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Martinique: On independence and French “paternalism”

Jennifer Brea · 18:40 · Americas , Western Europe

lingua → fr · mg · es · sw

Martinique blogger le blog de [moi] [FR], in another post on the ongoing workers' movement in Martinique and Guadeloupe, takes issue with Christophe Barbier, opinion editor of the French news magazine, L'Express. In a recent interview on the radio show C dans l'air, Barbier responded to an SMS from a listener who asked, “Why don't we just grant the overseas departments their independence?” Barbier replied:

“(…) Ca va devenir soit une usine à touristes pour les Américains soit ça va tomber immédiatement sous la coupe des mafias locales pour servir de blanchiment soit ça va devenir un nouveau Haïti. Il n’y a pas d’indépendance possible dans la prospérité économique ! Immédiatement ça tombera sous une autre dépendance qui sera pire que la dépendance de la République française.”

“(…) Whether it becomes a tourist factory for Americans, immediately fall under the control of local mafias who [bring about] the whitening [of the country], or a new Haiti, independence is not possible without economic prosperity! It would immediately become a dependent of another country which would be worse than being a dependent of France.” (more…)

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Angola: Presidential elections postponed?

Clara Onofre · 14:49, February 21st, 2009 · Sub-Saharan Africa

lingua → pt · es · zhs · zht

After the 2008 parliamentary elections, the first time in 16 years that Angola went to the polls, the Angolan government proposed that the presidential elections be held in 2009. Earlier this year, however, President José Eduardo dos Santos declared that the approval of a new constitution is this year was the highest priority for the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola).

In his New Year's address [pt], Dos Santos also stated that his Party will propose, through its parliamentary members, the creation of an “ad hoc” committee in the National Assembly, which would be in charge of preparing the new draft constitution and “promoting, whenever appropriate, a broad discussion [of the draft] before approval by the Parliament”. The President did not mention the future presidential election, and in so doing fueled rumors that the Angolans will not return to the polls in 2009, as they had expected. There has been a range of speculation on Angloan blogs and media about the reasons behind this.

Below is what Feliciano Cangue [pt], from Hukalilile (Don't Cry for Me Angola) blog, has to say about it:

“Se perguntarmos aos angolanos o ano da realização das eleições presidenciais em Angola, todos em uníssono, dirão: 2009. Puro engano! Conversa para o boi dormir ou só para acalmar os ânimos. Para não aumentar mais a frustração do leitor, quero dizer-lhe, que os donos do poder, se depois não mudarem de ideias, estão a preparar as eleições em Angola para 2010, só para que percamos as esperanças. Isso só é possível num país onde a democracia foi imposta, como pensam muitos. Por outro lado é isso que dá quando um governo (com pendor autoritário) tem a maioria absoluta na Assembleia Nacional. O MPLA não teria condições para fazer duas eleições em dois anos seguidos, porque teria que gastar muito dinheiro com essas campanhas”.

“If you ask the Angolan people in which year the presidential elections in Angola will be held, they will say in unison: 2009. [This is] just a sham! Hogwash, or just oil poured on troubled waters. So that the reader doesn't get more frustrated, I tell you that, if the holders of power do not change their minds, they are preparing for the elections to be held in Angola in 2010, only so that we lose hope. This is only possible in a country where democracy was imposed, as many think. On the other hand, this is what happens when a government (with a penchant for authoritarianism) has an absolute majority in the National Assembly. The MPLA would not be able to hold two elections one year after another, because they would need to spend too much money on these campaigns.”

Regarding the creation of a new constitution that would ensure the next elected Angolan president will be from within the MPLA, Feliciano Cangas shares with his readers a thought that might have crossed the minds of many Angolans:

“O MPLA talvez priorize a que se escreva uma nova constituição ou se faça uma emenda constitucional, para se encontrar uma fórmula que facilite a eleição do presidente. Assim que conseguisse essa façanha, é muito provável que se indique o filho, a filha ou esposa como candidato à presidência. Assim se implantaria uma monarquia parlamentar e pronto!”

