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OPINIONS: MAKING ELECTIONS MEANINGFUL, by Aqil Sajjad: Pakistan has seen many elections in its chequered history and almost all were labelled rigged, unfair or engineered by one political party or another. For the upcoming elections, the opposition has already started voicing its fears of manipulation by the government ... more
OPINIONS: A MILITARY-POLITICAL COMPLEX? LEGAL EYE, by Babar Sattar: Does a fundamental understanding of democracy endorse a role for the military in politics? Is there a reason to alter such understanding to carve out a political role for Pakistan's military for reasons peculiar to our country? What is it that democracy is meant to achieve ... more
NEPALI POLL SAYS 88 PERCENT WANT REPUBLIC (Sarid) - A new survey by a Nepalese non-governmental human rights watchdog suggests that a majority of Nepalis would favor a “democratic republican set-up”, rather than either a constitutional or a ceremonial monarchy. The conclusions will aid in restructuring the conflict-ridden Himalayan state ... Full Article
PAKISTAN TO ROLL BACK CONTENTIOUS LAW ON RAPE (Agencies) - Pakistan's lower house of parliament passed amendments to the country's controversial rape laws today, dropping the death penalty and flogging for people convicted of having consensual sex outside marriage and giving judges discretion to try rape cases in a criminal rather than Islamic court ... Full Article
FEMALE AFGHAN MINISTER PUSHES FOR RIGHTS (Washington Post) - Ghazanfar, the fourth female minister since the fall of the Taliban, was appointed by President Hamid Karzai in August. But like her predecessors, she is up against provincial warlords who continue to refuse women and girls the right to education and even to leave their homes ... Full Article
WORLDWIDE JOB CRISIS HITS YOUTH HARDEST: Earlier this year, the International Labour Organization (ILO) warned that, despite strong GDP and trade growth, low interest rates and record corporate profits, the world is facing an unprecedented global jobs crisis of mammoth proportions. ... Full Article
INDIA’S LANDMARK DOMESTIC ABUSE LAW TAKES EFFECT: A comprehensive new law aiming to protect Indian women against violence at home will need tough implementation to be really effective. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 applies to actual or threatened abuse against women in their homes, including those of a physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic nature. Women's rights activists and civic groups welcomed the new law, but they also stressed the need for its effective implementation so that more women could benefit from it ... Full Article
CDGK PLANS LOW-COST HOUSING PROJECT IN TAYSIR TOWN: The newly designed earthquake resistant structure with UBC-Zone 3(designed for ground acceleration of .3g) would be built from 100 per cent local material with extensive use of soil cement technology ... Full Article
New Additions
Governance
for poverty reduction, IUCN, November 24, 2004
From the 3rd World Conservation Congress: For rural populations
living in degraded landscapes, creating effective governance structures
can be based on traditional institutions that reflect local knowledge
and expertise.
India's
Model: Faith, Secularism & Democracy, Open Democracy, November
3, 2004
Western variants of multiculturalism and secularism are being challenged
by religious demands for public recognition of faith. Instead of
reinventing the wheel, the world should learn from India, says Rajeev
Bhargava.
The pattern of governance in South Asia
• Working
class; promises betrayed, Liberation, India, July 2004
Within less than one month of its rule, the Congress-led United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has, through various steps,
declarations and appointments, started sending "positive"
messages to those who 'felt good' under Vajpayee rule. A columnist
had to write that the central government must send at least some
positive message to the poor immediately, by taking some concrete
steps.
• Bring
back the state, The Observer, UK, July 4, 2004
Our very survival depends on stronger government, argues economic
philosopher Francis Fukiyama.
• Aid,
Governance & ownership, South Asian Journal, July 2004
For many years, beginning from the 1950s, South Asia was the poster-child
of foreign aid, known also as Official Development Assistance (ODA),
offered by the Advanced Industrial Countries (AIC) as well as the
Communist countries to the developing world. South Asia was seen
as the first battleground of the cold war for the hearts and souls
of the Third World.
• Breach
of Trust, The Statesman, Kolkota, February 13, 2004
Anyone with a thoughtful mind would understand that without the
guarantee for equality of conditions the guarantee for equality
of opportunity becomes vacuous.
