Word: boycotts
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ASEAN leaders - who represent Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Laos, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines - cried foul. After all, the U.S. didn't boycott the United Nations just because countries like North Korea or Sudan were members. And, in truth, Burma wasn't the only factor. With more pressing foreign-policy priorities in the Middle East, Washington was naturally distracted from courting other parts of the globe. Nonetheless Southeast Asian ministers couldn't help but spot a deliberate snub when then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice skipped two ASEAN summits that historically had been attended...
...composition of the next government. The Kurds have played a kingmaking role in the democratic process since Saddam's ouster, but their backing for the Shi'ite-dominated al-Maliki government in 2005 did little to cement Kurdish territorial claims. But now that Sunni Arabs no longer boycott elections, Kurdish parliamentary influence will be diminished. Indeed, stiffening resistance to Kurdish political demands could be a key point of consensus in any Sunni-Shi'ite political alliance that emerges after the elections - and that could make Kirkuk's relative stability a thing of the past...
...multiparty "unity" government to run Honduras until a new President takes office on Jan. 27. But the ongoing dispute over whether Zelaya or Micheletti will be President until then raises doubts over the appointment of such a government. If Zelaya is not restored, his supporters have vowed a boycott of the election and perhaps street demonstrations to impede it. In the plaza in front of Congress, backers of Zelaya, wearing his trademark cowboy hats, this week shouted, "No restoration, no election!" Says Marlin Saucedo, 45, owner of a small textile business, "We're not going to the voting booths like...
...that light, the main legitimacy problem with the August vote was not the 1 million-plus fake votes that were cast mostly for Karzai but the 12 million-plus votes claimed by the Taliban. No one actually voted for the Taliban, of course, and its call for a boycott of the poll was enforced by threat of death. But whether out of fear, political choice or sheer indifference, 12 million voters - representing 70% of the electorate, compared with just 30% in 2004 - stayed away from the ballot stations. A runoff election was expected to see an even smaller turnout...
...with the poll. But Karzai called Washington's bluff, insisting on a second round he was confident of winning. Meanwhile, Abdullah, claiming that he'd be cheated again and probably recognizing that he was never likely to win even a clean election against Karzai, made clear his intention to boycott the runoff early on. The runoff was unlikely to help stabilize the country or resolve its fundamental conflicts, and canceling it simply denied the Taliban another opportunity to demonstrate its strength by ensuring an even lower turnout. (Read "Karzai Declared President As Afghan Runoff Canceled...