speaker.

“It has not been easy getting us to this point,” noted Mahiga. “In addition to the privations you have all endured during these past difficult years, the political process and the security situation has not been easy. There have been moments when all seemed lost and we have sometimes been on the brink of despair.

“Nevertheless, somehow, the courage, tenacity and determination of the Somali people has overcome these formidable obstacles and brought us to where we are now.”

He urged them to listen to the presidential candidates as they publicly present their visions, and to make their choice accordingly, adding that all Somalis, the region and the rest of the international community are watching during these remaining few days.

“My brothers and sisters, it is all up to you,” he added. “You are the highest sovereign authority in the land. You are the custodians of the future which is now in your hands.”

The Council welcomed these “landmark” events in a statement issued to the press, after receiving a closed-door briefing on the latest developments on Tuesday from the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga

Professor Mohammed Osman Jawari was selected as speaker of the New Federal Parliament that was inaugurated on 20 August, in an election that laid the groundwork for an imminent round of voting to appoint the Parliament’s Deputy Speakers. This, in turn, would be followed by the election of the Horn of Africa nation’s President.

Some 260 Members of Parliament have now either been sworn in or are pending imminent ratification, with 15 names still remaining before the new Somali legislature reaches its total of 275 constituents.

After decades of warfare, Somalia has been undergoing a peace and national reconciliation process, with the country’s transitional governing arrangements winding down with the implementation of the so-called Roadmap for the End of Transition.

“The members of the Council called on the new Federal Parliament to discharge its responsibilities with independence, transparently and free from undue influence or coercion,” said the statement.

They also underlined the importance of a fully functioning Parliament and that the remaining seats should be agreed and filled as quickly as possible.

In addition, the Council members urged all signatories to the so-called Roadmap for the End of Transition to continue to work together and bring a swift end to the transitional governing arrangements.

“They called on the signatories to refrain from unilateral action and to continue the process of dialogue and compromise,” the statement noted. “They underlined that Parliament should now elect a president without further delay.”

Libya’s National Transitional Council, which has ruled the country since last year’s uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, on Wednesday handed power to the new assembly.

Megarief a former diplomat who had lived in exile since the 1980s and led the Libyan National Salvation Front, , won with 113 votes in the General National Congress against liberal independent Ali Zidane, who got 85.

Crowds in central Tripoli celebrated after the handover, which was the first peaceful transition of power in Libya’s modern history since Gaddafi’s 4 decade rule.

Magarief, will head the 200-member congress, which is tasked with will naming a prime minister and passing laws until full parliamentary elections can be held under a new constitution.

The assembly was also set to pick two deputies for Magarief, who had been seen as a leading contender for the top job.

The peaceful transition came as a car bomb exploded near the offices of the military police in Tripoli in the early hours Saturday, in the first such attack in the Libyan capital since the start of a revolt that toppled the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Several violent incidents have rocked Libya in recent days Libya but these have been mostly confined to the eastern part of the country and included offices of military intelligence and the assassination of a former senior military officer, according to Reuters. 

In the new assembly, 80 seats are held by parties. A liberal coalition led by wartime rebel prime minister Mahmoud Jibril won 39 of those seats, while the Justice and Construction Party – the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood – won 17, according to Al Jazeera, while the remaining 120 seats are in the hands of independent candidates whose allegiances are hard to pin down.