Word: blocs
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...until the end of Ramadan (Sept. 19); only two dozen legislators were on hand. But the session, which started at 10 a.m. and lasted past lunch and into the afternoon, was so contentious the deputy speaker asked parliament security to drag journalists out even as MPs of the Sadrist bloc demanded they remain as witnesses for the Iraqi people. (How the recent bombings in Iraq have made America an election issue...
Cordesman warns that those looking to cry foul already have plenty of material to work with. "Karzai has spent months trying to exploit traditional ties and allegiances by buying bloc votes from ex-warlords, local leaders, and power brokers," Cordesman noted in emailed comments. "The joke is that he has promised governorships to three times more such leaders than there are provinces. The reality is that Karzai's top running mates are the equivalent of warlords, and he [has] done everything possible to buy the election long before the vote will actually occur. As a result, the real question...
...many Afghans may see Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum as the epitome of the worst brand of warlord politics, but to President Hamid Karzai he represents a bloc of votes crucial to winning reelection. The feared Uzbek warlord, who returned to Afghanistan from Turkish exile on Monday, urged some 10,000 people gathered in his home district to vote for Karzai. The president needs to win more than 50% of the votes cast on Thursday to avoid a runoff election. And Dostum figures his endorsement will deliver 500,000 additional votes to the incumbent. "Because I am now here, more than...
...more than a tour of the dictator's diorama - to develop even a hint of knowledge about real life in North Korea - I had to play the system. At the height of the Cold War, solidarity delegations allowed loyal party members to visit sister countries within the communist bloc. The trusted cadres were given special access to visit model schools, hospitals and farms. A few far-left organizations have kept this tradition alive today by organizing friendship brigades to Cuba and North Korea. By fabricating my identity - I grew a mustache, changed my hair and clothes, adopted a foreign accent...
...that her racy posters meet the approval of many Berlin voters. And that only adds to the CDU's good news. Even before the posters were put up, Merkel's party was storming ahead in national opinion polls. One recent survey by the Forsa Institute showed the conservative CDU/CSU bloc with 38% of the vote, while the Social Democrats, Merkel's partners in the current grand-coalition government, are trailing with 21%. The conservatives' campaign also got a huge boost on Aug. 13, when new figures were published showing that after months of recession, the German economy was growing again...