Global Voices » Elections

Russia: State TV Justifies May 6 Police Violence, Cites Spanish Bill Criminalizing Online Protest Organization as Example

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:42:31 +0000

In the final segment of the report [ru] on the May 6 protest in Moscow, which ended in clashes with riot police, the Russian state-owned Channel 1 mentioned, among other things, a Spanish draft law [en] criminalizing online organization of public protests, as an example of the “much tougher” treatment of protesters by the “colleagues” of the Russian law enforcement officials “in the countries with the so-called established democracy.”

Singapore: Importance of the Hougang By-Election

Kirsten Han — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:15:17 +0000

After Singapore's Worker's Party expelled its member – and Member of Parliament for Hougang Single Member Constituency (SMC) – Yaw Shin Leong, earlier this year, the residents of Hougang have not been represented by an MP. Come 26 May, 2012, they will have the opportunity to elect another.

A writ of election has been issued, naming 16 May as Nomination Day, with Polling Day to follow ten days later. Both the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) and the Worker's Party quickly announced their nominated candidates: Desmond Choo for the former and Png Eng Huat for the latter. Although this can only be confirmed on Nomination Day, it is likely that there will not be a multi-cornered fight in the by-election.

Choo contested Hougang SMC in the 2011 General Election, losing to Yaw. Png stood as a candidate in Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC) during the 2011 General Election.

Hougang By-Election. Photo from The Online Citizen

WK writes in The Blue Sweater that the Hougang by-election could be used as a litmus test of Singaporean's support for the PAP – the party which won majority of the votes in 2011 General Election, as it has every elections since 1959:

One might question the fairness and objectivity of using an opposition stronghold as a litmus test, but the results will demonstrate whether the government's promises for change following the previous election has been acknowledged. If the WP wins by a wide (or even wider) margin, it demonstrates that there is a fundamental rejection of the PAP's governing philosophy. Not to mention that this is an election that the whole country is watching. The results matter as much to the residents of Hougang as it is to us.

In response to comments made by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam – who said that the by-election would solely be on local issues rather than national policy – Jackson Tan points out that Singapore is too small for elections to only focus on local issues, and that Hougang voters are affected by the same policies as the rest of Singapore:

…given the fact that Singapore is really a ‘small red dot,’ even by-elections on a constituency level can be viewed as a national election. This is because elections don’t come often (in fact, it’s once every five years or so), thus the chance to vote may indicate voters even consider national issues such as public transport, education and costs of living. In addition, the extent to which policies by the ruling party affects people cuts across all constituencies, be it GRCs or SMCs. The ongoing train breakdowns, for example, also affect Hougang residents, thus it is definite that they take it into consideration when voting. Perhaps the term ‘local election’ is more appropriate in bigger countries such as the US where states are governed differently.

On Twitter, H.Y. agrees:

@tanhuiyi: I don't see the logic of #HougangByelection focusing solely on local issues. Local issues are related to national issues. No?

A publichouse.sg editorial predicts that the Worker's Party will be able to hold on to Hougang, as it has done for over 20 years:

The PAP thus faces a daunting task of trying to reverse at least 15% of the vote in Hougang in order to wrestle it back from the WP. Even if the PAP sent out its big guns ministers to the ground to canvass for its likely candidate, Mr Desmond Choo, they would not carry much weight, especially in the prevailing political climate. In fact, the ministers themselves are seen as the causes of the ills which Singaporeans perceive in matters such as housing, jobs, wages, and the frequent breakdowns of the transport system.

The PAP’s battle encompasses a wider national sentiment of unhappiness with these bread and butter issues. One would think that it is no different in Hougang, and the WP can be expected to play these up to deflect attention from the Yaw saga.

…

It would thus seem that the WP will have a relatively comfortable victory in Hougang, its integrity intact.

Some Singaporeans are distrustful of the state-owned mainstream media's coverage of the by-election:

@sochris: and so the propaganda starts #HougangByElection

A photo posted by Channel NewsAsia, a mainstream media network has gone viral, shared by Singaporeans who found it hilariously ironic:

@mrbrown: PAP's tagline for #hougangbyelection is “Always Here for You”. This CNA photo captures it.

Egypt: The Questions Missing from the Presidential Debates

Mohamed Adel — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:43:07 +0000

Following Egypt's first ever presidential debate, and with interviews being held every day with presidential candidates, political analyst Mohamed Seif Eldawla has written on his blog Zakerat Aloma about the questions missing from the presidential debates [ar].

Egypt: How do the Presidential Candidates' Posters Compare?

Tarek Amr — Mon, 14 May 2012 07:03:40 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Elections 2011/12.

About ten days remain before the presidential elections in Egypt. A few days ago we witnessed the first presidential debate in the country's history, but the candidates' posters also play a big role in the final decision of the voters.

In an earlier post we saw how Abou Ismail - he's out of the race now - tried to influence people by the sheer number of his posters, but shouldn't the posters' design, colours and slogans play a role too?

Bloggers Mariam Saleh (@Mariam_Slh) and Mohamed Hussein have tried to analyse the posters of the different candidates.

Abdel-Monem Aboul-Fotoh

Aboul-Fotoh

Mariam Saleh wrote an analysis of Abdel-Monem Aboul-Fotoh'sposter, its colours, font, and so on:

Having the sky and the shining sun in the poster, makes you think that the sky is his limit. Choosing a scene from the revolution to say that he is a revolutionary candidate was not really needed, it's his actions, slogan and program that should say that. Plus, not every person who took part in the revolution will always be a revolutionary. He needs proof other than photos that he is still a revolutionary, that is if he is. The font is a nice and friendly one. Also the fact that his logo has the pyramids gives a feeling of belonging to Egypt as a country and not just to the Islamic Ummah. This is comforts those who want to think that he is different from the rest of the Islamists who don't care about Egypt as much as the Islamic Ummah [nation].

She added:

His father-like look gives a feeling of fondness and comfort. His tiny smile makes me feel his serious but kind to us. Again the fact that he is sitting down and not standing tall is sort of comfortable.

Mohamed Hussein also wrote about the candidates' posters [ar], and this is what he had to say about Aboul-Fotoh's:

اللون المسيطر: البرتقالي، أتذكر اختيار أيمن نور لحزب الغد اللون البرتقالي بعد شهور قليلة من الثورة “البرتقالية” في أوكرانيا، وهو ما اعتبره البعض جرأة منه، لكني أعتقد أن شهرة ثورتنا تجاوزت أوروبا الشرقية كلها، والجرأة هنا هي الخروج عن الألوان المعتادة واختيار لون يبرز في شوارعنا الرمادية الكئيبة.
الصورة الشخصية: بدون زوايا، فقط أبو الفتوح في مواجهتك بابتسامة هادئة، وهو ما يمنحه حميمية، والمصمم استخدم درجة ألوان تلائم شعره الأبيض وترك التجاعيد لحالها.