“In order to find a formula that facilitates the election of the president, the MPLA might prioritize that a new constitution is written, or that a constitutional amendment is made. Once this is achieved, it is very likely that a child, daughter or wife is nominated as candidate to run for president. A parliamentary monarchy is thus implemented and that's it! “

Wilson Dadá [pt] elaborates further on the above point. He says that the population is uncertain about the future plans of the president or the country's main party:

Nos primeiros palpites que debitamos este ano por estas bandas, referimos que o debate proposto por José Eduardo dos Santos sobre a eleição do Presidente da República veio introduzir no processo uma grande dose de incerteza, pois agora já ninguém sabe quais são os planos da principal força política deste país e muito menos do seu líder, que parece ter uma agenda muito própria no âmbito da estratégia mais geral do maioritário.
Por exemplo, os potenciais candidatos às presidenciais estão sem saber o que fazer, enquanto não for aprovada a nova Constituição, onde será definida a modalidade da eleição, que pode ser por via parlamentar ou por sufrágio directo e universal, de acordo com a sugestão implícita na proposta de debate.
Tudo agora está dependente das novas ideias que o MPLA vai introduzir no texto fundamental. Ao que parece, já não são as mesmas que defendia durante o anterior processo constituinte.

As the first few guesses we had here this year, we said that the debate proposed by José Eduardo dos Santos on the presidential election introduced a large dose of uncertainty, because now nobody knows what the plans of this country's main political force are, and much less their leader's, who seems to have his very own agenda when it comes to a more general majority strategy.
For instance, potential presidential candidates will not know what to do until the new constitution, setting out the type of election, is approved. Elections may happen through parliamentary vote or by direct universal suffrage, according to the suggestion implied in the proposed debate.
Everything now depends on the new ideas that the MPLA will introduce to the basic [constitutional] text. It seems that they no longer are the same as those they had advocated during the previous constitutional process.

In an article for the Africa21 magazine, Joâo Melo [pt] says that it is fundamental to know whether the population will elect a new president in 2009 or not. He believes there is no time for that:

Uma questão política particular é saber se as eleições presidenciais serão realizadas este ano. Estou inclinado a pensar que não. Com efeito, predomina, no momento, o ponto de vista segundo o qual as eleições devem ser efectuadas com a nova Constituição. Ora, o calendário constituinte definido pelo Parlamento aponta para a conclusão dos trabalhos, na melhor das hipóteses, no meio de Julho. Essa discussão poderá ser estendida por causa da definição do método eleitoral — directo ou indirecto — caso o MPLA tenha interesse em aprovar toda a Constituição por consenso. Por tudo isso, dificilmente as eleições poderão ter lugar até ao final do tempo seco, entre Agosto e Setembro.

A particular political issue is whether the presidential election will be held this year. I am inclined to think it will not. Indeed, at the moment, the mainstream view is that the election must be made with the new Constitution. However, the timetable set by the Parliament for constitutional reform plans for the work to be finished, at best, by mid-July. This discussion period could be extended because of the need to select an electoral method - direct or indirect - if the MPLA is interested in adopting a Constitution decided on by consensus. Because of all this, it seems very unlikely that the elections can take place by the end of the dry season, from August through September.

Eugénio Costa Almeida [pt] points out yet another issue that might cause elections to be postponed to 2010. He mentions an article from a local newspaper, Novo Jornal, which states that the Angolan presidential elections should happen only after the African Cup of Nations. As the ANC will only take place in 2010, he says it is only necessary to make a simple calculation to realise that it will be delayed.

Como se sabe o CAN-2010, em princípio e como tem sido habitual em outros CAN além de haver também o Mundial na África do Sul, decorrerá, em Angola, entre Janeiro e Fevereiro de 2010 o que implicará, até por necessidade de reagrupar meios logísticos que as eleições não acontecerão antes de Abril ou Maio de 2010.

Mas se pensarmos que o Povo Angolano anda cada vez menos esquecido e se a nossa selecção não conseguir os seus objectivos mínimos, não será de admirar que o Poder sofrerá as necessárias e devidas consequências políticas e eleitorais.

