Blogging the democratic revolution
PREVIOUS POSTS, BACKGROUND: HERE. LATEST PHOTOS: HERE. The democratic revolution in Maldives continues, with the situation turning downward by the second. Following the arrest of opposition MDC chairperson Nasheed at a peaceful sit-in on the anniversary of Black Friday, and the subsequent protests and mass detentions, violence is escalating on both sides. Opposition supporters, including children, the elderly, and even a pregnant woman are being beaten and arrested. Some protestors are throwing molotov cocktails at riot police as they are hailed by rubber bullets. Portions of the police forces have turned on the government and are also being detained. Yet…
The first time most people on this side of the world had ever heard of Aceh was late last year on Dec. 26, when an enormous tsunami swept over the land and killed over 130,000 people. It’s part of Sumatra, an island of 4.1 million in Indonesia, and home to three decades of a rebel war for independence that has killed several thousand more. But the tsunami has yielded good news, as tragedy begets the best in people. Due to the overwhelming need to distribute aid to the victims of the tsunami, a deal by both the government and the…
YESTERDAY’S REPORT, MORE BACKGROUND: HERE! LATEST PHOTOS: HERE! The democratic revolution in Maldives continues, with the government continuously arresting protestors and opposition leaders. All major news affiliates are completely ignoring this story. There is absolutely nothing. A total blackout. The only news is coming from from local sources, thouse being Minivan News and the Dhivehi Observer. Here is the very latest since this morning. SUNDAY 14TH (to Maldives time) 12:27AM: MALE: Police moving into Maafanu ward of the capital 12:17AM: MALE: Protestors shouting loudly for the resignation of President Gayoom on Maaveyomagu 12:13AM: MALE: Lots of shouting reported near Majeedhimagu…
It’s the anniversary of “Black Friday,” when exactly a year ago riots broke out across the country of Maldives. The protestors were challenging President Gayoom and his 25 year presidency over the arrest of reformists. They demanded free, fair, and transparent multi-party elections. Real reforms. Real democracy. What began as an unprecedented and unplanned rally, the largest in Maldives’ history, ended in a violent security forces crackdown on protestors, reformists, and even government ministers. Ever since then, amid internal and international pressure, Gayoom has had to try his hand at reform without much enthusiasm. He’d dish it out and then…
Even though the King imposed a state of emergency in February that was constitutionally lifted three months later, he still retains his powers and Nepal’s democratic process is still suspended. Protests are still broken up, hundreds of political prisoners are still being held, and the media still isn’t allowed to operate freely. Why? The King says that taking absolute control was necessary in order to crush the Maoist insurgency because the parliament was too ineffective. Yet there has been no progress against the Maoists, and now civil society is in turnoil because of the King’s actions. Because of this, the…
On Tuesday I discussed how pressure from the ASEAN countries forced Burma to forgo the chairmanship, a notable break from a general policy of nonintervention with regards to any particular country’s internal affairs. The move was cheered by the United States, the EU, and pro-democracy activists everywhere. Representatives from both bodies had threatened to boycott the meeting if Burma was to take the 2006 chair, which would have dealt a severe diplomatic blow as such a thing had never been done before. Speaking of other boycotts, though, President Bush just signed into law another year of sanctions against the Burmese…
Foreign ministers from an arc of ten Asian countries of various degrees of political openness are meeting in Laos to drink wine, joke, and maybe sign a few important cooperative agreements at the annual ASEAN summit. Underscoring the whole event, however, is that Burma is next in line to take over the leadership position in 2006. And western governments aren’t happy about it, so after a a lot of discussion, the ASEAN countries asked Burma to step down next year. Under pressure from both its neighbors and its critics in the West, the military regime in Myanmar agreed with obvious…
Marvellous, prosperous, democratic, revolutionary Chile, which has already signed free trade pacts with the U.S. and other nations, has signed three more free trade pacts with Brunei, New Zealand and Singapore. While Hugo Chavez up north and his Master in Havana scream about how bad they are. And the U.S. thrashes about trying to decide CAFTA, as special interests howl like jackals in the desert. Chile’s citizens have three more bright lights on their horizon while Chavez’s Venezuela slips further into economic darkness, blaming the U.S. all the way down. And while the U.S. tries to decide between Big Sugar,…
Protestors demonstrated for the Prime Minister of Nepal who was removed from office following the King’s constitutional coup nearly half a year ago. When to police rushed in to break it up with batons, the protestors fought back with bricks. Not what I’d call a healthy situation. KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) – Police used batons to break up a protest by supporters of this Himalayan country’s detained former prime minister on Sunday, leaving about 15 demonstrators and 10 police injured. About 400 supporters of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba were rallying outside the Royal Commission for Corruption Control, waving flags and…
In the latest people power demonstration in the Philippines, the government was able to organize a rally that seriously dwarfed the opposition rally this past Monday. MANILA — Matching masses against masses, supporters of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo held their own “people power” rally on Saturday to counter suggestions that all Filipinos want her to quit over allegations of vote rigging. Supporters of President Arroyo attended a prayer rally at the Rizal Park in Manila Saturday where they called for peace, unity and resolution of the country’s political turmoil. Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando estimated the crowd that…
Not much time to post on this, but I woke up to a great news roundup by Gateway Pundit with pictures and video. Check it out.