The dominant colour: orange. I remember Ayman Nour's choice of orange for El Ghad party a few months after the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, and people then considered it a bold move from him. But I think the fame of our revolution now is bigger that those of Eastern Europe, so the boldness here comes from choosing a colour people are not used to, which also shines in our grey, dull streets.
His photo: no angles, just a front view of Aboul-Fotouh with a calm smile that gives you a sense of intimacy. The designer used colours that suit his white hair and left the wrinkles untouched.

Mariam commented on Aboul-Fotoh's slogan, “The Powerful Egypt”:

A nice slogan that gives a shot of hope. His explanation of a powerful Egypt is one that is economically, politically, scientifically and militarily powerful. One that will give power and dignity to every Egyptian. The fact that his program makes it sound like an impossible dream is not the slogan's problem. The one problem with the slogan is actually a problem within us; the minute I read it I remember the old regime that only showed its power on its people. Of course he means a strong country and definitely not a government that kills its own people.

Hamdeen Sabahy

Hamdeen Sabahy

As for Hamdeen Sabahy, Mariam wrote:

The fact that the part below is black and the part above is white gives a feeling that he'll take us from the dark ages to a better one. The font used for his name and the Qur'anic verse is also a very nice one that says so much about him being connected to the Arab and Islamic world and heritage. The other font that is used for the rest of the sentences is also a friendly and comforting one, and the three sentences summarize his program very well. Focusing on his smiling face rather than his body and his suit again gives the same kind of comfort.

Mariam then added that Hamdeen is a moderate leftist who believes in a secular government, so the use of a Qur'anic verse in his poster can be interpreted in different ways. She moved to the candidate's slogan, “One of us”:

Although it makes us feel that he's closer to us than any other candidate, it doesn't say much. It does mean that he'd feel our pains because he's one of us though, which of course gives his campaign some sort intimacy. Yet, I keep thinking how a taxi driver is one of us, but would probably not make a good president.

Khaled Ali

Khaled Ali

Mariam commented on one of Khaled Ali'sposters:

Very simple with the flag colors. He has a look of a dreamer, this is a problem. I'd rather he looks straight to us, not down and not up. We want a realistic person, yes someone who can make dreams come true, but not a dreamer who looks to the sky and forgets to look ahead

Mohamed Hussein criticised another of Khaled Ali's posters, where he again doesn't look straight to the camera, and added:

يظهر بقميص عادي ولا يحاول إخفاء كرشه الناشئ، وصورته في البوستر الثاني (تصوير خارجي بالبدلة) أفضل بكثير رغم أنه الأقل انتشارا. بشكل عام تُظهر الصور انفتاحا وصدقا

He is shown with an ordinary shirt, and he doesn't try to hide his belly; his photo in the other poster (taken outside with a suit on) is much better though it hasn't been used as much. Generally, it reflects openness and honesty.

Mariam noted that Khaled Ali's slogans are taken from people's chants during the revolution:

Bread, freedom, social justice and We'll make their dream a reality: Khaled Ali's campaign is very poor unfortunately, so the advertising is not very professional. So I found two slogans both are revolution's chants… Sort of lack of creativity, but this is their way of proving that he's one of the revolutionary candidates. Both are nice and revolutionary and since these chants are the revolution's demands they make sense. But they could've done better with creating a new revolutionary slogan.

There are officially 13 candidates in the Egyptian presidential elections [ar]. Mariam has commented on two other candidates, Mohamed Salim El-Awwa and Mohamed Morsy, and Mohamed Hussein has written about [ar] candidates such as Ahmed Shafiq and Amr Moussa.

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Elections 2011/12.

Ukraine, France: The Future of Franco-Ukrainian Relationship

Veronica Khokhlova — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:01:41 +0000

Odessablogger comments on the statements made by Ukrainian political scientists regarding the future of the Franco-Ukrainian relationship following the election of François Hollande as the President of France.

Serbia: May 6 Elections Results

Veronica Khokhlova — Sat, 12 May 2012 23:14:26 +0000

Eric Gordy of East Ethnia sums up the results of the first round of the elections in Serbia and predicts what is to come after the May 20 runoff: “Assuming that Tadić defeats Nikolić by his usual narrow margin in two weeks, a government that looks a lot like the previous one, only less stable and more corrupt, and lots of signs that there is a good number of angry people in a system that remains pretty lopsided and pretty dysfunctional. No signs that things will get much better, but happily no signs that they will get a whole lot worse.”

Algeria: Low Turnout in Legislative Elections

Ahmed Medien — Sat, 12 May 2012 15:25:57 +0000

On May 10, Algeria's first legislative elections since the start of the Arab uprisings were held. The National Liberation Front (FLN) and sister party the National Democratic Rally won a majority of seats, defeating an Islamist alliance.

The ruling FLN has dominated Algeria's political life since independence. These elections were seen as a test of the its legitimacy, and the official turnout figure of 42.9%, an improvement on the 35% turnout for the 2007 elections, was claimed by some as an endorsement for recent political reforms. However, despite the fact there have not been the kind of anti-regime protests in Algeria as elsewhere in the Arab world, there is widespread dissatisfaction with the government. Many people expressed their political dissent through boycotting the elections.

#10MaiToz: No dessert for those who don't vote. Image posted by @beautifultango7.

On election day Algerians tweeted under the hashtag #10MaiToz, “toz” meaning nonsense.

Yasmine Bouchène wrote:

@Yaspuppchen: Si dans d’autres pays, voter est un acte citoyen. En Algérie, ne pas le faire l’est apparemment d’avantage ! #10maiToz

@Yaspuppchen: If in other countries voting is an act of citizenship, in Algeria not voting is apparently even better!

Vote here. Image posted by @copi35.

There were widespread accusations of fraud and a “manipulation of the results”.

Yanis Chalouche joked:

@Mister16Five: Les actes de citoyenneté sont tellement ancrés dans notre culture et notre éducation, que même les morts ressuscitent pour voter. #10MaiToz

@Mister16Five: Acts of citizenship are so embedded in our culture and education that even the dead rise to vote.

