Stories about Governance from July, 2006
Georgia: United National Exams
Ana praises Georgia's new higher education entrance exams, which are designed to limit opportunities for corruption and ensure that students entering higher education institutions are adequately educated and prepared for higher degrees.
Azerbaijan: Oil
At neweurasia, Delia explores whether oil revenues will be good or bad for Azerbaijan.
DRC: Post-Election Roundup
“A Peaceful Election” Congolese at the polls. Photo by Federico, courtesy of Extra Extra. By and large, the voting has ended in the DRC, according to The Salon: With the exception of the three towns that had to continue/report the voting for today, due to numerous arsons (Mbuji-mayi, Mweka and...
Nigeria: Scotland Yard
Detectives from Scotland Yard have just arrived in Nigeria to help with the investigation into the murder of politician Funsho Williams who died last week in Lagos, writes UKNaija. “If they fail, I can just imagine the Nigerian government crowing ‘Well, even the experts from Scotland Yard couldn't crack it,...
Zimbabwe: Morgan Tsvangirai speech
Eddie Cross on Zimpundit posts in its entirety the speech given by former union leader and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to a National Convention held by Churches in Zimbabwe Saturday to debate the crisis in the country, and the way forward.
The unshackling of Bangladesh
Tasneem Khalil reports that Bangladesh is the cover theme for August 2006 issue of Himal Southasian, South Asia's first and only regional magazine. The magazine's introspective comment: "Bangladesh is set to become a powerful member of the world community, once it deals with its difficult issues of mal governance and confrontational politics".
China: reticence: would-be lesbians, corporate executives and urban journalists
Ever wonder why there was no male version of 2004's smash television phenomenon Super Girl? While a lesbian conspiracy might have made for better Communist Party PR positioning than news of yet another great initiative cut down by state censorship, super-adrogynous and super-popular Super Girl winner Li Yuchun‘s queer image...
DRC: Voting At Last
Extra Extra writes: “It has been a beautiful day here in Kinshasa, and the atmosphere has been very peaceful and more friendly than usual wherever I’ve gone. (…) The officials at the voting centres are doing a good job, helpfully explaining what to do. (…) There have been a few...
Martinique: Plane Crash Aftermath
Bien Vu writes (Fr):”It's been more than 8 months since 152 Martiniquans died in a crash in Maracaibo [,Venezuela]. Since then, talks at cross-purposes between the Association aux Victimes du Crash Aerien [association of victims of the aerial crash] (AVCA) and the Brazilian insurer of West Caribbean Airways who cannot...
DRC: Optimism on Eve of Landmark Election
Foli Kat, a new blogger based in the US, has been following Global Voices's coverage of Congolese bloggers writing about the July 30th election and has a very different perspective from the largely pro-opposition bloggers highlighted in my previous posts. Foli Kat writes that whatever their shortcomings, these elections are...
DRC: Election Survey Results & EUFOR Crash
Extra Extra posts results of a DRC election survey he conducted from his blog (most respondents thought the election would take place without major disruptions) and explains that yesterday European Union Forces “managed to crash an unmanned drone into a residential area, injuring four and destroying a house.”
DRC: Documentary Video
The Salon posts a french-speaking video-documentary covering the last 6 year's events including the 6-day war between Rwandan and Ugandan armies, the assasination of Laurent Kabila and the promise of elections.
Russia: Andrei Sychyov's Case
Sean's Russia Blog posts an update on Andrei Sychyov's case and writes about cruelty in the Russian army.
India: The terrorists within
Gaurav comments on one of the sentiments in the Indian blogosphere which appears to celebrate Israel's hardline approach in Lebanon. He reminds us that the terrorism within the country is of far more importance. “But until that day, make your peace with the fact that on an average, the most...
Afghanistan: Religious Police
Azad Afghan says it is a terrible news that Afghan government decided to create a religious police [Fa]. The blogger adds Afghanistan had already suffered a lot because of religion.
Uzbekistan: Privatization
Ben Paarmann discusses plans for land privatization in Uzbekistan that, he says, will not likely do much to improve the economic situation in the country as it will not include the privatization of agricultural land.
Russia, Ukraine: Stories About Words
Below is the translation of three stories about words: in the first one, they are being banned; in the second, they offend; in the third, there aren't enough of them. LJ user plushev, a Russian radio journalist, writes (RUS) about the government's attack on the name of the controversial National...
DRC: Last Minute Campaigning and Complaining
As Sunday's presidential election approaches, and the campaign period closes today, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) bloggers chronicle last minute campaigning and complaining by some of the 30 or so candidates and other actors. Candidates’ Backgrounds Prince du Fleuve du Congo continues a debate with Christian Geraud about Joseph Kabila...
Trinidad & Tobago: FTAA
With the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) practically a “dead duck”, Jeremy Taylor suggests that Trinidad & Tobago remove the sign at the airport proclaiming the country “the natural home of the FTAA secretariat”.
Taiwan: corruption
FLD from China Times wonders how president Chen Shui-bian would response to the recent accounting department report on the president house national secret expenses (zh). The report was released yesterday: 77% of the expenses was without standard record. The case is now filed at the department of justice.
Reforming Philippine Elections
Philippine electoral system is one of the most inefficient in the world. It would take more than a month before results can be known after election day since counting of votes is still done manually.
