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Iranian bloggers discuss Obama's Iowa victory

Hamid Tehrani · 22:42

lingua → ar · pt · bn · es

Several Iranian bloggers are discussing the victory of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama in Iowa. It was the first nominating contest of the 2008 presidential election. Some rejoice in Obama’s victory, while others evaluate what impact “Obama as President” would have on Iranian political life.

Farhad Afshar reflects on [Fa] how the majority of the population in Iowa are white but still preferred to vote for a black candidate. The blogger also writes:

… the whispers of a Democratic candidate winning the US presidential election could soften the dark and frozen atmosphere in Iran. Iran's current president - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - was elected two years ago to face the foreign threat of having Iran considered a part of the ‘axis of evil'. Two years ago, Iran could have been attacked any moment, and a person was chosen to counter the foreign pressure. If the foreign threat diminishes, a slow democratic movement can go forward. Obama's ideas on foreign affairs and Iran make reformists happy… maybe some do not know but peace and dialogue is like poison for a group whose political existence relies on violence and war.

Neghano considers [Fa] the American election a great achievement of democracy and says that democracy in the USA is the fruit of 300 years of effort and civil society struggle, and did not happen in a night.

Nikahang Kosar, a cartoonist and journalist says [Fa] the message of Obama is “change” and that the youth supports him, even though Hillary Clinton still looks more likely to be elected in many states. The blogger says that Obama’s middle name is Hussein, and that many right wing media want to make people believe he is linked with Islamist radicals. Nikahang says many Americans are afraid of Moslem and Islamic names. Finally the blogger adds that if Obama wins the presidential election, the dream of Martin Luther King will finally become a reality.

Amin has misunderstood [Fa] Obama’s religious background. Although the media discuss Obama's Christian belief, this blogger says a black Moslem is on the road to become next American president. The blogger adds that some right wing media want to make people believe he is an extremist Islamist, but many think he is a secular Moslem.

Nonoghalam says [Fa] that a leading Israeli newspaper, Haaretz , attributed the least points to Obama among all candidates. According to the blogger, the value base was each candidate's apparent support for Israel. Barack wants direct talks with Iran.

Farrad02 writes in the Iranian.com blog:

… the basic reason for Hillary's fizzle (in my view) was the fact that she forgot the most important rule of American electioneering: In the party primaries you run as a passionate radical (in her case as a far left liberal) to ensure the maximum appeal to your party's faithful base! Then once you have won the nomination, you move back to the center and run for the national elections as a centrist! I'm very surprised that Hillary forgot this basic rule and has been running a centrist campaign, as if she has already won the nomination and she is running against the Republican finalist!

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Georgia: Presidential Election Update

Onnik Krikorian · 15:50

Although the international media is now reporting a victory for the incumbent, Mikhail Saakashvili, in yesterday's presidential election in Georgia, there has so far been very little reaction to the news in the blogosphere. This contrasts strikingly with how bloggers worldwide reacted to the clashes between opposition supporters and riot police in downtown Tbilisi on 7 November.

Even though it was precisely those clashes which led to a state of emergency being declared, as well as an early presidential election, perhaps that's not surprising. Tear gas, rubber bullets and outrage from international human rights groups is probably more newsworthy than something as increasingly predictable in the former Soviet space as elections.

Nevertheless, there were some active bloggers posting updates on the election although its certain that they will not be pleased. Today at 3pm local time, international observers effectively gave yesterday's vote a clean bill of health despite TOL Georgia reporting numerous cases of intimidation and bribery, problems with voters lists and media bias.

Now, a few hours after international observers described the vote as “broadly democratic… enabling the Georgian people to express their political choice,” TOL Georgia gives its own verdict on the outcome of the election.

It is rather hard for me to believe that Saakashvili won the elections in the first round. The exit polls aired at 10 pm yesterday, which claimed Saakashvili’s victory with over 50%, prompted [premature] celebration and a pop concert among Saakashvili’s supporters. it should be noted that the organizations and medias that conducted these polls are affiliated with the authorities.

