Full Coverage: Democracy

31.01.2005 As counting gets under way after the election in Iraq, the results of a Red Pepper poetry competition remind us of the price that has been paid for this particular path to democracy.

31.01.2005 "On my way out of the voting site, an American soldier handed me a sticker with the words 'I voted' printed on it. He looked perplexed as I stuck it on his rifle and left." Tongue planted firmly in cheek, Iraqi-American Hawra Karama tells what Sunday's elections meant to him, and how they differed from the ones in which Saddam Hussein made him participate in 1995 and 2002.

31.01.2005 Turnout among registered voters was well above 50 percent in Baghdad Sunday despite numerous deadly attacks, according to Institute for War and Peace Reporting correspondents throughout the capital city. Some are hailing a victory for democracy while others doubt the legitimacy of elections, pointing especially to U.S. control of the political process and the large number of Iraqis who never registered at all.

30.01.2005 Des jeunes qui ont passé une partie de leur enfance et de leur adolescence dans les centres de jeunesse du Québec prennent la parole dans ce film de Louise Rinfret, «L’horizon emmuré». Ils témoignent de la privation de liberté qu’ils ont subie, de leur souffrance et des répercussions sur leur vie de jeunes adultes. Plusieurs des scènes du film ont été tournées clandestinement dans les institutions.

30.01.2005 En perdant ma valise quelque part dans mon itinéraire vers Porto Alegre : Niamey - Dakar - Lisbonne - Rio de Janeiro - Porto Alegre, j’ai été vivement frappé par l’élan de solidarité autour d’une valise perdue et retrouvée… La valise a fait trois continents, mais aujourd’hui, à travers le monde, COMBIEN DE DROITS ET LIBERTÉS NE SONT-ILS PAS PERDUS ? Au demeurant, leur restauration commande un COMBAT SOLIDAIRE ET PERMANENT.

28.01.2005 "Let me describe the scene on the ground here in 'liberated' Iraq. With the 'elections' just three days away, people are terrified. Families are fleeing Baghdad much as they did prior to the invasion of the country...huge lines of cars are stacked up at checkpoints on the outer edges of the city. Policemen and Iraqi soldiers are trying to convince people to stay in the city and vote. Nobody is listening to them."

26.01.2005 When a local newspaper in Kurdistan published the list of candidates for the Iraq election, some very surprising names were disclosed.

25.01.2005 Juris Protecta requests from the Parliament to change the Law on Voter Registry in a manner that will prevent future similar abuses. The changes in the Law have to exclude the possibility for Croatian citizens to be registered more than once, and the existing lists have to be verified and reviewed, so that all double entries are eliminated.

21.01.2005 OneWorld Volunteer Editor, Misha Kechakmadze, experienced the Rose Revolution in his own country, Georgia. Few people believed that such a transformation could be repeated but, just over a year later, Misha found himself acting as an official election observer in neighbouring Ukraine where Viktor Yushchenko has now been confirmed as the winner.

21.01.2005 OneWorld Volunteer Editor, Misha Kechakmadze, experienced the Rose Revolution in his own country, Georgia. Few people believed that such a transformation could be repeated but, just over a year later, Misha found himself acting as an official election observer in neighbouring Ukraine where Viktor Yushchenko has now been confirmed as the winner.

21.01.2005 President George W. Bush faces a difficult challenge in rallying U.S. public opinion behind his clarion call for spreading freedom and democracy abroad, according to a number of surveys published over the last two years.

21.01.2005 Because of the fact that no candidate won the required number of votes in the first round, the second round of the Presidential Elections was held, in which the citizens had to choose between Jadranka Kosor and the incumbent Stjepan Mesic. Mesic won the second round with a clear majority of the cast ballots.

19.01.2005 Arab leaders are encouraging Iraqis to vote in the forthcoming election, possibly more out of concern about escalating violence than anticipation of the likely outcome.

18.01.2005 Dans la province d'Aceh, en Indonésie, l'une des zones les plus durement frappées par le tsunami qui a dévasté les communautés côtières de l'Asie du Sud, les journalistes et le personnel de soutien du « Serambi Indonesia » refusent de succomber à la tragédie. En dépit de la mort de la moitié des employés, le journal - unique quotidien indépendant de l'Aceh - continue à paraître, selon ce que rapporte l' Association mondiale des journaux (AMJ).

18.01.2005 Mahmood Abbas vient d’être élu par les Palestiniens comme Président d’un pays qui est encore à naître et dans un contexte hautement volatile. À son crédit, il faut noter que la transition depuis le décès de Yasser Arafat s’est faite d’une manière sensiblement paisible et transparente. La tâche n’est pas facile, car on ne succède pas à celui qui était le « raïs » depuis si longtemps, et qui contrôlait à la fois l’OLP, l’Autorité nationale palestinienne, le Fatah (la plus importante organisation palestinienne) et surtout, la figure emblématique de la lutte du peuple palestinien. Reste à voir ce que le nouveau chef pourra réellement faire pour remettre le processus de paix sur ses rails et confronter les ravages quotidiens de l’occupation israélienne.

18.01.2005 According to the initial, unofficial and incomplete information released by the State Electoral Commission (SEC), Stjepan Mesic won a second term in the Office of the President.

14.01.2005 A row over elections--supposed to take place by June according to Congo's December 2002 peace accord--has opposition leaders threatening to pull out of the government. "We will withdraw from the transition and ... call on the public to assume its responsibilities," said the leader of a former rebel group now represented in the government after meeting with the continent's persistent peacemaker Thabo Mbeki.

11.01.2005 Sunday's elections of a new Palestinian leader were important, says Yifat Susskind of the global human rights group MADRE, because they demonstrated yet again that Palestinians have the collective will and the political culture to create democratic government. Unfortunately, the U.S.-backed Israeli occupation of their land denies them the freedom to do so.

10.01.2005 Stefan Christoff interviews for CKUT Radio George N. Rishmawi, from the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC), who shares his perspectives on the Palestinian elections on January 9th, 2005.

07.01.2005 The tsunami disaster has diverted attention from the daily deterioration of stability in Iraq and increasing doubts over the wisdom of holding the January 31st election. The insurgency is growing in numbers and coverage, reports Jim Lobe of IPS.