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Jamaica: Election “too close to call”?

Nicholas Laughlin · 17:26

Jamaicans went to the polls yesterday in a general election remarkable for its long campaign season — seven weeks, further prolonged by the untimely intervention of Hurricane Dean. For most of that time, opinion polls showed the governing party, the People's National Party (PNP), under Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, running neck-and-neck with the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), under Bruce Golding. But in the final days before the election, polls showed the JLP nudging ahead.

At stake were the sixty seats in Jamaica's House of Representatives. MPs are elected by the first-past-the-post system, and the party with a majority forms the government, with the party leader appointed prime minister.

Elections in Jamaica have historically been marked by violence. On Monday 2 September, as polling stations opened across the island, many citizens — bloggers included — were anxious. “Finally the day is upon us and I am so happy it is coming and going,” wrote Jamaican Lifestyle. “Please pray for peace on election day.” “I was hoping I wouldn't be in Jamaica for elections, I wanted to be somewhere else,” said Stunner's Afflictions. Meanwhile, Yamfoot took a look into her political crystal ball and suggested three plausible results.

As the day unfolded, the Jamaican Elections 2007 Blog, set up by the Jamaica Gleaner, posted news from polling stations across the island: an early start to voting in Manchester, long lines in St. Andrew, reports of a stolen ballot box in St. Ann. Jamaica Elections also posted a video interview with Danville Walker, the country's senior elections official, and examined the contents of the “goody bags” distributed to the press by the JLP at its media centre in Kingston.

As polls closed and the counting began, Jamaica Elections posted regular updates on the results. The first seat called was the constituency of North West St. Andrew, where JLP candidate Derrick Smith won nearly 60 per cent of the votes. As results were declared seat by seat, it was clear neither party had won by a landslide. “PNP and JLP all square: eight seats left” ran one stark post late last night.

But when the final ballots were counted, it was the JLP that had emerged with the slimmest of majorities: 31 seats to the PNP's 29. Jamaican Lifestyle gave a full breakdown of the new House of Representatives, but noted that Prime Minister Simpson-Miller “has not conceded victory”. With razor-thin majorities in several key constituencies, recounts were scheduled for today. “This is where politics gets really interesting,” wrote johnbret at his MySpace blog. He went on to offer a detailed analysis of the parties' campaigns.

Simpson-Miller's refusal to concede defeat, and her comments about possible voting irregularities, irked hetairai. “Instead [of] awaiting the recount, our lovely Prime Minister is stirring s***,” she wrote, in a strongly worded post. “Really, is this the time?” Yamfoot, on the other hand, wanted to know what happened to the JLP landslide party leader Bruce Golding had predicted. “This is the first of the many promises that will not materialize.”

Jamaica House, pleased with the results, said they showed Jamaicans wanted a change, which Simpson-Miller did not seem to offer.

I, like many other Jamaicans placed all of our hopes for a brighter and better Jamaica on her and we were let down which is why people started looking at Mr. Golding. It was ironic that she was the embodiment of change for our country but the message from her campaign was “not change course.”

Bloggers elsewhere in the Caribbean were also keeping an eye on events in Jamaica. From Barbados, Notes from the Margin commented:

While legally there may be no constitutional crisis, in a country that is famous for electoral violence, Mrs. Simpson Miller’s refusal to concede could have the potential to lead to civil instability in Jamaica.

And Caribbean Lionesse thought the situation was “Not good. Not good at all. A result this close can only bring more political tension.” Later she noted the fact that Golding was seen as the prime ministerial candidate of Jamaica's elite, while Simpson-Miller was always portrayed as a grassroots woman of the people:

Call me shadist, I have an issue with people like Golding and those who support him so fanatically. We in the Caribbean too love our great half-white hopes - those men born of high colour and purportedly high birth, who went to the right schools and were raised in the right communities and think they are entitled to power.

With the recount underway and the JLP already celebrating victory, Jamaica Elections asked its readers, “Is Jamaica changing course?” Among the comments left in response:

Portia has done nothing to make Jamaica any better …. Give Bruce his chance….

The closeness of the election in both seat count and popular votes, shows a country split right down the middle….

As a jamaican living in connecticut and watch the economic situation in jamaica, I think that it is time to “try a new ting” with Bruce….

Now its time to work…. to get our nation back to prominence and prosperity. It is also time for this new JLP government to unit ALL Jamaicans across party-lines and across indeference….