Blogger Baki 7our tweeted:

@7our: Proverbe algérien: “c'est quand le bureau de vote est vide que l'urne se remplit”. #10MaiToz #Fraude

@7our: Algerian proverb: “When the polling station is empty the ballot box fills up.”

Bab El Oued polling station. Image posted by @LivefromAlgeria.

Journalist Borzou Daragahi noted the lack of voters:

@Borzou: Algeria: At election center in Larbatache outside Algiers city, very, very few voters; mostly elderly. Where are youth?

A citizen-driven election monitoring website was set up to report fraud. More than 150 infractions were recorded across Algeria.

In the above video [ar], a 23-year-old man called Tarek explains that the Algerian people have had enough of politicians who have failed since 1999 (when Abdelaziz Bouteflika became president) to make life better for Algerians. One of the strongest moments of the clip is when Tarek says that he'd rather be “eaten by fish than eaten by worms (poverty)”.

Egypt: Disappointment at First Presidential Debate

Noon Arabia — Sat, 12 May 2012 05:38:14 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Elections 2011/12.

On May 10, 2012, people around the region and beyond were pinned to their screens following Egypt's first ever presidential debate, which was between the top two presidential candidates, Amr Moussa and Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh.

However, this was not the first presidential debate in the Arab world, as in Mauritania in 2007 a televised presidential debate took place between Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Ahmed Ould Daddah.

The debate was three hours long, moderated by TV anchors Yosri Fouda and Mona El Shazly and aired on Egyptian private channels ONTV and Dream TV - ironically not on Egypt's state TV. Twitters users tweeted about the debate under the hashtag #monazarat.

The two candidates shaking hands. Image by @SultanAlQassemi

The start of the debate was delayed due to traffic. Ben Wedeman, CNN anchor and reporter, tweeted sarcastically:

‏@bencnn: Aboulfotouh arrival at debate delayed by #cairotraffic? No matter who is running, #cairotraffic always wins. #monazarat #Egypt

Many commented on the long series of commercials which were shown before the debate and during the breaks. Robert Mackey reporter and editor of the New York Times tweeted:

‏@RobertMackey: Don't know if this #monazarat has inspired Egypt to buy into democracy, but the barrage of ads did just motivate me to buy a Twix.

The candidates were asked questions on various topics such as human rights, health plans, the economy, foreign relations, sharia law, and the role of the military. They were even asked about their financial status and health.

Both Egyptians and Arabs around the region were tweeting the candidates' replies.

The first question was regarding their vision for Egypt; their replies were tweeted by Emirati commentator Sultan Al Qassemi, and Egyptian Dalia Ezzat:

@SultanAlQassemi: On vision for Egypt - Amr Moussa: A constitutional state that leads the region & serves expectations of its people + Sharia #monazarat

@DaliaEzzat_: Abuel Fottouh : bread, freedom, dignity and social justice. He's basically repeating the slogans of the revolution #Monazarat

Blogger Iyad El-Baghdadi summarized their priorities:

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Abulfutouh vs. Mousa: The first puts democracy, sharia and then security; Mousa puts security, democracy, Islam. #Monazarat

Regarding how they would have managed the Abbassiya events, Amr Moussa's reply was tweeted by Sultan Al Qassemi:

@SultanAlQassemi: On Abbaseya events - Amr Moussa: I didn't wait until I become president, I made calls & demanded police intervene #monazarat

Yet Aboul Fotouh had a more powerful reply, tweeted by Egyptian blogger Bassem Sabry:

@Bassem_Sabry: Fotouh: If I were president, the Abbasiyya events would not have happened at all, would protect right to protests and sit ins - #Monazarat

Regarding Israel, AboulFotouh had a clear and straightforward reply, tweeted by Egyptian professor Rasha Abdullah:

@RashaAbdulla Aboul Fotouh: Israel is an enemy, with 200 nuclear heads and history of occupation and violations #monazarat

Moussa on the other hand had a less confrontational and more diplomatic reply, refusing to answer whether he considered Israel an enemy:

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Mousa: I call for reviewing our treaty with Israel, but insist on a two-state solution. #Monazarat

Finally when asked why voters should elect them, their replies were as follows:

@SultanAlQassemi: AF: elect me because: I bring people from all backgrounds together. Don't elect Moussa because: he didn't stand by the revolution #Monazarat

@ahauslohner: Moussa: Elect me because I'm experienced and I've proven myself. #Egypt is in crisis & it needs an experienced statesman. #monazarat

Both candidates focused on each other's controversial points. Moussa, who was Mubarak's foreign minister and former Secretary General of the Arab League, referred to Aboul Fotoh having been a longtime member of the Muslim Brotherhood, while Abou el Fotouh countered with commenting on Moussa being part of the former toppled regime.

Iyad El-Baghdadi and Dalia Ezzat summarized the candidates strengths and arguments:

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Abdulfutouh playing on his ability to unite everyone behind the revolution; Mousa playing on his past experience. #Monazarat

@DaliaEzzat_: The debate in a nutshell : you're Ikhwani! [member of the Muslim Brotherhood] Is that right? Well you're felool [a remnant of the former regime] and part of the regime that the people revolted against. #Fail

Amr Moussa's answers were vague and came across as arrogant and hostile while Aboul El Fotouh's answers were more transparent, and he was more calm and collected. Jenan Moussa, a reporter for Al Aan TV, tweeted:

@jenanmoussa: Moussa is very dismissive of Abu El Fotouh. He feels he is better or sth. I dont like the attitude. #Monazarat

Twitter user The Ess summarized their performance:

@Nadesque: #Moussa : weak answers, strong attacks. #AbulFutouh : good answers, weak attacks. #Monazarat

Many voters had hoped that this debate would help them learn more about their candidates and their plans and vision. Menatallah Essam tweeted her disappointment, and that of many, of how the debate turned out:

@mentos_391: what i really hoped is that each one says his positive plans for the future not mentioning each one's negative points. #monazarat

Some voters changed their opinion regarding the candidate they might have voted for before viewing the debate, and some even considered other candidates. AbdEl-Rahman Khaled tweeted:

‏@3bd2lr7man5aled:
اللي هيطلع كسبان من ال ‎‫#مناظرة_الرئاسة‬‏ دي هو ‎‫#حمدين_صباحي‬‏

The winner of this presidential debate will be Hamdeen Sabahi

Blogger Ruwayda Mustafah compiled the presidential debate tweets: part 1, part 2 and a factcheck. Blogger Mostafa Hussein made a transcript of the debate. The debate can be seen in full on YouTube.

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Elections 2011/12.

