Stories about Governance from May, 2011
Russia: Medvedev and Press Freedom
Vadim Nikitin of Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog writes that while the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev “had no problems embracing iPad and Twitter,” he “seems to be a late adopter when it comes to good old fashioned press freedom.”
Slovenia: Law on Mayor/MP Conflict of Interest; New Family Code
Sleeping With Pengovsky reports that “a law establishing a conflict of interests between holding an office of mayor and MP at the same time” has been passed in Slovenia, and also writes about the attitudes towards “the new Family Code which – among other things – was meant to allow...
Russia: EU’s Roma to Move to Russia?
Window on Eurasia wrote in early May that “rising tensions between the Roma and the titular nationalities of the European Union have sparked reports in Moscow that some of this often-despised community are about to be moved to the Russian Federation, either on their own or from a deal between...
Greece: A Proposal to Reform the Police
Greek blogger Leonidas Irakliotis proposes several measures [el] to reform the police and restore public trust, in light of recent police violence and failure to deal with a wave of anti-immigrant attacks in Athens. “As long as we tolerate this incompetence, we will suffer from an under-performing police force; resulting...
Cuba: More on “The Student”
More details on the death of Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, from Without Evasion.
Barbados: Code of Ethics for Elected Officials
The irony of the acting Prime Minister “ha[ving] the audacity to lecture the Barbados news media on ethics and the purpose of journalism” in the absence of a “code of ethics for elected and appointed government officials” is not lost on Barbados Free Press.
Iran: 30 Bahais are arrested
Azadi Ghlam reports [fa] Iranian security forces arrested 30 Bahais for ‘online university’. The Bahais are barred from higher education and government posts
Technology for Transparency: Final Report
The Technology for Transparency Network is proud to announce the release of its final report, "Global mapping of technology for transparency and accountability". The report is being published by the Transparency and Accountability Initiative (@TAInitiative) along with a over a dozen other reports on the global transparency movement.
Kenya: The Judiciary Kenyan Are Dying For
Kenyans may soon have the judiciary they deserve: “With the nomination of Dr. Willy Mutunga and Ms. Nancy Baraza to serve as Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice respectively, Kenyans are seeing an opportunity for them to be served with justice.”
Azerbaijan: Eurovision winner Nigar Camal's visa criticism
Dissident blogger and journalist Elnur Majidli, now living in France and facing arrest in Azerbaijan for his Facebook activity, has uploaded a screenshot of a status line apparently written last year by Nigar Camal, one of the two singers who won this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Germany, on the...
Kuwait: Parliament Members Go Boxing!
Kuwaiti parliament members had a fight during a session discussing the case of Kuwaiti detainees in Guantanamo. The scuffle drew a flurry of reactions from netizens.
Ecuador: Citizen Reflections on Referendum Results
Ecuador's latest referendum results, which among other things gave President Rafael Correa more powers over the media and the judiciary, sparked a debate about the campaign and prompted reflections by all sectors within Ecuadorian society about the implications of the results.
Sri Lanka: Transparency Regarding ‘Boot Camp’ For Youth
Serendipity discusses about the issues surrounding the latest “Boot Camp” initiative for A level students in Sri Lanka, which is an in house 3 week course at an army camp. The actual program and plan has not been publicized leaving scope for speculations and rumors.
Bhutan: Another Royal Wedding
Bhutanese Member of Parliament Sangay Khandu informs in a blog post about the royal address of His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (31), in which he declared his wedding with Jetsun Pema.
Portugal: Uncovering Transparency in Parliament
With the backdrop of prolonged economic crisis, which contaminates social and political life, portuguese citizens demand for public governance transparency. Today an important step was taken in this direction, with the launching of Demo.Cratica, a website that lets you learn about portuguese MPs and all their discussions in the parliament.
Russia: “Work and Shelter in Migrant Moscow”
Madeleine Reeves writes at OpenDemocracy.net about migrant workers in Moscow and their “daily struggle […] to stay ‘legal’, and survive.”
Russia: Moscow Schools and Migrants’ Children
Window on Eurasia writes that “an increasing number of Muscovite parents are doing whatever they can to ensure that their children go to those schools which have few or no migrant children.”
FSU: Deportations of Crimean Tatars and Soviet Colonialism
J. Otto Pohl of Otto's Random Thoughts writes about the Soviet colonialism (here and here), and about the 67th anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars (here and here), linking to his earlier posts and articles on the subject.
Russia: Police Requests Data of Users Who Commented on Secret E-surveillance Unit Rumors
On April 17th, 2011 Yevgeniy Roizman, Yekaterinburg-based politician, wrote [ru] that police creates secret “I-departments,” new police units that will collect data on Internet users. After local news site URA.ru republished [ru] his post and some users started to mock the idea, the website administrators received an official police request...
Mexico: President Felipe Calderon´s Twitter Use
Pepe Flores [es], writer for ALT1040 [es], reflects on how President Felipe Calderon has used Twitter since he first joined. He points that the Presidency sees sees this medium as a way to inform citizens [es], but not to initiate or participate in conversations that are critical of his performance.
Sri Lanka: Buddhism And Its Impact On Governance
A Concerned Citizen at Groundviews criticizes the Sri Lankan leadership’s aggressively defensive behaviour on many issues, which do not represent what the Buddha taught.