Week: Global Views

Posts from our partners at e-IR, Global Observatory and ISS Africa

Catalonia: Independence from Spain to Do What?

Pro-independence rally on Via Laietana on September 11, 2012. Photo: Lohen11/Wikimedia Commons

On November 25th Catalonians headed to the polls for a snap regional election. The polls were staged just two months after a massive pro-independence rally took place in Barcelona. Voter turnout peaked at almost 70%, the highest in 30 years, and the four political parties committed to holding a referendum on self-determination (CiU-ERC-ICV-CUP) got more than twice as many seats as those defending the status quo (PSC-PP-C). Crucially, both of Catalonia’s major parties – the governing center-right CiU and socialist PSC – suffered severe setbacks.

Accordingly, it appears that Catalonia is now set to hold a referendum on its ties to the rest of Spain, and that it does not trust its major political parties to steer the process.

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Categories
Terrorism

Mumbai Terrorist Executed, But Will it Bring Peace?

The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, one of the sites of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Photo: Trakesht/flickr

On November 21, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, a Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba militant and the only terrorist to be captured alive during the 2008 attack on Mumbai, was executed. The execution came after Indian President Pranab Mukherjee rejected a plea for mercy by the 25 year-old Kasab, a move that marked the end of a lengthy judicial process.

As soon as news broke about the hanging, online reactions poured in fast and furious. The news also rekindled debate about the death penalty in India and whether it was likely to deter or provoke future terrorist attacks.

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET), who rose to greater prominence after the Mumbai attack, immediately threatened that there would be more attacks. Pakistan’s Taliban also vowed to attack Indian targets.

B. Raman, a former Indian bureaucrat, commented on the dangers in his blog:

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Why Vote-Rigging in Ukraine’s Elections Shouldn’t Go Unpunished

Protesters in Kyiv during the Orange Revolution of 2004. Photo by Veronica Khokhlova

The October 28, 2012 parliamentary elections in Ukraine are likely to be best-remembered for widespread protest voting, seemingly endless vote counting in disputed voting districts, allegations of vote-rigging and a rather lackluster public protest in Kyiv. However, an abundance of citizen media reports, live online broadcasts and other monitoring initiatives is what makes this election – not to mention violations that occurred before, during and after the vote – memorable. As Ukrainska Pravda journalist Kateryna Avramchuk commented via Twitter on the situation at one of the contested voting districts:

There’s a live broadcast of our votes being stolen […] And you expect people not to be apolitical after that?

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Did News Story on Riches of China’s Premier Weaken Reformists?

Still popular: Wen Jiabao. Photo: sage@newsmth.org/Wikimedia Commons

The hot pot of Chinese politics has been boiling madly in advance of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party and the leadership transition that took place in Beijing on November 14, 2012. Many see the composition of the new Politburo Standing Committee as a defeat for outgoing President Hu Jintao, who failed to see his reformist allies promoted. Moreover, Hu has stepped down as the chairman of the Central Military Commission sooner than expected. Were Chinese conservatives stronger than expected or did something weaken the reformists?

Just two weeks before the Congress started the New York Times published a story alleging that members of Wen Jiabao’s family have amassed a combined fortune of $2.7 billion by using the Premier’s influence and close links between politics and business in China.

With Chinese politics already at boiling point, the New York Times article exploded on Sina Weibo, the social media site that is purported to be a reasonable reflection of public opinion. Comments expressing both surprise and disappointment flooded the Internet, but also many of unconditional support for Wen, reported Rachel Lu on Tea Leaf Nation.

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Categories
Global Voices

Iran’s Power Shakedown before the Presidential Election

Weakened President? Photo: Marcello Casal Jr/Wikimedia Commons

On October 22, 2012, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote an unprecedented open letter to Iran’s judiciary accusing them of unconstitutional conduct. The letter was written in response to judiciary’s decision to bar the Iranian President from visiting the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran where his media adviser Ali Akbar Javanfekr is currently jailed.

In the letter, Ahamdinejad suggests that there was a “top secret” communique dispatched by the head of the judiciary, Sadegh Larijani that said the president’s request to visit Evin was not in the best interests of the country. Ahmadinejad claims he wishes to investigate the conditions of prisoners.

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