Full Coverage: Democracy

31.05.2006 Achievements of OSCE-supported projects aimed at increasing the participation of women in decision-making processes and bodies were discussed today in Skopje at the conference "Women Can Do It II-2006 Parliamentary Elections."

29.05.2006 As South Asia enjoys unprecedented economic growth, soaring summer temperatures have highlighted a chronic shortage of electricity that is crippling enterprise and leaving millions to suffer without any hope of respite, reports.

26.05.2006 SAN FRANCISCO, May 25 (OneWorld) - Many secular Iraqis have been expressing their displeasure with the new Iraqi government that was sworn-in Saturday and introduced with much fanfare by politicians in Washington, Baghdad, and London this week.

25.05.2006 The media campaign for the Montenegro Referendum was conducted correctly, but in the field work of the activists a number of inadequate actions were registered that could qualify as pressure on the voters, states the CEMI Centre for Monitoring in its Final Report on the Monitoring of Referendum Process. The Report provides a global evaluation of the overall referendum campaign, the work of the referendum bodies, as well as the conduct of the actual ballot day and the atmosphere after the results were announced.

24.05.2006 O povo mexicano vai às urnas no dia 2 de julho para escolher seu novo presidente. Felipe Calderón é o candidato do PAN, que hoje é governo. Contra ele, o principal nome é o de Lopéz Obrador que apesar de aparecer como um candidato de esquerda sofre a crítica de setores mais radicais que o consideram moderado demais.

24.05.2006 Après six années de crise politique, dont les deux dernières furent marquées par l’occupation militaire étrangère et la mise sous tutelle du pays, Haïti renoue avec un optimisme relatif, à la suite de l’annonce des résultats du second tour législatif.

24.05.2006 MPs in Nepal have unanimously approved a landmark plan to drastically curtail the powers of King Gyanendra, including stripping him of control of the army.

24.05.2006 The legal and sub-legal framework for the preparations of voter lists ahead of the forthcoming local government elections will be the focus of a roundtable discussion today (May 24), jointly organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania and the Albanian Interior Ministry.

22.05.2006 The Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research (ISPPI) and SUNA NGO organized a debate today in Skopje, discussing the topic of the Role of NGO Sector in the Electoral Process. The debate, organized under the "Regional Development of Civic Society Capacities in Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia", aims to contribute to a more efficient promotion of democratic values.

22.05.2006 According to last estimates made by CESID (Centre for Democracy and Free Elections) 55.3 percent of citizens of Montenegro voted for independent Montenegro at the referendum held yesterday.

19.05.2006 A senior United Nations official began the first high-level talks, in more than two years, between the world body and the Government of Myanmar, bearing a clear message about the need to restore democracy and full human rights in the South Asian country.

18.05.2006 The CESID (Centre for Free Elections and Democracy), in cooperation with the CEMI (Centre for Monitoring) from Podgorica, will monitor the referendum on the state status of Montenegro in all ballot stations, announced CESID.

09.05.2006 Opposition parties that boycotted last week's presidential election in Chad said that they will not recognise the victor regardless of who wins in the final tally. Polling went ahead across Chad on 3 May despite international and opposition pressure for a delay, after rebels threatened to repeat attacks on the capital N'djamena in a bid to disrupt voting.

08.05.2006 The new government in Nepal has annulled all the appointments made by King Gyanendra since October 2002.

08.05.2006 The voters in Macedonia have a new possibility to check their personal data in the Voter Registry. At the www.izbirackispisok.gov.mk, and withing the legally set period from May 5 to May 19, the citizens will be able to check whether they are registered in the Voter Registry and to see at which ballot station they may cast their votes. The website also offers information on the manner in which the citiznes may register, be deleted from the Registry, or change incorrect data in it.

08.05.2006 The Nepal Government on Sunday recalled 12 Ambassadors, including the envoy to India, and dismissed all political appointees to various state organs and public enterprises made after October 4, 2002, following the sacking of the elected Prime Minister by the King.

08.05.2006 Alaa Abd El-Fatah, one of the Egyptian political activists, and one of the first bloggers in Egypt was arrested today together with around ten more activists during a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with sixty activists who were arrested over the past two weeks in a non-violent sit in, as well who were held in custody for two weeks under investigation for “crimes” that if anything would raise only mockery including, humiliating the president, possession of “publishing equipment”(graffiti spray) and blocking traffic.

06.05.2006 At a press conference on “Human Rights Implications of Forced Evictions and Displacement: An International Perspective” organised by the Housing and Land Rights Network in Delhi, speakers, including Miloon Kothari, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, pointed out the rampant violations of human rights being carried out across the country in the name of development.

04.05.2006 The MJAFT! Movement has brought up in public the various violations registered in the firings in the public administration since the Government of PM Berisha took the office. According to this MJAFT!, this “cleansing” has affected mostly employees with the status of civil servant, otherwise protected by the Law. MJAFT! also expressed its concern about the lack of transparency of this process and the failure of the Government to observe the decisions of the judiciary on this matter.

03.05.2006 How did we Indians achieve such astonishing success abroad, especially in the US? How did the likes of Infosys and Wipro make it so big? The M-word, merit, is only a half-answer. Behind this success is the much-hated and unacknowledged R-word. Reservations, that is, the American version of it. Strange as it may sound, the root of our success lies in the American Civil Rights Movement of the fifties and sixties.