Mali: Junta Aims to Take Back Control after Caretaker President's Term

Lova Rakotomalala — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:00:32 +0000

Marcus Boni Teiga explains why he thinks we should not hold our collective breath for a resolution in the Malian crisis [fr]. While rumors of Captain Sanogo vying to be promoted General circulated in Bamako, reports indicate that the military coup leaders aim to seize back control of the country after the term of the caretaker president comes to an end.

Russia: Yavlinsky Stir Reveals Opposition Rift

Kevin Rothrock — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:41:14 +0000

On May 10, Grigory Yavlinsky [en] controversially wrote [ru] in his LiveJournal blog that the Russian opposition's recent turn to more confrontational tactics is a bad omen for democracy. Yavlinsky, born the same year as Vladimir Putin, is one of Russian politics' oldest faces. He played a pivotal role in the immediate post-Soviet period, authoring important elements of Russia's transition to a free-market economy. Since the 1990s, Yavlinksy has been the face of Yabloko [en], Russia's original liberal democrat political party. In the Putin era, Yavlinsky's party has remained a curious outlier to both “systemic politics” and “nonsystemic politics,” having lost its Duma presence in 2007 but remaining an officially registered party that is still viewed by many oppositionists as compromised and pro-establishment.

Grigory Yavlinskiy, economist and politician, 15 Jan 2011, photo by Skilpaddle, CC BY-SA 3.0; Wikimedia Commons.

True to Yabloko's troubled past and present, Yavlinksy's May 10 blog post has upset many and pleased relatively few. While he made a point of praising protesters' bravery and placing “main responsibility” on the authorities ('those who falsify elections, propagate corruption and thievery,' etc.), many have focused exclusively on Yavlinsky's criticisms of the protest movement. Lenta.ru, for instance, ran an article [ru] titled, “Yavlinsky Declares Protests Meaningless.”

Yavlinsky's concerns with the new developments in Moscow protests center on spiking violence and a perceived drift away from politics. He writes:

При этом я считаю, что если у организаторов есть расчет на то, что жестокость омоновцев будет мультиплицировать количество желающих с ними сражаться, то это неверный расчет. Опыт Триумфальной показывает, что мультипликации не получится. Наоборот, люди перестанут ходить на митинги и шествия, если там льется кровь, если их там избивают. Неужели кто-то полагает, что можно чего-то добиться лобовым столкновением, гражданской войной?

[…]

САМИ ПО СЕБЕ ГРАЖДАНСКИЕ МИТИНГИ, АКЦИИ, ГУЛЯНИЯ И ПРОЧИЕ ФЛЕШМОБЫ, ПРИ ВСЕЙ ИХ ЧЕЛОВЕЧЕСКОЙ ДОСТОЙНОСТИ, ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИ НИЧЕГО НЕ ИЗМЕНЯТ И В СИЛУ СВОЕЙ БЕСПОМОЩНОСТИ БУДУТ ЧАСТО ПЕРЕРАСТАТЬ В ДРАКИ И СХВАТКИ. Разрастание насилия сделает ситуацию во всех отношениях гораздо хуже.

If organizers are counting on the brutality of riot police to multiply the number of people wishing to join their fight, I think that's a flawed count. The experience of Triumfalnaia [Square] shows that no such multiplication occurs. On the contrary, people stop coming to rallies and marches, if blood is being spilled there, or if people are being beaten. Do some people really believe that anything can be accomplished with a head-on collision, or a civil war?

[…]

BY ITSELF, CITIZEN DEMONSTRATIONS, RALLIES, WALKABOUTS, AND SIMILAR FLASHMOBS (WITH ALL THEIR HUMAN DIGNITY) WILL NOT CHANGE ANYTHING POLITICALLY, AND BY VIRTUE OF THEIR OWN IMPOTENCE WILL OFTEN ESCALATE INTO FIGHTING AND CRACKDOWNS. The spread of violence will make the situation much worse in every respect.

As an alternative to this brand of dissent, he proposes a response “personal, programmatic, idealogical, organized, professional, moral, AND POLITICAL,” saying that a gradual, long-term approach is the only real option:

Надо начинать заниматься серьезной политикой , выигрывать выборы и брать власть. Долго? Да, шесть лет очень долго, но раньше и мы ничего не успеем. И следует понимать - альтернатив будет не одна, а три: левая, демократическая и националисты. Какая победит - скажет народ.

We have to take up serious politics, win elections, and take power. Will it be a long time? Yes, six years is very long, but we'll not manage this any sooner. And it's worth understanding that there won't be just one alternative, but three: leftist, democratic, and nationalist. Which wins out, the people will say.

Reactions to Yavlinsky's comments have varied. Some bloggers have been less than polite. Anti-Putin LiveJournal user i_l_d responded [ru] simply: “Go screw yourself, Yavlinsky.” Nationalist blogger sinn-fein-front wrote [ru] gloatingly:

Ну вот и Явлинский, отчисливший Навального за национализм, в своем блоге на Эхе Москвы признал националистов равноценной силой протеста. Что ж, отрадно. Один за одним падают бастионы русофобии в публичной политике

Well look here: Yavlinsky, who expelled Navalny [from Yabloko] for his nationalism, has in his blog acknowledged that nationalists are equal members of the protest [movement]. Well, how pleasant. One by one, the bastions of russophobia in public politics are falling.

Prominent blogger Rustem Adagamov [en], linking to the above-mentioned Lenta.ru article (not Yavlinsky's original text), tweeted [ru]:

Вот и Явлинский! http://lenta.ru/news/2012/05/10/yavl/ “Надо начинать заниматься серьезной политикой” Вау, а 16 лет до этого—это что было?

And here's Yavlinksy! [link to the Lenta.ru story] “We have to take up serious politics.” Wow, and the last 16 years — what was all that?

Dmitri Ivanov, a political satirist from the website CarambaTV.ru [ru], a webtv project, tweeted [ru]:

Явлинский заявил о бессмысленности митингов. Митинги заявили о бессмысленности Явлинского

Yavlinsky has declared the meaninglessness of the protests. The protests have declared the meaninglessness of Yavlinsky.

Despite the backlash against a politician infamous for upsetting pro-Kremlin and oppositionist figures alike, support for Yavlinsky also exists on the RuNet. Some of his supporters are predictable, like Ivan Bolshakov, a deputy chairman of Yabloko's Moscow branch, who faulted [ru] critics for taking Yavlinsky's words out of context:

И каким же надо быть простачком (или сознательным дискредитатором?), чтобы этот смысл извратить до «Явлинский – против митингов» и фактически приравнять заявление Явлинского к позиции Путина его дружков!?