As you know the ANC-2010 – in principle, and as has been customary for other ANCs, in addition to the World Cup happening in South Africa – will be held in Angola between January and February 2010 which will mean, because of the need to reorganize logistics, that the elections do not happen before April or May 2010.

But if we think that the Angolan people are less and less forgetful and if our team does not achieve its minimum targets, it will be no surprise that those in power suffer the necessary and appropriate political and electoral consequences.

During the launch of the MPLA's 2009 Internal Policy Agenda last week, the presidential elections were mentioned [pt] as one of the party's priorities – as well as the approval of the new Constitution – but no date has been set. Another priority for the party is the preparation of the MPLA's VI Ordinary Congress, already scheduled for December 2009.

Originally written in Portuguese, translation by Paula Góes.

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China: Eluding the Cat Investigation, Netizen's Power or Government PR?

Oiwan Lam · 09:12 · East Asia

lingua → zhs · zht · it

In response to the netizens' talks and comments about the “eluding cat” incident, the Yunnan provincial Publicity Department's Press and Publication Administration decided to form an investigative committee on Feb 20. Moreover, the department had invited netizens to form a investigative committee. In a few hours, 510 netizens registered to be involved in the committee, and the Yunnan government randomly selected 8 netizens and public members as part of the committee, together with 3 official representatives and 3 media representatives. The incident of course shows how netizens' power in giving pressure to the government, however, many doubt the investigative committee being a PR show for cooling down the public discontent.

Eluding the cat incident

ESWN has translated “eluding the cat” incident on 17 of Feb. In brief, a young Yunnan man Li Qiaoming was arrested for illegal logging in Beicheng town. He was then seriously injured in the detention center in Feb 8 and died in four days because of brain injury. The police report said that he ran into a wall when he was playing “eluding the cat” game with other jail mates.

The whole story was so incredible and netizens started to use “eluding the cat” in their online jokes.

Internet popular terms are very powerful in China, earlier on we have Weng'an “push ups”, and it has discredited local government even though the final report came out and showed that local police hadn't lie about the incident - the suspect was doing push ups on the bridge when the girl drowned herself in the river.

Recruiting netizens for investigation

In order to prevent history from recurring, the Yunnan publicity department acted on it by inviting netizens to do investigation (via ESWN). Netizen, end of the wind, was appointed as the head of the netizen committee, while marginal citizen, as the deputy.

End of the wind reported in cat898 forum (in Feb 19) to other netizens about his appointment and swore that he would try his best to find out the truth:

今天下午4点左右，我得知云南省委宣传部要组建网友和社会各界人士的调查委员会,调查发生在昆明晋宁县公安局看守所发生24岁的云南玉溪北城镇男子李乔明“躲猫猫”死亡事件。我马上拨打了公告上的报名电话。

有可能我是第一个打电话报名的，电话一打就通了，工作人员记录了我的网名、真实姓名、身份、电话、QQ号。据说之后的电话都打到爆。

到了晚上10点半，我在云南网上看到了调查委员会的名单，很意外，我成了委员会主任

This afternoon at about 4pm, I heard from the Yunnan publicity department that they wanted to form an investigative committee on the death of 24 years old Li Qiaoming in Yunan Yuxi Beicheng town detention center while playing “eluding the cat”. I made the phone call immediately according to the notice.

Probably I was the first to make the call for registration, the line got through in my first call. The officer written down my avatar, my real name, my identity, phone number, QQ number. Later the line is all jammed.

At around 10:30, I saw the investigator list on the Yunnan net and surprisingly, I became the head of the netizen committee.

今夜，我将无眠。因为直到现在，没有任何云南官方的人对我提出明天这个调查将如何进行的要求，甚至行程安排。我将会在明天见到参与调查的成员时一起商议具体的安排。

但是，我不知道，我们提出的程序安排，是否会得到官方的同意。根据网上网友们的反映，与及我自己的想法，我已经拟出了一条条方案，但这个方案还要和明天的其他成员商量，最后的方案能不能得到实施，还要看公安部门认不认可。

Tonight, I will be sleepless. Up till now, no government official told me how the investigation would be conducted, I had no idea about the schedule. I would discuss with other investigators tomorrow about the arrangement.

