Word: coups
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...what will the military do if the PPP wins big and - as Samak has vowed - brings Thaksin home? Army chief General Anupong Paochinda has dismissed the idea of a postelection coup as "stupid." Not just stupid, but perhaps unnecessary. A new security bill has been tabled before the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly, which replaced the suspended parliament. If passed in its current form, the bill could grant the generals powers to deny basic civil rights. "The military see themselves as custodians of Thailand's political future," says Thitinan. "The security act is evidence of their intention to stay...
...Axis of Evil arrived in Lebanon last week. No, not in the form of some Iran-backed coup d' état, but as a stand-up comedy team made up of three Americans of Middle Eastern descent. (They couldn't find a funny North Korean.) On the last leg of a regional tour playing to sold-out venues in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, they arrived at the Casino Du Liban outside of Beirut with a certain sense of relief. Lebanon was the only country that allowed them to perform their routine with expletives undeleted - no small challenge...
...Paris visit marks the first time a Western head of state has hosted Gaddafi as an honored guest of his nation - a particularly big p.r. coup for the Libyan, given Sarkozy's repeated vows to make human rights central in defining French foreign policy. Opposition politicians and human rights groups like Amnesty International want to hold Sarkozy to that promise by insisting Gaddafi's better diplomatic behavior be accompanied by improved treatment of his own people before he's shown such deferential treatment. Critics also contend Gaddafi isn't the only suspect foreign leader Sarkozy has offered such friendly approbation...
That may be the case for the opposition as a whole. But it is also true for the part of the oppostion he leads. Sharif, who has been disqualified from running himself due to criminal charges related to Musharraf's 1999 coup, risked the defection of key members of his party if he did not allow it to join the elections. "The [party] had a lot of heavyweights that stood a good chance of winning key seats if they contested," says Ayesha Tammy Haq, a prominent political talk show host. "If Sharif called for a boycott, they would have defected...
...legitimized by nearly full party participation (several smaller parties, including that of Imran Khan, another politician with premier ambitions, have not yet decided if they will contest). But now Musharraf's smaller party, which split off from the Muslim League when Musharraf overthrew Sharif in 1999's bloodless coup, faces serious competition from both the Bhutto's People's Party of Pakistan and Sharif's party, which have wide national support...