Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
JIM MCDAID’S RESIGNATION from the Dáil brings the number of vacant seats in the House to four, meaning there are currently 162 sitting TDs.
George Lee and Martin Cullen had resigned earlier this year, and Pat the Cope Gallagher left his Donegal seat when he was elected an MEP in June.
The Ceann Comhairle only votes in a tie situation, meaning 81 votes are enough to make a majority for the government.
There are 70 TDs in Fianna Fáil’s parliamentary party, and three outside it who usually vote with the government (Mattie McGrath, Jimmy Devins and Eamon Scanlon).
There are also six Green Party TDs and three Independents who support the government (Mary Harney, Michael Lowry and Jackie Healy Rae).
If all of those TDs, including the three Fianna Fáil members who lost the party whip, vote with the government then it has 82 votes.
In opposition, there are 51 Fine Gael TDs, 20 Labour Party TDs and four Sinn Féin TDs. There are also four Independent TDs who tend to vote against the government, but not always, according to RTÉ.
This latter group includes Galway’s Noel Grealish, who announced late last month that he had withdrawn his support for the government.
If all of those listed in the opposition group vote against the government, opposition votes come to 79.
So much unknown – who are these “foreign-backed terrorists” and why have they got it in for what was such a beautiful city.
@Anthony Clark: There are no foreign terrorists, years of boiling anger spilled over, the riots go out of control in Almaty and a few other cities.
The government is claiming they are foreign terrorists probably because the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) can only be evoked if a member country is attacked by an outside country, they invited in Russia and a few other member countries in to help with security. The real reason they are there I read is not to police the streets, they are there to threaten the police and national guard so they don’t switch over to the protestors
Calling rioters foreign terrorists is typical of Soviet and post-Soviet dictatorships, they then round up people and disappear them. There may be some credence that the violence in Almaty was a fight between factions in the ruling elite vying for power, but this might be just a wild rumour.
Here’s a description of the riots in Almaty by one of the rioters:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Kazakhstan/comments/s0q0k7/witnesss_experience_about_the_protests/
Some Posts I found:
“Hey you all, I’ve made a post about how I couldn’t reach my XXXXXX who lives in XXXXXX. I’ve managed to reach some of his friends and they told me he got arrested. I honestly can’t believe that cause my brother is a very compliant guy, very obedient to the laws and even a bit paranoid about breaking rules. He wouldn’t even want to take me on the back of his bicycle when I visited last time cause it’s not allowed. So not a person I could see getting arrested rightfully. However last time there were protests in Russia they arrested random people too and I’m wondering if anything like that could have happened. … ”
“Sorry man, might be best if you stay away for a while though. Odds are fair you might get picked up just for being related. Good luck to you and all your loved ones.”
“I also fear that a very good friend of mine got arrested. I had contact with him on monday for a short time. He seemed to be fine. But since then nothing. First I thought it’s the internet not working again, but it seems to work in Almaty for some hours each day at least. He flew to KZ over the holidays to spend time with his family. As far as I can tell he was not involved in anything. They locked themselves in.”
@David Jordan: Hi David, you’ll probably appreciate these articles: This covers how Jihadis have been slipped into the country from Afghanistan – which explain the beheadings: https:// thecradle.co/Article/columns/5668?s=09
This refers to close links between the US and the recently deposed ruler, with details of US involvement in biological labs in Khazakstan: https:// asiatimes.com/2022/01/kazakhstan-becomes-toxic-graveyard-for-us-diplomacy/?s=09
If I might quote a line: “Why is Kazakhstan a sought-after partner? Simply put, the country provides unique access to ethnic Russian and Chinese groups as “specimens” for conducting field research involving highly pathogenic potential biological-warfare agents.”.
The Ruling elite have been incredibly corrupt as you say, but they like stashing their money in the West for some reason: https:// http://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-nazarbayev-family-wealth/31013097.html
@Kerrill Thornhill: There were no beheadings. That was an unverified claim from the dictatorship.
“All these talks of beheading…never a photo. I’m not saying they didn’t happen but anyone seen evidence of these? Beheading are very violent and almost wouldn’t fit the nature of this riot.”
“And yet a lot of people believe them without question. Its dangerous.” – Kazakh citizens.
Oh, the ONE biological lab near Alamty, 3 day old Russian propaganda.
“Russia claimed a possible pathogen leak occurred at military lab in Kazakhstan; Kazakhstan denies facility was seized by rioters”
“‘This is not true. The facility is being guarded,’ said the health ministry which is responsible for the Central Reference Laboratory, in Almaty.”
“Now miskovites will create 1001 lie to hold occupation of Kazakhstan.”
“This lab is a popular boogeyman among Putinbots.”
Cant get over the faux outrage on social media/FakeNews media over the numbers detained. This was an attempted coup involving what appears to be a violent element that came in from outside the country. ~20 police dead, >750 injured, government buildings, transport hubs were seized, etc. By contrast in the US, the Jan 6th protest was a protest that descended into a riot. Completely overblown. 1 person killed on the day at the riot (a protestor named Ashli Babbitt) yet well over 700 people were detained, many in solitary confinement for months for walking around the Capital.
God bless Kazakhstan
Dead right by Putin, take control and arrest these anarchists
@David Jordan: Hi David, you’ll probably appreciate these articles: This covers how Jihadis have been slipped into the country from Afghanistan – which explain the beheadings: https:// thecradle.co/Article/columns/5668?s=09
This refers to close links between the US and the recently deposed ruler, with details of US involvement in biological labs in Khazakstan: https://asiatimes.com/2022/01/kazakhstan-becomes-toxic-graveyard-for-us-diplomacy/?s=09
If I might quote a line: “Why is Kazakhstan a sought-after partner? Simply put, the country provides unique access to ethnic Russian and Chinese groups as “specimens” for conducting field research involving highly pathogenic potential biological-warfare agents.”.
The Ruling elite have been incredibly corrupt as you say, but they like stashing their money in the West for some reason: https:// http://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-nazarbayev-family-wealth/31013097.html
have your say