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Schwarzenegger Wins Historic Recall, Davis ousted
California's Democrat Governor Gray Davis was ousted in an historic recall vote Tuesday as actor-turned Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger won the race to replace him.

Schwarzenegger easily defeated his Democrat rival, the lieutenant governor of California, Cruz Bustamante in the race, the TV network reported, quoting exit poll results.

Davis, re-elected to a second term less than a year ago, will become the first governor recalled in California and the second governor in United States history to be thrown out of office since 1921, when North Dakota voters ousted Governor Lynn Frazier. 

"Whatever their judgment is tonight, I will accept it," Davis said in an interview with CNN's Larry King Live, about two hours before the polls closed. "I will cooperate in the transition if that's the voters' will, with whoever they choose tonight." 

Despite the sexual harassment accusations piled upon him in the final days, Schwarzenegger flexed his star power, as one of the most successful Hollywood actors, to fend off the attacks to win the race. 

A record crowd of 135 candidates took part in the colorful campaign over the past two months. 

The recall vote has generated widespread enthusiasm among Californian voters, as the turnout was very high compared to the last gubernatorial election. 

The respected Field Poll predicted as many as 10 million voters would cast ballots, 30 percent more than the 7.7 million when Davis was elected to a second term in November 2002, and a record in the state for a non-presidential contest. 

The Secretary of State's office said that based on turnout in Los Angeles and other indicator counties, the statewide vote could be as high as 60 percent, comparable to that of 1998 when Davis first won the election as governor. 

Votes packed polling stations across the state in a high turnout as the two-month tumultuous and chaotic campaign came to the judgment day. 

In an unusual two-step ballot, voters were asked to answer two questions: Should Davis be removed from office? Who can replace Davis if he loses his job? 

Accompanied by his wife Maria Shriver, a prominent TV journalist and member of the Kennedy family, Schwarzenegger walked through a crowd of reporters to the polling place in his swanky Los Angeles neighborhood to cast his vote. 

"I feel good," he said, adding that he had spent time with his family and now was focusing on thanking his supporters. Joking about the unprecedented long list of candidates, he said he "always look for the longest name. That makes it easy to find." 

The historic recall campaign and the ballot have been under the focus of the nation. Mainstream TV networks and radio programs were brimmed with campaign talks, and were providing extensive special coverage of the ballot. 

Speaking after a cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday, US President George W. Bush said he would work with Schwarzenegger if he took the state's top job. 

Bush praised the Hollywood actor for running "a spirited campaign" that "has captured a lot of people's imagination." 

The final results of the vote will be issued after all the votes are counted. The Secretary of State's office said Schwarzenegger could formally take over the office in mid-November under the legal process of transition. Enditem

Schwarzenegger vows to be "governor of people" after winning recall election 

Declaring victory in the historic recall election Schwarzenegger vowed to be a "governor of the people." 

During a victory speech to a cheering crowd at a Los Angeles hotel, Schwarzenegger thanked his wife Maria Shriver, who helped secure many votes from female voters who could have turned him away for sexual harassment accusations on the Hollywood action star and former bodybuilder. 

"I want to thank her for the love and the strength she has given me. I want to thank her so much for being the greatest wife and the most spectacular partner," he said, turning toward her. "And I know how many votes I got today because of you." 

As of midnight local time Tuesday, among 62 percent of ballots counted, more than 2.5 million voters, or 54 percent, favored recalling Davis against 2.16 million voter, or 46 percent, who opposed it. 

Schwarzenegger won 2.12 million votes, or 50 percent, against 1.42 million votes, or 33 percent, for Democrat's Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante. 

"Today California has given me the greatest gift of all -- their trust, by voting for me," Schwarzenegger said. "I will do everything I can to live up to that trust. I will not let you down." 

"I also want to thank the people of California ... everything that I have is because of California," he said. "I came here with absolutely nothing and California has given me absolutely everything." 

The actor promised that he will reach out to everybody.

Schwarzenegger added that he had received a "gracious call" from Davis earlier in the evening, for which he appreciated very much. "For the people to win, politics as usual must lose... I believe in the people of California. I know that together we can do great things," he said. 

Less than an hour earlier, Davis conceded defeat to Schwarzenegger in front of a crowd of supporters. 

"We've had a lot of good nights over the last 20 years, but tonight the people did decide that it's time for someone else to serve and I accept their judgment," Davis said. 

