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Open Thread

Policy and Procedure, Caribbean Style

Honduras, South America leaps to the front page of the New York Times with the headline “Honduran President Is Ousted in Coup”, and to be fair to the NYT – the events of the last 48 hours do in fact bear all of the hallmarks of a classic coup d’état.

However, the story demands a little more investigation …

Categories
Open Thread

Lessons in democracy …

Iran held presidential elections on the 12 June with four names on the ballot but only two that mattered: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (the incumbent), and Mir-Hossein Mousavi. With high turnout paralleled only by the growing anticipation for change – the official results were announced – a landslide win to Ahmadinejad. As the news broke tensions flared followed by broad public dissent, protests, accusations of fraud, and according to unverified reports the Grand Ayatollah Yousof Sanei has declared the elections unlawful and Mehdi Karroubi has stated that he does not recognise the election result. There are also suggestions that the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may be under threat. If there is something to learn here – it’s that even in a limited democracy, the people have a voice – one way or another.