Blogging the democratic revolution
Combined with the old parliament resigning, this piece of good news certainly lends the last bit of credibility the new interim government needs. Akayev has finally resigned. MOSCOW (Reuters) – Kyrgyzstan’s deposed president Askar Akayev tendered his resignation Sunday at his country’s embassy in Moscow in the presence of members of the Central Asian state’s parliament. Akayev fled into exile in Russia last week after ruling his impoverished country for 14 years. Many Kyrgyz see his formal resignation as key to ensuring full legitimacy for new elections provisionally scheduled for June. Akayev signed documents on four points, he said. “One…
Finally the answer comes to the question we’ve all been waiting for: The opposition will not protest. HARARE, Zimbabwe, April 3 — Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday ruled out calling for mass demonstrations to protest what he said were fraudulent results from last week’s parliamentary elections. Instead, he said, his party would redouble efforts to recruit new members from beyond its urban strongholds. Tsvangirai said widespread discrepancies in announced vote totals made clear that the party of President Robert Mugabe, which controlled the nation’s electoral mechanisms, rigged the outcomes in the rural areas where they claimed most of…
I was just reading A.M. Mora y Leon’s post right below this one and a website I remember from a long time ago clicked into my head: cafepress.com. They let you create clothing and apparel using your own images. I figure if Che tees are for the old and unhip, then democracy gear must be the new thing. Therefore, I present to you PubliusPundit.com Democracy Gear. If you go to that link, you will be able to buy an assortment of men’s and women’s t-shirts and bumper stickers with the words “Democracy! Whiskey! Sexy!” on them. Take a look at…
I just got done reading David McDuff’s eleventh installment of Dragons and Democracy. Always a good read!
Freedom House does an annual list of the world’s most oppressive regimes. To some of us, it doesn’t come as a surprise that six of the 18 nations on the list are members of the UN Commission on Human Rights. Significantly, six of the eighteen most repressive governments–those of China, Cuba, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe–are members of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), representing nearly 11 percent of the 53-member body. “Repressive governments enjoying CHR membership work in concert and have successfully subverted the Commission’s mandate,” said Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor. “Rather than serving as the…
Yesterday I wrote that Mugabe will not face any consequences if the opposition rebels and he decides to crack down — something he would inevitably do if that happens. While western election observers were kept out amid certain criticism of the election, as we have seen a lot from America and the European Union despite this, those monitoring the elections were all from regional countries: Libya, Zambia, South Africa, etc. Being that South Africa is a democratic nation and a major regional power, one would assume that they would exert some pressure over Mugabe. Not so. In fact, they are…
The hours are counting down to the final decision of the opposition in Zimbabwe, one of the “last Outposts of Tyranny” on this earth. Word on the street is that if the order is given, they will protest. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said the party would not pursue legal challenges for the seats it believes were stolen. Instead, he said, “the people of Zimbabwe must defend their vote,” stronger language than he used after 2000 and 2002 elections, which were characterized by massive fraud. But he denied he was calling for people to take…
One of the most admirable men of the last century is passing his last breaths before softly slipping to a more enviable place. Pope John Paul II has been to myself and countless others the spiritual revolutionary that gutted the Soviet Union in its Godless, empty soul. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for the unmatched contribution he made toward securing us a freer world than the one he was born to. Thomas Jefferson once said, “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God,” making Pope John Paul II one of His most humble servants. With the Pope’s passing…
Even though this protest was about a week ago, and there are already plenty of photos, Belarus Today has come out with a gallery of photos from the protest that are unique to its own website. And… A babe finally!
I’ve been reading this article with the above title. It’s pretty long and informative, but I think this quote sums it up, “They haven’t ever seen a good election and wouldn’t know one if it hit them in the face.” Truer words have never been spoken!
So far this is the fourth bomb to strike within the last three weeks, just as Syria will finish pulling out its troops by next week. BEIRUT, Lebanon — A bomb damaged a shopping center in a Christian area northeast of Beirut Friday, the fourth attack against an anti-Syrian target in two weeks. The blast lightly injured seven people, one of them an American, police said. The explosion in the resort town of Broummana, 10 miles northeast of the Lebanese capital, started a fire and shattered glass in several buildings, blew out store shutters and smashed several cars. Firefighters workers…
Well the results are in and they’ve been plenty doctored. Here’s the overview, with the opposition promising something unspecified to happen. Harare ???????? President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party has secured a majority in parliament, according to results announced Friday in an election the opposition says was marred by fraud. Thursday’s vote was seen as a test of the legitimacy of Mr. Mugabe’s increasingly autocratic regime after 25 years in power. Mr. Mugabe, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, is the last on the continent who has ruled his country since independence from the colonial powers. Mr. Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic…
…Only after the police tear gassed the protestors. Kampala – Ugandan police used water cannons and tear gas to break up an opposition demonstration on Thursday, engaging in running battles with marchers protesting efforts to extend the president’s tenure. Riot police dispersed the protesters, who were denouncing plans to amend the constitution so that President Yoweri Museveni can run for a third term in office. Police spokesperson Asuman Mugenyi said the demonstration had not been authorised. “They knew that we had stopped it, but they continued inciting people to come and participate in violence and in an illegal assembly,” he…
I’m going to start this off by putting this article in the reverse way that it was written. International human rights organizations and such other groups as the European Union, which on Wednesday called the election “phony,” say the outcome is unlikely to reflect the will of most Zimbabweans. Mugabe controls every daily newspaper, all broadcasting, thousands of patronage jobs, the electoral commission, the courts that would judge accusations of rigging and the dwindling food reserves for a populace on the brink of starvation. Most international election observers have been kept away. And Mugabe increased the budget of his secret…
There’s been a lot of talk with regards to the Iran soccer riots, and it looks like North Korea’s loss to them has triggered riots in the homeland, a rare public display of unrest! Angry North Korean soccer fans interrupted their national team’s World Cup qualifying match against Iran on Wednesday, throwing bottles and chairs at the referee and visiting team. The unrest erupted when North Korean defender Nam Song-chol was sent off for shoving Syrian referee Mohamed Kousa during a 2-to-0 home loss match, which was seen on international satellite television. The violence spilled over outside the Kim Il-Sung…
Wow! It was a quarter ago that I followed John Hawkins’ lead and published a list of my favorite bloggers. Have I been blogging that long already? Certainly my eyesight has gotten worse. Because of changing events in the world, my destinations are certainly different on a day to day basis and the list will probably reflect that. There’ll probably be quite a few changes from last time! But without further ado… 20. Neeka’s Backlog 19. Radio Free Nepal 18. A Step at a Time 17. The Word Unheard 16. Belmont Club 15. Blogrel 14. Barcepundit 13. Bloggledygook 12. Chrenkoff…
Andy has the weekly roundup… up. Everything dealing with Putin and his cronies and the near abroad! Check it out! My personal favorite was Russia’s threat to withhold funding from the OSCE if it doesn’t change its mission from those sickly human rights to security. They would say that, wouldn’t they?
