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A SECOND CHANCE FOR OBAMA
THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2012
GLOBAL.NYTIMES.COM
Vote over, divisions remain
Costly fight
may return
gridlock to
Washington
WASHINGTON
BY PETER BAKER
After $6 billion, two dozen presidential
primary election days, two national con-
ventions, four general election debates,
hundreds of congressional contests and
more television advertisements than
anyone would ever want to watch, the
NEWS ANALYSIS
two major parties in America essen-
tially fought to a standstill.
When all the shouting was done, the
American people on Tuesday more or
less ratified the status quo that existed
at the start of the day: They returned
President Barack Obama to the White
House for another four years, reaf-
firmed Republican control of the House
and kept the Senate in Democratic
hands. As of Wednesday morning, the
margins in the House and Senate had
each changed by just a seat or two.
The tie in effect went to the Demo-
crats, who had more to lose but did not.
Not only did they retain the presidency
—they kept control of the Senate and in-
deed added slightly to their majority.
The Republicans lost a signal chance to
win Senate seats in states that by most
measures should be their territory, as in
Indiana, Missouri and apparentlyNorth
Dakota, while losing seats they had held
inMaine andMassachusetts.
But the scorecard left Washington
deeply divided. The profound debate
that has raged over the size and role of
government, the balance between
spending and austerity, and the level of
taxation remains unsettled. The next
two years could easily duplicate the last
two as the parties battle it out.
In his victory speech, Mr. Obama
presented himself as ready for compro-
mise over the so-called fiscal cliff loom-
ing at the end of the year, when a series
of automatic tax increases and spend-
ing cuts are scheduled to take effect un-
DOUGMILLS/THE NEWYORK TIMES
President Barack Obama amid a shower of confetti early Wednesday after giving his victory speech at a rally in Chicago. ‘‘Tonight, you voted for action, not politics as usual,’’ he said. ‘‘You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours.’’
Republicans, stung by defeat,
begin search for next direction
BY MICHAEL COOPER
AND CARL HULSE
It was the morning of the Republican
hangover.
After four years in which the jobless
rate never dipped below7.8 percent, with
millions of Americans still unemployed
and median household income falling,
Having bet on Romney victory,
Netanyahu acts
to repair ties
INSIDE •
U.S. ELECTIONS
STUDYING THE PAST TO CARVE A LEGACY
With the help of historians, Barack
Obama looked at triumphs and failures
of past presidents in his effort to set the
United States on a new path.
PAGE 7
age-control statement declaring rela-
tions between the two nations ‘‘rock sol-
id’’ and promising to work with the
president ‘‘to advance our goals of
peace and security.’’
Word went out to leaders of his Likud
party, whose congratulatory state-
ments had included criticism of Mr.
Obama, that they should stop, and visit-
ors to the prime minister’s office report-
ed a funereal atmosphere.
‘‘Netanyahu backed the wrong
horse,’’ Mitchell Barak, a pollster and
strategist, said at amorning forumhere.
‘‘Whoever is elected prime minister is
going to have to handle the U.S.-Israel
relationship, and we all know Netan-
yahu is not the right guy.’’
Even one ofMr. Netanyahu’s coalition
partners, Eli Yishai of the Shas Party,
acknowledged, ‘‘This has not been a
very good morning for Netanyahu.’’
Fewbelieve thatMr. Obamawill try to
punish Mr. Netanyahu. But freed from
JERUSALEM
BY JODI RUDOREN
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of
Israel scrambled on Wednesday to re-
pair his relationship with a re-elected
President Barack Obama, summoning
the U.S. ambassador for a ceremonial
hug as his political rivals rushed to ex-
ploitMr. Obama’s victory to their advan-
tage in Israel’s own coming elections.
Mr. Netanyahu, who has a notoriously
tense relationship with Mr. Obama, had
seemingly bet heavily on a victory for
Mitt Romney in the election after divid-
ing sharply with the Obama administra-
tion over settlement building and how
aggressively to deal with Iran’s nuclear
program.
With Mr. Obama now assured a
second term, Israeli politicians accused
Mr. Netanyahu of having endangered
the alliance with the United States. The
prime minister quickly issued a dam-
‘WEWILL CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY. . . .’
In his victory speech, Mr. Obama said
that despite differences of opinion,
Americans shared hopes and dreams.
Excerpts.
PAGE 7
EUROPEAN BUSINESS VOTED ROMNEY
Business leaders in Europe were not
enthusiastic about Mr. Obama’s victory,
as they had more faith inMitt Romney
to steer the economy.
PAGE 9
BALANCE OF POWERS
Democrats expanded their control of
the U.S. Senate on Election Day, but
Republicans retained a firm hold on the
House of Representatives.
PAGE 11
ONLINE:
AFTER THE VOTES ARE COUNTED
For expanded coverage of the U.S.
elections, including up-to-date results,
news analysis and reaction from around
the world.
global.nytimes.com
ELECTION, PAGE 8
BREAKDOWN OF THE VOTE
Obama
Obama
Romney
NEWS ANALYSIS
Romney
Republicans still failed to unseat Presi-
dent Barack Obama and, for the second
election in a row, failed towin control of a
Senate that seemed within reach. The
second-guessing began quickly.
Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the
chairman of the National Republican
Senatorial Committee, captured the
feelings of many Republicans when he
said, ‘‘We have a period of reflection
and recalibration ahead for the Republi-
can Party.’’
‘‘While some will want to blame one
DON EMMERT/GETTY IMAGES-AFP
Mitt Romney conceding defeat. Some con-
servatives say he was too moderate.
wing of the party over the other,’’ he
said in a statement, ‘‘the reality is candi-
dates from all corners of our G.O.P. lost
tonight. Clearly we have work to do in
the weeks and months ahead.’’
As Republicans pondered their party
60.1
57.4
303
206
POPULAR VOTE
ELECTORAL VOTE
270 needed to win
29 not assigned
In millions
REPUBLICANS, PAGE 10
ISRAEL, PAGE 9
Results as of 1800 U.T.C.
BUSINESS
London and Berlin lock horns
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany
is using meetings this week to try to
keep Prime Minister David Cameron of
Britain from bringing negotiations on a
new seven-year budget for the
European Union to a halt. London aims
to freeze or even cut spending by the
bloc.
PAGE 19
Europe trims growth estimates
An economic recovery in the European
Union next year will be weak and
joblessness will remain high, the
European Commission saidWednesday,
downgrading its expectations for
growth. The economy will only begin to
pick up in 2014, it said.
PAGE 19
EADS sites raided in Germany
Prosecutors in Germany confirmed
Wednesday that police officers had
raided several offices of European
Aeronautic Defense & Space as part of
an investigation into alleged corruption
in the sale of Eurofighter jets to
Austria.
PAGE 19
WORLDNEWS
VIEWS
Thomas L. Friedman
In the end, the election came down to
a majority of Americans believing that
whatever his faults, President Obama
was trying his hardest to fix what ails
the country.
PAGE 13
Hu’s great gamble
President Hu Jintao bet that going all
out for growth in China’s gross
domestic product would pave the way
for social reform. We will soon see if he
was right, Kerry Brown writes.
PAGE 12
ONLINE
Social media’s role in court
When the legal defense team for
George Zimmerman created aWeb
site, a Twitter page and a Facebook
account to bolster his claim of self-
defense in the killing of TrayvonMartin
in Sanford, Florida, in February, the
lawyers also created a modernized
blueprint for deploying social media in
a high-profile murder case.
nytimes.com/technology
ALEXANDER F. YUAN/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
More intrigue in Beijing
As Communist leaders prepare for their 18th
Party Congress, which starts on Thursday, the former president Jiang Zemin has
thrust himself back into China’s most important political decisions.
PAGE 5
Syrian judge is assassinated
Insurgents also escalated attacks
on targets near President Bashar al-
Assad’s palace in Damascus.
PAGE 4
Residents urged to flee storm
Officials in the New York region
mobilized for another storm that
threatened more damage.
PAGE 6
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No. 40,330
Business 19
Crossword 18
Culture 15
Sports 17
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2
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2012
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
page two
Congress
shows spine
for a change
tive with ‘‘FDI’’ (forforeign direct in-
vestment) stuck on his chest.