[…]

[…] The foreign observers so far say they didn’t encounter extraordinary violations which would change the end results. The votes are being counted — 10% so far. The opposition claims victory and mass violations.

[…]

The election monitors “hailed the elections, but noted some shortcomings” - usual mumbo jumbo. It would take breaking into the polling station, violence and changing the ballot boxes when the monitors were inside for them to note something. To be fair, they must listen to what the opposition says. The final reaction is yet to be publicized.

One blogger, human rights lawyer and outspoken critic of the Georgian president, Anna Dolidze, even observed the vote. Writing on Resistance Georgia, she details allegations of voting irregularities and electoral fraud.

There were serious violations all over. There were several trends: firstly, so- called carousels, where groups of people were transported from one polling station to another in mini vans, creating so called carousels, when the same group voted in different stations.

[…] There were cases of observer intimidation, when after observers noted violations there were threatened by Commission members and party representatives.

[…]

All media is controlled, and information dissemination on violations is minimal. A group of organizations conducted an exit poll yesterday, giving Saakashvili 52 percent. However, as the poll was funded by the State its objectivity is doubtful.

TOL Georgia also raised similar concerns with exit polls days before the vote.

Why would the opposition refuse to accept Saakashvili’s victory in the first round? For number of reasons: first, those polls that claim that has such a chance, are closely affiliated with Saakashvili. One such research center is Greensberg Quinlan Rosner, which is funded by Saakashvili’s party. Of course their results put Saakashvili way ahead of his opponents.

Christine Quirk at Asking Tough Questions in Tough Places, however, believes that such polls are probably accurate. The former Country Director of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Azerbaijan says that the pollsters are unlikely to risk damaging their reputation worldwide.

[T]he Saakashvili campaign finally stepped up to the plate and hired a real pollster, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research from Washington. Among many others, VP Jeremy Rosner polled for NS/NU (Yushchenko’s party) in the 2007 parliamentary election in Ukraine. He’s the pollster that presidents and ruling parties hire when they want to be taken seriously outside of their own countries, particularly in Washington.

Rosner operates on the typical western model of strategic polling: as the president’s pollster, he is responsible for plotting out a roadmap to victory for his client, which, by the way, often means delivering really bad news. As a hired gun, Rosner has nothing to gain by pretty-ing up the numbers if they’re bad; if Saakashvili loses, GQRR loses. Pollsters like to win, and you don’t win by making things sound better for your client than they are. […]

No doubt there will be more discussion and debate on the presidential election which appears to have secured the incumbent a second term in office, but for now this is just an update. Certainly expect more from TOL Georgia which has been the main blog to watch for news on the latest developments during the election period.

As of writing, the blog has just dissected the preliminary report from the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM) and identifies some of the “significant challenges” which “need to be addressed urgently.”

“The distribution of vouchers for such things as utilities and medical supplies to vulnerable groups was criticized as an alleged misuse of budgetary funds in support of Mr. Saakashvili.”

“The vouchers prominently displayed that they were a subsidy from the President. Healthcare vouchers, as well as employment scheme leaflets, featured visually outstanding number “5”s – the number on the ballot
under which the UNM has run in elections since 2004. Distributors of vouchers sometimes asked recipients whether they would vote for Mr. Saakashvili, and asked them to sign documents confirming their support. Vouchers were in some cases distributed from UNM offices.”

[…]

“The campaign was overshadowed by widespread allegations of intimidation and pressure, among others on public-sector employees. These included a number of confirmed cases of pressure on opposition supporters by the police and local officials to desist from campaigning, threats of arbitrary arrest or job dismissal and cases of landlords who were pressurized not to let premises for use as opposition campaign offices. Isolated instances of violence against opposition activists, including kidnapping, were reported and verified.

“A debate between the four main contestants did not take place as Mr.
Saakashvili chose not to take part and his three main rivals conditioned their participation upon the opportunity to debate with him.”

[..]

“In addition, observers found CEC-produced stickers with the text “Where will you be on 5 January?”, with the “5” in a red circle visually resembling that used on Mr. Saakashvili’s campaign materials.”

