Stories about Elections from March, 2008
Armenia: State of Emergency Ended, Protests Continue
The Armenian Patchwork posts some excellent photographs of a silent demonstration staged to mourn the eight people killed during the recent 1 March riots in Yerevan now that the state of emergency in the country has officially ended. My Armenia Election Monitor 2008 also has photographs and a report of...
Armenia: Police Violence
Blogian comments on concerns raised in some quarters that a video allegedly showing soldiers firing directly at protesters during a post-election riot on 1 March has been edited inappropriately giving grounds to question its authenticity. However, the blog says, the fact that seven protesters and one policeman died during the...
Cuba, USA: Obama's Speech
Cuban blogger 26th Parallel has another take on US Presidential hopeful Barack Obama's speech on race.
Bermuda, USA: Watching US Elections
“As the American election process grinds on, I find myself more and more impressed by Barack Obama’s apparent decency and integrity”, writes Breezeblog, while Politics.bm says that “many of the themes” in Obama's latest speech “are very applicable to Bermuda.”
Iran: A cartoon about elections
Nikhang, blogger and a leading cartoonist, has published a cartoon about recent parliamentary election in Iran where president Ahmadinejad says ” I continue to copy [votes].”
Iraq at Five: The World Reacts
Today, March 19, marks five years of "Operation Iraqi Freedom." Initially a plan to oust Saddam Hussein and "end the war before it started," the war in Iraq continues to this day, much to the dismay of many ordinary citizens around the globe. In that vein, Global Voices Online will post reactions today from bloggers in Iraq, the Middle East and North Africa, and elsewhere.
Bangladesh: The promise of America
Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying writes on the promise of America as articulated by Obama.
Armenia: Shameful Diaspora
Unzipped expresses its concern with statements issued by ethnic Armenian groups and organizations in the United States calling for political forces to find a peaceful solution to the post-election standoff in Armenia and to refrain from violence. Noticeable by its absence, the blog explains, are calls for an independent inquiry...
Armenia: Right to Know
Armenia Now reports on the current state of emergency which restricts the media in covering the post-election situation in the country following the 1 March clashes between opposition supporters and the authorities. The blog says that while the print media has become more independent under the outgoing president, the tendency...
Ukraine: Kyiv Mayoral Election
Ukrainiana reports on the yet another upcoming election in Ukraine: “It finally happened! In a long-awaited vote, the Verkhovna Rada Tuesday paved the way for new mayoral elections to be held in Kyiv within 70 days. That means the elections will be held in early June.”
Bahrain: Parliament Countdown
Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif has places a new counter on his blogs, featuring the number of days left for Bahrainis to “get rid” of their parliament.
China: Chaotic Democracy?
Yanghengjun pointed out that the mainstream media always describe democratic election in other countries as “chaos” and laughed about it; however, they have neglected the country's own “chaos” and often time “violence” [zh].
Armenia: Cultural Protest
Unzipped comments on an open letter signed by a five individuals prominent in their cultural fields including expressing their concern with the political situation in Armenia. The signatories suggest holding new parliamentary elections in Armenia to defuse tensions following the 19 February presidential election and the current state of emergency.
Poland: Jaroslaw Kaczyński and the Web
Warsaw Station and the beatroot report on how the former PM “managed to show his complete lack of understanding of the world wide web”: “Plans by the government to introduce voting via the internet have alarmed Jaroslaw [Kaczyński]. He thinks that anyone who hangs around on the web is a...
Latvia: New Parties
Latvian Abroad writes about Latvia's new parties.
Romania: A Primer on Election Law
Dr. Sean's Diary posts a primer on Romania's election law.
Georgia: New Protests
Now that opposition protests in one of the three South Caucasus republics have stopped, new protests are resuming in another. TOL Georgia reports that a few thousand protesters are once again demonstrating in central Tbilisi, but considers that their efforts to force a new presidential election two months after the...
Armenia: Life Continues…
The Armenian Patchwork reports that life continues in Yerevan even though a state of emergency has been declared. Indeed, the blog posts photographs of the opening of a new Beatles’ themed bar and a rock concert by a local band in a club whose enclosed cafe was used by the...
Pakistan: Where's the Prime Minister?
Despite a round of elections, Pakistan still doesn't seem to have found a Prime Minister. More at All Things Pakistan.
Nepal: Campaign Story
United We Blog! follows the campaign trail of the Maoist leader Prachanda in Nepal.
Armenia: Moving Forward?
Unzipped comments on an op-ed co-penned by president-elect Serge Sargsyan and former parliamentary speaker Artur Baghdasarian published by the influential Washington Post. The piece is in response to another op-ed published in the same newspaper by opposition leader and former president Levon Ter-Petrossian.
