Stories about Governance from November, 2010
Cablegate: Lessons on tech for transparency
Wikileaks' release of over 250,000 United States embassy cables is one of the hottest subjects in media and government right now. Renata Avila looks at what Cablegate can teach us about technology for transparency.
Russia: Leading Activist Blogger on How Internet Changes Politics
Marina Litvinovich, is one of the most influential activist bloggers in Russia. In an interview with Gregory Asmolov, she shares her vision of the future role of the Internet in Russian politics.
Pakistan: The Desperation Cards
There has been a lot of mismanagement of the donations collected for flood relief in Pakistan. The methods of distribution of reliefs and utilizing those funds for other purposes have also been questioned. One such controversial project is the "Watan Cards" project.
Bangladesh: Education Policy Yet To Be Implemented
Mahfuzur Rahman Manik shares his frustration over the delay in enacting the National Education Policy 2010 of Bangladesh.
Haiti: Valid Vote?
Dying in Haiti continues to comment on Sunday's election, here and here, saying, even as the OAS announces that the vote should be deemed valid: “The methods that I witnessed on Sunday morning sure wouldn't give robust results choosing new Haitian leaders.”
Cuba: Content of Cables
Along the Maleon says that the “Cablegate” cables that pertain to Cuba appear to be about the country's “political affairs, the country's relations with other countries and human rights.”
Trinidad & Tobago: CLICO Showdown
Afra Raymond tells of “amazing scenes” as the CLICO bailout debacle reaches the showdown stage.
Caucasus: Revelations & Confusion over Cablegate
As the media worldwide reveals revelation after revelation with the gradual release of over 251,000 leaked U.S. Embassy cables over the coming weeks, there were also some items of specific interest in the South Caucasus.
Philippines: Education department's twitter account
DepEd_PH is the official twitter account of the education department of the Republic of the Philippines
Myanmar's other political prisoners
Despite the recent release from detention of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, human rights advocates remind the public that there are still more than 200 political prisoners inside Myanmar.
Nepal: It Is Up To The Politicians
Dinesh Wagle blames the Nepali politicians for not showing flexibility and respect to each others differences to resolve the long lasting hung parliament situation.
Russia: Competing Models of Internet Politics
RuNet becomes an arena of the competition of at least two concepts of the usage of the cyberspace: "United Russia"'s formula "Internet instead of democracy" and independent, grass-roots formula "Internet as a free environment for civil society initiatives." Alexey Sidorenko analyzed the recent trends of the role of the Internet in contemporary Russian politics.
Additional Context on the Recent Political Arrests in Madagascar
Blogger Alain Rajaonarivony writes at length about the implications of the recent series of political arrests in Madagascar (fr). A close relative to Raymond Ranjeva and his daughter describes the circumstances of their arrest. Here is a petition to denounce the arbitrary arrests (fr).
China: Censorship instruction November 22-28
China Digital Times has collected and translated a number of censorship instructions issued by the Propaganda department to media outlets from November 22-28 2010.
Central & Eastern Europe: Initial Reactions to WikiLeaks’ Cablegate
While other regions feature a lot more prominently in the collection of U.S. embassy cables published by WikiLeaks thus far, a few countries of the CEE region do appear in the kickoff edition of Cablegate. Below is a small selection of initial reactions from the region's bloggers.
Cambodia: Lessons from the Water Festival stampede
Cambodians are still mourning the death of 347 people in the stampede tragedy which happened last week at Koh Pich Bridge in Phnom Penh. Cambodian netizens share their reactions and recommendations on how to improve disaster management in the country
Uruguay: Video Podcast About E-Government in Uruguay
Uruguay: click para actualizar [click to refresh] interviewed [es] José Clastornik, Executive Director of AGESIC [es] (E-Government, Information Society and Knowledge Agency), about the “Electronic Government” in Uruguay.
Philippines: Student unrest over education budget cuts
Students from various public universities in the Philippines held massive protest actions against the budget cuts imposed by the government. Students documented the 'campus strikes' by using the internet.
South Asia: The Morality Of Exposing Others’ Secrets
WikiLeaks, an international non-profit media organization has created waves around the world by publishing 251,287 confidential documents, which detail correspondence between the U.S. State Department and U.S. embassies around the world. Some South Asian bloggers were quick to publish their opinions on this issue.
Haiti: Election Results?
“So the big election day in Haiti happened. However, the whole process seemed horribly dysfunctional to me. How many voters were left out just due to logistics? And what about fraud and intimidation?”: Dying in Haiti is convinced that “the results of the election, whenever they will be determined, will...
Russia: Online Cartoon Against Corruption in Road Construction
Antimult studio published [RUS] an informative and entertaining cartoon on corruption in road construction in Russia. Together with usage of the old technologies, corruption causes 4 times higher price of roads than in Europe. Bad roads cost Russians 6-8 percent of GDP and 20 thousand deaths in car accidents every...