The Congress party has beenresol-
ute and has withstoodallopposition
from friends and foes,which is unchar-
acteristic. The party has many
strengths, but spine has neverbeen
among them.OnSunday,the party told
the peoplethattherewas evidence
from othercountries to suggestthat
the arrival ofretail chains likeWalmart
would create more jobs, not deplete
them. Several Indian statesare set to
open the multibrand retail segmentto
foreign chains, but some state govern-
mentshave said thatthey will not. In-
dia’sfederal structure gives every
state the righttoreject someof the
policies of the central government.
In his speech onSunday, Rahul
Gandhi said that India’s biggest prob-
lem was thatthe political system was
flawed and that Indian politics did not
permit a fair representation of the
‘‘common man.’ ’ A majority of Indian
politicians,especially the younger
onesinthe Congress party, hail from
political families.Mr. Gandhi’scom-
ment is a partof his self-whipping act,
as he himself is the biggest beneficiary
of dynastic munificence. He has, at
leastonce in public, said that he is ‘‘the
symptom’’ of the problem. It is not
clear how he plans to save Indian poli-
tics fromnepotism, but he has evident-
ly decided to whip himself, as strategy
orpenance, until he knows the an-
swers.
There is a touch of martyrdom in his
tone and words. Heoften manages to
spin the privilegeof his political ances-
try as an inescapabletrap ofdestiny
from which he choosesnot to escape
because hewants to serve the nation.
It is inevitablethatthe Congress
party’s fighttoredeemitself will in-
creasingly depend on his royalty-like
branding.
The chief tormentors of the party
have been the new anti-corruptionre-
volutionaries and an old political foe,
Subramanian Swamy, presidentof the
Janata Party,who surfaces every now
and then with extraordinary allega-
tions ofcorruption againstthe Gandhi
family. But there is some comfort for
the Congress party. Itsrival,the Bhar-
atiya Janata Party, is a bitworseoff.
The newsmedia have long accused
the anti-corruptionactivists offunc-
tioning like secret mercenaries of the
B.J.P. Finally, last month,oneof the ac-
tivists,Arvind Kejriwal, perhaps in a
move to lend himself greatercredibili-
ty, producedseeming evidenceofcor-
ruption againstthe B.J.P.’spresident,
Nitin Gadkari. Sincethen,the hefty Mr.
Gadkari has sunk deeper and deeper
into apolitical quagmire and the
B.J.P.’sleadership has looked disori-
ented and confusedinitsrescue mis-
sions. It’sasifthe Congress were a
grand veteran who knowshow to take
seriousblows and the B.J.P. an ama-
teur who is easily rattled.
In the Congress party’s fight forsur-
vival,oneof the factors thatwill assist
it is an old charm:the sense among
voters thattheother partiesare prob-
ably worse.
Manu Joseph is editor of the Indian
newsweekly Open and author of the novel
‘‘The Illicit Happiness of Other People.’’
E-MAIL:
pagetwo@iht.com
Manu
Joseph
LETTER FROM INDIA
NEW DELHI
OnSunday,thousands of
people assembledinDelhi to have a
good time as three earnest but ungifted
orators talkedabout the benefits of
‘‘foreign direct investment’’ and the
other things thatwill cometheir way
as long as theyare in the careof the
government ledbythe Indian National
Congress party.
The speakers werePrimeMinister
Manmohan Singh;the Congress
party’spresident, Sonia Gandhi; and
herson, Rahul Gandhi,the party’sgen-
eral secretary. The rally was intended
to bethewar cry of the party,which
has in recenttimesbeenhit byastring
ofcorruption charges. Reacting to the
huge gathering, Shashi Tharoor, minis-
ter ofstate forhuman resource devel-
opment, tweeted, ‘‘TheParty fights
back.’ ’
It is not unusual forapolitical party
to stage a rally orfor thousands to turn
up, but what
is unusual is theway the
Congress party has
chosen to rehabili-
tate itsbatteredim-
age as it preparesfor
the general elections,
which are scheduled
for2014.OnSunday,
the party did not
dwell onitsstandard
claims ofloving
farmers,ofsubsidiz-
ing lives and ofits
enduring love forall
religions and castes. Instead, ittried to
explain to the masses, a majority of
whom were fromrural areas,the im-
portance and the inevitability oflong-
term economic measures.
Among these reforms is the lifting of
restrictions onforeign retail chains in-
vesting in India. The government has
allowed these companies to own up to
51percentof their Indian venturesas
long as theycomply withcertain condi-
tions.
The change became controversial
after variouspolitical parties played on
the fears of millions of small local shop
owners who fear thatthey will become
irrelevant if stores likeWalmart and
CarrefourcometoIndia.Politicians
with obsolete ideas,of whom there are
many in the country,eveninvokedan
old Indian fear that is not widely per-
ceivedanymore—the ghostof the
East India Company,the British firm
that cametotradewith India and
ended upruling it. In October’sfestive
season,when theeffigies ofdemons
were ritually burned,oneof the
demons onastreet in Kolkata was the
effigy ofanEast India Company execu-
MERIDITH KOHUT FOR THE NEWYORK TIMES
Gustu, a new restaurant by the Danish chef Claus Meyer, will bring foreign chefs to Bolivian street markets like this one in La Paz, and will use local ingredients like llama meat and coca.
Haute c
uisine up in the Andes
The Congress
party is trying
to defend
the benefits
of foreign
direct
investment
by chains
like Walmart.
plantthat is used to make cocaine but
that has long been usedhere as a mild
stimulant, a tea and a medicinal herb.
Gustu’s mission will betoteach
Bolivians how to eat in healthier ways,
stimulate economic growth, tourism
and exports, support local farmers and
turn Bolivian cuisine into the nextworld
foodsensation.
If all goes well,Mr.Meyer said in a
telephone call fromCopenhagen,the
restaurantwill use food‘‘to changethe
destiny ofacountry.’ ’
The restaurant, being built in theup-
scale Calacoto neighborhood, hardly
looks like acrucibleofrevolution.Ona
recent day,workers installed insulation
in the roof. The kitchen was stacked
with bags ofconcrete mix and plaster.
Michelangelo Cestari,oneof the res-
taurant’shead chefs, said itwould be
the most advancedrestaurant in the
country, full of high-tech gadgets ofmo-
lecular gastronomy that atomize, froth
and otherwisetransform foods.
The restaurantwill serve only ingredi-
entsgrown orcreatedinBolivia.Wines
will come from the country’s handful of
wineries, and liquorwill be limited large-
ly to singani, alocal grape brandy.
Mr. Cestari pointed to a tall wall
wherewines will be stored and dis-
played, although he said theremight not
beenough Bolivian labels to fill it at
first. The idea, he said, is to help create
demand forlocal products.
Mr. Cestari, a pastry chef, is from
Venezuela and has workedforyears in
fine restaurantsinEurope. So has his
fellow head chef, Kamilla Seidler,who is
Danish.
Theonly Bolivian among the restau-
rant’s topcooks is Christian Gómez, the
seniorsouschef,whoworkedforyears
in Spain.
Theyare keenly awareof the risk of
being seenasoutsiders. ‘‘Perhaps it’s
arroganttothink we can come hereto
developagastronomy,’ ’ Mr. Cestari
said, ‘‘but we hopewecan push some-
thing.’ ’
He said themenuwould include items
inspiredbyBolivian dishes, like a lamb
onacross, made by splaying a whole
lamb onanironcross and cooking it
slowly overasmoky fire; or calapurca,
asoupheated by placing a hot rock in
the bowl.
Rather than simply serving typical
Bolivian fooddonewell, however,the
nomically.And he said that all profits
from the restaurantwould gotocharit-
able projectsinBolivia,which he chose
partly because itwasadeveloping
country withawide rangeof unique lo-
cal ingredients.
The project also includesacooking
schoolforyoung Bolivians frompoor
families,which will provide a trained
work force for the restaurant and,Mr.
Meyerhopes, create anew generation
of experimentally mindedchefs.
Onarecent morning, studentsatthe
school,which is run out ofanornate
mansionincentral La Paz, buzzed
around a crampedkitchen, making pork
chops and yucca fries. Thensomeof
them piledinto a van forafield trip to a
nearby market.
Ms. Seidler,oneof the head chefs,
said that because she arrivedinBolivia
only recently, sheoften finds herself
learning fromherstudents.Ata market
stall,Ms. Seidlerandastudent, Belén
Soria, pored over types of offal.Ms. Sor-
ia explainedhow indigenous women
prepared a mixtureof fried tripe and
potatoes thattheysell fromcartsat
night.
Ms. Soria, 24, said she grew uphelp-
ing her grandmothercook and sell api, a
sweet corn gruel that is a working-
person’sinexpensive morning staple.