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D. R. of Congo: Trouble in the Kivus

Fred R. · 14:37

lingua → bn · jp · es

This month's round-up from the Democratic Republic of Congo will focus on bloggers in North and South Kivu. Bordering Rwanda and Burundi, these two provinces represent the troubled epicenter of Central Africa’s picturesque Great Lakes region.

For many months now, tension has been inexorably rising, as a dissident general named Laurent Nkunda has refused to integrate his forces into the national army and prepared for war instead. He has positioned himself as the protector of a Tutsi minority threatened by the continued presence of a large group of Rwandan Hutu rebels (the FDLR/Interahamwe, many of whom were implicated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda). Until now, the Congolese army has lacked the resolve and the capacity to take on either group militarily. But clashes have begun, leading to emergency talks between Rwanda and the D R Congo.

On 3 September, Stood in the Congo reported that Nkunda was destroying local power and communication facilities (possibly his people have an independent radio network):

Last night General Nkunda's men destroyed all communication antennas for radios and mobile phones in the Rutshuru and Bunagana area. They also destroyed the hydro-electric station at Rutshuru, taking out the electricity. The towns of Kiwanja and Rutshuru are now cut off from the outside world.

Unfortunately, the rebels have also attacked a rangers’ patrol post in Virunga National Park, taking control of the area, which straddles the border with Rwanda and Uganda.

All three armed groups have long indulged in a variety of criminal pursuits at the expense of the local population, ranging from rape and pillage to trafficking minerals and contraband, including cannabis: (Debout Congolais [Fr] reveals how the FDLR encourages cannabis cultivation by pillaging all the other crops, and both rebels and national army soldiers are involved in trading cannabis for cash or livestock.)

As Cedric Kalonji [Fr]asks :

Plus de dix ans depuis que le Congo a plongé dans une sanglante guerre. Les innocentes victimes se comptent par millions. La plupart de ceux qui ont fait cette guerre jouissent aujourd’hui d’une totale impunité et ont même été récompensés… Où va le Congo mon pays ? Toutes ces tueries s’arrêteront-elles un jour ?

It's than ten years since the Congo was plunged into a bloody war. The innocent victims numbered in the millions. Most of those who fought enjoy today a total impunity and have even been rewarded… Where is the Congo, my country, going? Will all these killings stop one day?

In July, South Kivu mourned the assassination of Serge Maheshe, a reporter for UN-backed Radio Okapi. Now, to make matters worse, a military court in Bukavu has convicted two of his friends of the murder. The author of Kivu Express [Fr] worked with one of them and is plainly convinced of his innocence:

Je ne pourrai jamais croire à sa culpabilité dans cette affaire… La version des faits présentée en cour semble tellement improbable et sans preuves réelles que tout le procès apparaît comme une véritable mascarade. Il semble qu’on veuille trouver rapidement des coupables pour ne pas pointer du doigt les vrais responsables de ce drame.

I could never believe he is guilty… The version of the facts presented in court appeared so unlikely and unsubstantiated that the whole process seemed to be a masquerade. It looks as though they wanted a guilty verdict as quickly as possible so as to avoid pointing the finger at those really responsible.

The troubles of the Kivus seem not to be over for the time being. After a slow build-up, events could unfold rapidly now, with an immediate and long-term impact on politics and livelihoods across the Great Lakes region.

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Bahrain: Meet more bloggers!

Ayesha Saldanha · 12:23

On 1st September Bahraini bloggers held their monthly get-together, but this time with a new time and day, and a change of venue. There were nine people present, some of whom were introduced in the report of the last meeting: Mahmood, H., Butterfly, Tariq Khonji, and Bint Battuta (that's me). But there are four more bloggers you should be introduced to, two of them attending a meeting for the first time.

Ammar first had a website in 1996, which had information about Bahrain, and pictures of friends. He then started a blog at MySpace, where he posted jokes and ‘random things'. He wasn't satisfied with that, so in 2006 he began blogging about more serious issues on his current blog. Having been away from Bahrain, when he came back in 2007 he became more involved in blogging, especially when he saw what was going on with other Bahraini blogs. Ammar writes frequently, and keeps things quite general and not too political. However he cares about the state of Bahraini society, and the way that rapid developments are changing it, so he often has posts that offer advice to people for particular problems (such as getting out of debt). He has some pages on his blog dedicated to life in the eighties and nineties that he recommends people check out.

