Westminister Rules

Do new border checks threaten Europe's free movement? Not yet.

The decision of Germany and several other countries to close their borders to migrants has prompted dire prophecies for Europe's borderless travel policies.

Sara Miller Llana, Staff writer

With the European Union’s failure to force members to accept a mandatory quota for refugees, officials have said that borderless travel, one of the Continent’s flagship achievements, may be at risk.

In reality, such seamless movement, prescribed under the Schengen Agreement, is likely to stay the norm for the foreseeable future – and for the vast majority of travelers within the 26-nation Schengen Area.

Germany’s decision on Sunday to temporarily impose border checks on its frontier with Austria was prompted by the record influx of asylum seekers pouring through Munich’s central train station for the past two weeks. Thirteen thousand arrived on Saturday alone.

The move was also viewed as tactical, to force resistant EU members, mostly in the east, to accept their responsibility in giving refuge to those fleeing war. Instead it caused Austria, Slovakia, and the Netherlands to say they would start patrolling their own borders. And now, with no robust EU plan in place for the record number of refugees coming into the bloc, other countries are studying whether they need to impose emergency controls as well.

That has spurred some to warn that the "death" of Schengen, which was signed in 1985 and has been in operation for 20 years, is near. But the policy appears likely to withstand the pressure – at least for now.

The kinds of controls being implemented today, though unprecedented in scale, were envisioned when the zone was formed. If members see “a serious threat to public policy or international security,” they can put up controls temporarily.

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California's Valley Fire: how one town has tried to prepare for everything

In August of last year, an earthquake hit Napa, Calif. In subtle but important ways, the town hasn’t been the same since.

Gloria Goodale, Staff writer

For Middletown, Calif., the hope for a return to something like normal is only now beginning to take hold. After destroying half the city, a fire that has astonished experts for how quickly it spread last weekend is finally showing signs of coming under control. The Valley Fire was 15 percent contained Tuesday, state fire officials said.

But about an hour south on Route 29, in the bosom of California wine country, a new normal has settled in a completely different way. On Aug. 24, 2014, an earthquake hit the town of Napa. In subtle but important ways, the town hasn’t been the same since.

At the backyard neighborhood gatherings of harvest parties this autumn, the talk isn’t just about land yield or grape types. There is earnest sharing about which bolt or cable is best to secure a bookcase to the wall.

And there is a lesson in that for the city of Middletown, the state of California, and to some degree the entire American West, say experts. The quake sent a message that Napa has heeded: We need to be prepared for everything.

“The quake really awakened the community to the need to be ready for all kinds of disasters,” not just quakes, says Juliana Inman, an architect who has been on the Napa City Council for nearly nine years.

One of the first actions the Napa City Council undertook was to increase the city’s budgeted reserves for disaster management by nearly 20 percent. Funds for training as part of the emergency response program were more than quadrupled to $30,000.

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How Guatemala's anticorruption drive is shaking its political elite

With the former president behind bars, disgruntled voters are choosing a replacement. A neophyte candidate polled first in Sunday's vote, and will contest a run-off on Oct. 25.

Whitney Eulich, Correspondent

After months of peaceful protests, President Otto Pérez Molina resigned earlier this month and may face jail time over a corruption scandal. Over the past five months, Guatemalans have staged more than 20 mass protests seeking change. The demonstrators, from a range of backgrounds, have shaken up everything from leadership to presidential elections. On Sunday, voters went to the polls to choose a new president, and are set to vote again next month in a runoff between two candidates.

For decades, citizens have shrugged off corruption, but reformers now appear to have momentum. Investigators from the United Nations-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala have uncovered evidence, among other allegations, that government officials had defrauded the state of millions of dollars by lowering customs taxes in exchange for bribes. Tens of thousands of wiretaps in this investigation revealed conversations about “No. 2” and “the president,” believed to be referring to Vice President Roxana Baldetti and Molina.

Ms. Baldetti resigned in May and was detained soon after. Half of the president’s cabinet stepped down in late August. And the president resigned earlier this month, an important moment for Guatemalans who have for decades felt powerless in the face of their political system.

Despite calls to delay presidential elections, more than 70 percent of Guatemalans turned out to vote Sept. 6. The power of the protests was clear in the first round: A political newbie, comedian Jimmy Morales emerged as the front-runner with 24 percent. He will face former first lady Sandra Torres, who got nearly 20 percent, in a runoff on Oct. 25.