What kind of simpleton (or conscious discreditor) does one have to be to distort this into ‘Yavlinksy is against the demonstrations' and equate his statement with the position of Putin and his buddies!?

Vladimir Milov [en], another prominent oppositionist politician who briefly served in the Russian government as Deputy Energy Minister in 2002, is another figure who has publicized his disdain for street confrontations. He tweeted [ru] a mild attack on Lenta.ru and announced his support for Yavlinsky's comments:

Вот образчик типичного наглого хипстерского вранья http://www.lenta.ru/news/2012/05/10/yavl/ а вот оригинал, с которым я полностью согласен http://gr-yavlinsky.livejournal.com/43985.html

Here's a sample of some typical, obnoxious, hipster baloney [link to Lenta.ru story] and here's the original, with which I agree entirely [link to Yavlinsky's blog].

In the aftermath of parliamentary elections, between December 2011 and February 2012, the Russian opposition experienced an explosion of mass popularity that disadvantaged professional politicians like Yavlinsky and Milov, whose careers (or ‘activism,' if one prefers) are fixed on evolutionary improvements to Russian society and governance. Theirs is the politics of policy and statecraft — what critics view as regime-collaboration and allies see as realistic, constructive work.

Current developments in Russia's protest movement have widened the gap between populist dramatics and nuts-and-bolts politics. Consequentially, Yavlinsky's blog-post scandal is symptomatic of a growing rift between guards Old and New. And, yet, men like Milov are fairly young. (He turns forty this summer.) The question is less about age than temperament and tactical preferences. Does one work ‘within the system' for gradual change — a relatively thankless task with only distant satisfaction — or, to borrow a phrase from Yavlinsky, opt for more aggressive “head-on collisions”?

Bahamas: Power of the People

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:32:41 +0000

“It no longer feels like hatred for me when the PLP wins, it no longer feels like time to panic”: A reflection on the country's recent elections, from Womanish Words.

Europe: Economic Crisis Fuels Rise in Anti-Immigration Politics

Ariane Defreine — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:31:35 +0000

The French presidential election may be over, but the fact that outgoing president Nicolas Sarkozy chose immigration as a core theme of his campaign [fr] is still the subject of much debate on the Web. Many netizens have wondered whether his choice to flirt with the far-right wing of his electorate helped temper his defeat or whether, on the contrary, it was one of the reasons his electorate deserted him [fr].

Given the apparent waning appetite of European voters for multiculturalism, singling out immigration as the root of the global economic crisis has proven fruitful for far-right parties across the continent.

African refugees by Vito Manzari on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

If this rhetoric sounds familiar, it's because it has affected the old continent, when in times of crisis, in a cyclical pattern for centuries. Valérie, on her blog 'Crêpe Georgette', recounted the chronology of perceptions on immigration in France [fr] from the first half of the 19th century until today:

S’il est une idée en vogue, c’est bien de penser que les anciennes vagues d’immigration (italiennes, polonaises, espagnoles, belges …) se sont parfaitement intégrées au contraire des vagues, plus récentes, maghrébines et africaines.
Les anciennes vagues d’immigrés étaient travailleuses, ne posaient aucun problème et les français les ont d’ailleurs parfaitement acceptées, entend-on souvent.
Constatons donc que les propos actuels sur les immigrés les plus récents ne sont qu’une répétition d’idées reçues anciennes et qui se sont exercées à l’encontre de toutes les communautés migrantes (qu’elles viennent de province ou de pays étrangers).

If there is but one fashionable idea, it is the belief that the old immigration waves (from Italy, Poland, Spain, Belgium…) are now fully integrated in our society, as opposed to the more recent immigration waves from Maghreb and Africa.
We often hear “the former immigration waves were related to labour, did not cause any issue, and were indeed perfectly accepted by the French.”
Let us then recognise that current comments on the most recent immigration waves are the mere reiteration of old stereotypes which all migrant communities have faced (whether they originated from the countryside or from foreign countries).

Valérie drew a parallel between allegations that Italian and Spanish immigrants did not and could not be integrated, and those against today's immigrants from Eastern Europe and Africa:

Toutes les populations d’immigrés – mais aussi les populations pauvres de manière générale – sont vues au cours des siècles comme sales, non intégrées, se vautrant dans la luxure et des coutumes exotiques. Ce qu’on entend à l’heure actuelle sur les quartiers « islamisés », « envahis » de femmes en burqa avec 10 enfants n’est que la répétition, comme vous le constatez, de propos tenus sur toutes les vagues d’immigration précédentes. L’italien lui aussi fait une cuisine infâme, trop d’enfants et se vêt d’oripeaux. Le polonais se ridiculise avec son catholicisme particulier et à se tenir debout pendant la messe alors que le bon français est assis.

All immigrant populations - but also the poor in general - have been deemed throughout the centuries to be dirty, non-integrated, indulging in lust and other exotic customs. As you may observe, what is said today about the ‘islamicised' neighbourhoods, 'swamped' with women wearing the burqa and their tens of children, is only repeating comments of all the previous waves of immigration. The Italian immigrant also cooks dreadful food, has too many children, and dresses in rags. The Polish immigrant is ridiculed for his peculiar brand of Catholicism and his habit of standing up throughout mass whereas proper French people remain seated.

Economic downturn not the only reason

Nevertheless, the economic downturn alone cannot explain the attractiveness of anti-immigration arguments. In an editorial on the future of multiculturalism in France, Julie Owono highlighted that:

The reason for the growing worry over the future of Europe is not simply related to the crisis. Contrary to what some politicians were quick to explain on the evening of the first round, it seems that the French who gave their vote to extremism do not suffer that much from the immigration scourge. French analysts have found that, while the latter represents a major concern for 62 per cent of National Front voters, areas where the party has received a significant number of votes do not have a particularly high immigration rate.

A European phenomenon

Foreigners in Europe by Digital Dreams on FlickR License-CC-BY

Politicians singing this weathered old tune against immigration are not limited to France. In Greece, the Neo-Nazi party known as Golden Dawn took advantage of the country's economic difficulties and broke through during the most recent general elections. In Great Britain, a commenter posting under the name James reacted to the fact that Cameron, Merkel, and Sarkozy declared the failure of multiculturalism in Europe:

She [Merkel] wanted People from richer nations to embrace and train poorer region folk! It hasn't worked, its cost us all billions and its getting more expensive year on year! Would you rather have a farmer from romania working in britain, claiming to be poor and sending all the money home to build a mansion! thats whats happening.