However, I don't know whether or not the government would accept our schedule demand. I have a plan according to my netizens' friend and my own idea, however, I need to discuss with others. Whether or not it works, depends on the police department's approval.

Why publicity department?

There are up till now 43 pages of comments in the post. Many said that the Yunnan government is being open minded for recruiting netizens into the committee, some pointed out that it is not the task of “publicity department” to conduct an investigation.

Eye medicine said

忽悠谁？？？调查一个疑似刑事案件为什么宣传部组织？？？什么意思？？一群乌合之众你们采取什么科学手段？？调查结果有什么说服力？？就算你们是民间的你们怎么保证看到的就是真的？？你们做的一切毫无意义！！！洗洗睡吧

What are you trying to lure? How come a propaganda department would take up a criminal case's investigation? What does it mean? A bunch of dark birds, how can you be scientific? Will the report be convincing? Even though you are from the civil sector, how can you ensure what you see is the real? you are doing meaningless thing, why don't you take a shower and sleep early?

Ba la said:

偶觉得：现场状况无法还原，就剩下同玩伙伴的口述和尸体。其中口述最不可靠，尸检报告一旦和警察有关，就更加的不可靠。你此行意义人家早算计好了，为警察的说法作佐证。不过还有万一，这就要靠运气和知识丰富了。

My feeling is that: it is impossible to restore the crime scene, what we got is the jail mates testimony and the corp. The testimony is not reliable, and the post-mortem report once it involves the police, is more unreliable. They have all that in calculation, with proof to support the police's report. Of course, accident happens, and it depends on luck and your knowledge.

7322740:

在看守所里、被拘留的人还能“玩猫猫”、玩游戏、真开心，看看有多少愿意去的？咱们大家都一齐去、到那去开心娱乐去。警察大人真会逗人呀。这种鬼话，说给鬼都不会相信的。

In a detention center, under arrest, and they can still play “eluding the cat”? so happy to play game? let's see who want to go there? Let's go there together, for fun and entertainment. The police are such a joke. What kind of ghost story is this? even ghost won't believe.

Investigation Day

At 8:30am, Feb 20, the investigation committee had their hearing at the Jinning policy station. It is more like a press release with netizen participation, as according to local report (reposted by gzjiangxia008):

8日17时50分许，普某某、李某某、余某某等6人趁民警依照规定刚巡视过后，在监室放风间内擅自玩起了“瞎子摸鱼”（即“躲猫猫”）游戏，由李荞明先蒙住眼睛当瞎子摸其余5人，在游戏过程中普某某首先被李荞明摸到，随后李荞明拉着普某某的手要求换人，普某某认为游戏还未开始与李荞明发生争执。普某某用脚踢在李的胸腹部，又一拳打在李头部左侧，致使蒙着眼睛未能防备的李荞明头部猛撞在监室门框上受伤。

XXX部门承认，李荞明死在看守所，xxx负有责任。该县XXX局分管刑侦的副局长达琦明表示：未发现民警有工作失误，案情调查清楚后，愿接受问责。

In Feb 8, around 17:50, Pu, Li, Yu and six other detainers played “eluding the cat” game after the police had their routine check. Li Qiaoming tied his eyes and tried to catch other five, in the process, Pu was caught by Li and Li asked to exchange the role. Pu said that the game hadn't been started and argued with Li. Pu then kicked Li on his chest and hit him on the left side of his head with his fist, which resulted in Li's head hitting on the frame of the door and thus caused the injury.

The police department admitted that they have to be responsible for Li's death in the detention center. However the deputy of the police department in the county said that they have not found any error in the police's work, and they would be willing to take up responsibility according to the result of the investigation.

调查委副主任“边民”说，成员们要求会见导致李荞明死亡的普某某及当日在场的室友，但是该县检察院副检察长认为“按法律规定，这样的会见不合程序”，遂遭遇拒绝。此外，调查委要求查看监控录像。但是，官方回答“有记录无记录，无法回答；据保密要求和相关法律规定，调查委查看录像不在法律范围内”。

“边民”总结：这个特别的调查委法律权限不清晰，并不是大家设想一般，什么都可以看到。

The deputy of the investigation team “marginal citizen” said, members wanted to see Pu and other detainers who were in the jail with Li Qiaoming, but the deputy chief justice in the county said that according to the law, such kind of interview is not procedural and rejected their demand. The committee also requested to see the Close circuit television, the government said that they could disclose whether such tapes exist or not, according to regulations and non-disclosure principle, what they are demanding is not within the law.

