Word: populists
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...residents of Thailand's largely Muslim south, Abhisit will have a tougher time convincing the rural masses that he feels their pain. Thailand's agrarian northeast, in particular, was the voting bloc that delivered a huge mandate to Prime Minister Thaksin in 2001, after he campaigned on an avowedly populist platform. Indeed, on Aug. 19, 62% of northeastern Thais voted against the draft constitution, a rejection not only of the charter but of the generals who ousted the man they still consider their champion. "Bridging this [urban-rural] divide is Abhisit's biggest challenge," says Chaiwat Satha-Anand, a political...
...leader of Iraq and the shape of the next Iraqi government and its armed forces will probably be determined by how the Sadr-Hakim battle turns out, as will the decision about how or whether to reconcile with the Sunnis. The Kurds will prefer the aristocratic Hakims to the populist Sadrs, and so will we. But aristocrats seldom win battles of this sort; a strongman who is no fan of democracy or the West might emerge. In any case, the choice will be made by the Iraqis...
...winners - Max Crumm and Laura Osnes - and their show are on Broadway, and the critics have dutifully taken up their assigned role, heaping scorn on this populist invasion of the Great White Way. The New York Post called the new Grease "sad"; the Daily News found it "lackluster." Sniffed Ben Brantley in the Times, the show "feels like a musical put on by a high school - and I don't mean a high school of performing arts." Ouch...
...admit, I said, given Latin America's brutally autocratic history, that whenever an oil-rich, radical populist like Chavez makes it easier for himself to rule indefinitely, it raises more flags than a Caribbean regatta. "But we're not Cuba," Escarra insisted. "How many times do we have to prove that? President Chavez has now won three elections [including his original 1998 victory] and a recall referendum, and all were declared transparent by international observers. So he could still lose the next election [in 2012] because it's still up to a majority of the voters...
...Thai media outlets, which have generally supported the country's military leaders, sniffed disapproval at Thaksin's populist tactics. thaksin's subtle political war from abroad, ran one headline in the Nation newspaper. But Thailand's ruling generals could use a little positive spin themselves. Although the junta has promised to hold elections by the end of this year, the draft constitution up for referendum this weekend rolls back certain democratic reforms introduced in the previous charter. And despite promises that the military would withdraw from politics, a junta aide has hinted that coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin might throw...