Anyone followed the Venezuelan election? Just seen the losing candidate on the news saying that he isn't going to accept the result. He only lost by around 0.8%, I think. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I have to comment on the loser, Capriles, because I kind of liked the fact that someone who ran for President did his press conference wearing a baseball cap. That wouldn't cut it at all here.

Reply 1965

jakemittle

17

Original post by TheMagicRat

Anyone followed the Venezuelan election? Just seen the losing candidate on the news saying that he isn't going to accept the result. He only lost by around 0.8%, I think. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I have to comment on the loser, Capriles, because I kind of liked the fact that someone who ran for President did his press conference wearing a baseball cap. That wouldn't cut it at all here.

0.8% is pretty close so well done to him. I think he has the right to challenge the result, but he should also learn to accept the results. Indeed, it is an important part of electoral democracy.

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Reply 1966

Aj12

18

Can't blame him for wanting a recount. Given the abuse of state power and the Chavez technique of buying votes through unsustainable benefits to the poor the opposition was unlikely to win. Really its quite surprising the close margins.

Reply 1967

Aj12

18

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/opinion/is-china-changing-its-position-on-nuclear-weapons.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0
China may have changed its no first use policy on nuclear weapons

Reply 1968

Aj12

18

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130424/DEFREG03/304240010/State-Media-China-Plans-Second-Larger-Aircraft-Carrier

China planning second aircraft carrier.

Reply 1969

castlemadeofsand

1

Original post by Aj12

Can't blame him for wanting a recount. Given the abuse of state power and the Chavez technique of buying votes through unsustainable benefits to the poor the opposition was unlikely to win. Really its quite surprising the close margins.

abuse of state power?

Reply 1970

Aj12

18

Original post by castlemadeofsand

abuse of state power?

Nicolas Maduro, a 51-year-old former bus driver appointed by Mr Chavez as his successor shortly before he died, has made maximum use of his office, appearing on television lavishing praise on the late president over the weekend - even though, officially, campaigning should have stopped on Thursday.
As people queued to vote in the pro-Chavez district of Petare in Caracas on Sunday, cries of "Comandante! Comandante!" filled the street – again, breaking rules against campaigning on election day – but without intervention from watching election supervisors.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9993530/Venezuela-election-Capriles-accuses-Socialists-of-abusing-power-to-ensure-Maduro-win.htm

Things like dominating the media forcing public sector voters to vote for the government, that kind of thing

Reply 1971

castlemadeofsand

1

Original post by Aj12

Nicolas Maduro, a 51-year-old former bus driver appointed by Mr Chavez as his successor shortly before he died, has made maximum use of his office, appearing on television lavishing praise on the late president over the weekend - even though, officially, campaigning should have stopped on Thursday.
As people queued to vote in the pro-Chavez district of Petare in Caracas on Sunday, cries of "Comandante! Comandante!" filled the street – again, breaking rules against campaigning on election day – but without intervention from watching election supervisors.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9993530/Venezuela-election-Capriles-accuses-Socialists-of-abusing-power-to-ensure-Maduro-win.htm

Things like dominating the media forcing public sector voters to vote for the government, that kind of thing

Ah so like the politicisation of the death and funeral of a former prime minister by the ruling party?

Dirty, sneaky trick that should be condemned yes, but abuse of state power on the level that you are suggesting, no. And lets be honest, Caprilles and co themselves have hardly been innocent of using their own dirty, sneaky tricks.

I'm not sure where, beyond what Caprilles's electoral team have claimed, there has actually been much evidence of 'forcing pubic sectors to vote for the government'. You wouldn't believe that Chavez's cancer was caused by the USA if, beyond Maduro's claim, there wasn't any evidence of such would you?

Reply 1972

Aj12

18

Sheer amount of violence at the Pakistani elections is shocking http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/09/us-pakistan-election-idUSBRE94807320130509?cid=nlc-dailybrief-daily_news_brief-link3-20130509

Reply 1973

Aj12

18

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/06/201361422742470418.html?cid=nlc-dailybrief-daily_news_brief-link2-20130614

Anyone got any thoughts on the Iranian elections?

Reply 1974

Lord Hysteria

OP

18

Original post by Aj12

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/06/201361422742470418.html?cid=nlc-dailybrief-daily_news_brief-link2-20130614

Anyone got any thoughts on the Iranian elections?

A theocracy is not a democracy. Imagine the Archbishop of Canterbury selecting his favourite Jesus-wannabe candidates and automactially vetoing all future laws made by the winning candidate unless they toe-the-line. How many reforms did the reformist Mohammad Khatami bring about? Precisely? All proposed reforms and amendments pass through the Guardian Council under the intimidation from the militias.

[INDENT]Repression of dissent intensifies in run-up to presidential elections, documents dozens of arbitrary arrests and other human rights abuses in the run-up to election day, targeting journalists, political activists, trade unionists, advocates of greater rights for Iran's religious and ethnic minorities, and students.

"The escalation in repression is an outrageous attempt by the Iranian authorities to silence critics ahead of the presidential election," said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

"The surge in recent violations underlines Iran's continued and brazen flouting of human rights standards through its persecution of political dissidents and betrays the glaring absence of a meaningful human rights discourse in the election campaign."

Since late last year, Amnesty International has recorded a new surge in repression, reflected in new cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trials of political suspects and the imprisonment of prisoners of conscience – individuals imprisoned solely on account of their political opinions or beliefs who have not used or advocated violence.
This latest crackdown appears intended, at least in part, to stifle debate and deter criticism of the authorities in the lead-up to the election, which will see one of currently only six permitted candidates replace President Ahmadinejad for a term of four years.''

Source.[/INDENT]

Reply 1975

Lord Hysteria

OP

18

An ersatz pseudo-democracy shouldn't be allowed to feign a conventional understand of a 'democracy" (in which people invariably intimate a constitutional republic with a bill of rights and so on when they deploy the nebulous word "democracy" ...). One deploys fairly pronounced and uncompromisingly splenetic censorship and vetting of electoral candidates - whereas our quadrennial Western elections don't. By endorsing a passive equivalence, Iran summons the sententious 'victim card' of imperial aggression by suggesting we're attempting to dislodge an 'elected' government.

Reply 1976

Democracy

20

As above.

The West had an excellent chance four years ago to support a popular secular revolution in Iran but they squandered the opportunity and left the Iranian people isolated - well, best of luck to them now. They had four more years of Ahmadinejad, during which time the Middle East became increasingly unstable and the Mullahs continued their march to getting nuclear weapons, and now it looks like they'll have four more years of either a turbaned charlatan or a jackbooted thug. And all the while Khamenei and the other Mullahs continue to brutalise the Iranian people and escalate conflicts elsewhere in the Middle East.