South
Asia's weak development:
The role of governance, The Center for Policy Dialogue,
Bangladesh
:
Governance
in South Asia: From
Crisis to opportunity, ADB
i
Pakistan
: Devolution - The
Reality [seminar proceedings], The British Council
Parliament
and good governance: Towards a new agenda for strengthening accountability
in South Asia
Strengthening
Democratic governance, conference report, Asian Center for Democratic
Governance:
Legal
reform in Asia
Human
Development in South Asia: Power and decision-making
Mahila Web, Nepal
Country
governance issues
AFGHANISTAN
• Hurdles
in implementing new Afghan Constitution, Eurasia Net, USA, February
08, 2004
A controversy has broken out in Afghanistan after a group of delegates
who attended the Loya Jirga - the Afghan constitutional assembly
- said the document signed by President Hamid Karzai does not conform
to the draft agreed upon by the Loya Jirga.
• Fingers
crossed over Afghan constitution, January 28, 2004
The uncomfortable fact is that Afghanistan has to pass through
a lot of ‘history’ yet to reach the level of general
acceptance of the principles contained in the constitution.
• Female
presidential candidate, Afghan News Network, January 25, 2004
Afghanistan's first female presidential candidate doctor Massouda
Jalal sits in Kabul and tries to estimate the political support
she will receive in the country's upcoming elections.
Afghanistan
: Players, politics
and prospects, United States
Institute of Peace [transcripts of a seminar]
Building
women's leadership in
Afghanistan
, UNIFEM
Rebuilding
civil society through community development, Assistance
Afghanistan
Peace-building
strategies for Afghanistan, Commission Report, Chr. Michelsen
Institute
BANGLADESH
• Only
20% tax collected, Daily Star, Dhaka, July 20, 2004
Without tax revenue, neither can a government be run, nor will it
be able to provide basic services to the citizens. Taxation, therefore,
is the cornerstone of governance.
• Metamorphosis
of the new year, Daily Star, Dhaka, April 14, 2004
Baisakhi celebrations have played a politically significant and
culturally decisive role in Bangladesh. During the semi-colonial
Pakistani period, Bangalees faced a stiff resistance in organising
the Bengali new year's day.
• Can
we hope for a better future?
Daily Star, Dhaka, April 10, 2004
There is some reason to be optimistic about the future if a leadership
with vision emerges from the 'Bikolpo Dhara' as propagated by Dr
B Chowdury, Dr. Kamal Hossain and others.
• A
forlorn hope for the country, Daily Star, Dhaka, January 2004
That the transparency situation in Bangladesh has since vitiated
the total system of governance does not make a news any more.
• Good
governance in
Bangladesh
: Exploring the link
between governance and poverty elimination, Center for Development
Studies, University of Bath
Bangladesh
: Democracy and Governance, USAID
Political
and administrative corruption, Bibliography, Transparency
International
News
analysis on
Bangladesh
politics:
INDIA
•
Bihar
overlooked by "Shining India", BBC, UK, May 8, 2004
Violence and political corruption are troubling India's
general election, which is again highlighting the vast disparity
between a poor underclass and a rich elite.
• Agenda
for the next five years? The Telegraph, Calcutta, April 12, 2004
What should be the agenda of any new Indian government for the next
five years in relation to the promises of peace and prosperity?
• Dravidian
Power, Frontline, India, April 10-23, 2004
Since the birth of the Indian Republic, Tamil Nadu has been influencing
the national electoral process in peculiar ways.
India
: No Governance, No
Growth, by N J Jharavi, Rediff.com
India
: Good Governance
Agenda, by Sarah Joseph, The Hindu, July 31, 2001
Studies
on political issues and governance, Center for Policy Research,
New Delhi
A
consultation paper on: Review of the working of political parties
especially in relation to elections and reform options, National
Commission to Review Working of the Constitution:
Crisis
of governance in
India
by Saurabh, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, Institute of
Policy and Conflict Studies
MALDIVES
History
of political governance in
Maldives
, Maldives Culture
Women
in the Republic of Maldives [political participation], Country briefing paper, ADB
Politics
and constitution in
Maldives
Maldives
- Institutional structure [basic information], PoliSci.com
NEPAL
• Goodbye
to year zero, Nepali Times, Kathmandhu, April 09-15, 2004
In the Bikram Sambat calendar, the years ending with zero are called
Sunya Barsha and considered inauspicious. Year 2060 was a zero year
for Nepal in more ways than one.
