COUNTRIES AT THE CROSSROADS GOVERNANCE BLOG

New Ministers in Iran May Quash Ahmadinejad’s Economic Plans

Last week, Iran’s parliament, or Majles, gave its vote of confidence to three new cabinet ministers. The relatively moderate Shamseddin Hosseini and Ali Kordan will take up crucial roles as the economy and interior ministers, respectively, while Hamid Behbahani will head the Ministry of Transport. The Financial Times described Hosseini and Kordan as compromise candidates and called their appointment a blow to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his fundamentalist administration.

Mauritanian Military Ditches New Democracy

Just 15 months after surrendering power to the country’s first democratically elected president, the Mauritanian military seized control again on August 6, pledging to conduct fresh elections at some point in the future. The move, which has drawn international condemnation, represents a crushing setback for what was initially seen as a promising democratic transition. The general who led the coup, Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, has argued that the ousted president’s attempt to fire him and three colleagues earlier that day would have otherwise prompted unacceptable bloodletting between military factions, presumably including one commanded by Abdelaziz himself. He cited a number of other grievances with the president, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdellahi, but at bottom the coup was a sign that the military was unwilling to submit to the civilian government—or the constitutional system—it had helped to establish.

Food Crises Test the Mettle of Middle East’s Undemocratic Regimes

The global food crisis, which was among the principal matters discussed at last month’s G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan, affects few regions more severely than the Middle East. Widespread poverty means that large numbers of people who previously scraped by on very little can no longer make ends meet. Moreover, the reliance of most Arab countries on food imports, as well as the political tensions that divide their societies, makes the problem of rising food costs a particularly acute governance challenge for Arab governments.

GDP Growth Brings Little Love to Peru's Garcia

Last night Peruvian president Alan Garcia gave the annual independence day address, which is similar to the State of the Nation speech in the USA. Given Peru’s robust economic growth and status as a darling of international business, one might have assumed that the speech would adopt a valedictory tone. However, for a variety of reasons Garcia has less to celebrate than first meets the eye.

Benighted Russia Waits in Vain for Anticorruption Drive

Russia’s new president, Dmitri Medvedev, placed an early emphasis on anticorruption efforts, calling graft a “systemic problem” that requires a “systemic response.” Earlier this month, he bemoaned the fact that corruption had become “the norm, a daily occurrence in everyday life,” and went on to observe that victims seem “resigned” to this reality, while perpetrators assume they will enjoy impunity. He failed to mention that these conditions persisted, and indeed grew worse, during the eight-year presidency of his patron and now prime minister, Vladimir Putin, who made similar pronouncements about the need to root out lawlessness when he took office in 2000. Given the nature of his own election and his ongoing partnership with Putin, it is difficult to swallow the notion that Medvedev will usher in a new age of transparency in government and society.

Egypt Outdoes the Neighbors on Satellite TV Restrictions

Following a failed attempt to coordinate the imposition of region-wide restrictions on satellite broadcasting in the Middle East, the Egyptian government is reported to be plowing ahead with its own legislation to control satellite television.

In March of this year we reported in this post on attempts by states in the Middle East to control digital media in the region. While the governments of states like Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia have become adept at suppressing political opposition in the print and terrestrial audio-visual media, stemming the tide of digital communication poses an ever-greater challenge. In particular, the earlier post drew attention to the Arab League Satellite Broadcasting Charter, a joint proposal by the Egyptian and Saudi governments, which stipulated strict regulations for broadcasters across the region. The charter banned material that would undermine “social peace, national unity, public order and general propriety” and proposed penalties for broadcasters who violate the rules including large fines and termination of their services.

The Ones the Bolivarian Revolution Left Behind

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez declared the other day that Venezuela’s prisons need an overhaul. A case of the Bolivarian government seeing a developing problem and reacting to it? Hardly. At the least, there is certainly nothing proactive about the idea that the country’s prison system requires attention. Venezuelan prisons have been a human rights disaster for many years, and a serious and sustained government response is long overdue.

Will Jordan Get on the Anti-NGO Train?

The Jordanian parliament is currently in the process of approving two new laws that will together represent a clear step backward in democratic governance. The first law confirms existing restrictions on public gatherings and demonstrations, while the second extends the government’s already wide control over the establishment, administration, and funding of NGOs operating in the country. These laws are the latest advance in a trend that has seen the erosion of freedom of political expression over the past few years, and also add Jordan to the list of countries (Russia, Peru, Venezuela, etc.) where civil society organizations have come under threat from the state.

State Rewards Islamist Thuggery in Indonesia

The ostensibly pluralist Indonesian government issued a decree last month that instructed the minority Ahmadiyah sect to halt its activities or face legal sanctions, including up to five years in prison for violators. While the vaguely worded decree stopped short of an explicit ban on the heterodox Muslim group, it represented a victory for a small but potent alliance of radical Islamists and their gangs of street-fighting supporters. A new report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) warns that the extremists have used classic interest-group lobbying methods, combined with real and threatened violence, to achieve a level of influence far beyond their miniscule electoral support. If their many political opponents and the state itself fail to stand up to them, their list of demands will only grow, dragging the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country toward its ideological fringe and undermining an otherwise promising Southeast Asian democracy.

Bolivia's Rollicking Careening Ride Continues

Bolivia is fast approaching an August 10 recall referendum in which the continued tenure of President Evo Morales and all nine of the departmental prefects (similar to US state governors) will be put to the test. As usual, the country is full of sound and fury, with various prefects oscillating back and forth between resistance to and participation in the referendum. It now appears as though all or nearly all of the prefects will participate in the balloting. What is less clear is what the results will mean for the country’s political stalemate.