Uncertainties abroad with U.S. election hobbled
Uncertainties abroad with U.S. election hobbled
TOKYO (Agencies): With hopes for a quick presidential election result fading, fears were rising abroad that political uncertainty in the United States could start to shake the world's trade and security systems and unsettle Washington's top allies.
"I hope an electoral result will come out as soon as possible," Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono told reporters Friday morning, three days after the extremely close vote.
In a Tokyo suburb, Ritsuko Kawahara shared the nervousness. "They should end the election soon - it's better for global stability," she said.
In Brunei, where President Bill Clinton will join leaders from Asian and Pacific Rim nations for an annual summit next week, senior officials said they would be watching for any hints of future U.S. policy.
"Our interest will be high for anything that the United States says that looks into what will happen next year," said Kobsak Chutikul, senior economics official at Thai Foreign Ministry.
"Given the status of the U.S. election, anything they say will be very interesting."
Still, officials meeting on Friday to prepare the agenda for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit said the U.S. uncertainty would not undermine the gathering, held to hammer out trade issues.
"I don't think so; hopefully not," Ricardo Lagos, Chile's senior official to APEC, said of that possibility.
In China, people mixed admiration with scorn for the election deadlock, turning the tables on the country that has often lectured them about democracy.
"The eyes of the world are on the American election," proclaimed the Beijing Youth Daily.
But a 42-year-old Beijing housewife who gave her surname as Li put it in perspective: "Sure, America has problems, but at least there are elections. ... China's commoners cannot even choose who'll lead China."
The election hinged on the results in Florida, where unofficial results from a re-count showed Texas Governor George W. Bush ahead of Vice President Al Gore by 327 votes. But that may not end the wait. Democrats threatened lawsuits over the voting, and Republicans considered recounts in two other states.
Japan's Yomiuri newspaper called for a quick, accurate and conclusive recount to avoid mounting "anxiety" in the rest of the world - and avoid putting a politically weakened man into the White House.
"The turmoil over the vote count should not be allowed to cloud the president's authority," the Yomiuri said in an editorial Friday. "It is to be hoped that the disruption ... is not a sign of global turmoil in the years ahead."
Despite the concerns, the uncertainty was not taking much of a toll on world markets. Tokyo's main stock index, for example, was down a scant 0.47 percent, while stocks in Manila gained slightly.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard assured reporters that there was no threat to world trade, adding that the U.S. government was not in crisis since Clinton would be in office until January.
He said the cliffhanger result demonstrated the strength of American political institutions.
"I think that is a testament to the strength of democracy rather than a criticism of the process," he told reporters in Sydney.
In other parts of the globe, the turmoil in Florida reminded many of their own troubled electoral systems.
"Call it the great American democracy at work, but for most people outside the United States watching the presidential ballot in Florida, it looked like a Third World election fiasco," columnist Thanong Khanthong wrote in Thailand's Nation newspaper.
Some of the reaction on Friday mirrored concerns in the United States about the Electoral College system, under which a candidate can receive fewer popular votes but still win the election depending on which states he clinches a majority in.
The Statesman newspaper in India predicted that criticism of the system will mount, no matter who wins the election.
African nations suggested on Friday sending 'observers' to the United States to help overcome presidential poll confusion as the world's press argued over whether it was witnessing electoral chaos or simply democracy in action.
A top aide to Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe endorsed the idea: "perhaps now we have reached a time when they can learn a lot from us. Maybe Africans and others should send observers to help Americans deal with their democracy."