• Is
Nepal a failed state? Kathmandhu Post, April 11, 2004
In Nepal's present desperate situation, the ordinary people's yearning
for peace must trump over politicians' calculus for powersharing.
• Danger
of pseudo-democracy, Kathmandhu Post, April 06, 2004
Will the upcoming elections in Nepal be free and fair? It is plain
for everybody to see that elections in Nepal will be flawed elections
unless a national consensus government conducts the elections and
Maoists don’t resist elections directly. Without these two
conditions, no doubt, the election in Nepal will be a hoax.
Governance
challenge for
Nepal
, by Dev Raj Dahal
The
concept of decentralized system of government in the context of
balanced development of
Nepal
, by Dr. Durga P.
Paudyal
Is
Nepal
in search of a political
order? 1990 constitution and thereafter, by Dr. Chandrashekaran,
South Asia Analysis Group:
Democratic
governance in
Nepal
, UN
PAKISTAN
• Pakistan
& democracy, The News, Pakistan, MAy 6, 2004
Of all the travesties that are now the staple of what goes
as 'political commentary' on Pakistan, there is none as venomous
or as dangerous to the future of Pakistan than the claim that Pakistan
and democracy are somehow incompatible - Adil Najam.
• Government
gives women job jolt, OneWorld
Net, April 13, 2004
The Pakistani government's move to abolish five percent reservation
for women in government jobs has evoked sharp criticism from activists
and the opposition, which, recently introduced a bill demanding
an increase in job reservations for them.
• Is
the Group Responsible for the Individual's Crime? NY Times, USA,
February 08, 2004
Recently, the Pakistani Army gave tribal elders near the Afghan
border a choice: either turn over 72 men wanted for sheltering Al
Qaeda members, or soldiers would demolish houses in their town.
Holding a group responsible for the actions of its members is not
a new idea.
Governance
Reforms: Pakistan Development forum, April, 2002
The
Governance and Democracy in
Pakistan
, by Atiq-ul-Hassan,
Media Monitors Network:
Resolution
on issues on governance underlying relations between
India
and
Pakistan
, Asian Human Rights
Commission:
Pakistan
: A political history,
ASKASIA
SRI LANKA
• New
constitution top priority, Daily News, Colombo, April 12, 2004
The United People's Freedom Alliance will give priority to the formulation
of a new Constitution in order to abolish the Executive Presidency
and appoint a Prime Minister with full authority.
• A
mandate for economic issues rather than peace process, The Hindu,
Chennai, April 05, 2004
The victory of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), led
by the Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, is a clear indicator
that economic issues took precedence over the peace process initiated
by the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party
(UNP).
• Elections
in Sri Lanka, The Hindu, Chennai, February 11, 2004
As Sri Lanka marches to its third parliamentary election in four
years, the crucial questions are whether a stable government will
emerge and how the electoral outcome will affect the Norway-assisted
peace process.
State
of governance in
Sri Lanka
Governance
and institutional strengthening project,
Sri Lanka
, Human Rights
Research and Education Center
Recent
studies on Governance in
Sri Lanka
by the Institute of Policy
Studies of
Sri Lanka
Political-Military
relations in
Sri Lanka
, Working paper, Netherlands Institute
of International Relations, 2001
A Way Forward
Speeding
good govenance, The Globalist, USA, May 12, 2004
Leaders around the world are often blamed for taking too long to
solve crucial problems. In response, Canada’s Prime Minister
Paul Martin argues that he and his colleagues lack an efficient
means to push through an international agenda. He suggests how to
accelerate global decision-making.
Dark
side of democracy, New York Times, USA, January 31, 2004
Bringing free markets and elections to developing nations leads
not to stability or prosperity but to hate-mongering, discrimination
and even genocidal violence.
South
Asia: Problems and Potential, CSIS
iDemocratization
in South Asia, International Center
for Ethnic Studies
South
Asia: Accountable Governance
[workshop proceedings
of a conference], Katmandu, Nepal
on April 10-11th, 2000, International Institute of
Democracy and Electoral Assistance
Resources
Asian Network
for Free Elections
Alliance
for Reform and Democracy in Asia (ARDA)
Asian
Center for Democratic Governance
Asian
Forum for Human Rights and Development
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