· November, 2006

Stories about Governance from November, 2006

Bermuda: Premier hosts students

  27 November 2006

Edward Rance reports on a dinner hosted by the Premier of Bermuda for Bermudian students studying in the UK and the post-dinner Q&A session where the students asked the Premier some difficult questions.

Nepal: Peace Process

  27 November 2006

Nepali Netbook comments on the peace process being a farce. “Protestors injured in the April Uprising want representation in the interim parliament. Can the relatives of those killed be far behind?”

Pakistan: Government tracks your movement

  27 November 2006

The Oyster travel card in London maybe a bit more than just a device for convenience according to Suspect Paki. “If you register your Oyster Card, the police can, without your knowledge, determine the extent of all your London Transport wanderings.”

Arabisc: Bahraini Elections, Dying Children and Confusing Freedom!

  27 November 2006

Bahrain held its second Parliamentary elections in its modern history this week, with about 300,000 voters going to the polls. Amongst them was Bahraini blogger Haythoo, who hoped his ‘party’ would emerge victorious. أنا الأن متوجه لتغطية العملية الأنتخابية.. أتمنى أن يحالفنا الحظ و نفوز بأكثرية نيابية.. يجب أن نعمل...

French minorities: Questioning the Republican Model

  27 November 2006

Togolese-origined French politician Kofi Yamgnane posts a December 13 conference announcement that questions the limitations of French republicanist integration (Fr): “Integration in the French tradition … is resolutely hostile to any differentiation or separation founded on individual origins … Contrary to the Anglo-Saxon model, the Republican model rejects communities and...

Haiti & Debt Relief: Will Government Measure Up?

  27 November 2006

Jojo at Collectif Haiti de Provence posts a Radio Kiskeya article on the World Bank and IMF conditions for permanent debt relief for the country and writes (Fr): “The conditions for permanent debt relief are clear and precise and for once seem human … Can our compatriots once in power...

China: rule of party

  27 November 2006

The State Council of the People's Republic of China has finished the investigation of several pollution cases in Jilin province, which has caused the death of 8 people and 700 million yuan economic loss. However, the government officials involved only recieved warnings and punishment by the party. Ai Wei-wei criticized...

China: What pols blog, where subways end

  26 November 2006

Hexun blogger Guan Jiantao on a city in eastern China's Jiangsu province, where twelve senior government leaders were told to take up blogging, in their own names, following the flood of feedback to municipal Party Secretary Zhang Shixin's recent blog post, in which he criticized the hygiene, spitting, littering, picking...

Indonesia: Expensive Wheels

  26 November 2006

Indcoup wonders how Indonesian armed forces is able to afford expensive vehicles for its staff while it has no money for more important purchases.

The Week That Was in Bahrain

  26 November 2006

More than 300,000 Bahrainis went to the polls on Saturday to elect 40 Municipal Councillors and another 40 Members of Parliament. This is the second time Bahrainis vote in their modern history, after sweeping reforms initiated in 2002. According to official records, seventy-two per cent of the eligible voters took...

Flying Over the Iraqi Blogodrome

  26 November 2006

Literally this time. I am writing this as my flight to Dubai is actually flying over Iraqi airspace. First time ever. If I were to give a true summary of the Iraqi blogs these past weeks it would be one of sadness, death, and violence. But I am not going...

Senegal: Criteria for Recruiting Ministers?

  25 November 2006

Senegalais Frustre at Blog Politique du Senegal has an unexpected theory about how ministers are recruited in Senegal (Fr): “When [Prime Minister] Macky Sall promises maximal efficiency of our ministers, does that mean that we are going to have an international golf team or an olympic champion in paper crumpling…”

Barbados: Waterless toilets

  24 November 2006

On the eve of the second installment in their series on the water crisis in the country, Barbados Free Press publishes what is, to their knowledge, “the most comprehensive list of waterless toilet information published in Barbados.”

This week in the Kenyan blogosphere

  24 November 2006

Jamaapoa writes about the allegation that the boom in the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) is a result of drug money as claimed by a local politician – Mr. Raila Odinga. Jamaapoa refutes this assertion and writes: There is nothing to stop a drug dealer from using the exchange to cleanse...

No Congress Debate for Abortion in Chile

  24 November 2006

With 61 votes in favor, the lower house of the Chilean congress decided to not legalize abortion and declared it “unacceptable”. 21 votes were against there were 3 abstentions. Quemarlasnaves (ES) posts about the democratic sense that involved the decision: La decisión del Presidente de la Cámara, respaldada por la...