Valérie said she is no longer surprised by recycling of anti-immigration rhetoric. She suggested in her blog some reading to open up the debate:

Pour combattre les craintes face aux immigrés maghrébins et africains, on gagnerait à lire les textes du 19eme et du début du 20eme pour comprendre comment se fondent ces peurs et comment l’on ne fait que répéter les mêmes idées ayant cours dans les siècles précédents. Conseils de lecture :

- Conseillé par Melle S. : A. SAYAD « L’immigration ou les paradoxes de l’altérité » (1. L’illusion du provisoire et 2. Les enfants illégitimes).
- Gérard Noiriel, « Le creuset français ».
- Laurent Dornel, « La France hostile. Histoire de la xénophobie en France au XIXe siècle ”

To address anxieties over immigrants from Maghreb and Africa, one would gain from reading texts from the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries in order to understand the foundations of such fears and how the same arguments are being used throughout the centuries. Suggested reading:

- Suggested by Melle S. [fr]: A. Sayad, Immigration or the Paradoxes of Alterity [fr] (1. The illusion of the ephemery and 2. The illegitimate children)
- Gérard Noiriel, The French Melting-Pot
- Laurent Dornel, Hostile France. A History of Xenophobia in France in the 19th Century [fr]

Russia: Ustream.tv Attacked Over Russian Blogger

Andrey Tselikov — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:41:55 +0000

On the morning of May 9, 2012, unknown parties launched a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack on the live feed website Ustream.tv. According to Victoria Levy of Ustream.tv, the attack took place from thousands of unique IPs, based in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Iran. It was centered on one particular user, reggamortis1 [ru], who for the past four days has been covering opposition rallies and protests in Moscow.

Although Ustream.tv began operating normally after ten hours of downtime, the reggamortis1 channel remained inaccessible for several more hours. CEO Brad Hunstable said in an interview with Global Voices that this was the most serious DDoS attack on the website ever.

Screenshot of Ustream.tv's homepage featuring reggamortis1's coverage of the protests in Moscow.

Ustream.tv makes it very easy to run live-streaming broadcasts from smart-phones, making it an invaluable resource for bloggers around the world. It reaches 55 million people monthly, and a staggering 125 hours of content are uploaded to the site per minute. Ustream’s mission, says Mr. Hunstable, is to provide a platform for people to share stories and build communities.

True to this mission, Russian citizen journalists like Kirill Mikhailov, aka reggamortis1, who also tweets at @reggaemortis1 [ru] and blogs at reggae-mortis.livejournal.com [ru], have been utilizing the service to report on recent Russian protests in lieu of coverage by official Russian television networks.

One such live broadcast, by user vova-moskva [ru], gained traction through Twitter on March 5. It covered the situation on Pushkinskaya Square in Moscow during the rally against Vladimir Putin’s reelection.

Mikhailov blogged about the need for such action [ru] on February 29:

From every square we will need to maintain constant coverage and concentrate it in one place. But that’s for the future.

At this point Mikhailov was slightly behind the times. The Ustream.tv channel of Ridus, a Russian citizen journalism platform, has been posting live feeds of protests starting last December, and has since collected well over two million live views.

This type of guerilla reporting is in line with the general trend of internet-based news coverage in Russia. For example, tvrain.ru [ru] is a liberal-leaning online television channel that often interviews opposition leaders and hosts them on its talk shows. It recently provided a platform [ru] for new opposition darling Ksenia Sobchak after her political debate show had been forced out from mainstream television.

On the other side of the barricades, MinaevLive [ru] is a live-streaming “internet-show” run by Sergei Minaev, a Russian writer and blogger with reputed ties to the Kremlin. His from-the-rooftops YouTube coverage of the May 6 March of the Millions was a four-hour bird’s eye view of the conflict and its development. (A compressed and sped-up 4-minute YouTube version is located here.)

The current DDoS attack on Ustream.tv is consistent with other attacks on Russian opposition websites and social networks. RuNet Echo has previously covered DDoS attacks against Russian opposition media and blogs during the Russian parliamentary elections last December. Ridus’ Ustream.tv channel was likewise DDoS’d on December 6 and January 6.

Attacks on online media were most recently repeated during the March of the Millions. “The tvrain.ru website isn’t working, and so are the sites of Slon [slon.ru] and Echo Moskvy [echo.msk.ru],” tweeted @tvrain [ru] on May 6.

On the same day, General Director of Kommersant, Demian Kudriavtsev, warned on his Facebook [ru] that the daily newspaper’s website was under a DDoS attack. Echo’s Varfolomeev gave the same reason [ru] for his site’s erratic behavior.

Perhaps because of this Mikhailov, an opposition activist from Ufa [ru] who charmingly calls himself “Navalny’s battle-hamster,” doesn’t put all of his eggs in one basket. Although he has been using Ustream.tv since April 15 [ru], during the May 9 attack on his channel he switched to a Bambuser.com account (Bambuser is a streaming service similar to Ustream) to continue his coverage. On his blog he also lists the Ustream channel of his colleague, romanpomych, whose stream was up while Mikhailov’s was down.

Before his current project, Mikhailov had been covering the Astrakhan hunger strike (Global Voices coverage is here and here), in which he participated as one of the strikers. Incredibly, he is conducting another hunger strike [ru] at the moment, even as he is running around Moscow and reporting. Amidst all of this activity, Mikhailov has found time to write an email [ru] to Ustream.tv, in which he implicates the Russian government and the youth group Nashi in the attacks:

[…] Russia actively tracks the current events thanks to your website. This is the only source of communication, thanks to which we will find out how Putin is killing our citizens. […] Your site currently doesn’t work only because of these bastards – kremlin.ru and nashi.su. These people, under Putin’s orders, rob the people of information and are trying to hide the mayhem happening in the capital of Russia and are conducting a DDoS attack against ustream.tv.

Brad Hunstable also finds the attack very disturbing. To him, someone is trying to take away the right of global citizens to speak and be heard, in essence subverting his company’s mission. Currently, Ustream.tv is debating the best response to the situation. In the meantime, and in a gesture of defiance, they have added a Russian-language option to the website:

Bahamas: Bloggers Comment on Election Results

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:52:59 +0000

The result of Monday's general elections in the Bahamas has given the country a new government: the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), which previously occupied the opposition bench in Parliament, was voted into power in what bloggers are calling a “landslide” victory. Rick Lowe at Weblog Bahamas gave a quick overview of the results:

Reports are the PLP have won at least 27 of the 38 seats and will form the new government of The Bahamas defeating the governing FNM [Free National Movement].

