Blogging the democratic revolution
Now that I’ve lured you in with a misleading, typical MSM headline, read on. In Iran, motives are never so genuine and kind. TEHRAN, Iran May 23, 2005 ???????? Iran’s supreme leader ordered the hard-line constitutional watchdog council to reconsider its decision to bar senior reformist candidates from running in next month’s presidential elections, state-run…
Will Franklin is hosting this week’s carnival of revolutions, where you can catch up on the democracy movement over the past week. Next week it will be hosted by your favorite playboy, er, not me, I mean Nathan at Registan.net. I’ll be the week after.
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…
Don’t miss Gary Metz’s week in review over at Regime Change Iran, the essential blog on developments you know where.
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…
You know how it goes: as soon as your diplomats get expelled, its finally a humanitarian crisis! European lawmakers are finally urging their countries to get tough on Castro. This, of course, after they lifted sanctions on the regime earlier in the year. Two former Spanish senators, Isabel San Baldomero and Rosa Lopez Garnica, were…
As the November parliamentary race is unfolding in Azerbaijan, Aliyev’s government has decided to start early and wage a campaign of far among opposition supporters. A protest among several opposition and youth groups was planned over the last week for Saturday, but the police cracked down and arrested dozens of leaders and activists. All of…
I awoke to a Google News alert to this fantastic editorial describing how Togo was betrayed its rightful place among democratic nations. It has only been a few weeks since terribly falsified elections were held in that country, and the political crisis has only deepened since. After hundreds were killed in the aftermath, thousands more…
I admit that I ran across this item on accident, because as under-publicized as it is, that would be the only way to find it. While speaking to the International Republican Institute — one of the main organizations that allocates democracy building aid — President Bush proposed creating a special corp of federal workers that…
The Council of Europe ended its third summit since 1949 in Warsaw on Tuesday with everybody calling for democracy in Belarus, which is the only European country that cannot attend the event. Out of all the countries, however, Poland really stood out with its calls. WARSAW – Calls for democracy in Belarus and agreement on…
Thousands of people crowd the city square, moving as a singular mass. It stared upward, demanding liberalization and an end to corrupt governance. Looking back downward, with scorn, was another mass; armed with machine guns and a stake in using them if the situation out-stepped its bounds. And then they used them. Hundreds dead, multiples…
I hadn’t really discussed it because, as far as superficial information goes, the mainstream media and famed international election observers like Jimmeh Carter went ahead and gave the whole thing the green light. WILLisms has a great roundup of the media coverage during the past week, and yes, Ethiopia is one of the more progressive…
Is it me… or are these becoming more frequent? Hundreds of demonstrators have rallied outside Syria’s feared state security court, chanting for freedom and demanding an end to the 42-year-old state of emergency. “Long live liberty,” the protestors on Sunday chanted in Arabic and Kurdish as the trials of three Kurdish activists got under way….
I can understand why the U.S. government has been hesitant to call shots on the events unfolding in Uzbekistan. Good information has been rare, and they are obviously waiting to see what political and strategic maneuvers to make. But come on, enough it enough. With every report indicating massive deaths in the hundreds, this is…
Andy from Siberian Light is hosting this week’s carnival. Check it out for link-filled goodness reviewing democracy movements over the past week.
Before anything, make sure to read Nathan’s evening updates. Jim over at Gateway Pundit also has a great roundup with links to BBC video footage available. Earlier Saturday, people gathered in the same square that yesterday saw the bloody crackdown of Karimov’s regime. While the violence in Andijan appeared to have calmed Saturday, disturbances flared…
I’ve been reading through this piece on RIA Novosti, the Russian news and information agency. To the effect of KGB intelligence gathering, they’ve made a large collection of articles written in the former Soviet republics before and after the V-E Day celebrations. In particular, what they’ve written against Russia. Until you get to the Central…
This is what happens when you let the state-owned media out into the world! They take pictures of all the lovely western women and post it all over their website. Hat tip: Danwei.
Egypt’s parliament has just passed a resolution which will set May 25 as the day the Egyptian population will vote to amend the constitution so as to provide for multi-candidate presidential elections. The resolution was endorsed by a huge majority of parliament, though this is because it was proposed by Mubarak and his party dominates….
This is extremely rare for Uzbekistan, where Islam Karimov really puts the boot down. It seems that 4000 people have taken to the streets to protest the trials of several loca businessmen accused of “extremist activities.” More than 4,000 residents of Andijon demonstrated for a second consecutive day in a row on 11 May (see…
Everyone — I’ll be appearing on CNBC’s Kudlow and Company on Thursday between 5-6pm eastern time. I’ll be talking politics in South America. I’ve asked some people to record it and host the video for download, so hopefully that can be made available if some of you can’t catch it. For now, I am going…
An envoy from the United States met with King Gyanendra yesterday evening to press for the restoration of civil liberties. As you may recall, the king imposed a state of emergency on February 1 and dissolved the parliament, leading to the arrest and detainment of hundreds of journalists, students, and political opponents. Constitutionally, the state…
“You gathered here armed with nothing but roses and the power of your convictions and you claimed your liberty and because you acted, Georgia is today both sovereignty and free and a beacon of liberty for this region and the world.” And the crowd went wild. “In recent months, the world has marveled at the…
I’m watching Bush’s speech to Georgia now. I’ll write more as soon as it’s over. Huge applauses. There must be a hundred thousand people there!
The ritz and glamour of the V-E Day celebrations in Moscow are coming to a close, and nearly everyone, except my German grandmother, has been watching and opining on what it all means for U.S.-Russia relations. At one moment, you have Bush praising the Baltics and preaching freedom and democracy in Belarus. On the other,…