Day: November 6, 2013
People who don’t vote aren’t represented
Serbia today reportedly sought annulment of the November 3 municipal election in all of northern Kosovo. That did not happen. In a meeting of Prime Ministers Dacic and Thaci with EU mediator Katherine Ashton today, it was confirmed that polling will be repeated only in the three polling places in north Mitrovica where ballots were destroyed, as decided by the Kosovo electoral commission.
Low turnout in the other municipalities and early closure of the polls due to intimidation were not good reasons to repeat the election elsewhere. That would only have encouraged a repetition of the successful violent attack the first time around. Low turnout does not invalidate democratic elections. Read more
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TGBWFEABMC
That’s a “transitional governing body with full executive authority by mutual consent.” It’s the codeword Washington says you have to give in order to get invited to Geneva 2, the UN-mediated conference at which the US hopes to arrange a political end to the Syrian conflict. What it means is President Bashar al Asad has to step aside, if not down, and allow a transition to a democratic regime to begin.
He isn’t prepared to do that, and neither Iran nor Russia appears willing to make him do it. I don’t doubt their capacity. The alacrity with which Bashar agreed to the destruction of his chemical weapons capability showed Moscow’s clout. Withdrawal of Tehran’s support would quickly put him at serious risk on the battlefield, as Iranian revolutionary guards and Hizbollah forces fighting in Syria are vital to the regime. But why would Moscow or Tehran withdraw support? Read more
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