The upstart DNA [Democratic National Alliance] did not win a seat but might have been the spoilers for a couple of the seats that were expected to be won by the FNM. However, I do not think they caused the FNM to lose.

Congratulations to Mr. Perry Christie and the Progressive Liberal Party.

His gracious congratulations to the winning party came a day after he wrote this post, in which he took issue with the now-Prime Minister Perry Christie's brother “attempt[ing] to defend [the former's] economic record” by quoting the blogger “completely out of context” in his capacity as a fiscal expert:

The point being made at the time, (February 2012), was that even with such high revenue as a result of the world's super charged economy back then, it was egregious for government to be running such huge deficits. It's patently clear this was not defending the governments fiscal or economic policies.

Mr. Christie has every right to defend his perception of his brother's economic track record, but that does not give him the right to distort comments from other people.

One priority of any government should be intellectual honesty so they do not make the same mistakes twice.

On election day itself, Blogworld posted some musings about different factors that would likely have an impact on the outcome:

This is the most fascinating election period that has occurred in a long, long time, and because every prediction out there has to contend with a new, unfamiliar curve ball: the rise of the third party movement.

Note I didn’t say the DNA. That’s because the Democratic National Alliance is just capitalising on something that has changed in the country, something that I believe is going to continue to grow, even if the two-party acolytes succeed in killing the DNA off. It’s the fact that the split between two major parties in The Bahamas has developed almost by default. Its roots are in that most ancient and powerful division in our nation: the centuries-long categorisation of Bahamians of colour as “natives” (white Bahamians were “residents”) whose purpose was to serve their betters—not to lead. The FNM-PLP split, for better or for worse, is buried in this dichotomy, and for decades one could fairly safely assume that PLP supporters tended towards the privileging of black Bahamians, while FNM supporters advocated the One Bahamas movement (by which I mean the recognition that Bahamian and black are not necessarily synonymous). As a result, anyone who has voted in two or more elections should recall that no election season till this one has been allowed to pass without the invocation of race—whether from rally platforms, in letters to the editor, or by reference to the American TV miniseries Roots.

The third party movement has queered that pitch. The 2012 election is historic in any number of ways, but one of the most significant is that I have not noticed any real reference to race in the campaigns…The simple fact is that race is no longer a major issue for most Bahamians. I am not saying that it is no longer relevant in our society; what I am suggesting that it is no longer a primary determinant of one’s ability to succeed in The Bahamas. And because of that, the principles on which both the FNM and the PLP were founded are growing obsolete, and both parties have for some time been losing their ‘base'.

The post continued:

There’s something else that’s important here, and something else that the pundits appear to have overlooked. The greatest obstacle to the ability of a third party to gain traction among Bahamian voters was its ability to get its message out. Until the by-election in Elizabeth in 2010, third parties needed considerable sums of money simply to make their voices heard. The advent of Facebook and Twitter, however, has changed the ground completely…much of what has enabled the green wave to continue to gather has been the presence of third-party candidates on the internet, their activity, their accessibility, and their willingness to engage in dialogue with potential voters. This is quite different from the traditional Voice-of-God politics that the older parties continue to practise.

Because of that, I think this election is too close to call. I believe anything could happen when the results start coming in an hour from now. Anything. A landslide victory for the FNM, say with the 4 x 7 sum of 28 seats? Sure. A landslide victory for the PLP, with the same numbers? Definitely. A split house, with (say) a tie between the FNM and the PLP, with the DNA holding the balance? Possible. A minority or coalition government, with the DNA calling the shots? Even that.

As it turned out, her second prediction was the most accurate. Weblog Bahamas concurred that the election was a “landmark” one, saying:

This particular Election, unlike the 1992 Election, demonstrated a coming of age for the Bahamian people (c.f. 1992, when we embarked on a course of political maturity, having harboured a single political party for far too long, so were mere political adolescents in the process).

What 2012 shows, however, is that the process is complete and we, as a people, are finally mature politically.

The blog, in a post by Edward Hutcheson, also suggested that this was “an historic opportunity for Mr. Perry Christie”:

Mr.Christie is getting a chance that few men get so late in life, and his effective use of this opportunity will require that he takes a few pages out of the political playbook of his outgoing nemesis.

The promises made, the grandiose ‘belief driven campaign', the pastoral crew who have gone on record as wanting to get even with those who have done them wrong, the MP’s who think they have an ordained right to be Cabinet ministers, these and many other demands will require a Percival Gladstone Christie that we may have envisioned but never seen. He can play it safe and let it be business as usual, but to the miss the opportunity of being counted among the number that only Bahamians can number? To be mentioned in the same breath as Pindling and Ingraham will take putting “believing” and ‘putting Bahamians first' into a context where there is no separation between what a leader is saying and what he is prepared to do for all Bahamians.

But there was another outcome of these elections that bloggers have been discussing - the resignation of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham as leader of the Free National Movement and his announcement that “he will not be sworn in as the member of Parliament for North Abaco and he will not swear in as leader of the opposition”. Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit commented:

Of course, Ingraham has been down and out before - in 2002, when the entire FNM cabinet was wiped out. But this time there will be no return - age and circumstance will see to that…In addition to doing the right thing and resigning as party leader, Ingraham also said he would not take up his North Abaco seat, throwing the FNM into an immediate leadership quandary…

Ironically (and sadly for some), Ingraham's retirement from public life came only one day after he asked the Bahamian people to give him a final chance to complete ‘the work of my lifetime', by re-electing the FNM to a fourth non-consecutive term.

Ingraham's swan song as prime minister was a time of immense progress and much-needed infrastructural investment. But the fall-out from the Great Recession also made it a time of economic stress for average Bahamians, who expressed their discomfort by voting in sufficient numbers against the party in power.

The thumbnail image used in this post, VIP-Bahamas-parliament, is by est _studio_jari, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit est _studio_jari's flickr photostream.

Israel: Mofaz Derided for Joining Unity Government

Elizabeth Tsurkov — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:24:06 +0000

Israel's biggest news story of recent months happened in the early hours of May 8: the head of the opposition and new chairman of the centrist Kadima party, Shaul Mofaz, agreed to join Benjamin Netanyahu's government, thus postponing the early elections Netanyahu had announced just days before.

The new unity government has 94 members out of 120 members of the Knesset. In exchange for joining the government, Mofaz was promised the title of a Minister Without Portfolio for the (non-existent) peace process with the Palestinians.

