From one election to another

This week has seen an election in a country that likes to be perceived as the world's foremost democracy, now on to another election in a country that is commonly perceived as one of the least democratic countries. Burma is ruled by an undemocratic military regime, that has used violence and undemocratic measures to suppress and imprison the opposition. The most famous examples would be Aung San Suu Kyi who has been place in house arrest since 1989 and the recent (2007) protests of the monks. Many monks where shot or imprisoned, and today their democratic movement is living a life outside the spotlight in one of the world's most closed countries. The military regime is backed by China, Burma's most important trade partner, that is blocking UN resolutions against Burma. 

On Sunday an election will be held, however the party that won the last election will not participate. National League for Democracy won 392 out of 485 chairs in the parliament in 1990, but the parliament was never assembled and the military regime took the power instead. Participating in the election would mean they have to accept the constitution that is giving all power to the military and it would also entail kicking Aung San Suu Kyi out of the party.

The outcome of the election is quite clear, very little will change and the need for outside intervention seems obvious...

[Burma] [Election] [Aung San Suu Kyi] [Democracy] Share on Facebook

The result

In the end it seems the Democrats keep their majority in the Senate (counting two independents who caucus with the Democrats), however in the House of Representatives the Republican party will get a quite clear majority. This leaves us in a position where the Republicans have gained influence, and the Democrats have seen their room to maneuver decreased. Thus increased regulations on the financial markets may be hard to push through, at least as the Democrats has envisioned it. 

As for the Tea party candidates results are mixed, as expected you win some and loose some. Exact numbers should be available should be available soon.

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Midterm Elections

Today Americans are voting in the midterm elections. The Republican party is expected to increase their influence, and the Tea Party movement is expected to gain influence as well. Elections for the congress is every two years; the Congress is the legislative body of the US government.The Congress is made up of two chambers: the Senate, to which members are elected for six-year terms; and the House of Representatives, whose members are elected for two-year terms. Meaning that all the 435 House seats will be filled by the will of the people now in November. Also around one one-third of the Senate is also elected, this year 37 senators will be elected or re-elected.

It is expected that the Republicans will get a majority of the chairs in the House of Representatives, the Senate seem to harder to predict and more uncertain. What is quite clear however is that this election will force president Obama to negotiate more with the Republicans and compromises will have to be made. The most pressing issue is obviously the strained economy, an area where compromises will be hard since the parties are quite far apart.

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...Medvedev and Putin

No surprises here, Medvedev won as expected and foreign power will surely come with critique regarding the election and the way it was carried out. With large companies forcing their employees to vote a certain way, media that is almost totally controlled by the ruling party and other pressure on the public to vote a certain way.

One can only wonder how loyal Medvedev will be to Putin and how long he will follow in his footsteps.

[Russia] [Election] [Putin] [Medvedev] [Democracy]

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And the winner is...

As opposed to the US election, which is still looks quite even and undecided, there is the Russian election. The outcome of the election has been clear for a long time, Medvedev will take over after Putin. After being ruled by the strong leader Putin, Russia has reclaimed some of its former glory, but also create large inequalities and a tightly controlled society.

The question is what will Putin do. It would be hard to believe that he would leave power; rather he would seek alternative position from which he can influence the outcome. Especially, since Medvedev is a long time coleague of Putin. Putin has created a growing economy with huge more or less state controlled corporations, such as Gazprom. The power structure he has created has several of his closest men in high positions, giving him an enormous power.

What will happen now after th election? Will anything change?

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Fear of the outside world

In a kind of pathetic attempt to discredit Obama, the Clinton's campaign organization dug up and published a photo of Obama wearing a traditional muslim dress. The fact is just that this does not show that Obama is muslim, but rather that he has realtives in Kenya and has been there visiting.

However, if there is one country where this action could be successful it would be the USA. A country that since 9/11, and to some extent before that, has been displaying a large fear of muslim people and culture. Which in itself is a frigthening development in a country claiming to be one of the world's largest democracies and a leading power.

I doubt that this picture will have any large effect on the elections. I believe that the only winner when democrats are fighting amongst each other are the other side, the republicans. Thus, it is kind of contraproductive in some ways. A united democratic front would be better in the end.

[USA] [Election] [Obama] [Clinton] [Islam] [Muslim]

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