‘‘Everyone has their ownknowledge,
things their grandparents told them,’ ’
she said. But she has less timetohelp
her grandmothernow that she is focus-
ing onherstudies.
‘‘We’re all curious to prepare new
things,with our ownstamp,’’ Ms. Soria
said. ‘‘Original things.’ ’
LA PAZ
Celebrated Danish chef
to open restaurant in
impoverished Bolivia
BYWILLIAMNEUMAN
Bolivia has not been kind to foreigners
trying to import revolution. The attempt
by theArgentine-born Che Guevara to
set offapeasant revolt hereended
badly. Theverdict is still out on the
latest foreigner to arrive in this impov-
erishednation trying to stir things up.
He is a chef, not aChe.
Claus Meyer, a Danish celebritychef
and restaurantentrepreneur, is oneof
theowners ofNoma, aCopenhagenres-
taurantthat is a darling offood critics
foritsmix oflocavore purismand avant-
garde cooking methods. Restaurant
magazine, a trade journal, ranks itthe
best restaurant in theworld.
Now Mr.Meyerisbuilding a restau-
rant here, an experiment in Andean
haute cuisinethat comes withhefty side
orders ofrevolution and high ambition.
Mr.Meyer,who cametoBolivia for
the firsttime last year and has been
back three times, described the restau-
rant, Gustu, due to openinJanuary, as
much morethan a placetoget a fancy
meal in the continent’spoorest country.
He and his followers describe it as the
startofaBolivian foodmovementthat
will rediscover ocal ingredients like
llama meat, chuños (potatoesdehyd-
rated high in theAndes) and coca,the
On the menu: Only ingredients
grown or created in Bolivia.
kitchen will usethe methodfavoredby
Mr.MeyerinDenmark offocusing ona
few basic ingredients and trying to
draw out their essence.
‘‘We don’t wanttodo French food or
fusion ornouvelle,’’ Mr. Gómez said.
‘‘We wanttodo something new witha
Bolivian identity.’ ’
Mr. Cestari said thatthe average din-
ner tab would be $50 to $60 aperson,
which he said is on par with other top
restaurantshere but still promptedsev-
eral Bolivians to gasp. The minimum
wage here is about $143 amonth.
Mr.Meyer will address that contra-
dictionsoonbyopening a bistro and
bakery where people can eat moreeco-
ONLINE:
INDIA INK
For continuous coverage and topical
conversation about the world's largest
democracy, go to
nytimes.com/indiaink
After 2 years
on the run, crocodile gets a home in Gaza
GAZA
BY FARES AKRAM
The crocodile is not native to the Gaza
Strip, but that did not stop one fromliv-
ing on the loose for two years in a
sewagetunnelinthe northern partof
thePalestinian enclave, having arrived
through oneof the smuggling tunnels
that runbeneath the border withEgypt.
Its first homewas a small poolinthe
Bissan resort, near thevillageof Aum
al-Nasser; itsneighbors were acommu-
nity ofBedouins living in shacks.
Perhaps yearning for thewild,the
reptile fledalong with two othercro-
codiles, alsotunnel entrants. The two
others were quickly found nearby.
News of the carnivorousfugitive in-
wherethe sewage is mixed withregular
water, according to acivil defensework-
er.
cal fishermen, including Jehad al-Sul-
tan, 49. ‘‘We spent a week paddling
through shallow sewagewater to catch
him,’ ’ Mr. Sultan said, adding thatthe
crocodilemanaged twicetobreak free of
the fishing netshiswould-be captors
wereusing,which he said were not
made for large creatures.On thethird
try,using heftiernetsintendedforcatch-
ing guitarfish,they were successful.
Mr. Sultan said he held the crocodile
tightly —very tightly — by itsclosed
jawuntil his fellow fishermen arrived to
help.
OnTuesday afternoon, he police
broughtthe crocodile, now caged,toa
small zoo in the northern GazaStrip.
Once releasedfrom the cage, it immedi-
atelymade its way to a familiar environ-
ment, a small pond with shallowwater.
Gaza’s AgricultureMinistry at first
deniedreports thattherewas a cro-
codile lurking in the pool. But Abed Abu
Guinas,who livesinAumal-Nasser,
said residentsbegan to suspectthatthe
crocodilewas in oneof the seven
sewage pools after two goats were
badly bitten while grazing near the
ponds about amonthago and died. The
residents told the police, whomonitored
the area and occasionally shot atthe
crocodile.
Then, apolice spokesman,Ayman al-
Batniji, said, civil defense crewsdecided
to try to catch the animal alive.
Soofficials of Hamas,which adminis-
ters theterritory, recruitedagroup oflo-
MAHMUDHAMS/AFP
The crocodile arrived through smuggling
tunnels and roamed the sewage system.
spired amix offear and curiosityamong
local Gazans. The crocodile livedmainly
on birds, ducks and smallerreptiles that
populate near sewage ponds. Clearly a
crocodileofsometaste, it selected the
pond with the lowest levels ofpollution,
IN OUR PAGES
✴
100, 75, 50 YEARS AGO
1912 Road to Salonica Cleared by Servians
USKUB — WED[NOV. 6] , DELAYED BY CENSOR
The mountain pass ofDemir Kapu(the ‘‘Iron
Gates’’), which is considered the key to the road
to Salonica,was capturedyesterday [Nov. 5] by
the Servians,who shelled the Turks out of their
strong positions. The road is now open to the Ae-
gean Sea. The Turkish defeatwas complete, and
theenemy fledindisorder, cowedbythe fearful
and effective artillery fireof the Servians. So pre-
cipitate was the Turkish flightthatthey did not
stop to destroy the bridge across the river
Vardar.
1937 Grip Tightens on Shanghai
SHANGHAI
The fate of Shanghai appearedsealed
tonight[Nov. 7] as 15,000 Japanesetroops
crossed theWhangpoo Rivernear Sunkiang on
their march to Shanghai fromChapoo. Tuesday,
atthe latest, the cityshould be in the hands of the
Japanese, clasped tightly in the pincers move-
ment approaching Shanghai from the north and
south. The strategic landing Friday completely
surprised the Chinese. Meanwhile, rifle bullets
fell into the International Settlement behind Brit-
ish and American lines, indicating a Japanese
thrusttoward that section.
1962 RomneyWins; Three Races Undecided
WASHINGTON
Republican George Romneyde-
feated incumbent Gov. John B. Swainson today
[Nov.7]towin theMichigan Governorship and
end 14 years ofDemocratic domination of the state
house. Mr. Romney’s triumph, plus victoriesin
Pennsylvania and Ohio, werethemajorRepubli-
can gains in 35 gubernatorial races.With three
racesstill undecided, it appeared thatthere had
beenno change in the number ofGovernorships
held—44 in Democratic hands and 16 in the Re-
publican camp. Thethree undecidedracesare in
Rhode Island,Alaska andMinnesota.
VISIT US AT
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World N
ews
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2012
|
3
THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
europe
France advances
gay marri
age bill
PARIS
ment, theend of education.’ ’
He calledit ‘‘an enormous danger to
the nation.’ ’
Last month, several hundredpeople
demonstrated againstthe law in several
cities across France, including Bor-
deaux, Strasbourg and Lille, emphasiz-
ing opposition to the adoption of chil-
drenbygays.
The mostvirulentopposition has
come fromreligiousleaders,with Car-
dinal AndréVingt-Trois calling it an act
of‘‘deception.’ ’ In a speech before 120
bishops in Lourdes onSaturday,the car-
dinal said the lawwould establish ‘‘the
marriageofafew imposed on every-
one.’’
He continued: ‘‘When we defend the
rightof children to build their personal-
ity withreferencetothe man and the
woman who gave them life, we are not
defending a particular position.’ ’
GillesBernheim,the chief rabbi of
France, sent a25-page reporttothe gov-
ernment, calling ‘‘marriage forall’’ a
‘‘slogan,’ ’ rather than a societal project.
‘‘Therewill be no courage, and no
glory to vote alawthatusesmore slo-
gans than arguments, by complying to
the dominant political correctness,’ ’
Rabbi Bernheimwrote.
Muslim, protestant and Orthodox
Christian religiousleaders have alsoop-
posed the bill.
Conservative and far-right politicians
have calledforstreet protests against
the law, and asked the governmentto
delay it. Marine LePen,who leads the
far-right National Front, calledforaref-
erendum on the issue, and others said
they wantedmore debate.