Defying a ban against unauthorized rallies, several hundred people took to the street. Hundreds of supporters of one of Egypt??????s largest opposition groups have defied a government ban against unauthorized protests and taken to the streets of Cairo to demonstrate. Ahead of landmark elections, dozens of Muslim Brotherhood officials chanted that President Hosni Mubarak was no longer fit to rule Egypt. Many demonstrators were detained and remanded in custody for 15 days on charges including “membership of a banned organization, participation in illegal demonstrations and incitement to hatred of the regime,” judicial officials said. Pro-Islamic students at universities in Cairo,…
A few significant things have happened in this arena besides the sale of fighter jets to both Pakistan and India. Secretary of State Rice has recently said that the U.S. aims to make India a world power in the 21st century. Washington: The United States unveiled plans Friday to help India become a “major world power in the 21st century” even as it announced moves to beef up the military of Pakistan. Under the plans, Washington offered to step up a strategic dialogue with India to boost missile defense and other security initiatives as well as high-tech cooperation and expanded…
I was just going through Google news last night and read an article on The Tufts Daily, an editorial piece regarding the Tulip Revolution. A lot of it had to do with post-revolution relations with Russia and how Kyrgyzstan should move away from its influence. Well, besides being physically impossible to move, I dropped a comment on there that I’ll report here for analytical sakes given then I rarely do that. Kremlin foreign policy post-Orange Revolution has been to work with both governments and opposition parties to ensure steady political and economic relations with Russia despite a change of governance.…
The other day, both parliaments were rivalling for power. That got put an end to, with the upper house dissolving. Bishkek, 29 March 2005 (RFE/RL) — The upper chamber of Kyrgyzstan’s old parliament today followed the outgoing lower chamber in suspending its activities and giving way to the newly elected single-chamber parliament. Muratbek Mukashev, the upper chamber’s speaker, read a statement signed by 32 lawmakers from the 45-seat chamber, saying it would end its work “for the sake of stability and to avoid conflict situations.” Ishenbai Kadyrbekov, speaker of the outgoing lower chamber, said before his chamber disbanded yesterday that…
Damn Nathan for hitting me with this chain letter! I’ll get him back for it! But who can refuse a chain letter? Plus, it’s about books, so instead of me writing about secret crushes and first kisses, I’ll be pointing you in the direction of good bathroom material. He did forward this to me to see my response, so here we go.
I was taking a look at this article about recent demonstrations around Russia — you know, Kyrgyzstan and a little bit about Belarus. One part in particular caught my eye, though. Two Russian ethnic republics, Ingushetia and Bashkortostan, have seen mass street demonstrations this week directed against Kremlin-installed leaders. Even in remote Mongolia, the former USSR’s Asian satellite, hundreds of protesters gathered last week to “congratulate our Kyrgyz brothers” and demand a rerun of last June’s disputed parliamentary polls. Amazing how these things almost fly under the radar (just like how Bahrain totally missed the MSM’s map). Partner in revolutionary…
So much is going on in the world that a large roundup of Lebanon has been hard to do, but there’s been quite a bit of news lately so it’s certainly a good time to do one. News: Over the past week and a half three bombs exploded near Beirut in mainly Christian suburbs. Christians have been one of the major backings in Lebanon (as well as Ukraine) in the opposition protests. But this is not the Lebanon of 25 years ago. This is a Lebanon that is united for their own sovereignty above what Syria will do to them,…
Hat tip to Andy for this article. The King of Bhutan, a small country located near undemocratic Nepal and India, has drafted a constitution to allow for multi-party democracy. The king of the Himalayan state of Bhutan announced the end of a century of absolute royal rule yesterday with the publication of a draft constitution to establish a multiparty democracy. King Jigme Singye Wangchuck said that by the end of the year his 700,000 subjects would be given the right to elect two houses of parliament, whose members would be empowered to impeach the monarch by a two-thirds vote. Bhutan,…