Marginal Citizen concluded that: As the committee doesn't have a clear role in the legal system, unlike what people have been imagining, there isn't much for us to see.

Show for a Lie?

My opinion (via inmediahk.net) is that the propaganda department is trying to prevent a public opinion bomb from being exploding but it in turn challenges the credibility of police and justice department. According to BBC's report:

据新浪网的网上调查显示，截至20日凌晨，87.1%的网民认为，”躲猫猫”致死的解释不可思议，肯定是谎言；有8.2%的网民说，”躲猫猫”致死虽然不可思议，但也许是真相；只有1.3%的网民说，”躲猫猫”致死应该是真相。

在如何看待云南邀请网友参与调查的问题上，49.7%的网民认为有作秀之嫌，网民作用有待观察；45.5%的网民认为，此举有创意，能够扩大民主，体现调查的公开和透明。

According to Sina's online poll, up till midnight of 20, 87.1% netizens found the explanation of “eluding the cat” incredible, and believed that it must be a lie; 8.2% found the explanation incredible but believed that it might be the truth; only 1.3% believe d the explanation should be the truth.

As for the invitation of Yunnan Netizen to participate in the investigation, 49.7% netizens believed that it is probably a show and it is yet to see the effect of the participation. 45.5% said that the arrangement is creative and can further develop democracy, it shows the investigation is open and transparent.

How about you? What's your opinion?

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Azerbaijan: News site closed down?

Onnik Krikorian · 08:42, February 21st, 2009 · Eastern & Central Europe , Central Asia & Caucasus

lingua → nl

Following a recent ban on foreign broadcasts in the country, the content of a leading news site considered more independent than most in Azerbaijan was replaced on Thursday with a message informing readers that the “project is closed.”

A day later, after the authorities denied allegations that they were behind the disappearance of day.az, a new message instead explained that the site was down for technical reasons and would reappear after 25 February.

Blogs by media specialists and analysts in Azerbaijan, however, were not convinced. In an extended post on the new Frontline Club blog, for example, Global Voices author Ali S. Novruzov details the sequence of events.

At first, day.az and its sister sites (e.g. dayaz.com and today.az) displayed a comment that the website is shut down for “unknown reasons”; then - “due to technical problems”; and then finally - “project is closed”. Now the comment reads: “Site is temporarily unavailable due to technical problems” and “will be back on 25th February.” Besides, as Osman Gunduz of Azerbaijan Internet Forum reported, details about day.az was surprisingly deleted from the National Domain Database [UPDATE: Now, they have reappeared. For more, visit whois.az ].

The blog goes on to say that many believe the site's disappearance was politically motivated. Writing on Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines, Arzu Geybullayeva also reports the same.

Today, Azerbaijan saw yet again, how far the government can go in its quest for achieving full power over freedom of speech in this country.

[…]

Some argue that it is the interview the website published with Berezovski who criticized the [former] President of Russian Federation- Vladimir Putin of corruption and having accumulated 40 billion dollars in foreign accounts.

Whatever the argument maybe, the picture is quite clear in Azerbaijan- the more you show you are different from the flock of sheep in this country the more punishment you get. Some get arrested, some get banned, some get silenced forever.

Meanwhile, writing on Thoughts on the Road, an American journalist based in Azerbaijan offered more details on allegations that Russia was behind the move.

[…] My information - from a source who works with journalists -is that the news portal was closed after it published an interview with former Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky. In the interview, Berezovsky charged that Putin was siphoning off Russian cash for his own account.

Putin reportedly called the Azerbaijan president personally and demanded the closure of the site.

Of course, I can't verify this account and I can't read the interview. […] The Day.Az site is shut.