Redha Haji, or Concerned Citizen X, says that in Bahrain there are a lot of issues bothering him that ultimately he has no say in. He thinks decisions are being made by the few for the masses. Therefore although his real name is on his blog, and he is not hiding his identity, he chose the title Concerned Citizen X as a symbolic protest against the average person's inability to speak and be heard, and against taboos in the political arena. He doesn't believe in belittling or insulting people; he just believes he should be able to participate more in the political process.

Redha wanted to start a blog three years ago, but didn't have the courage at that point, because of what he wanted to say. Eventually he realised he didn't have to express everything that was on his mind, and started his blog in April of this year. He didn't want to attract attention to himself, so was planning to avoid writing about politics, but he says he has now learned to write in a controlled manner, so covers political matters amongst other things. His main purpose in blogging is to get things off his chest – whether people read it or not. His blog also has another purpose; Redha would like to write a book one day, and is ‘finetuning' his thoughts through blogging.

Mohammed AlMaskati writes at emoodz.com, the name referring to ‘electronic moods'. He started blogging two years ago, and initially had two blogs, one in English and one in Arabic, but recently he combined them. He writes mainly about politics; previously he wrote more about international matters, but now he covers more Bahraini issues, because he feels Bahrainis have developed a kind of ‘acceptance' and need to be provoked. He writes a lot in Arabic, because he is discussing local politics and addressing Bahrainis rather than anyone else. If he writes about more general Bahraini subjects then he does so in English. Mohammed ran a weekly series of podcasts some months ago, and intends to start making them again soon.

Yagoob (Yacoub) started his blog, Yagoob's Dome, in April 2007, at the suggestion of a friend. The name Yagoob's Dome is a play on words: in the local dialect of Arabic the word دبة (dabba) means ‘belly', and if you change one letter you get قبة (qubba) which means ‘dome'. For Yagoob the first image refers to his thoughts and his humour, and the second with its religious reference indicates that his blog is a place where he can talk about more serious matters. He writes in English, because he has friends and family in the UK and US, and he also wants a wider audience to know about Bahrain. He hopes that with his blog he can help destroy people's misconceptions and prejudices about the country.

Coincidentally the day of the meeting was also my birthday, and a surprise was in store for me…

So it was a very special day for me – thanks to Bahrain's great bunch of bloggers!

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Bolivia: Government Minister Questions US Aid

Eduardo Avila · 04:53

lingua → pt · es

The Minister of the Presidency, Juan Ramón Quintana publicly questioned the nature of aid provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In addition, the accusations portray some of the non-governmental organizations and their staff, which receives funds from USAID, as destabilizers of the government and others as traitors to the country. Quintana went as far as providing names of those accused of receiving these funds for ulterior purposes. This caused some bloggers to come to the defense of those singled out by the minister, while others investigated the background of the minister, who made these public accusations.

One of those named was Carlos Hugo Molina, former Prefect of Santa Cruz. He happens to have his own blog called Ágora [ES], where he took the opportunity to address the minister. The comments sections demonstrates the support that he has from the blogger community. He recently also addressed the Bloguivianos blogger conference [ES].

El Ministro de la Presidencia, con Cédula de identidad: 2663228 L.P., nacido el 3 de diciembre de 1959, en la ciudad de Cochabamba - Bolivia, ha tenido a bien, junto con otros ciudadanos bolivianos, mi hermano Roberto Barbery Anaya entre otros, de calificarme de “vendepatria”.

Muchas gracias. Me ha permitido reencontrarme con muchos amigos y amigas que no sabía de su existencia hace algunos años. Y de abrazarme con los de siempre.

Carlos Hugo Molina, ciudadano en ejercicio.

The Minister of the Presidency, with the I.D. card: 2663228 L.P. born December 3, 1959, in the city of Cochabamba - Bolivia, labeled me, along with other Bolivian citizens, such as my brother Roberto Barbery Anaya among others, as a “traitor.” Thank you. This has allowed me to be reunited with many friends, many of which I have not heard from for many years and hug those that have been with me always. Carlos Hugo Molina, active citizen.

In response to the minister's claims, Rosa Jiménez Cano wonders [ES]:

¿Por qué cuándo alguien reclama algo mejor para su país y lo critica abiertamente lo tachan de vende-patrias?