OneParis official, François Lebel,
mayor of the 8th Arrondissement,
warned that if the government broke
thetaboo of gay marriage, itwould lead
to breaking other taboos, like incestor
polygamy, ahot topic among conserva-
tives worriedabout the spread ofcon-
servative Islam in France.
Inacompromise, the bill leaves out
state aid forgaycouplesfor assisted
procreation — artificial insemination
and the like. Some Socialist deputies
have vowed to amend thetexttoinclude
itor bring another bill later. Such aid is
available now forheterosexual married
couples. Nicolas Gougain,the spokes-
man ofInter-LGBT, a majorassociation
defending gay rightsinFrance, said, ‘‘It
is progress, but also aproblem, because
adoptionislong,’ ’ and there are few ba-
biesavailabletoadopt in France.
In Spain,the gay marriage legislation
simply adds one sentencetotheexist-
ing law: ‘‘Marriagewill have the same
requirements and effects when the two
peopleentering into the contract areof
the same sex or of different sexes.’ ’
According to French associations of
gays and lesbians, as many as 300,000
childrenhave gay parents.
Draft legislation passed
by government despite
strong, varied opposition
BY MAÏA DE LA BAUME
AND STEVEN ERLANGER
The French governmenton Wednesday
approved a draft bill legalizing same-
sex marriage after weeks ofloud oppo-
sition,especially fromreligiousfigures
and the political right.
President François Hollande prom-
ised to legalize same-sex marriage dur-
ing his presidential campaign.On Wed-
nesday, he said itwould represent
‘‘progress forallofsociety.’ ’ Mr. Hol-
lande and the Socialistshave a majority
in bothhouses of the Legislature, and
the bill is expected to pass sometime
early next year.
The draft law redefines marriageto
stipulate that it is ‘‘contractedbetween
two persons of different sex or of the
same sex,’ ’ and thewords ‘‘father and
‘‘mother’’ in existing legislationare re-
placed by ‘‘parents.’ ’ The bill would allow
marriedgaycouples to adopt children.
Christiane Taubira,the justice minis-
ter,told La Croix, aFrench Catholic
newspaper,that ‘‘marriage forall,’ ’ as
the government calls it, responded to ‘‘a
demand for equality.’ ’ Dominique
Bertinotti,the family affairs minister,
r
ejected criticism thatthe move would
ARIS MESSINIS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Demonstrating in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens on Wednesday. A new budget was expected to include new cuts to pensions, civil service salaries and social benefits.
Greece defl
ects effort to nullify austerity vote
ATHENS
BY NIKI KITSANTONIS
Hours beforethe Greek Parliamentwas
scheduled to vote onacontroversial
austeritybudget packageWednesday,
itssupporters foughtoff an opposition
efforttodeclarethe legislation uncon-
stitutional.
The main opposition party,the left-
leaning Syriza,withdrew itsdemand for
aconstitutionality vote afterit became
apparentthatenough members of Par-
liament from the ruling coalition were
on hand to block the proposal.
The maneuvering came during what
is expected to be alengthy parliamenta-
ry debate here before a vote on the
budget package, which is not expected
t
o occurbefore lateWednesday evening
or early Thursday.
The budget legislation,which is ex-
pected topassbyathinmargin, ismeant
to cut the government budget by ¤17 bil-
lion,or $21.7 billion, over the next four
years.
The newbudget is a prerequisite to in-
ternational lenders’ agreeing to give
Greece¤31.5 billioninrescue loans that
the country needs to remain solvent.
Themeasures include newcuts to pen-
sions, civil service salaries and social
benefits. Critics say the budget will ag-
gravate the country’srecession,which is
in its sixthyear and has pushed theun-
employment rate above 25 percent.
Lastweek,the Courtof Auditors,
which vets bills before heygoto
Greece’s Parliament, ruled that certain
elements of the budget package—like
additional cuts to pensions — could be
construedasviolating Greece’sConsti-
tution. But the finance ministry,which
drafted the legislation, declared the rul-
ing nonbinding.
On Wednesday, Greece’ssupreme
court ruled that proposedcuts of up to
30 percenttothe salaries ofjudges, as
partofareduction ofcivil servants’ pay,
would violate the Constitution’sprotec-
tions ofjudges’ ‘‘personal and opera-
tional independence.’’ Therewas no im-
mediate indicationfrom the finance
ministry on whether that partof the
budget bill would be removed.
Earlierinthe day,with the parliamen-
tary debate already under way, many
members of the ruling coalition parties
that supportthe legislation had not yet
arrived. In an apparent attempttotake
advantageof their absence, Syriza and a
right-wing opposition party calledInde-
pendent Greeks calledforavote on the
constitutionality of the austerity pack-
age. But once coalitionmembers rushed
to Parliamenttoward off that move,
Syriza withdrawthe challenge.
The Syriza eader,Alexis Tsipras,
whose partyisleading in the polls and
this weekcalledfornew elections, com-
plainedabout the late arrivals. ‘‘At a
timethat an objectionregarding consti-
tutionalityisbeing discussed, you
should be here, not at yourhomes and
thencome by taxi to distortthe result,’’
he said.
Evangelos Venizelos, leader of the So-
cialists,who are partof the ruling coali-
tion, countered withaTwitterpost not-
ing that Greece’sfirst bailout loan deal
in 2010 had been approvedbythe Coun-
cil ofState, the country’s highest admin-
istrative court.
The bill would represent
‘‘progress for all of society.’’
destroy the family, saying, ‘‘On the con-
trary, it isalegal protection.’ ’
The cabinet decisioncame adayafter
Maine and Maryland becamethe first
U.S. states to approve same-sex mar-
riage inapopular vote. Itwas the same
day that Spain’s highest courtupheld
the country’slawon same-sexmarriage
sevenyears afteritwas passedin2005
and morethan 21,000 same-sexcouples
had married.
Francewould becomethe 12thcoun-
try — including Britain,the Nether-
lands, Denmark, Norway, Spain and
Sweden —tomake its marriage laws
‘‘genderneutral.’ ’ In Germany, regis-
tered same-sexcoupleshave essentially
the same legal rights of marriedpeople,
but same-sex marriage is not legal.
But the law has beencontroversial
and subjecttodelays in a nation where,
fornow, only marriedcouplescan
adopt. Opinionpolls indicate that ama-
jority of the French support gay mar-
riage, but half approve allowing gays to
adopt.
On Wednesday, Serge Dassault, an in-
fluential senatorfrom the center-right
UnionforaPopularMovement, the party
of ormer President Nicolas Sarkozy,
said the law represented‘‘theend of the
f
amily,theend of children’sdevelop-
Georgia
detains allies
of departing
president
TBILISI, GEORGIA
REUTERS
The Georgian government detained the
armedforces’ chief ofstaff on Wednes-
day onsuspicion ofabuseofpower, step-
ping up whattheoppositionsaysis
political persecution of President
Mikheil Saakashvili’sallies.
The coalition of the new prime minis-
ter, Bidzina Ivanishvili, said afterde-
feating Mr. Saakashvili’s partyinan
election last month that former officials
suspected of crimes would be prosecut-
ed. It began acting onitspromiseon
Tuesday by detaining BachoAkhalaia, a
formerinterior and defense minister.
Gen. Georgy Kalandadze, the military
chief ofstaff, and another army com-
mander were brought in forquestioning
early Wednesday.
Theopposition said it fearedawitch
hunt now thatMr. Saakashvili’s nine-
year dominance had endedinGeorgia, a
focus of tensions betweenRussia and
theWest and a transit country for Caspi-
an Sea oil and gas exports to Europe.
Theoppositionfears retributionafter
the closely foughtelection, and says Mr.
Ivanishvili hopes to put pressureon the
president. Mr. Saakashvili,the heroof
the 2003 Rose Revolution that swept out
Georgia’spost-Soviet old guard, must
stepdownnext year.
Mr.Akhalaia,who quit as interior
minister over a prisonabuse scandal
shortly beforetheelection,was in de-
tentionatthe prosecutorgeneral’s of-
fice afterbeing questionedfor three
hours, his lawyer said.
‘‘The reasonfor his detention was
that during his work as a defense minis-
terhe allegedly insultedseveral officers
in the presenceof others,’ ’ said the law-
yer, David Dekanoidze. ‘‘I’ve never
everheard such an absurd reasonfor
detention.’ ’
The chief osecutor, rchil
Kbilashvili, said General Kalandadze
and Zurab Shamatava, commander of
the army fourth brigade, faced similar
accusations. He said state investigators
had evidencethatMr.Akhalaia, Gener-
al Kalandadze and Commander Sham-
atava had insulted six servicemeninOc-
tober2011.
