Canadian PM fends off attacks in election debate
TORONTO (AP) — The leaders of Canada's four political parties faced off in the first debate Tuesday before a federal election next month, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper fending off attacks and asking Canadians for a majority government.
Analysts say main opposition Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff needed a strong showing to have a chance in the May 2 election. Ignatieff didn't shake Harper and he stumbled over his prepared lines.
Polls say Harper looks set for a third term. This time he is asking voters to give him a majority in the 308-member House of Commons; he has avoided that previously, wary of being accused of right-wing overreach.
Harper said Canada should focus on the economy and doesn't need the "bickering" seen in the debate. This is Canada's fourth election in four years, reflecting the failure of either major party to obtain a parliamentary majority and leaving successive governments dependent on opposition votes to stay in power.
"What we are asking — in an election we didn't want, in an election Canadians didn't want — we're asking Canadians to make the decision: Do you want to have this kind of bickering, do you want to have another election in two years? Or do you want a focus on the economy?" Harper said looking directly into the camera.
Ignatieff countered: "This isn't bickering, Mr. Harper. This is democracy."
Ignatieff charged that Harper hasn't earned the right to a majority because he doesn't respect democratic institutions. He called Harper "a man who will shut down anything he can't control."
Harper stirred controversy by suspending Parliament temporarily and was censured for failing to brief the body fully on critical financial decisions. Those issues and his determination to cut corporate taxes led to the motions that brought down his government and forced the current election.As prime minister, Harper has won two elections in a row.
Despite never commanding a majority in Parliament, he has managed to nudge an instinctively liberal country ever further to the right.
Harper, 51, has gradually lowered sales and corporate taxes, increased spending on the military and made Arctic sovereignty a priority.
Ignatieff, 63, is one of Canada's leading intellectuals: an author, historian and a TV panel regular in Britain before going into politics. Repeated Conservative attack ads have painted Ignatieff as an outsider who spent 30-plus years outside Canada.
Canadian PM fends off attacks in election debate
(기사내용)
캐나다 총선거 여당 우세 예상
토론토 (AP) - 캐나다 정치인들이 5월의 총선거운동을 시작한 가운데 현 스티븐 하퍼수상은 보수당을 다수당 정부로 지지해 줄 것을 호소하고 있다.
야당인 자유당은 5월로 예정된 선거에서 승리하려면 투표율의 제고가 필요한 것으로 보인다.
선거에 앞서 실시한 여론조사에서 현 수상은 3선이 예상되는데 308명 의원으로 구성된 하원투표에서 보수당을 다수당으로 만들어 주길 호소하고 있다.
하퍼 수상은 캐나다가 정치적 대결보다는 경제에 더 많은 것을 할애해야 하며 여당이 의회 다수당이 되지 못해서 정권유지를 위해 야당과 연립정부를 구성함으로써 4년 동안에 선거를 4번 치러야 했다고 말했다.
여당의 주장에 대해 야당의 마이클이그나티에프 자유당 당수는 민주주의를 이해하지 못하고 있다고 말하면서 국회를 통제하지 못하면 해산하는 사람이라고 공격했다.
현 수상에 의한 국회해산으로 중요한 경제현안에 대해 국회에 보고하지 않았다는 비난을 사고 있는데, 법인세 인하 결정으로 여당이 불신임을 당하면서 다시 선거를 치르게 된 것이다.
현 스티븐 하퍼수상은 두 차례의 선거에서 승리했다. 지금 까지 한 번도 의회에서 과반수 다수표를 획득한 적이 없으면서도 본래 자유스런 정치적 성향의 캐나다에서 우파적 정책을 밀고 나 올 수 있었다.
현재 51세인 하퍼수상은 부과가치세와 법인세를 계속 낮추고 군사비 지출을 늘리며 북극의 주권확보를 정책의 최우선으로 채택했다.
KNS뉴스통신 kns@kns.tv
