Blogging the democratic revolution
Several days after high-brass military men ousted President Taya from power in Mauritania, diplomats are finally taking my line on this: cautious optimism. I’ve been arguing consistently that this may just be what Mauritania needs to order to secure real democracy in the face of a dictator who cracked down on all political opposition — not to mention falsified every election he ever held. When the coup first happened, everyone from the AU to the EU to the US to every other acronym organization condemned it. That line of thought is now changing. NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) – Western nations will support…
It has almost been three months since Ethiopia held its parliamentary elections, and the results have been delayed over and over and over. And the results aren’t all that surprising, especially after all the lack of transparency in the counting process, the putting opposition leaders under house arrest, the banning of protests, and the beating and shooting of student protestors. The government is really after Jimmeh Carter’s naive little heart (who, by the way, certified the elections after walking around a bit even when EU observers would not). Even after all of this, who still wins? You guessed it. Ethiopia’s…
Developments after the military coup continue to be interesting. Since the disbanded the parliament, they have adopted a new transitional charter in order to oversee the process of democratization Here are the details. DAKAR, Aug. 6 (Xinhuanet) — The Mauritanian junta Saturday adopted a charter on the organization and power allocation in the transitional period, the national radio said. The 11-point document, approved by the coup leaders’ Military Council for Democracy and Justice, stipulates that the council should honor all the country’s international commitments, abide by human rights laws and rules of international organizations, particularly those of the African Union…
I’m watching this very closely, because it’s so interesting and complex a situation. Seventeen soldiers stage a coup while President Taya is out of the country, people rejoice in the streets, and everything goes back to normal. There’s more to it than that, but the normalcy is what makes it such an interesting case. The new military junta did make some maneuvers, however. Noukchott – The army officers who seized power in Mauritania moved to strengthen their hold on the arid northwest African country on Thursday, dissolving parliament but keeping the ministers of deposed leader Maaouiya Ould Taya at their…
It looks like President Taya is out of luck today. He was out of the country attending King Fahd’s funeral in Saudi Arabia when the military decided they were going to take over! Good news? Bad news? Let’s see what all happened. Nouakchott, Mauritania – A group of army officers in Mauritania have overthrown President Maaoya Sid’Ahmed Taya in an apparently bloodless coup d’etat, announcing a military junta would rule the Islamic nation for up to two years. Taya, who himself seized power in a coup two decades ago, was out of the country at the time. arrived on Wednesday…
I have always said that the reason President Mbeki of South Africa won’t intervene in Zimbabwe is because he is Mugabe’s ideological admirer. Government-backed land redistribution in Zimbabwe only resulted in formerly white commercial farms going unused. Famine set in, and when international donors sent food aid, Mugabe’s government seized it. The government in South Africa has always been making attempts at “racial justice,” but it has been generally by market means. They want to have at least 30% of the land tranferred to black farmers by 2014, though only an estimated 5% has switched hands fairly. So what happens…
John Garang is ÄnowÅ an ex-rebel leader from the south of Sudan, where millions have lost their lives in a systematic genocide committed by the government. In a peace deal worked out between the two sides, Garang was sworn in as Vice President of the country and the situation was looking hopeful. Well, scratch that. Tens of thousands of people are flooding the streets of Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, enraged by the death of John Garang, who led the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army rebels for more than two decades. Mr. Garang was sworn in as Sudan’s first vice president less than…
GatewayPundit has a letter from Zimbabwe. The locals there are terrified. Houses are being razed left and right and those homeless must sleep in the freezing weather. Soon, all houses will be razed or taken over by the state. The writer argues that genocide is coming. The letter-writer warns that this isn’t business as usual in Africa, it’s something new and truly evil. They need help. Read it here. Hat tip: Instapundit
It looks like a somewhat promising election is about to go down the tubes. It looks like deposed military strongman Vieira won Guinea-Bissau’s runoff election. But allegations of fraud are coming from the other candidate, Sanha, who is the current ruling party’s candidate. Guinea-Bissau’s former military ruler Joao Bernardo Vieira has won run-off presidential elections, the electoral commission has announced. Mr Vieira, known as Nino, came to power in a coup and ruled for 18 years until overthrown in 1999 by the armed forces. Hours before the provisional results were announced, a spokesman for Mr Vieira’s rival said he would…
Ugandans went to the polls today to vote in a referendum on allowing multiple parties run in elections. Political parties were effectively outlawed 19 years ago, but President Museveni is being pressured by foreign donors, who supply half of the government’s budget, to enact reforms. Turnout was very low largely due to torrential rains and partly due to apathy. Ugandans are choosing whether to allow multiparty politics in the East African country in a referendum Thursday, the first step in reforming the country’s constitution, which forbids political parties from campaigning in elections. President Yoweri Museveni banned multiparty politics when he…
Only a few days after the United Nations issued its “damning” report about the genocide in Zimbabwe, Mugabe figured it might be a good idea continue demolishing homes. Shows how much he takes the dreaded UN seriously, huh? The United States and Britain, however, have been stepping up the pressure on South Africa to do something about the problem; namely, to force Zimbabwe to undergo reform as a condition to any financial aid. But why would Mbeki do that when he is ideologically sympathetic, and why would Mugabe accept such an offer when China is dishing out bargain basement prices?…
The G8 summit is over, aging hipsters have finished playing concerts the nostalgic world over, and experience as old as their songs has been cast out the window in favor of some feel-good debt relief lovin’. Dictators from the Middle East to Asia are outraged and harping on endlessly; not because they’re being forced into reform by democratic crusaders, but because they aren’t getting it as good as their brethren in the sub-Sahara. You see, for twenty years the West has made the disastrous mistake of attempting to correct the genocides, famines, and poverty of Africa by fueling unchecked billions…
After suffering through terrible years under a populist madman who suspended the national legislature when free parliamentary threatened his rule, and following three years of a bloodless military coup, the people of Guinea-Bissau are ready to return to multi-party democracy. Indications are showing that, indeed, today will be a good day for the otherwise turbulent nation.