No kidding, “significant challenges.” No wonder TOL Georgia questions what exactly was being evaluated by the international observers.

OK, maybe I read something wrong, or misunderstood the whole paradoxical nature of the report which goes “in line with the European values”, but if in any EU country the elections are conducted in such a manner — where media is biased, the votes are miscounted and different opinion is countered with intimidation and kidnapping, then…

Saakashvili came to power with vision and ideals that would move even the most pristine democrats. Now intimidation, threats, biased media, elections irregularities, misuse of state funds seem to have secondary value. Free and fair, is a slogan that must be backed with facts, not evaluations.

Anyway, to end on a lighter note, it's worth pointing you all in the direction of the excellent Georgia Ink where Vladimer Shioshvili has posted satirical cartoons for the past month. I will be waiting to see his take in pictures on the outcome of the election, especially after all the “significant challenges” that were noted by the OSCE.

As I write on my own blog, the conduct of the vote as well as the reaction of the international community will likely influence how Armenia holds its presidential election next month. Shioshvili's irreverent look at elections in the South Caucasus might just help the opposition here in Armenia hold back its tears.

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Vietnam: Regulating the Street Economy

Caroline Finlay · 15:05

lingua → jp · zhs · zht

A recent draft legislation aimed at improving traffic flow on Hanoi’s streets has sparked an internet debate and brought Vietnam’s huge economic divide into focus.

Vietnam Hanoi street vendor by Flickr User somefool (old school).

Street vendors are an integral part of Hanoi culture. Hanoi’s Old Quarter alone is estimated to have almost 2000 casual vendors. Many travel on foot carrying baskets or pushing rickety old carts, while others slowly ride their laden bicycles through Hanoi’s busy streets. They peddle everything from flowers to fruit, to hot meals and even clothing and costume jewelry. It’s true that they hamper traffic, especially during the afternoon commute when homeward bound office workers stop in the roadways to shop. They also make walking down a Hanoi sidewalk nearly impossible. This is an inconvenience that Hanoi’s legislating bodies appear to have become annoyed with.

These vendors are poor. They often wake up hours before dawn to ride into the city on one-speed bicycles or to buy the slightly cheaper produce available in Hanoi’s early-hours market. Many are stick-thin from the exertion of peddling or walking their wares through Hanoi’s streets in the tropical heat. Owning a house or sending a child to university is a dream as unattainable to them as traveling to space is for the average American. The draft legislature could take away what little livelihood they have, increasing Vietnam’s already stark economic disparity. The Euromonitor states that in 2007 Vietnam’s richest two decile’s share of total income is almost 50%, while the bottom two deciles’ share is a paltry 5.5%.

Street Food Vendors in Hanoi.

In a news story posted on www.VNExpress.net on December 21st, the vice-chairman of the People’s Committee in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem district, Lam Quoc Hung, stated that,

Bởi quận có tới hơn 2.000 người bán hàng rong nên rất khó cho lực lượng chức năng kiểm soát. Song ông cũng đề xuất, trên một số tuyến đường trung tâm có khả năng kinh doanh hàng hóa, hàng ăn uống thì cần được tận dụng kinh doanh.

Because the urban district has almost 2000 vendors, it’s quite difficult to regulate them. However, he [Hung] also proposed that a few central roads that are conducive to selling wares and foodstuffs should be made the most of.

The city’s vice-chairman, Nguyen Van Khoi, took a harder line,

nguyên tắc là đường phục vụ đi lại chứ không để kinh doanh.

The purpose of roadways is for transportation, definitely not for business.

The result of a conference held on December 21st to discuss vendor restrictions came to the conclusion that,

loại dịch vụ hàng rong, hàng ăn uống được phép hoạt động trong ngõ, phố không tên để phục vụ nhu cầu người dân, cũng như tránh ảnh hưởng quá lớn đền bộ phận người nghèo có thu nhập chính từ kinh doanh hàng rong.

Peddlers and food vendors have rights to operate in alleys and streets that do not have names in order to serve the needs of the people and also to avoid having a large influence on the poor whose main earnings come from street-peddling.