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Hillary Clinton says Bill for Veep has 'crossed her mind.' Legal?

There is a case to be made that Bill Clinton under the Constitution is perfectly eligible to be VP.

Peter Grier, Staff writer

Hillary Clinton says she’s thought about putting hubby Bill on her ticket as the Democratic Party’s vice presidential candidate.

In an interview with the syndicated TV program “Extra,” Mrs. Clinton said that a Clinton/Clinton ticket has “crossed her mind.”

“He would be good, but he’s not eligible, under the Constitution,” she said. “He has served his two terms, and I think the argument would be as vice president it would not be possible for him to ever succeed to the [presidency] – at least that’s what I’ve been told.”

Here’s our argument – she’s been told wrong. Or she’s not imparting the full legal story. Because there is a good case to be made that Bill Clinton under the Constitution is perfectly eligible to be VP.

At issue here is how two constitutional amendments fit together. The 12th Amendment says, in essence, that you can’t be vice president if you’re ineligible to be president. And the key part of the 22nd Amendment says this: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

See the loophole? If a VP steps up to the presidency, he or she is not elected. It’s automatic, in case of an unforeseen tragedy.

“If this view is correct, then Clinton is not ‘constitutionally ineligible to the office of president,’ and is not barred by the 12th Amendment from being elected vice president,” wrote attorney Scott Gant and political scientist Bruce Peabody on the Clinton/Clinton question in 2006.

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Malcolm Turnbull: Australia's new PM brings charisma and a moderate face

Australia's wealthiest politician replaces unpopular Prime Minister Tony Abbott in the latest unseating by challengers from within party ranks.

John Zubrzycki, Correspondent

Malcolm Turnbull, a former journalist, lawyer, and merchant banker, is now Australia’s fifth prime minister in five years.

Following a swift and masterful leadership coup Monday, the new leader promised a more consultative government. He vowed to get the economy back on track and put an end to the instability and discord that have plagued Australian politics.

The election has been welcomed by the business community and Australia’s closest allies, including the United States and Britain.

Mr. Turnbull is one of Australia’s most popular and charismatic politicians, and also its wealthiest. He consistently outpolled former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, whose term in office was plagued by policy missteps, legislative deadlock, and a flagging economy.

"We need advocacy, not slogans. We need to respect the intelligence of the Australian people," Turnbull said Sept. 15.

But Turnbull, a supporter of marriage equality, of making Australia a republic, and of fighting climate change is viewed with suspicion by those on the right of his ruling Liberal Party.

Australia’s 29th prime minister was raised in Sydney by his father after his mother left the family home when he was 9. After graduating from Sydney University in 1978 with a law degree he studied at Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship.

Turnbull briefly worked as a journalist before returning to Sydney, where he established his own law firm. He became famous for the high-profile “Spycatcher” case, where he helped overturn an attempt by the Thatcher government in Britain to ban the publication of the memoirs of ex-MI5 agent Peter Wright.

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Editorial: The Monitor's View

Why new democracies still need foreign poll-watchers

The Monitor's Editorial Board

The Lady, as Aung San Suu Kyi is called in Myanmar (Burma), made an unusual plea to the world last week. She asked it to carefully watch a Nov. 8 election that could be the freest in her country since the end of military rule in 2011.

“This is a chance that we cannot afford to let slip,” said the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who saw her victory in a 1990 election totally ignored by the ruling generals.

Foreign observation of elections in fledgling democracies has become the norm over the past quarter century even as democracy itself has eroded in many places. The complexities of ensuring electoral integrity are often overwhelming and easily corrupted in poorer nations, and sometimes wealthy ones, too.

In recent years, an international consensus has formed on the best ways to hold free and fair elections. Still, foreign observers are needed in many countries where respect for individual rights remains low. Myanmar’s leaders have wisely agreed to allow foreign groups to monitor the coming vote.

Clean elections help build trust in government and prevent violent rebellion. An authoritarian figure who agrees to hold an election may have other ways to stay in power, such as locking up political opponents. And holding elections is hardly the only measure of real democracy. Media freedom and the right of assembly are also critical. But with international norms for elections now largely set, fewer leaders can ignore demands for foreign groups to help ensure clean voting. Myanmar’s election could be another milestone in this steady progress.

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