Democrats’ winner Perez in vow
TOM PEREZ is the new national party chairman of the US Democrats.
Mr Perez beat Keith Ellison in the second round of voting by Democratic National Committee members at their meeting in Atlanta.
Mr Perez, labour secretary under former president Barack Obama, gave a speech before the vote, saying Democrats face “a crisis of confidence” and a “crisis of relevance”.
He pledged to “take the fight” to President Donald Trump and “right-wing Republicans”.
The Democrats’ power-deficit is stark.
Republicans occupy the White House, run both chambers of Congress and control about two-thirds of US state houses.
Mr Perez and Mr Ellison, a congressman from Minnesota, each pledged to rebuild state and local parties, including in Republican-dominated states.
Both said the party must capitalise on widespread opposition to Mr Trump.
They must also work to reach frustrated working-class voters who felt abandoned by Democrats and embraced Mr Trump.
Mr Obama said: “Perez will unite us under that banner of opportunity.
“He will lay the groundwork for a new generation of Democratic leadership for this big, bold, inclusive, dynamic America we love so much.” IRAN’S former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sent a 3,500-word letter to US President Donald Trump that applauds immigration and says it shows “the contemporary US belongs to all nations”.
The missive strikes a somewhat conciliatory tone and is not the first dispatch sent by Mr Ahmadinejad, who has counted George W Bush and Barack Obama among his pen pals.
But this letter comes as criticism of Mr Trump over his travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, mounts in Tehran.
It also may serve to burnish Mr Ahmadinejad’s image domestically after the nation’s Supreme Leader warned him not to run in Iran’s upcoming May presidential election.
Missing from the letter was any reference to Iran’s nuclear programme.