Note

Canada's governing Liberal Party (led by P.M. Paul Martin) is due to fall in a vote of no-confidence tommorrow. This would trigger an early election in January. The Conservative Party is currently running neck and neck with the Libs in the polls, so this could be interesting.

PERSON OF THE WEEK - Nov. 21-27, 2005

Sorry for not blogging lately but I have been busy. I missed Person of the Week last week (and I have no clue who it would have been, anyway), so I felt obligated to name one this week.

The Israeli political situation was turned upside down this week by the announcement that the prime minister would be leaving the right-wing Likud party to form his own new party (tentatively named "Kadima" ["Forward"]) . Polls indicate that this new party will win government in the coming elections (March 28), with the left wing Labor Party coming in second and Likud in a distant third. This would be a huge blow to Israeli conservatism.

So, for making a mess of the Israeli political scene.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is ConservaGlobe's Person of the Week!

PERSON OF THE WEEK - Nov. 6-12, 2005

column coming soon

"Iron Lady" beats "Africa's Ahnold" in Liberian Election

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

In a rather surprising upset, former World Bank economist Ellen "The Iron Lady" Johnson-Sirleaf has clobbered former international soccer star George Weah in Liberia's presidential election. With 97% of ballots counted; Johnson-Sirleaf had 59% the vote, Weah had only 41%. Weah has, not surprisingly, claimed that the election was rigged. However, international observers have declared the election free and fair.

Weah supporters have taken to the streets and clashed with U.N. peacekeepers, but Weah himself has asked them to return home, saying "We want no more war...Let us take our time and be peaceful. You have to be courageous because you have not lost the elections."

My take: While I was sort of pulling for Weah, I will assume that the elections were fair until I see proof that they were not. Johnson-Sirleaf will be Africa's first elected female head of state, which is good, and I am happy to see an elected president in Liberia, no matter who it is. Johnson-Sirleaf has also been extremely gracious toward Weah, saying that he will probably be appointed Minister of Youth and Sports.

Congratulations to Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female head of state!

Technorati Tags: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia, Elections, Democracy, Politics, Current Events, News, George Weah, Weah, Johnson-Sirleaf, Sirleaf

Azerbaijan Update

Okay, I admit it. I've been a bad blogger. I said I'd update you Sunday on Azerbaijan, and it's Friday. First, I was busy and "Person of the Week" was a higher priority. Second, the result of the election was a little depressing, here's the rundown:

Dictator Ilham Aliyev's New Azerbaijan Party "won" an absolute majority in parliament, though observers were significantly less than impressed with the fairness of the vote. The pro-Democracy "Azadliq" movement took a few days to get it's act together, but did hold a street protest on Wednesday. Several thousand people showed up, but not enough to trigger a revolution. The opposition were not given permits for protests on other days. So, the bogus vote will probably stand because the opposition was not well organized and many people were admittedly too scared to protest.

Sliver Lining: Now Azadliq knows what their shortcomings are, and they will fix them. Also, international pressure on President Aliyev will increase due to the relatively strong media coverage of this event.

The "Carnation Revolution" has not been cancelled, just postponed. I think that Azadliq will be much better organized by the time Aliyev himself comes up for re-election in 2008, then the fur is really going to fly.

Technorati Tag: Azerbaijan

PERSON OF THE WEEK - Oct. 29-Nov. 5, 2005

I know that you are probably wondering why I didn't choose Sam Alito. Well, Alito was a passive newsmaker, all he did was get nominated. Harry Reid was an active newsmaker.

With his closed session publicity stunt on Monday, Reid could have very well affected the way the Senate runs for the foreseeable future. Tom Daschle had an agreement with the Republican leadership that such stunts would not take place. This agreement meant that the two sides could trust each other on procedural issues, and hence could work together without fear that the rug would not be pulled out from under them. Such trust no longer exists thanks to Senator Reid's stunt.

Thanks to the Senior Senator from Nevada, any sense of mutual respect between the parties in the Senate may have disintegrated. For that, Harry Reid is ConservaGlobe's Person of the Week.

Honorable Mentions: Sam Alito, Senators Mike DeWine and Lindsey Grahm.

Technorati Tags: Person of the Week, News, Politics, Current Affairs, Current Events, Harry Reid, Senate

Azerbaijan Election Resource List

If you're watching this situation as closely as I am, you might like these rescores.

Blogrel: The blogger is visiting Baku, may be good for "on site" reporting.

Baku Today: A good news site from Azerbaijan.

New Eurasia - Azerbaijan - Has been tracking this election for quite a while.

EurasiaNet - Another good news site.

Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe Azeri Election page

Registan - another blog covering the election, the blogger has als put together this news feed.

Tags: Azerbaijan, Democracy, News, Revolutions, Elections

Revolution Imminent in Azerbaijan?

The people of Azerbaijan head to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament, and dictator Ilham Aliyev is shaking in his boots. The government claims that the elections will be free and fair, but I don't think that anyone really believes that. Numerous opposition activists have been jailed in recent days. Most of them have been released, but the campaign manager of the opposition Democratic Party is still in custody. The opposition have also been banned from holding a ally in a central square in the capital, Baku. However, Aliyev's New Azerbaijan Party has been allowed to hold a gathering in the same square.

If allies of Aliyev "win", then there is going to be trouble. The opposition has said that they will take to the streets (ala Ukraine) if the elections aren't fair, and the government has said that they will take action to keep a Ukrainian style revolution from taking place.

The most interesting thing is that Aliyev is getting extremely paranoid (and he should be, post-Soviet governments have been dropping like flies). 12 government officials, including two cabinet members, have been fired for allegedly plotting a coup. A group of Ukrainian political activists have been barred from entering the country, as has Democratic Party leader Rasul Guliyev (ho was in self-imposed exile in the U.S.)

While I very much enjoy seeing a dictator so scared, Aliyev's paranoia scares me for one reason: paranoia is one thing, paranoia when you control an army is another. If there are street protests, I'm not sure that they will go as peacefully as they did in Ukraine. That said, I'm not sure Aliyev would be stupid enough to make a fool of himself with the entire world watching him.

So, I'll update you tomorrow about the election results. Stay tuned.

By the way: The opposition uses carnations as a symbol, so I'm predicting that the term "carnation revolution" will become part of the world's political lexicon within a week or two.

Technorati: Azerbaijan, Democracy, Politics, News, Revolutions, Aliyev