The menhave not been charged, but
theycould faceup to eight years in pris-
oniffound guilty ofabuseofpower.
Mr.Akhalaia left Georgia after the
electionbut returned this week, saying
hewas ready to answeranyquestions
fromlaw-enforcement agencies.
Media Partner
Conference Partner
2 STATES BACK SAME-SEXMARRIAGE
Voters inMaine andMaryland legalized
gay marriage in what rightsadvocates
called a historic turning point.
PAGE 14
BRIEFLY
Europe
Czech leader
dodges trouble
on tax increase
European Pension Funds Congress
Tuesday, 20 November 2012, Congress Center, Frankfurt
Conference topics
• Pension Ambitions in an Uncertain World
• The Changing Pension Investment Landscape
• Good Pension Innovations from Around the World
Among the Speakers are
PRAGUE
REUTERS
PrimeMinister PetrNecas on Wednes-
day wonaconfidence vote in the Czech
Parliament and pushed through tax in-
creasesafterquelling a rebellion that
threatened to bring down his center-
right government.
The lowerhouse voted to raisevalue-
added and incometaxesinamove
aimedat narrowing the budget deficit
next year afteragroup of dissenting
backbenchers in Mr. Necas’sC vic
Democratic Partydropped their opposi-
tion to the legislation.
The rebellion was the biggest chal-
lengetoMr. Necas’s two-year tenure
because it followeddefections and coali-
tion rifts that had steadily stripped his
governmentofits majorityinthe lower
house, which has 200 seats. His victory
removes an immediate dangerfor the
government, but its weak standing is
likely to continue to complicate policy
making.
Tax increases and spending cutshave
pusheddownborrowing costs to all-
time lowsbut have weakeneddomestic
demand and tipped the Czech Republic
into arecessioninlate 2011.
Undercut byaseries ofdefections
sincethe center-right parties won the
country’s largest parliamentary major-
ityinaMay 2010election,thethree-
partycoalitionnow holds only 99 seats.
The government’s tax measures,
which weretied to aconfidence motion,
were supportedby101members of Par-
liament, including a few independents,
with 93 members voting against. That
wasagoodresult forMr. Necas,whowill
need that amounttooverrule an expect-
ed veto from the Senate, which is con-
trolledbytheopposition. Thetax pack-
age is expected to generate 22 billion
korunas,or$1.11 billion, in new revenue.
ANKARA
Man sets himself on fire
near prime minister’s office
Aman who apparently had financial
problems set himself ablaze outsidethe
building housing theAnkara officeof
the Turkish prime minister on Wednes-
day, local media reported. The man
doused himself in gasoline and ignited
it, but securitystaff extinguished the
blaze, according to the daily newspa-
perHurriyet.
Televisionfootage showedmedical
personnel carrying the conscious man
onastretcher toward a waiting ambu-
lance.
Theepisode came two days aftera
gunman entered the same building in
Ankara and fired three blank rounds in-
to the air as PrimeMinisterRecep
Tayyip Erdogan held a cabinet meeting
inside. Therewere no casualties, and
the man,who had previous criminal
convictions,was arrested.
(REUTERS)
LONDON
U.K. prize honors biography
of physician to King Charles I
The biography ofa17th-century scien-
tistwho mapped the mysteries ofhu-
man blood has won the medical-
themed Wellcome Trust Book Prize.
Organizers onWednesday an-
nounced that ‘‘Circulation,’ ’ by the Brit-
ish authorThomas Wright, had been
awarded the£25,000, or$40,000, prize.
The bookisabiography of WilliamHar-
vey,the doctor of King CharlesI, and
his questtounderstand theworkings of
the heart and blood circulation.
FundedbytheWellcome Trust char-
ity,the prize aims to bridgethe gap be-
tweenliterature and science and is
open to fiction ornonfiction works with
ahealth-related theme.
(AP)
Mag. Christian Böhm
Vice Chairman, EFRP;
CEO, APK Pensionskasse AG,
Vienna
Ralf Jacob
Head of unit ‘Active Ageing,
Pensions, Healthcare’
European Commission,
DG Employment,
Social Affairs and Inclusion,
Brussels
Matti Leppälä
Secretary General,
EFRP – European Federation
for Retirement Provision,
Brussels
Yves Leterme
Deputy Secretary-General,
OECD Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and
Development, Paris
Sabine Mahnert
Senior Investment
Consultant, Towers
Watson, Frankfurt a.M.
Ángel Martínez-Aldama
Director General,
INVERCO, Madrid
Jerry Moriarty
CEO & Director of Policy,
Irish Association of Pension
Funds - IAPF, Dublin
John Piggott
Professorial Fellow and
UNSW Scientia Professor,
Director, ARC Centre of
Excellence in Population
Ageing Research UNSW,
Sydney
Joanne Segars
Chief Executive,
NAPF – National Association
of Pension Funds Ltd.,
London
Prof. Dr. Yves Stevens
Associate Professor,
Catholic University Leuven,
Leuven
Klaus Stiefermann
Secretary General,
aba – Arbeitsgemeinschaft
für betriebliche Altersver-
sorgung e.V. , Heidelberg
Karel Svoboda
CEO and Chairman
of the Board, ˘SOB,
Prague
Karel Van Hulle
Head of Unit, Internal Market
and Services DG, Directorate H
– Financial Institutions,
Insurance and Pensions,
European Commission,
Brussels
Petar Vlai´
President of the
Management Board,
Erste Plavi Pension Fund,
Zagreb
Steve Webb
Minister of State for Pensions,
Member of Parliament,
London
A Project of
www.malekigroup.com/pensions
 ....
4
|
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2012
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
world news
europe middle east africa
Syrian jud
ge killed; shells hit near Assad’s palace
Bahrain
escalates its
fight against
dissidents
DUBAI
REUTERS
The Bahraini government, facing pro-
tracted unrest by its Shiite Muslim ma-
jority, has revoked the nationality of 31
menfor damaging national security,the
state newsagency BNA reported Wed-
nesday.
The men includethe London-based
dissidentsSaeeda -Shehabi and Ali
Mushaima,the son of the jailed opposi-
tionleader Hassan Mushaima, as well
as clerics, human rightslawyers and ac-
tivists, said Mohammeda -Mascati,
head of the Bahrain YouthCenterfor
Human Rights.
In April,Ali Mushaima scaled the roof
of the Bahrain Embassy in London to
publicize oppositiondemands fordemo-
cratic change.
Alsoon the list publishedbyBNA
were two former parliamentarians from
the leading Shiite party Wefaq, Jawad
and Jalal Fairooz, who areof Shiite Ira-
nian descent.
The ruling Al Khalifa family used
martial law and help fromGulf neigh-
bors to put down a Shiite-led uprising in
March last year, but unrest has re-
sumed. Shiite protesters and policeof-
ficers faceoff almost daily.
Bahrain,wheretheU.S. FifthFleet is
basedasabulwark against Iran, has ac-
cused the Iranians of encouraging the
unrest. Tehran has deniedmeddling in
Bahrain’s affairs.
Matar Matar, aseniormember of We-
faq, said that revoking nationality was
an escalation of the conflict and also
contended thatthe government had
grantedcitizenship to Sunni foreigners
to increasetheir numbers in the coun-
try.
‘‘They wanttoreplaceusasapro-de-
mocracy movementvia nationalization
ofmercenaries and revoking ournation-
ality,’ ’ Mr.Matar said. ‘‘This is a reflec-
tion ofacomplexpersecutionpolicy
against race, sect and political orienta-
tion. It is against Bahrain’s Persian
minority, Shiites and the pro-democra-
cy movement in general.’ ’
AmnestyInternational said it ap-
pearedasthough Bahrain had with-
drawn themen’scitizenship on the basis
of their political views.
‘‘Mostworryingly,the authoritiesare
making some in the groupstateless,’ ’
said Philip Luther,the rightsgroup’sdi-
rectorfor theMiddle East and North
Africa. ‘‘This, as well as any arbitrary
deprivation ofnationality, is prohibited
underinternational law. We urgently
call on the Bahraini authorities to res-
cind this frightening and chilling de-
cision.’ ’
Itwas not clear whether the men
stripped of their nationality would be
expelledfromBahrain.