The vast majority of Hanoi’s roads have names, not numbers. Only small alleyways, sometimes less than a meter wide, remain unnamed. The majority of VNExpress’ readers disagree with both of these government workers – a VNExpress survey states that 57% or readers do not support the proposed draft legislation, while 40% do.

Bloggers seem to concur with this statistic. Mr. Joe, a graphic designer, posts on his Yahoo 360° Blog:

Tại sao nhưng người soạn thảo dự luật không làm cho mềm dẻo hơn. Có thể làm từng bước như: quy định giờ bán , vệ sinh,…Nếu chũng ta làm mạnh tay người dân cũng sẽ chấp hành. Nhưng như vậy chúng ta đồng thời cũng tước đi nguồn tài chĩnh duy nhất của rất nhiều gia đình…… Thực sư hàng rong đã giúp người mua tiết kiệm được nhiều thời gian. Giúp người bán có thể kiếm thêm được tiền từ lao động của mình. Có khả năng giảm thiểu các tắc giao thông…..

Why don’t the legislators make it more flexible. Maybe do it in steps like: regulating hours of operation and cleanliness… If we use a strong hand the people will still implement it. It we do it [like the legislators propose] then at the same time we’ll take away the main source of income for a huge number of families… Truthfully, street vendors help customers save a lot of time. It helps vendors earn money from their own labors. It has the ability to reduce traffic congestion…

On the My Hanoi forum, under the topic, “Food stalls and street vendors,” contributor Lambarca
defends Hanoi’s street culture by mentioning street vendors and cafes in more developed countries:

Hầu hết tất cả các công chức của các công sở ở Bangkok đều ăn trưa ở các quán ăn nhỏ trên hè phố Bangkok (thường là dưới các hình thức quầy di động, thậm chí là gánh hàng rong). Mọi người, đặc biệt là khách du lịch đều khoái chí dạo phố phường Bangkok chỉ vì họ có thể tìm được mọi thứ và được nếm mọi thức ăn đặc sản trên các vỉa hè Bangkok. Hiện tượng đó đã trở thành một nét văn hóa không thể thiếu được của Thái Lan, trong đó có Bangkok, và cũng là một trong những lý do để người nước ngoài đến với Thái Lan và quay trở lại Thái Lan.

Hàn Quốc, có khu phố quần áo được bày bán trên đường. Tại Seoul và Tokyo có rất nhiều khu phố và nhiều con phố được coi là khu mua bán vỉa hè…mà đó là hình thức sinh hoạt kinh tế đô thị tự nhiên, xe cộ vẫn tấp nập đi lại.

“Còn Paris hoa lệ thì sao? Có lẽ điều này khỏi phải bàn, nếu chúng ta đều hiểu về nước Pháp và văn hóa Pháp: Có lẽ ít ai dám chối bỏ thực tế là vỉa hè Paris chính là nơi nghỉ ngơi thư giãn thú vị nhất, sinh hoạt gần gũi của hàng triệu người dân Paris.

Almost all of Bangkok’s civil servants eat lunch at small roadside food vendors (usually from rolling food-carts, and even from vendors on foot). Everyone, especially tourists, are overjoyed to stroll Bangkok’s streets just to find and sample Bangkok’s street food specialties. This phenomenon has become an irremovable cultural feature of Thailand, including Bangkok, and also one of the many reasons foreigners come to, and come back to, Thailand.Korea has a roadside area for displaying and selling clothing. In Seoul and Tokyo there are many districts and roads that could be called street-vendor districts…but that’s a natural economic activity and a great number of vehicles can still get past.

And what about magnificent Paris? Maybe this point is best avoided, if we all knew about France and French culture: perhaps few would deny the truth that Paris’ roads are the most interesting place to sit and relax, a pastime dear to the hearts of a few million Parisians..

The regulations banning street vendors were to have gone into effect at the beginning of 2008, but massive public outcry, some of it online, has prevented implementation until at least after the Tet holiday in February, allowing vendors to work during their busiest season.

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