The surprising news came as the Israeli public was gearing up for early elections on September 4. The unity government is designed to ensure that the Netanyahu government will remain in power for the next 15 months, and will make it the first government in decades in Israel to complete its full term. Mofaz, who had at first insisted he would never join Netanyahu's government, was apparently worried about taking part in elections since all the polls predicted his party would greatly diminish in power.

Shaul Mofaz. Image posted on Flickr by Tzipi Livni (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Israelis turned to Twitter, Facebook and blogs to comment on the surprising news. Many of them referred to Mofaz's harsh criticism of Netanyahu up until the moment he entered the government under Netanyahu's leadership. For example, on March 3, Mofaz's official Facebook page posted:

תקשיבו טוב: אני לא אכנס לממשלה של ביבי. לא היום. לא מחר ולא אחרי שאעמוד בראשות קדימה ב-28 במארס. זו ממשה רעה, כושלת ואטומה וקדימה בראשותי תחליף אותה בבחירות הבאות. מספיק ברור?

Listen to me closely: I will not enter Bibi's [Netanyahu's] government. Not today. Not tomorrow and not after I head Kadima on March 28 [at the time he was competing against Tzipi Livni for the leadership of the party]. This is a bad and failed government that doesn't listen to the people, and Kadima under my leadership will replace it in the next elections. Is that clear enough?

Israeli journalist Tal Schneider wrote on her blog about the winners and losers of this deal. Listing Mofaz as a loser, she explained:

שאול מופז – התדמית הציבורית שלו תפגע קשות בעקבות ההחלטה להיכנס לממשלה עם שותף פוליטי אותו כינה לא מזמן “שקרן”. מופז בונה על הטמטום של ציבור הבוחרים, על הזכרון החלש של האנשים. אבל אחרי שהבטיח שהוא יוביל את המחאה של הקיץ, החלטתו הלילה להיכנס לממשלה הופכת אותו לקטן שבקטנים.

Shaul Mofaz's public image will be greatly harmed because of his decision to enter the government with a political partner he recently called a “liar”. Mofaz is counting on the stupidity of the voters, on the weak memory of the population. But after he had promised to lead the social protests during the summer, his decision tonight to enter the government makes him the smallest of the small.

Leading leftist blogger Yossi Gurvits commented on the implications of this move for the Kadima party:

Kadima, a party whose motto may well have been, “We took corruption out of Likud (and brought it to a new home),” also seems to be finished. Why would anyone vote for it again? During the 2009 elections, Livni managed to con the voters into believing she would prevent a Netanyahu government. Livni is out of office, but the party is now in Netanyahu’s lap. If Kadima was looking at 10 seats before Mofaz’s latest schtick, it has now sunk near the level of Ehud Barak’s Atzmaut party (which polls at zero seats).

Dr. Yuval Dror, a widely-read Israeli blogger, wrote:

מופז הוא ג'לי פוליטי: חסר צורה, חסר טעם, ריח או עמוד שדרה, תוצר של יועצים פוליטיים השמים בפיו משפטים ועמדות. הוא האפס הפוליטי המוחלט.
ב-2 לפנות בוקר, כנחש מתחת לקש, חתם האפס הפוליטי המוחלט על עסקה עם אותו שקרן כדי לקבל משרת שר ללא תיק, כדי להציל את עורו ואת עור חבריו ולתת להם עוד שנה וחצי ממנעמי השלטון. כניסתו של מופז לממשלה הפכה את ממשלת ישראל לממשלה הכי צינית בתולדותיה…

Mofaz is a political jello: shapeless, tasteless, spineless, a product of political advisers who put words in his mouth and tell him which positions to take. He is the complete political zero [meaning: worthless, pathetic].
At 2 AM, like a snake coming from under the hay, this complete political zero signed a deal with the same liar [Mofaz recently called Netanyahu a liar] to get the position of a Minister Without a Portfolio, to save his skin and the skin of his friends [Kadima members of the Knesset] and give them another year and a half of the benefits of government. The entry of Mofaz into the Government of Israel has made it the most cynical government in its history…

Amir Schiby posted this altered campaign banner for Mofaz, which in a few hours was shared on Facebook over 1,500 times:

Mock campaign banner. Image posted by Amir Schiby on Facebook.

The text reads:

Mofaz. Because everyone can piss from the springboard [Israeli saying that means showing complete disregard]. Shitting from it [on the public] is art.

Minister's chair. Image posted by Gil Osser on Facebook.

Gil Osser posted an image of a chair, with the text:

An unprecedented sale for members of the Kadima party:

Minister's Chair*

An orthopedic chair made of elephant skin, particularly suitable for the spineless. The chair moves forward [Kadima], backward, right and left and can be found in various colors.

Price: Principles | Payment method: 15 months [the length of time this government will remain in power thanks to the deal]

*The same model sold to members of HaAtzmaut Party in 2011.

Noy Alooshe, the Israeli musician behind Gaddafi's “Zenga Zenga” remix, produced a new remix of footage in which Mofaz proclaims Netanyahu is a liar:

While the overwhelming majority of reactions online were negative, blogger Tal Yaron disagreed. Yaron mentioned the agreement between Mofaz and Netanyahu, which stipulates that the new coalition will pass a law to draft the ultra-Orthodox to military/community service (which they're currently exempt from) and to institute changes in Israel's electoral system:

רבים מגנים את השינוי, אך אם אכן יקוימו שתי הבטחות אלו בלבד, הרי שהדבר יביא לשינוי משמעותי בחברה הישראלית. בעקבות הקואליציה החדשה שנוצרה, יש כיום רוב לגיוס חרדים. הליכוד+ישראל ביתינו+קדימה מהווים קואליציה של לפחות 70 חברי כנסת שיוכלו להעביר את החוק.
גם העברת חוק שינוי שיטת הבחירות יטיב עם מצבה של ישראל, בכך שיביא להקטנת כמות המפלגות המשתתפות במשחק הפוליטי ויגרום למירכוז השיח הפוליטי, להגברת המשילות ולהקטנת ההקצנה.

Many condemn this change, but even if only these two promises are kept, they will result in a significant change in Israeli society. As a result of the newly formed coalition, there is not a majority to enlist the ultra-Orthodox. Likud plus Yisrael Beiteinu [Lieberman's party] plus Kadima form a coalition of at least 70 members of the Knesset who can pass this law.
Changing Israel's electoral system will also improve Israel's situation, by reducing the number of political parties and centralizing the political discourse in Israel, increasing the ability to govern and reducing extremism.