In a similar move last December,the
United Arab Emiratesrevoked the cit-
izenship ofseven Islamist activists, say-
ing theyposedathreattonational secu-
rity. Someof the men had demanded
greaterpowers for the Federal National
Council, an electedbody that advises
the government.
The Bahraini government also said
Tuesday thatthe police had arrested
foursuspectsinmultiple bombings that
killed two people in the capital,Man-
ama, and it accused the Lebanese mili-
tant groupHezbollah ofbeing behind
the attacks.
The authoritiesasserted thatthe five
home-made bombs thatexploded Mon-
day borethe hallmarks ofHezbollah,
the Lebanese Shiite groupallied with
Iran. Hezbollah denieshaving anything
to dowith the conflict in Bahrain.
BEIRUT
BY NEIL MACFARQUHAR
AND RICK GLADSTONE
Syrian insurgents escalatedattacks on
targets within earshot of President
Bashar al-Assad’s hilltop Damascus
palaceonWednesday, blowing upajudge
in his car and lobbing mortar shells at a
neighborhood that housescentral gov-
ernmentoffices and a military airfield.
The assassination of the judge, report-
edbytheofficial newsagency, SANA,
was the second killing ofatopAssad loy-
alist in the Syrian capital in two days and
added to the impression thatthe insur-
gency had intensifiedinthe faceofsput-
tering international diplomacy aimedat
resolving the 20-month-old conflict.
The latest mayhemcoincided with
newsreports that Turkey,oneof Mr.As-
sad’smost strident critics,was consid-
ering the deploymentof Patriot missiles
along itsborder to protect insurgent
safezones there from Syrian aerial as-
saults. If carried out, deploymentof the
missiles —which could easily shoot
down Syrian helicopters,warplanes or
missiles thatveerclosetothe border —
would represent an escalation of mili-
tary tensions between the neighbors.
SANA said the judge, Abad Nadhwah,
was killed whenaremotely detonated
bomb exploded under his car.OnTues-
day, SANA said gunmen assassinated
Mohammad Osama al-Laham, apromi-
nent agricultural expert and brother of
theParliament speaker, inacentral Da-
mascusneighborhoodwhile hewas driv-
ing to work. The newsagency attributed
both assassinations to terrorists,the
government’scatchall term for Mr.As-
sad’s opponents.
Activist groups said the judge’s assas-
sinationwas partof a particularly violent
day in the capital, during which at least
fourmortar attacks shook the Mezze 86
neighborhood, a hilltop enclave popu-
latedbyMr.Assad’s minority Alawite
sect near the presidential palace.
Activists said thatthe attackers had
been aiming for the palace but thatthe
mortar shells hitthe administrative of-
fices of the prime minister and a mili-
tary airfield. Itwas unclear whether
therewere casualties.
Still,the ability ofrebels to strike so
closetoMr.Assad’scenter ofpower, de-
spite repeated efforts to rout them, ap-
peared to reflectthetenacity of the in-
surgency,which began in March 2011 as
apeacefulpro-democracy uprising.
The Houran Freemen Brigade, a unit
ATEF SAFADI/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
An Israeli soldier on the Golan Heights watching smoke rising from a mortar strike on the Syrian side of the border. Israel has accused Syria of moving tanks into a zone of the Golan.
of the Free Syrian Army,themain armed
insurgent group in Syria, tookresponsi-
bilityfor themortar attacks onMezze 86.
The Syrian Observatory forHuman
Rights, an oppositiongroupinBritain
withcontacts inside Syria, said Wednes-
day thatthree civilians had been killed
and morethan two dozen had been
woundedbyshelling in the Hajar al-As-
wad district in the Damascussuburbs,
where clasheshave been raging between
rebel fighters and government forces
helpedbyfighters frompro-government
Palestinian groups. Two rebel fighters
were also killed,theobservatory said.
The latest fighting to convulsethe
capital came adayafteratopUnitedNa-
tions official, JeffreyD. Feltman,warned
the SecurityCouncil in a briefing that
the situation inside Syria was ‘‘turning
grimmer every day, and the risk is grow-
ing thatthis crisis could explode out-
ward into an already volatile region.’ ’
Underscoring thatthreat, over the
weekend, Israelaccused Syria ofmoving
tanks into ademilitarized zoneof the
GolanHeightsregioncapturedbythe Is-
raelis in the 1967war, an area that had re-
mainedrelatively quiet sincethe Syrian
uprising began.OnMonday, Israel asked
the SecurityCouncil to address what it
called‘‘this alarming development.’’
Mr. Feltman,theundersecretary gen-
eral forpolitical affairs, said atthe
UnitedNations that hewas concerned
about theGolan development and called
it ‘‘another exampleof spilloverfrom
areas that had beenpreviously immune
from fighting.’ ’
Mr. Feltman alsoexpressedhopethat
‘‘the SecurityCouncil can cometogeth-
er and act in a unified fashion on Syria,
as this would be critical to any peaceef-
fort.’’
Therewas no sign of that. The Rus-
sian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov,
met Tuesday in Jordan with the highest-
ranking defectorfrom the Syrian gov-
ernment, former PrimeMinisterRiyad
Farid Hijab,who attackedMoscow’s en-
during support for Mr.Assad as un-
workable forapolitical transition.
Remarks by PrimeMinisterDavid
Cameron of Britain thatMr.Assad
might be granted safe passage out of his
country as a means to end the fighting
also causedastir,with his office quickly
stressing that he did not mean thatMr.
Assad should not be prosecuted.Mr.As-
sad,whose family has dominated Syri-
an politics forfourdecades, has shown
no intention ofresigning orseeking to
leave Syria.
Lakhdar Brahimi,the international
envoy to the conflictwho represents
both theUnitedNations and theArab
League, warned thatunless therewas a
greaterinternational effort Syria risked
becoming anotherSomalia —which, as
a failedstate, became afontofinterna-
tional piracy and terrorist problems for
20 years. In an interview with the pan-
Arab newspaper AlHayat, Mr. Brahimi
said the main effort should be a binding
SecurityCouncil resolution onapolitic-
al transition.
The lack ofacohesive Syrian opposi-
tion has been partly blamedforprevent-
ingamore robust international efforton
Syria. Efforts to create amoreunified
coalition ofanti-Assad groups sputtered
along this weekinDoha,Qatar,where a
meeting was scheduledforThursday to
try to implement a U.S. backed plan to
broaden theopposition to include more
factions, includingmore representatives
of the military unitsdoing the fighting.
Rick Gladstone reported fromNew York.
Hania Mourtada contributed reporting
fromBeirut, Richard Berry fromParis
and Hwaida Saad fromAntakya, Turkey.
A
RISING
TIDE
THE CHANGING LUXURY MARKET AND CUSTOMER:
TRENDS, CHALLENGES, BEST MARKETING PRACTICES
OF TOP LUXURY BRANDS
November 12, 2O12 – 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Corinthia Hotel London, 10 Whitehall Place, London
SPEAKERS
Matthew Dixon, General Manager, Corinthia Hotel London
Gregory J. Furman, Founder & Chairman, The Luxury Marketing
Council Worldwide
Tony Potter, President, Braveagle
Nathalie Remy, Partner, Apparel, Fashion and Luxury Practice,
McKinsey & Company
Rebecca Robins, Director, Interbrand and co-author of “Meta-luxury
Brands and the Culture of Excellence”
DIMITAR DILKOFF/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Patriarch Maxim in September in Sofia. The Orthodox Church said his funeral would be
held on Friday at the Troyan Monastery, near the village of Oreshak, where he was born.
Maxim, longtime leader
of Orthodox i
n Bulgaria
SOFIA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Patriarch Maxim,the leader of theOr-
thodoxChurch in Bulgaria, who
weatheredarevolt over his Communist-
era ties and maintained his role for
morethan 40 years, died ofheart failure
early Tuesday at ahospital
gymen,whotried to remove him and
thenformed their own synod.
The divisionplunged the church into
turmoil,with occupations ofkeychurch
buildings; priestsbreaking into fist-
fights onchurch steps; and watercan-
nons and tear gas being turned onrebel
bishops to clear the main Alexander
Nevsky Cathedral.
Formorethan a decade, the two syn-
ods existed side by side, with the dissi-
dents claiming to have rallied 30 percent
ofBulgaria’s1,000 priests to their cause.
Themajority ofbelievers stayedloyal to
Maxim,whowas recognizedaslegitim-
ate by the church’s otherpatriarchates.