Why is it when someone fights for something better for one's country that they criticize them and label them as traitors?

Miguel Centellas of Pronto*, a political science professor, takes a look at the claim of Quintana and how it might compare with the aid provided by other countries.

A day after a regionalist opposition-led strike, Bolivia’s government shot back. It has frequently attacked the opposition for its ties to the US & other international NGOs (such ties do exist, of course), specifically singling out the US for its “political” aid. Of course, isn’t all aid “political”? Or does Venezuela’s millions in military & other aid not serve a “political” purpose? But today’s attacks resembled a witch hunt.

Many NGOs receive their funding from abroad and some bloggers wonder why the U.S. was singled out. In fact, some took a look at Minister Quintana's resume that has been posted on the government's website and found that he has linked with foreign NGOs. Rubens Barbery of the blog Metafora [ES] writes:

Sorprende el cinismo del Ministro de la Presidencia Quintana al acusar a instituciones como desestabilizadores de la democracia por el hecho de trabajar con la “cooperación imperialista” en proyectos de desarrollo, siendo él, fundador y principal responsable del “Observatorio de Democracia y Seguridad”, institución que recibe financiamiento de la Cooperación Inglesa (interesante criterio para definir que cooperación es o no es “imperialista”).

I am surprised at the cynicism of the Minister of the Presidency Quintana to accuse institutions of being destabilizers of democracy only for the fact of working with “imperialist cooperation” in development projects, because he, as founder and the one responsible for “the Democracy and Security Observatory”, which is an institution that receives funding from the English Cooperation (it would be interesting to find out what defines aid as “imperialist” or not).

Finally, Centellas reacts to an editorial that delves deeper into the minister's past and publishes his post titled, “Who is Juan Ramon Quintana?”

Juan Ramón Quintana himself once participated in the Banzer regime (he was aide to Fernado Keiffer, Banzer’s defense minister). None of this is secret; you can view his online vita. Like many other Bolivian social scientists, his work ties him to such NGOs as USAID, ILDIS, PIEB, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and others. What was that about people in glass houses?

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Bangladesh: Ex-Prime Ministers behind bars

Rezwan · 01:05

lingua → ar · hi · zht · zhs

People say that there is never a dull day in Bangladesh politics. Today (September 3, 2007)early in the morning the military-backed (care-taker) interim government in Bangladesh had arrested former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on corruption charges. His son was also arrested on the same charge. Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying has detailed timeline of the events leading to her arrest. It was surprisingly a televised event as the news of the arrest was leaked and the media people were trailing the security forces convoy rolling to her house.

Earlier in midnight a case was filed against her where she was accused of favoring her son misusing her power by awarding contracts to a local company, when she was in power. Her elder son is already behind bars and also facing corruption charges. She will share a makeshift detention center in the parliament compound with her longtime political rival another ex Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who was also detained on charges of corruption.

Dozens of high profile Bangladeshi politicians and businessmen are behind the bar because of the governments ongoing battle against corruption and cleansing of the politics in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is under a state of emergency since January 11, 2007, when this interim government was formed.

The Bangladeshi blogosphere has mixed feelings over this issue. Shafiur of imperfect|world|2007 is delighted to hear this news and is distributing misti (sweets) on the net.

She and her son Koko have not been upfront about their various financial activities, and so it is hoped they will be helped to become more transparent in special quarters set aside for them.

People were discussing since the arrest of Sheikh Hasina about one and a half months ago why no charges were being brought against Khaleda Zia. There are also speculations that a certain quarter is trying to get rid of these political icons and use the space to clinch power. The Voice of Bangladeshi Bloggers comments:

Finally, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the mother of all corruption, has been arrested by the army backed care taker government. They're now trying to balance their action by arresting Khaleda Zia.

Khaleda Zia told in an exclusive interview with bdnews24.com hours before the arrest:

“I'm not afraid of arrest. People are with me. The case against me is false.”

Dhaka blog comments on Khaleda Zia's remarks:

I just don't like politicians from every party crying out “the cases against me are false” and “conspiracy” every time they suffer political intimidation. If there were really these many “conspiracies” in Bangladesh, our GDP would have shot up a bit more!