[…]

[…] The political implications of this are yet unclear. While Day.Az was widely read, my impression is that it was not a mass-market source of information. Nonetheless, one has to wonder how the president's decision will resonate. […] How does it look for the former Russian president to be dictating media policy to the Azerbaijan president? […]

Since then, in an update on his Frontline Club post, Novruzov says that a news agency has been informed by an anonymous official that concerns over relations with Russia were partly behind the move.

But even if the site will return, Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines remains unconvinced by the official explanation. Moreover, the blog is uncertain whether day.az will ever be the same.

Apparently the website was only closed for internal reconstruction work and no political intentions or factors were at stake when the portal got shut down yesterday. […]

Then why the website didn't notify its readers in advance (which it usually does whenever there is any kind of work on the portal) and why the statements explaining the reason for closure only appeared several hours later?

Thus, for the reasons unknown or known but untrue the future of day.az remains unclear. It is likely that the website will resume its work, but what is not known is whether it will resume its work as day.az before shutting down- objective, precise and trustworthy online news portal…

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Arab World: Mourning Tayeb Salih

Amira Al Hussaini · 04:37, February 21st, 2009 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → fr

The Arab literary world is mourning the death of Sudanese novelist Al Tayeb Salih.

The 80-year-old writer, who died in London, was best known for his novel Season of Migration to the North, which was selected by the Damascus-based Arab Literary Academy as the most important Arab novel of the 20th century. Al Tayeb was buried in Om Durman, Sudan, in a state ceremony, attended by the Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir.

News of his death quickly made it to Arabic blogs and online forums, where some bloggers who have met him and others who were planning to do so, paid tribute to this author.

Sudanese Tajooj2, who lives in Saudi Arabia, notes:

فإنّ عبقريّ الرواية الرائع الطيب صالح .. قرّر الهجرة اليوم ، ومضى
لندن كانت شاهدة الحدثْ ، والموسم للهجرةِ إلى الشمال ، تحوّل للموسمِ للهجرةِ إلى السماء !

The novel genius Al Tayeb Salih decided to migrate today and London witnessed this incident! The Season of Migration to the North became the Season of Migration to Heaven.

Tajooj2 continues:

همومه العربيّة الإفريقيّة ، السياسيّة الاجتماعية ، كانت تحاصر كلّ أحرفه ، هذا الخروج من الإفريقي ، ومرحلة اللادخول العربي ، أتعبته كثيرا ، وكتب عنها أكثر. للسودان أن تفرح كثيرا ، بهذا الابن “الضال” الذي هاجر حيّا وميّتا !

مات درويش قبل ثمانية أشهر بهيوستن ، وكرّر عين الفعلة الطيّب ، ومن قبلهما تدور قائمة المصحّات الغربيّة بأسماء الكثيرين من مبدعين عرب ، يمارسون المنفى حياةُ وموتا ، هل قدر العربيّ المبدع كذلك .. لست أدري !

His concerns were African and Arab, social and political, and they surrounded all his words. This state of leaving the African and not being able to enter the Arab has exerted him a lot and it is something he has written much about. Sudan has a lot to be happy for in this “lost” son, who has migrated dead and alive.

[Palestinian poet Mahmood] Darwish has died eight months before him in Houston, Al Tayeb repeated the same feat, and before them many Western hospitals have been crowded with the names of many Arab intellectuals who have chosen exile, alive and dead. Is this the fate of the Arab intellectual? I am not sure.

About Salih, Yemeni Fadhul Al Naqeeb [Ar] writes:

«الطيِّب» نِسْمَةٌ عَطِرَةٌ في حياتنا كالربيع، ومُنذُ أن قرأناه في رائعته «موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال» انعقدت بيننا وبينه عُرى صداقةٍ عميقة، ومُروج محبَّةٍ شاسعة، ووشائج ثقافةٍ مُمتدَّة، فقد جاءنا بالنيل السُّوداني محمولاً في مُهَجٍ من الحكايات الرائعة ووشائج من العلاقات الإنسانية الدافقة بلُغةٍ باذخةٍ بالغة الأناقة كأنَّها مكسوَّةٌ برقائق الذهب ومُضمَّخةٌ بالزعفران وأجود عُطور جزيرة العرب.