This brilliant analysis in The Australian about the political horror show going on right now in Philippines will make your blood go absolutely cold. Best thing written on what’s at stake. Today’s must-read is here. Hat tip: Real Clear Politics
President Hu of China is in Russia for a four-day visit with Putin where the two will agree on an array of political and economic ties for their roles in the region and in the world. Chinese President Hu Jintao Friday called for greater efforts to strengthen the strategic partnership and economic and trade ties between China and Russia. Hu Jintao met Russia????????s top lawmakers, Boris Gryzlov, and Sergei Mironov. Later he and Putin signed a joint declaration on the new world order in the 21st century. In a meeting with Boris Gryzlov, chairman of Russia????????s State Duma, Hu said…
Ever wondered why George Bush was seen meeting with Phan Van Khai, the communist premier of Vietnam? Same as the real revolutionaries like Maria Corina Machado? This editorial has some background here. Hat tip: Real Clear Politics
It’s jackass season in Washington and with it comes threats from Congress to harass China over its trade gap. Larry Kudlow outlines the incredible progress China has made since 1978 – 1978! – and warns that the U.S. has got to stop hectoring China for doing all the right things. China’s stable currency, its trade of goods with us, its lifting of its poor into the middle class are all things that need to be encouraged, not screamed at in U.S. Congress. Because trust me, China is capable of much worse than the ‘crime’ of trade. Larry Kudlow makes a…
As I mentioned here last April, Luis Ramirez at Voice of America is the best China reporter there is. I noted his daring efforts to report the truth about what is going on in China and and cited his long string of impressive pieces. I was right. Luis has now won one of the most prestigious journalism awards in Asia for this very work I cited. I am so happy for him, it’s what he truly deserved! (As I mentioned in that earlier item.) Sometimes things turn out they way they should. Way to go, Luis, FANTASTIC WORK! Congratulations!
I haven’t given this idea thought before. Very interesting. (Hat tip: New Mongols) ULAAN BAATAR, Mongolia — While the world powers grapple with how to check North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, Mongolia has quietly engaged the country and is pressing it to undertake reforms in a more direct manner. The primary tool to woo Pyongyang is Mongolia’s own successful transition from a Stalinist state to a free-market democracy. Once allies within the Soviet bloc, North Korea and Mongolia chose very different tacks after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990. While North Korea’s continuing Stalinism has brought it to the brink of…
King Gyanendra ended the three month state of emergency this past April 30, meaning he was supposed to ease up tight controls on civil liberties imposed since February. Of course, that didn’t happen. In the most recent example of his power grab, over 100 journalists were arrested for protesting against the restrictions. Police arrested nearly 100 journalists Monday after scuffling with them during a protest to demand King Gyanendra immediately lift media restrictions in Nepal imposed four months ago. … Protesters from the Federation of Nepalese Journalists were arrested as they marched into a restricted area near the royal palace,…
The Philippines is seeing massive protests over the discovery of a tape which purports to show that that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the daughter of a founding president of the nation, rigged her re-election last year, a contest she just barely won. She got her initial power in a People Power coup in 2001, an event I witnessed in Manila, and now apparently it’s her turn to exit the same way. Sad, because none of this is democratic. Initial news accounts are here, here, and here. Much of the blogging sentiment around Manila is that bad as she is, the…
Victor Mallet of the Financial Times seizes on Rumsfeld’s recent comments on June 4, in which he said that China needs to open up its political system. Victor argues that economic growth and western influence — one in the same in China’s case — will bring with it inevitable internal democratic reform, even as the government resists it. He applauded the global spread of democracy, expressed satisfaction that dictatorships were losing power, and suggested that China needed ???????a growth in political freedom??????? and ???????a more open and representative government???????. The Chinese response was revealing. Cui Tiankai, the senior foreign ministry…
Two weeks ago, Robert Mugabe started his “Operation: Clean-up” which has destroyed the market stalls of thousands of Zimbabweans and now left up to two million homeless. On both the human rights and geopolitics scale, the role that China plays in Africa in general and Zimbabwe in particular is especially important. They have been making inroads into the continent for years and the effects are starting to show. The opposition Sokwanele blog explains: Now let’s look at more recent developments. Riot police have just been sent into the flea markets in Harare, and been set upon street traders who ply…
GatewayPundit has a terrific item on a little-noted but huge Hong Kong freedom and democracy march. They’re determined people, those Hong Kongers, and on marches they go all out. GatewayPundit has a couple great pictures of Asia’s most beautiful city, too, making me feel like I’m there. See it here.
Today’s 20-year verdict against Schapelle Corby, supposedly for drug possession and drug running on the island of Bali, has radicalized a major part of Australia. The 27-year-old surfer insists she didn’t do it, but was the victim of an airport smuggling ring that forgot to retrieve its pot from her boogie board bag. Conveniently for them, the film of the baggage sequence has disappeared from airport custody. And no fingerprints were taken from the pot, something Schapelle says would exonerate her. Meanwhile, Indonesia tried her with a real charmer of a judge who said he didn’t believe in acquitting anyone…
The candidate of the ex-communist MPR has won Mongolia’s presidency, garnering over 50% of the vote and thus avoiding a runoff election. A former Communist prime minister of Mongolia has won Sunday’s presidential election, state media say. Nambaryn Enkhbayar beat three other contenders by polling more than 50% of the vote and thus avoiding the need for a run-off, Mongol Radio reported. The official results are expected later on Monday, but Mr Enkhbayar said his main rival had already conceded defeat. Before the poll, there were rallies for a more transparent electoral system in the capital, Ulan Bator. Protesters also…
They’re heading to the polls right now to vote in their country’s presidential election. Actually, that started a few hours ago, but I bet the nomads still have a ways to go. So far, it looks like the now center-left ex-Communist Party is going to do well in the polls. The Democratic parties alliance has splintered since ’96 and, despite large economic growth over the past year after a couple years of famine, are looking to lose out again on the presidency. Mongolia is electing a new president, with a candidate of the ex-Communist Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party tipped to…