Stories about Elections from September, 2014
Twitter Users Proclaim the Death of Indonesia's Democracy as Lawmakers Scrap Direct Voting of Regional Assemblies
The Twitter hashtags #RIPDemokrasi and #ShameOnYouSBY were trending as Indonesians expressed displeasure over the vote and against outgoing president SBY.
Pro-Democracy Protesters Have Turned Central Hong Kong Into a Colorful Sea of Umbrellas
Dubbed the "umbrella revolution" in some media, protesters have withstood authorities' tear gas and pepper spray using umbrellas for protection.
New Document Leak Reveals Scope of Collaboration Between Moscow and Donetsk
These documents offer fascinating insights into the relationship between the Russian Far Right and the separatists now active in eastern Ukraine.
As Political Pressure From Beijing Mounts, Hong Kong Students Demand Democracy With Class Boycott
Student activists accuse Beijing of making Hong Kong empty promises of a democratic vote, so in return they are leaving their classrooms empty for at least a week.
Newspapers Predict Spain's Conservative Party Will Shelve Their Restrictive Abortion Bill to Save Face in Elections
Spain's abortion bill has met with pushback not only from parties in the opposition but also from within the current governing party's rank and file.
Covert Surveillance ‘Project Speargun’ Fires Up New Zealand Election
ANNA MAJAVU of Pacific Media Watch reports for The Daily Blog on an extraordinary event in Auckland on 15 September 2014: NEW ZEALAND Prime Minister John Key has been accused of allowing the secret installation of equipment that would enable spooks to tap into New Zealand’s undersea fibre optic cable...
Trinidadians Concerned Over “Largest Ever Budget”
As the Trinidad and Tobago government, in anticipation of national elections next year, serves up a massive budget, two political bloggers take the country's leaders to task. Afra Raymond, whose blog keeps a close eye on politics, corruption and transparency, provided some disturbing financial context: The Minister of Finance has...
Trinidad & Tobago Needs to Pass the Public Procurement Bill
Trinidad and Tobago's Finance Minister yesterday delivered what many are calling a “welfare budget”, but prior to its unveiling in Parliament, blogger Afra Raymond had hoped that “a more restrained approach might be taken.” In examining the country's national budgets since 2005, Raymond found it telling that “many of the...
Debating the Nature of Macedonia's Failing Political System
Political analysts, but also bloggers and social media users, have been debating Macedonia's backslide from democracy.
Spain's Alternative Political Party Podemos Is Growing in ‘Circles’
Since launching in March with an entirely crowdfunded campaign and a manifesto made up of public suggestions, the party claimed 8% of the national vote in the European Parliament elections.
Hong Kongers See an Anti-Democratic System. Beijing Officials See Democracy, Chinese-Style
China may be using Hong Kong as a testing ground for democratic reforms that are compatible with its single-party state, just like it experimented with free-market reforms in the 1980s.
What Went Into Making Russia's Most Viral Dash Cam Video Ever?
The good people of Chelyabinsk—a city whose toughness is legendary in Russian popular culture—have become some of the world’s biggest producers of candid-camera cartoon mayhem.
Despite Violent Pushback, Anti-Government Protesters in Pakistan Refuse to Budge Until Prime Minister Sharif Steps Down
Pakistan capital Islamabad turned into a battle-zone after police used tear gas and rubber bullets to fight back massive crowds of anti-government protesters trying to storm the Prime Minister's secretariat.
An Election Film Week in Lebanon to Say #NoToExtension of Parliament Term
What better than the seventh art to mobilize? In another effort to push for Elections in Lebanon and prevent an extension of the Parliamentary term #NoToExtension, Lebanese NGO Nahwa Al Muwatiniya (meaning Towards Citizenship) held an “Election Film Week”. Six works from Chile, Iran, China, Ghana and the US, varying between documentaries...
Afghanistan's Ice Bucket Challengers Ask Presidential Rivals to ‘Be Cool!’
With tensions between supporters of presidential candidates Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah threatening to boil over, a group of young Afghans are dumping ice on troubled water.
Beijing Expects Hong Kong People to be Rubber Stamps
David Webbs a finance news commentator concluded that the Beijing decision on the nomination of Chief Executive candidates in 2017 is to turn Hong Kong people into rubber stamps.