Al Tayeb was a perfumed breeze like spring in our lives. Ever since reading his marvel Season of Migration to the North, a deep bond of friendship was struck between us and expansive pastures of love and infinite cultural relations exanded. He has come to us from the Sudanese Nile full of amazing stories and humanitarian relations which he narrated in an elegant language, as though they have been adorned by gold and expanded by saffron and the best perfumes of Arabia.

The blogger continues:

وداعاً أيُّها «الطيِّب صالح»، وسيبقى طِيْبُكَ ما بقي الحرف والقلم.

Farewell Al Tayeb Salih. Your goodness will continue for as long as there are letters and pens.

Lebanese The Angry Arab Dr Assad Abu Khalil pays a fitting tribute and writes about Salih's work and his experience meeting Salih:

Sudanese novelist, Tayib Salih is dead. I was rather sad to read this news. I read his Season of
Migration to the North (which is available in an excellent English translation supervised by Salih himself) in college and was affected by it. His Arabic style was not what affected me but the themes: the anger and even aggression. I was rather disturbed by the sexual aggression and never understood what Salih was doing with this element, but then understood that it was a 1) metaphor for Arab dealings with the colonizers although I did not like
the use of sex as a weapon; 2) semi autobiographical. I met Salih in the 1980s and he could not have been more peaceful, and mild-mannered, and nice. I liked him instantly. I have said before that some of the most impressive and sophisticated intellectuals I have met in life have been from the Sudan. I don't know what it is: Sudan is a
place brimming with ideas. Remember that in the 1960s, the Sudanese Communist Party was one of the biggest political parties in the region.
Sudanese like ideas and debates, until the US-supported dictator, Ja`far An-Numayri was permitted to impose his Islamist version (assisted by the brilliant but dangerous Hasan Turabi in return for opening up his country for US companies and intelligence, and in return for the smuggling of the Falasha. Sudanese are comfortable in the realm of abstract ideas and would debate in a way that is different from us Arabs in the Mashriq [East]:
we end up shouting and getting agitated, while they can argue for hours while drinking and munching, very calmly. I know, I am engaging in cultural generalizations but I allow myself–but not the White Man–that privilege. I once saw Tayyib Salih in Washington, DC through his friend Halim Barakat. I went with Halim Barakat, Hisham Sharabi and Arab literary critic, Kamal Abu Dib, to hear him talk. Salih (who is one of the best conversationalists I have met […] was most interesting and amusing.

Another author, Moroccan Laila Lalami, who is based in the US, is also moved by the news. She writes:

I was terribly saddened to hear that the great Sudanese novelist, short story writer and literary critic Tayeb Salih passed away in London yesterday. He was eighty years old. A few months ago, when I was preparing my introduction to the new edition of Season of Migration to the North, I had considered going to London to interview him. But then life intervened: I was busy and thought I might be able to meet him some other time. That time never came. He published only a handful of novels, but each had the beauty and complexity of dozens of literary works.

Sudanese Optimist is saddened by the news and writes:

Sudan has lost a dear citizen, who has contributed tremendously to Sudanese and Arabic literature. His most acclaimed work is the 1966 novel “Season of Migration to the North.” The novel was, at one point, banned in Sudan for its inclusion of sexual imagery, yet it was declared “the most important Arabic novel of the 20th century” by the Syrian-based Arab Literary Academy in Damascus.

Earlier this year, The General Union for Sudanese Writers, requested Al Tayeb Saleh to be preliminarily nominated to win the 2009 Literature Noble Prize.

Al Tayeb Salih’s death will definitely leave a big void in the Sudanese literary world. He will be greatly missed.

Like in many online forums across the Arab world, Arabian Leopard, at the Emirates Economy Forum [Ar], notes:

الله يرحمه و يغفر له.

رواياته جميلة تأخذك في رحلة الى الثقافة السودانية و حياة الأرياف هناك

May Allah rest his soul in peace and forgive him.
His novels are beautiful and take you on a Sudanese cultural trip and the life of rural areas there.

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