The schism endedin2010, when the
head of the alternative synod,Metropol-
itan Inokentii, calledforahealing ofdi-
visionbetween the groups and the rival
synod was dissolved.
A panelreviewing Communist-era
collaborators with the formersecurity
services ound no links to Maxim,
though it said that 11 of the country’s15
bishops had been working with the
Communist regime.
Hewas hailedformeeting with Pope
John PaulIIduring the pope’s visitto
Sofia in 2002, a trip seenaswarming the
frostyrelationship between theOrtho-
doxChurch and theVatican.
Pope BenedictXVIsent his condo-
lencesinatelegram Tuesday,express-
ing thanks ‘‘for the goodrelations that
the patriarch developed with the Ro-
man Catholic Church’’ along withhope
thatthey would continue.
TheOrthodoxchurch said Maxim’s
funeral would be held on Friday atthe
Troyan Monastery, near thevillageof
Oreshak,whereMaxim was born. The
funeral will be precededbyamemorial
service atAlexanderNevsky Cathedral.
BRIEFLY
Africa
PANELISTS
Lisa Gregg, VP ICS International, American Express
Michaela Wolf, Head of Marketing & E-commerce, Georg Jensen
Janet Carpenter, Global Head, atelier-Leo Burnett
David Hesketh, Managing Director, Laurent-Perrier UK
in Sofia
OBITUARY
where he had beenforamonth,theHoly
Synod said. Hewas 98.
The Holy Synod will meet to make fu-
neral arrangements and choose an in-
terim patriarch until a largerChurch
Council is held within the next four
months to pick Maxim’ssuccessor,
church officials said.
Orthodox ChristianityisBulgaria’s
dominant religion, followedbymore
than 80 percentof the country’s 7.4 mil-
lionpeople. As the church leader,Max-
im bridged the country’s transition
fromCommunismand withstood efforts
to depose him by the new democratic
government and rebel priests who saw
him as a Communist stooge.
Maxim was born on Oct. 29, 1914, as
MarinNaidenovMinkov, graduatedfrom
the Sofia Seminary in 1935 and entered
Sofia University’s theology department
in 1938. He rosethrough church ranks to
be namedpatriarch onJuly 4, 1971.
After the collapseofCommunism in
1989, the new government soughttore-
place Communist-appointed i ure-
heads, including the patriarch, but be-
causeof the divisionbetweenchurch
and state, such a decisioncould bemade
only by the church. It split betweensup-
porters of Maxim and breakaway cler-
BENGHAZI, LIBYA
Former rebel leader faces
questions in factional killing
A Libyan courton Wednesday ordered
Mustafa Abdel Jalil,the formerpolitic-
al leader ofrebels whotoppledCol.
Muammar el-Qaddafi last year,tobe
questioned by military prosecutors
about the killing of the insurgents’top
field commander.
AbdelFattah Younes, Colonel Qad-
dafi’sinterior ministerbefore he
switched to the rebelcause after the
startof the revolt, was killedbygunmen
on his own side in July 2011. His death
betrayedideological splitsinthe rebel
movement and was seenasthework of
a faction that mistrustedanyformer
Qaddafi loyalist holding a commanding
positioninthe insurgency.
(REUTERS)
OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO
Mali Islamist group rejects ‘terror’
Ansar Dine, an Islamist groupknown
for carrying out public executions and
amputations in northernMali, said
Tuesday that it rejected ‘‘all forms of ex-
tremism and terrorism’’ and was calling
on other armedgroups in the area to en-
gage in talks with the government.
(AP)
FOR MORE DETAILS ON PROGRAM, SPEAKERS & PANELISTS,
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 ....
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2012
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5
THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
asia
world news
BRIEFLY
Asia
Ex-Chinese leader
reappears
as force
BEIJING
China’s long
transition nears peak
BEIJING
ups, a process known as ‘‘democratic
centralism.’’ So too thework and corrup-
tion reports, which will be discussed by
the delegates but are not expected to be
substantially altered before approval.
At a news conference on Wednesday,
Cai Mingzhao, the congress’s spokesman
and deputy head of the party’s propa-
ganda department, defended this system
as one that allows members to express
their views in a controlled setting.
‘‘We must combine centralism on the
basis of democracy, with democracy un-
history and by the people,’’ Mr. Cai said.
‘‘Political system reform must suit
China’s national reality.’’
Mr. Cai seemed to pour cold water on
widespread reports that the party was
planning to reform its internal elections,
for example by having more candidates
than slots for top government bodies.
That would allow delegates to vote out
unpopular leaders. He said that votes
would be secret and some multi-candi-
date elections would take place but all
would be ‘‘in accordance with the elec-
toral method adopted by the congress.’’
That is not to say that the decisions of
the congress are already widely known.
Still unknown is who will be standing
next toMr. Xi when the top leadership is
presented in a week. This group, known
as the Politburo Standing Committee,
essentially runs China. According to
plan, it will include Mr. Xi and Li Keqi-
ang, who is expected to take over next
year as head of the government bureau-
cracy as prime minister. Both men are
current members of the Standing Com-
mittee.
Unclear is who will joinMr. Xi andMr.
Li on the Standing Committee and even
how many members it will have. It cur-
rently has nine, but this is expected to
be reduced to seven. If so, this would
mean five newmembers.
Pundits have been speculating on the
identity of those five and what the vari-
ous permutations could mean for
China’s future direction. But even last
week, new names and combinations
were making the rounds in Beijing.
Party congress to unveil
country’s new leadership
and present a 5-year plan
increasingly criticized as a period when
China, despite its economic growth,
bolstered the dominance of state enter-
prises, expanded the security apparatus
and ignored legal protections in the
justice system. Mr. Jiang has been
among the most powerful voices
privately chiding theHu administration’s
policies. The implication is that Mr. Jiang
is hoping that the next Standing Commit-
tee will take China in a new direction.
‘‘His line of attack has been that Hu
Jintao and Wen Jiabao have been too
cautious about reform, and the slow-
down in growth might have been mitig-
ated by more aggressive reforms earli-
er on,’’ said one official who meets with
senior party officials.
‘‘Reform’’ is a broad term that can
mean many different things in China.
Some intellectuals and policy advisers
are calling for significant relaxation of
China’s authoritarian political system,
but there is no indication that Mr. Jiang
backs any such transformation in the
next few years. Rather, Mr. Jiang is re-
puted to be a proponent of enhancing
support for private entrepreneurship
and the growth model adopted by the
coastal provinces. During his tenure as
party chief, he and Zhu Rongji, the
former prime minister, presided over
the breakup and downsizing of some
lumbering state enterprises.
Mr. Hu’s vision for economic develop-
ment has clashed to a degree with that.
In promoting his ‘‘scientific develop-
ment’’ theory, he has insisted that there
should be more equitable distribution of
the benefits of growth across China, and
that the state should play a larger role.
Mr. Jiang was able to raise his con-
cerns about the direction of policy when
he was invited to comment on a draft of
the political report that is expected to be
presented to the 18th Party Congress,
said two political insiders. That report is
intended mostly to sum up the achieve-
ments under Mr. Hu, and also to sketch
out the priorities under Mr. Xi.
Political insiders said Mr. Jiang’s
heavy involvement in determining the
newStanding Committee, expected to be
announced aroundNov. 15, is his clearest
expression of impatience with Mr. Hu’s
policies and his followers, commonly
called the Youth League group because
many of Mr. Hu’s allies forged political
relationships through posts in that party
organization. Months ago, analysts had
expected the new Standing Committee
to be almost evenly balanced between
Hu and Jiang allies. But scandals this
year, including one that weakened Ling
Jihua, a powerful aide of Mr. Hu, andMr.
Jiang’s power plays, have changed that.
One recent move by Mr. Jiang was to
get Yu Zhengsheng, the party chief of
Shanghai, approved by senior party offi-
cials and party elders for a seat. If that
sticks, then it would come at the expense
of Li Yuanchao, a powerful party official
close to Mr. Hu who was also a favorite
for a seat. Other Jiang allies expected to
join the Standing Committee are Zhang
Dejiang, a vice prime minister and party
chief of Chongqing; Zhang Gaoli, party
chief of Tianjin; andWang Qishan, a vice
prime minister. Of the favorites for the
Standing Committee, only Li Keqiang,
the anointed newprimeminister, andLiu
Yunshan, director of the party’s propa-
ganda department, are considered close
allies of Mr. Hu’s. Even Mr. Liu received
a crucial career lift under Mr. Jiang,
when he was promoted to a central post
from a relatively obscure regional job.