But the question still remains whether this will pave the way towards restoring democracy in Bangladesh. Rumi writes in Drishtipat Blog ironically:

A significant number of people have been blaming two main political leaders for all the vice of Bangladesh. Now as both the causes of the all the evil are effectively contained in jail cells, so a sun of eternal lasting peace is supposed to rise in the horizon today. People should start living in immense joy, peace and happiness. No more there should be any chaos, corruption, poverty, lawlessness, hunger, crime in this country. There would be everlasting peace.

People commenting on this post also had mixed reactions. While some were gleeful and lauded the government one questioned:

Interesting to see that we, Bangladeshis, judge situation by heart; not by brain. None of the allegations are proved against KZ or SH, though some bloggers are ready to hang them till death!

The country is suffering from high inflation and recent unrest after riot broke out with students and police over withdrawing an army camp from a university campus led to declaration of curfew. The care-taker government promised holding of election by end of 2008 after completing a massive new voter ID project.

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Honduras: Hurricane Felix Creates a Blogstorm

Aaron Ortiz · 00:04

lingua → pt · zhs · zht · fr

Image by Fecke and used under a Creative Commons license.

A storm of blog entries has appeared as Hurricane Felix approaches the Nicaraguan shore. The most recent computer models show Felix hitting the north shore of Nicaragua, its eye moving inland across the mountainous north of Honduras.

Fearful of disaster, the Honduran government evacuated tourists from Roatan, in the Bay Islands, which this morning seemed to be the likeliest target of the hurricane's wrath. Natalie Grace, of Travel Blog , reports on Felix:

The powerful, Category 4 storm spurred Grupo Taca Airlines to provide special free flights to the mainland. Planes were quickly touching down and taking off again to scoop up more tourists. Some 1,000 people were evacuated from the Honduran island of Roatan, popular for its pristine reefs and diving resorts. Another 1,000 were removed from low-lying coastal areas and smaller islands.

The last major hurricane to make landfall in Honduras was Mitch in 1998. An enormous category 5 storm, Mitch parked itself mercilessly over Guanaja for 3 entire days. Miraculously only 10 people died on the island. Nevertheless the images of devastation in the island were terrible. All the trees were stripped of branches and leaves, leaving only bare trunks, like silent totems.

After leaving Guanaja, Mitch raced inland where more than seven thousand people were killed in flash floods and mudslides. Honduras had never experienced a hurricane so far inland. Since Mitch had been so close to Honduras for almost a week, the ground was already saturated with water. No one in living memory could remember a Hurricane striking as far inland as Tegucigalpa, for instance.

Katherine Marrow, who lives in a relatively safe mountain town, wrote about Felix in her blog, Life in Honduras :

Yes …. there is a hurricane heading to Honduras….and yes…I am in Honduras!! Good news is that it will most likely miss us here. Siguatepeque is right in the centre of Honduras and the safest place to be as it is so central and in the mountains. We are expecting it to be a bit windy(!?) with heavy rains, flooded roads, mudslides etc. But nothing as dramatic as the coast is going to be.

La gringa, of La Gringa's Blogicito , says in her blog, “We are taking Felix seriously now.” She tells her readers: “Believe me, opening my email and reading about ‘catastrophic' hurricanes every few hours is more than a little disconcerting − especially for someone who has never been anywhere near a hurricane before.” She adds some comforting words “don't assume the worst if you can't get through” because everyone will be trying to call friends and relatives at once.

Trish, of Sowers for Pastors currently is hosting a mission team, that given their remote location in the mountains of Honduras, might become stranded by mudslides and poor road conditions. She says:

Our greatest concern is that the roads between us and the major cities may be significantly damaged, through road washouts, landslides, floods, and destroyed bridges. If the infrastructure of Honduras is severely damaged, this will certainly affect us.

In an earlier post, she reminisced of her time in Guanaja when that island was recovering after the ravages of Hurricane Mitch. “The island of Guanaja, and the people there, will always be close to our hearts.”, she wrote.

Bob Barbanes, who writes in Helicopter Pilot, moved back to the United States after living and flying his helicopter for a while in the Bay Islands. He details some of Mitch's antics, and volunteers to help in the aftermath. “And if you folks need a helicopter pilot after the storm passes, I'm ready to come back and help.” he wrote.

By the way, who would name a storm Felix? Felix means “happy” in Latin. My fingers clamp when I type its name, wanting to spell “Feliz” instead.

For my fellow Hondurans, please be safe and prepare. Hopefully this storm will quickly pass, and no lives will be lost.

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