Full Coverage: Democracy

23.06.2003 Los cambios derivados de la globalización actual conducen a la crisis de la política, entendida como sistema de representación ciudadana sobre el cual se asienta la democracia moderna, según la profesora de Derecho Constitucional Dolors Oller i Sala. El descontento ciudadano y la búsqueda de otras formas de participación revelan que la credibilidad del sistema democrático está en juego, y aconsejan una transformación estructural.

19.06.2003 An outcry followed the declaration by the Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly to the effect that the controversial Legal Framework Ordinance (LFO) had passed into law. The LFO consists of constitutional amendments introduced by the country's powerful military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, in August last year.

17.06.2003 What Argentina needs now is real democracy, clean government, and an independent and honest judiciary. Argentina's new president, Nestor Kirchner, has his work cut out...

11.06.2003 India's National Human Rights Commission must fulfill its mandate to investigate forced disappearances in Punjab, Human Rights Watch has said. Six years ago, the Indian Supreme Court directed the commission to investigate 2,097 cases of illegal cremation in Punjab's Amritsar district. The commission is yet to hear testimony in a single case.

09.06.2003 Il y a déjà quelques mois, un tremblement de terre politique a secoué le Brésil. Lula, élu par 55 millions de Brésiliens, devenait président de la République. Ouvrier métallurgiste, syndicaliste et fondateur de la Centrale unique des travailleurs, originaire du Nordeste (région la plus pauvre du Brésil), Lula de par sa personne inaugure un nouveau cycle dans l'histoire politique de ce pays de 178 millions d'habitants habitué à être gouverné depuis toujours par une micro élite. Le nouveau président réussira-t-il à rencontrer les gigantesques défis d'un pays "sens dessus dessous" (selon l'expression du ministre de la réforme agraire, Miguel Rossetto) ?

06.06.2003 Rwanda's new constitution became effective when President Paul Kagame signed it into law. Kagame's signing of the constitution follows a referendum and a ruling by Rwanda's supreme court that declared the vote's final results and authorized its publication in the government's official gazette.

05.06.2003 A week of protests in Zimbabwe saw Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai arrested and thrown in jail. OneWorld Partner ZimWatch spoke to the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe. ‘MDC stands by its commitment to live by its non-violent nature and conviction...’

03.06.2003 Hundreds of thousands of peasants in Okara in Pakistan's northern Punjab province, mourned the death of Amir Ali, 60 allegedly shot by the Pakistan Army, vowing to continue their movement for land-rights and fight Army repression.

02.06.2003 Local observers and women's groups are sceptical about new plans to impose Islamic law in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) by its hardline provincial government. A bill outlining a wide range of Islamic reforms, and giving shari'ah priority over secular law was presented to the provincial legislature last week.