· October, 2011

Stories about Governance from October, 2011

Macedonia: Lead Smelting Factory Problem in Veles

  31 October 2011

Jovan Petrov provides an overview of the problem with the lead and zync smelting factory in Veles, after the court rejected a suit against the state from the municipality and local NGOs, demanding cleaning of pollution which will affect “10 generations to come” in this impoverished community.

Trinidad & Tobago: Role of the Telecommunications Authority

  31 October 2011

Plain Talk suggests that the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago is abdicating its responsibility in light of the recent national broadcast of the rape of a child and the release of a soca song that “glorif[ies] and promote[s] human trafficking and sexual slavery”, saying: “Much of what is being...

Russia: Alternative Voting Portal Launched

RuNet Echo  31 October 2011

Habrahabr-user uhaby writes [ru] about otdamgolos.ru, a web-portal that offers users to propose alternative parliamentary and presidential candidates as well as to vote for them. The author claims that within 10 days his website attended 137,500+ visitors. In the virtual parliamentary election three parties received most votes: 1. The Pirate Party,...

Ukraine: “We Are Europeans”

  29 October 2011

Ordinary Ukrainians are using citizen media and social networks to voice their commitment to European values and organize rallies in support of Ukraine's European orientation. Veronica Khokhlova reports.

Russia: Crowd-Sourced Citizen Lawmaking Platform

RuNet Echo  28 October 2011

The Economist writes about WikiVote (e.g. see projects dedicated to the laws on education, Sberbank, state-owned bank), Russian croudsourcing platform to comment and contribute to the creation of the laws. Pavel Burov, creator of the platform, claims his project can ‘prevent idiocy [in lawmaking] from happening.’

Saudi Arabia: Prince Naif is Coming

  28 October 2011

Saudi Arabia has appointed its Interior Minister Naif Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud as the Kingdom's new crown prince. The news has been received with fear and caution by netizens, who say human rights and freedom will reach a new low as a result.

Mexico: Discussing the Possibility of Recall Elections

  27 October 2011

The Chamber of Deputies in Mexico has been discussing a political reform for weeks. But the initiative that reached the floor lacks elements that its supporters considered essential, like the "recall of the mandate", most commonly known as recall elections.

Brazil: Is the Ruling Party an LGBT Ally?

  27 October 2011

Marcelo Gerald published a series of posts (part 1, 2 and 3) [pt] on the blog Eleições Hoje (Elections Today), that analyses the position of the ruling party in Brazil, PT (Worker's Party), towards the LGBT community.

Myanmar: Local Politician Allows Opium Production

  26 October 2011

The Palaung Women’s Organization reports that an elected official in the Palaung region of Shan State North in Myanmar has allowed the cultivation of opium in the area which generated more social problems in the affected communities.