In the world there are always elections, but are not all the same. Some are held in a clear, democratic way and others not exactly like that. In Japan, the exit polls give the Democratic Party as a clear winner. The conservative Liberal party that has ruled the country for 54 years without interruption, with only a small break in 1993, seems poised for a disastrous and historic defeat.
Its measures to address the crisis, although led to a slight recovery, have been rejected by voters for the lack of support to families. Moreover, the Liberal Party is in trouble for years, and the renewal promised by the popular Prime Minister Koizumi has not been continued by his successors, like the current Prime Minister Taro Aso. The Democratic Party has based its campaign on the need to renew and rejuvenate japanese politics, limit the power of bureaucracy, oppose precarious work, support families. A message that has taken hold in the country which has now an unemployment rate at historically high levels. It is also expected a different approach to foreign policy, as the Democratic candidate Hatoyama criticized the "market fundamentalism" advocated by the United States and would like to establish better relations with other Asian nations.
In Afghanistan, however the incumbent president Karzai seems to have a clear advantage, but the accusations of fraud launched by his challenger Abdullah and also admitted by the United States envoy in the country seriously undermines his legitimacy, which in itself is not very high because the Afghan government supported by the international coalition has limited control over the territory and is under constant attack by the Talibans.
In Afghanistan, however the incumbent president Karzai seems to have a clear advantage, but the accusations of fraud launched by his challenger Abdullah and also admitted by the United States envoy in the country seriously undermines his legitimacy, which in itself is not very high because the Afghan government supported by the international coalition has limited control over the territory and is under constant attack by the Talibans.
Other elections are imminent in Gabon, an African former French colony, where President Omar Bongo, who died recently, governed for 42 years. Now the favored candidate is his son Ali, who because of the fragmentation of the opposition seems to be the favorite to win, even if in the country there is a strong desire for change. France says it does not officially support any candidate, but obviously would welcome the victory of Ali. Gabon has a relatively high GDP per capita for the average African nation, thanks to oil and manganese, but 60% of the population still lives below the poverty line and the country lacks basic infrastructures. Ali has promised changes from the government of his father, first a more equitable distribution of the country's resources. But after the elections, in the case of suspected fraud and because of the protests spread because of the wealth accumulated in 40 years by the Bongo family, there are fears that unrest could erupt.
In Iran, the aftermath of the elections are not yet finished. Ahmadinejad, the president re-elected with great suspicion of fraud, said the opposition leaders should be prosecuted for inciting unrest after the vote, but their followers treated with leniency. According to the president also beatings in the dormitories of the universities and tortures and abuses committed in prisons would be part of a plan to delegitimize him. Even the North Korean cargo of weapons bound for Iran and seized in the Arab Emirates according to the Iranian government would be a "Zionist conspiracy". Given that most of the current Iranian government would need urgent psychiatric treatment for paranoid delusions, the political situation in Iran is every day more complicated in a fight involving several factions within the conservative bloc itself, and it is difficult to say where that will lead the country and its difficult relations with the rest of the world.
Francesco Defferrari
Francesco Defferrari
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Comments
http://www.eurasia-rivista.org//1276/elezioni-iraniane-la-tesi-dei-brogli-al-vaglio
Ma a parte questo un governo che distrugge la libertà di stampa, mette in carcere, tortura e uccide gli oppositori è illegittimo anche se ha davvero vinto le elezioni.