The ousted governor said he spoke to Schwarzenegger by phone and promised to offer his support during the transition to a new administration. "I am calling on everyone in this state to put thechaos and the division of the recall behind us and do what's rightfor this great state of California," he said. 

As Davis spoke Schwarzenegger's name, the crowd shouted "Recall!Recall!" But Davis held up his hand and said "No, no." 

Despite his victory, Schwarzenegger will face daunting problems, including an ailing economy, a budget deficit now estimated at 8 billion US dollars and a tax-and-spending system many believe needs serious reform. 

Schwarzenegger has said that his top priority is to roll back a recent tripling of the vehicle registration tax, which would increase the budget deficit by 4 billion dollars. His solution, to tax Indian casinos, would involve re-negotiating compacts with 61 tribes. He also wants to renegotiate contracts with the state employees' unions. 

Schwarzenegger will also be confronted with an overwhelming Democratic majority in the legislature and a considerable amount of ill will toward him. In addition, he will have only about two months to set up his administration before a budget is due in January. 

In Tuesday's vote, Californian voters also rejected two propositions, namely Proposition 54 on banning state and local governments from tracking race in everything from preschools to police work, and Proposition 53 on setting aside 1 percent of the state budget every year beginning in 2006 to build and rebuild infrastructures.

Greece is most corrupt in EU 
Greece holds the unenviable position of the most corrupt EU member state, according to a survey by the Transparency International watchdog released yesterday.

According to the survey's results, presented by former New Democracy MP and one-time deputy foreign minister Virginia Tsouderou, Greece is in joint 50th place, together with South Korea and Costa Rica, among the 133 countries surveyed. On a corruption scale of 0-10, with 10 indicating a country perfectly free of corruption, Greece, with 4.3 points, fails to get a passing grade. The second most corrupt EU member state, Italy, is in 36th place with 5.3 points. Greece has hardly progressed recently, since it was given 4.2 points in both 2001 and 2002.

The survey is a compilation of various country studies by 19 international and private organizations, such as the World Bank, the Economist and PricewaterhouseCoopers. To this are added the estimates of businessmen, academics and risk analysts.

At least Greece appears less corrupt than all its neighbors and five of the 10 incoming EU members. Four of the new members - Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia and Hungary - scored higher while Malta was not included on the list. The worrying thing for the EU is that the most populous new country, Poland, is also considered the most corrupt. Top of the list is Finland (9.7) and bottom was Bangladesh (1.3).

US to Penalize Defiant States
Countries that refuse to exempt US citizens and soldiers from the jurisdiction of the new International Criminal Court (ICC) could lose almost 90 million dollars in military aid from the United States in fiscal year 2004. 

The administration of US President George W. Bush on July 1 cut some $30 million in military aid to 32 friendly countries - most of them democracies - because they refused to sign deals with Washington. 

Among them were a number of new democracies in Central and East Europe, some of which have contributed troops to bolster the US-led occupation in Iraq. Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, South Africa, and a number of other Latin American and African countries, were also on the list. 

The cuts were mandated by the 2002 American Servicemembers Protection Act (ASPA), whose purpose is to ensure that the ICC, which began operating at The Hague in the Netherlands last spring, can never gain jurisdiction over US citizens. 

Among other provisions, the ASPA authorises the president to use all necessary means, including force, to free US servicemembers held by the ICC, the world's first permanent tribunal to prosecute the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. 

The ASPA requires the president to cut off military aid to countries that have ratified the 1998 Rome Statute, which established the ICC, unless they are NATO allies, specially designated non-NATO allies - such as Argentina, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Israel - or are given a "waiver" if the president determines that sanctions would harm the national interest. 

The administration has also determined that signing so-called Article 98 agreements with the United States committing nations not to transfer US citizens to the ICC's custody is sufficient to warrant a waiver.

The State Department said this week that over 65 countries had signed Article 98 deals, although spokesman Richard Boucher declined to name them.

A number of countries have reportedly signed agreements but have not made them public. Several nations had signed in just the last few days in order to avoid an aid cut-off, according to Boucher.

With the exception of Turkey, all of Washington's Nato allies have ratified the Rome Statute, as have Mexico, Costa Rica, all of South America, except Bolivia, and, as of just this past week, Colombia. Both countries are heavily reliant on US military aid.