‘‘On any matter of major significance
— and the biggest issue is deciding the
next generation of leaders—he does ex-
ert power,’’ said Robert Lawrence
Kuhn, an American businessman who
wrote a biography of Mr. Jiang with Mr.
Jiang’s cooperation.
In principle, Mr. Jiang and other lead-
ers are supposed to retreat from any
public role in setting policy after leaving
office. Mr. Jiang has filled in his years
since retirement with a regimen of
swimming, listening to private tutorials
with scholars and preparing his biogra-
phy and other publications, said an aide
to a prominent official. However, Mr.
Jiang has also used a succession of
statements and appearances to hint that
he remains active and focused on broad
policy issues and the party’s future. He
has underscored his influence with pub-
lic appearances, including at a musical
tribute to Johann Strauss in Beijing’s
premier concert hall in September.
But the continuing influence of Mr.
Jiang also reveals a growing dysfunc-
tion in the party system — the weaken-
ing of authority among those who, like
Mr. Hu and Mr. Xi, are officially desig-
nated to lead China.
Whoever joins Mr. Xi in the next lead-
ership will also have to contend with the
influence of party elders, especially Mr.
Jiang and Mr. Hu. Those elders can
weigh in on major decisions and make
their opinions known to current leaders.
When the 18thParty Congress ends next
week, there will be 20 retired Standing
Committee members, all of whom may
expect some say in running the country
and appointing allies. This could lead to
further gridlock and hinderMr. Xi, espe-
cially if Mr. Xi aims to carry out bold
policy moves, say party insiders.
And although several people say Mr.
Jiang has mounted his political offen-
sive in the name of reform, the proposed
Standing Committee lineup that bears
his imprint appears to be short of offi-
cials who support market-driven
growth and less state meddling.
Jonathan Ansfield contributed reporting.
BANGKOK
Laos breaks ground to build
much-criticized Mekong dam
Laos inaugurated the building of a con-
troversial dam on the Mekong River on
Wednesday, despite comments from
the country’s prime minister that the
project was on hold.
The project, in the province of Xay-
aburi, is the first in a series of dams
planned for the lower Mekong River.
Scientists and countries that share the
river are concerned that the damwill ir-
reparably harm fish stocks. The ground-
breaking was confirmed by Xayaburi
Power, the company leading the project.
The prime minister of Laos, Thong-
sing Thammavong, told The Wall Street
Journal on Tuesday that the project
was awaiting further study.
PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN
Suicide bomber kills senior officer
A Taliban suicide bomber struck a ve-
hicle carrying a senior Pakistani police
officer onWednesday, killing him and
four other people, the police said. The
officer, Hilal Hyder, was killed as his
vehicle was passing through a crowded
market in Peshawar. Mr. Hyder was in-
vestigating cases against militants in
the troubled northwest.
(AP)
Jiang, former president,
acts to shape power base
and firm up his legacy
BY IAN JOHNSON
With a robust defense of one-party rule
and a vow to learn from a string of polit-
ical scandals this year, a senior official
on Wednesday laid out the agenda for
China’s much-anticipated Communist
Party Congress, which gets under way
on Thursday.
The weeklong congress is due to cap a
long and at times fractious transition
from the current leadership by the head
of the party, Hu Jintao, to his presumed
successor, Xi Jinping. If all goes accord-
ing to plan, Mr. Xi and half a dozen other
top leaders will be presented to the pub-
lic on Nov. 15.
Officially, the new team is to be select-
ed this coming week by the 2,280 dele-
gates participating in this congress, the
18th in the 91-year history of the party.
Delegates are also expected to discuss a
work report that is to lay out in broad
strokes China’s course over the next
five years, and approve it along with a
report on anti-corruption measures.
In fact, much of what will go on during
the congress has already been decided.
The delegates are voted on by lower-
ranking members, but those votes are
based on guidance provided by higher-
BY EDWARDWONG
In a year blighted by scandals and cor-
ruption charges reaching high into the
Chinese Communist Party, a retired
party chief some had written off as a
spent force, Jiang Zemin, has thrust him-
self back into the nation’smost important
political decisions a decade after step-
ping down, and has become a dominant
figure shaping China’s future leadership.
The resurgent influence of Mr. Jiang,
86, is all the more striking because he
was said last year to be suffering from a
serious illness and perhaps even near-
ing death’s door. Behind the scenes over
recent months, party insiders say, Mr.
Jiang has voiced frustration with the re-
cord of his successor, Hu Jintao, maneu-
vered to have his protégés dominate the
party’s incoming ruling group and
sought to shape China’s policy direction
by proposing changes to an agenda-set-
ting report that will be presented to the
18th Party Congress, which opens
Thursday.
Mr. Jiang is seeking to consolidate his
legacy as a self-proclaimed champion of
market-led growth, and in some respects
has rivaled the more orthodox Mr. Hu in
shaping the party’s future, those in-
siders say. Many seeMr. Jiang as having
been a bolder leader than Mr. Hu, with
more signature achievements, including
guiding China into the World Trade Or-
ganization, and opening up more dia-
logue with the United States and other
Western nations. A repudiation by Mr.
Jiang ofMr. Hu’s tenure, even behind the
scenes, could lend energy to the incom-
ing leaders and give them a mandate to
make more forceful decisions.
Mr. Jiang was able to outflank Mr. Hu,
the current party general secretary and
the country’s president, to shape a lineup
for the new Politburo Standing Commit-
tee that, at the moment, appears to have
Jiang allies pegged for five of the project-
ed seven seats, according to political in-
siders. Themost prominent is Xi Jinping,
the designated heir toMr. Hu.
‘‘Just look at the final seven people and
you know who the big winner is: Jiang,
or Jiang and Xi,’’ said an editor at a party
media organization. ‘‘The loser is Hu.’’
Yet while Mr. Jiang’s return to the in-
trigue of high-level politics has kindled
hopes among some that China’s next
leadership will embrace more market-
friendly economic policies, it has also
exposed the deep rifts and systemic
dysfunctions within the Communist
DIEGO AZUBEL/EPA
Cai Mingzhao, the spokesman for the con-
gress, laid out its agenda on Wednesday.
der centralized guidance so that we will
create a political situation in the party in
which we have both centralism and de-
mocracy, both discipline and freedom,
both unity of will and personal ease of
mind,’’ Mr. Cai said.
He also said the Communist Party
had earned the right to rule China.
‘‘The leading position of the Commu-
nist Party in China is a decisionmade by
POOL PHOTO BYMINORU IWASAKI
Jiang Zemin, in Beijing in October 2011,
was once thought to be seriously ill.
Party that could hinder any efforts at
change. China’s ambitions to rise into a
modern global power remain yoked to a
deeply secretive political system in
which true authority often resides in
hidden recesses. That could spell trou-
ble for Mr. Hu’s successor as top leader,
Mr. Xi, as he also seeks to consolidate
his authority under the gaze of a grow-
ing circle of retired party leaders.
That Mr. Jiang has been able to insert
himself so boldly into that process also
shows how diffuse power has become
within China, at a time when policy-
makers and intellectuals from all quar-
ters say the nation needs strong leader-
ship to guide it through a period of slow-
ing economic growth and rising
discontent fromsome corners of society.
Mr. Jiang does not possess the indomi-
table behind-the-scenes power once
held by Deng Xiaoping, the former lead-
er who ushered in market reforms.
Deng died in 1997. But a year of division
and uncertainty has created openings
for Mr. Jiang to shape key decisions.
‘‘This one definitely seems more un-
settled closer in than previous succes-
sions,’’ said Christopher K. Johnson, a
veteran China analyst at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies in
Washington who recently visited
Beijing. ‘‘The atmosphere seems very
tense. The problem is that there’s no se-
nior figure in charge — there’s no revo-
lutionary elder to act as arbiter and
manage the different groups here.’’
‘‘My sense of the games that Jiang is
playing is, ‘This is my last hurrah, and I
want to show that I still matter,’ ’’ Mr.
Johnson said.
Mr. Jiang retired as party secretary in
November 2002 and stepped down as
the country’s president the following
March. He remained the chief of China’s
military until September 2004. His rela-
tionship with his successor has been a
delicate one, shaped by the fact that Mr.
Hu was set on the path to the top leader-
ship by the party patriarch, Deng, leav-
ing Mr. Jiang with no independent
choice over who would succeed him.
The decade-long rule of Mr. Hu and
Wen Jiabao, the prime minister, has been
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