Page 9 - ARUBA TODAY

A9
WORLD NEWS Thursday 15 February 2018

South African President Zuma resigns in televised address

By CHRIS TORCHIA that he quit. Zuma, 75, had
Associated Press said he was willing to resign
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — but wanted to stay in office
South African President for several more months.
Jacob Zuma resigned on "Of course, I must accept
Wednesday in a televised that if my party and my
address to the nation, compatriots wish that I be
avoiding his almost certain removed from office, they
ouster in a parliamentary must exercise that right
vote scheduled for Thurs- and do so in the manner
day after years of corrup- prescribed by the constitu-
tion scandals. tion," Zuma said.
Zuma's resignation came The former president was
after the ruling African Na- defiant in a television inter-
tional Congress party in- view earlier Wednesday,
structed him to leave office saying he had done noth-
by the end of Wednesday ing wrong.
or face the motion of no "I'm being victimized here,"
confidence in parliament. Zuma told state broadcast-
His departure ended a er SABC. He complained
leadership crisis in one of that Ramaphosa and other
Africa's biggest economies ANC leaders had not given
and set the stage for ruling him clear reasons about South African President Jacob Zuma addresses the nation and press at the government's Union
party lawmakers to elect why he should go. Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018. South Africa's President Jacob Zuma
acting president Cyril Ra- "I need to be furnished on says he will resign 'with immediate effect.'
maphosa, previously depu- what I've done," Zuma said (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
ty president, as Zuma's suc- in the interview.
cessor. On Wednesday morning, the economy. An elite po- doing. to end his second five-year
"I have therefore come to police raided the home lice unit entered the com- Several people were ar- term early so that it could
the decision to resign as of prominent business as- pound of the Gupta family, rested during police opera- build up support ahead of
president of the republic sociates of Zuma who are which has been accused tions, South African media 2019 elections.
with immediate effect," accused of being at the of using its connections to reported. “We can no longer keep
said Zuma, who added that center of corruption scan- the president to influence The ANC, which has led South Africa waiting,” said
he took the decision even dals that have infuriated Cabinet appointments and South Africa since the end Paul Mashatile, the ANC’s
though he disagreed with the country, hurt the ANC's win state contracts. The of white minority rule in treasurer general. He paid
the ruling party's demand popularity and weakened Guptas deny any wrong- 1994, had wanted Zuma back some of the money.q

Longest-serving Dutch premier, Ruud Lubbers, dies at 78

By MIKE CORDER cause of death was given. with his counterparts in atrix was the Netherlands' even as he resigned.
Associated Press Prime Minister Mark Rutte Washington and London monarch during Lubbers' An economist by training,
THE HAGUE, Netherlands hailed Lubbers, who led the during the 1980s, President time in office and stepped Lubbers believed the size
(AP) — Ruud Lubbers, who Dutch government from Ronald Reagan and Prime aside for her son in 2013. of the Dutch government
as the Netherlands' longest 1982 to 1994, as a states- Minister Margaret Thatcher. “We remember Ruud Lub- had become a hindrance
serving prime minister led man who dragged the He trimmed back the Dutch bers as a great statesman to the country’s economic
his country through eco- Netherlands through tough welfare state, persuaded with an impressive sense health.
nomic turmoil to prosper- economic times. powerful labor unions to of responsibility,” the royals With the words “Holland is
ity and helped shape the "With his broad knowledge rein in their demands and said in a statement. sick,” he argued that gen-
foundations of the Euro- and experience and his ushered in years of growth. Lubbers’ international rep- erous disability and un-
pean Union, died Wednes- tireless creativity, he knew Dutch King Willem-Alexan- utation suffered in 2005 employment benefits had
day. He was 78. how to find a solution for der, his wife, Queen Maxi- when he was forced to step become fiscally unsustain-
The Dutch government an- every problem," Rutte said ma and the king's mother, down as U.N. High Commis- able, and that too many
nounced that Lubbers died on Facebook. Princess Beatrix, paid trib- sioner for Refugees in a sex- people took advantage of
in Rotterdam surrounded Lubbers' conservative eco- ute to his work for econom- ual harassment scandal. He them simply to avoid work-
by his wife and children. No nomic policies were in step ic and social recovery. Be- maintained his innocence ing. q