· December, 2010

Stories about Governance from December, 2010

Sri Lanka: A Rational Approach to Re-settlement

  23 December 2010

Blogger Ratmale at Serendipity hopes that there will be rational and consistent approach taken in the re-settlement of the 150,000+ people currently living in Colombo, who will be re-settled as part of the Colombo Redevelopment Plan.

Hungary: New Media Law and Censorship

  23 December 2010

BloggingPortal.eu and Hungarian Spectrum (here and here) discuss Hungary's new media law. According to BloggingPortal.eu, “[u]nder this new law, a National Media and Communications Authority (NMHH) will be set up – a body that Reuters reports will be ‘dominated by people loyal to the ruling Fidesz party.’ Members of this...

Haiti: Post-Election Update

  22 December 2010

“Two weeks after the preliminary results were announced, the streets of Port-au-Prince are calm, but the situation is just as confusing and worrying”: prophet N gives an update.

Azerbaijan: Let them eat cake…

  22 December 2010

As the birthday of the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, approaches, the Önər Blog [AZ] reminds readers of how residents in the country's second largest city of Ganja marked it last year. The blog sarcastically says that while the city is indeed famous for its giant pastries, baking a 48-metre...

Venezuela: Hugo Chavez Granted Special Powers for 18 Months

  22 December 2010

On December 17, Caracas Gringo wrote that President Hugo Chavez “was granted special powers to rule by presidential decree until June 2012.” An Enabling Law that Venezuelan Analysis reports was passed “in order to bring rapid relief to 130,000 flood victims and to further engrain 21st Century Socialism in the...

Guatemala: International Commission Against Impunity Extended to 2013

  21 December 2010

In Central American Politics, Mike writes that “the United Nations General Assembly agreed to extend the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala's (CICIG) mandate another two years until September 2013. […] Colom requested the extension because he did not believe that the justice and security sectors would be able capable...

Africa: The Scandal of the “Ill-gotten Gains”

  20 December 2010

In the scandal of the wealth accumulated by some African politicians, the French Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the verdict pronounced by Paris Court of Appeals a year ago. The court of appeal deemed that the claim of embezzlement filed by Transparency International against the leaders of RDC, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and their entourage was valid. Bloggers discuss the implications of this wealth accumulated by African leaders in contrast with the poverty of the rest of the population.

China: The short life of GFW father's microblog

  20 December 2010

China digital times explains why Fang Binxing's Sina microblog was shut down in three hours. Fang is the President of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications who is known as the “father of the Great Firewall.”