Kofi Annan is mad. That’s right, Robert Mugabe is still plundering the entire country of Zimbabwe, and Kofi has to take time away from shredding Oil-for-Food documents to read a 100 page report about it. Hey, if I were the head of an ineffective international institution and I had to read about something I couldn’t do anything about, I’d be mad too. UNITED NATIONS, July 22 – The United Nations today condemned the mass destruction of urban slums and shantytowns in Zimbabwe by the government of Robert G. Mugabe as a “disastrous venture,” saying it had left 700,000 people homeless…
People in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi demonstrated for the second day against proposed constitutional changes that will leave the country with a watered down premiership and an ultimately authoritative presidency. The government has banned the demonstrations, but protestors say they will take to the streets for a third day. Clashes are also being reported in cities elsewhere. NAIROBI, July 21 (Reuters) – Kenyan riot police guarded the rubble-strewn streets of Nairobi on Thursday as protest leaders promised a third day of demonstrations against President Mwai Kibaki’s handling of a constitution reform. The protests — which have turned central Nairobi into…
The peace process continues in the Sudan, at least with regard to the main North-South conflict which has claimed millions of lives over the past four decades. Under the coalition agreement, former rebel leader John Garang has become the new Vice President of the Sudan. There will be a six-year interim period in which the southern rebels will maintain troops to ensure compliance by Khartoum. At the end of the six years, the southerners can then vote on succession. This is an excerpt from the New York Times (registration required): NAIROBI, Kenya, July 9 – Sudan elevated a former rebel…
You have got to be kidding me. Mugabe is getting more ridiculous by the day. People’s property is now being taken away and resold back to them at higher prices than they paid for it. HARARE City Council has rescinded all land sale agreements made between 1998 and this year and is now reselling the land at market rates to the same buyers, where necessary. The prices charged in many of the agreements were a small fraction of pertaining market rates and usually well below the then cost of servicing the land. The price reviews follow the cancellation and invalidation…
To protest the rigged elections in their home country. I have yet to see a story carried on CNN, or anywhere else for that matter. I would love to be corrected on this, however, if in fact they have published a story. Yesterday they marched on the Carter Center (for obvious reasons), also located in Atlanta. You can see more photos here from other protests occurring worldwide today.
The election commission is delaying the results, again, in what can only be a further attempt to clean up the trail of fraud. ADDIS ABABA, 7 July (IRIN) – Final results of Ethiopia’s 15 May parliamentary election will once again be delayed until investigations into allegations of electoral fraud are completed, the National Electoral Board (NEB) chairman said on Wednesday. NEB officials had previously postponed declaring the final results of the poll from 8 June to 8 July, saying they needed time to investigate disputed results. “There was a delay and that delay is continuing and we expect it will…
Vodkapundit posts an interview with a Kenyan economist talking about how development aid has stalled if not destroyed progress in Africa. SPIEGEL: Mr. Shikwati, the G8 summit at Gleneagles is about to beef up the development aid for Africa… Shikwati: … for God’s sake, please just stop. SPIEGEL: Stop? The industrialized nations of the West want to eliminate hunger and poverty. Shikwati: Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid…
Our good friend Stefania of the estimable Free Thoughts blog is not only more serious in thinking about what the G8 should be doing than Bob Geldof, she’s also more serious than the G8 itself. Her suggestions about what the G8 should really be thinking about and discussing are here. Don’t miss.
Supposed to be pretty big, and they’ll be heading to the CNN building. I wonder if they’ll be able to ignore it since it’ll be right there in front of them. ATLANTA – A huge rally and mass demonstration will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 7 & 8, 2005 as part of a planned Ethiopia global protest rally. The rally is due to take place on Thursday July 7, 2005 at Carter Center, whereas the next day, Friday July 8, Ethiopians will converge at Martin Luther King Jr. Center to march towards CNN Headquarters. The recent political upheaval…
Bush has come out and chided countries in Africa for turning a blind eye to the regimen genocide ongoing in Zimbabwe. I would assume that this is timed to coincide with the G8 summit and the huge plan to aid, trade, and liberalize the continent. WASHINGTON – US President George W Bush yesterday accused Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe of “destroying” his country and urged countries in the region, especially South Africa, to pressure him to change. “Next door to you is a person who is destroying a country because of bad policy, and it’s not right. And the nations in…
To give him the boot. A London newspaper is reporting just that. Read it here. One can only hope the same is going on for Hugo Chavez. If only!
From South Africa to Nigeria, leaders from all around Africa are saying “no” to pressure on Zimbabwe’s Mugabe for his eviction of hundreds of thousands. The African Union itself has said, “If it is in the interests of the Zimbabwean government to prevent crime or improve sanitation or ensure the health of the people or ensure Harare is not turning into another slum, I do not see how the AU should take over the internal legislation of the government.” You may be thinking, “Slum? You mean the one Mugabe created himself? Are these people ignorant?” But obviously, they are not.…