Why is this man smiling? Because President Saparmurat Niyazov's ingenious election officials have invented a revolutionary approach to "Get Out the Vote" efforts. The bureaucrats in Ashgabat have set a new standard for "full service" -- in addition to handing out special gifts for voters who show up to vote, they even make house calls!

"Polling stations were nearly empty throughout Sunday's Parliament election in Turkmenistan, forcing officials to carry ballot boxes door to door. But the government announced a nearly 80-percent turnout in the former Soviet republic that is ruled by a one-time Communist boss who now is president-for-life."

That would certainly get around those pesky problems of long lines due to too few voting booths, provisional ballots tossed because they were cast at the wrong precinct, lost ballots showing up months later in warehouses, and troublesome e-voting or butterfly ballots. Karl Rove, eat your heart out!

Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko, AP (File May 2000)

Did the last pretense of democracy in Russia just drop away?

More Russian fun here.

---

[UPDATE] by nadezhda

At first I thought that Dec 17 in Russia must be like April Fools Day in the US, because if it's a send-up it's a great one. But I don't think so. Can you imagine what these guys could do with Michael Powell's powers to fine broadcasters!?!   more »

UPDATE [9-23-04] by nadezhda

NYT researcher detained over Jiang Zemin leak

BEIJING - China has detained a researcher working for the New York Times on suspicion that he helped break news that ageing leader Jiang Zemin planned to retire from politics this month, sources familiar with the case said yesterday.
[...]
Mr Zhao was taken into custody on suspicion of illegally providing state secrets to foreigners, according to a copy of the arrest. The document was issued by the Beijing state security bureau and dated Sept 21.

State security 'suspects him to be the source of the Jiang Zemin story', a source familiar with the case said. Mr Zhao has worked for the paper since May.

Its foreign editor Susan Chira denied the charges and said the paper was 'deeply concerned' over the case.

'He has never been a source or conduit for state secrets,' she said by telephone from New York. 'He doesn't write or report stories on his own.' Reuters

Viva Democracy, indeed!

---

[Original post 9-18-04] The unwritten Chinese constitution has had an important provision further "codified." From behind the closed doors of the Chinese Central Committee meetings, news has emerged via AFP that Jiang Zemen, 78, will step down from the top Chinese military position, thereby completing the orderly transfer of official power to his successor, President Hu Jintao, 61. This follows the precedent set by Jiang's predecessor, the late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.   more »

The selection of political leaders by popular vote may be critical for the sustained legitimacy of the governing class. It doesn't necessarily follow, however, that the outcomes of the election process reflect the true preferences of the public, if surveys of voter attitudes and behavior in the US are any guide.

In "The Unpolitical Animal" (The New Yorker,Aug 30, 2004), Louis Menand offers a delightful, and somewhat scary, overview of political science literature on decision-making by American voters.

Seventy per cent of Americans cannot name their senators or their congressman. Forty-nine per cent believe that the President has the power to suspend the Constitution. Only about thirty per cent name an issue when they explain why they voted the way they did, and only a fifth hold consistent opinions on issues over time. Rephrasing poll questions reveals that many people don’t understand the issues that they have just offered an opinion on. According to polls conducted in 1987 and 1989, for example, between twenty and twenty-five per cent of the public thinks that too little is being spent on welfare, and between sixty-three and sixty-five per cent feels that too little is being spent on assistance to the poor.

   more »

In a four-hour session with a group of western foreign policy experts, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a wide range of matters beyond the Beslan hostage tragedy. In pointed remarks about the support by some US officials of "Chechen separatists," evidenced by meetings and the recent grant of asylum to Ilias Akhmadov, the so-called "foreign minister" of the Chechen separatist movement.

Putin also raised another point of ongoing friction between his government and the US:

In other comments, Putin said Russia would take its own approach to democratic reform.

"We'll do this at our own pace," he said. Democracy can mean different things in different countries, he said.

"In Russia, democracy is who shouts the loudest," he said. "In the U.S., it's who has the most money."

May explain why the Kremlin has been so interested in controlling the megaphones of TV networks while being willing to leave a more lively and competitive space for newspapers.

Also suggests that the unlikely duo of President Putin and Ted Turner may have similar views on the consolidation of US mass media ownership by large corporate conglomerates. See recent comments by the "shrillionaire" at The Shrill Blog.

Via Jill Dougherty, CNN, Putin blasts US on terror stance

New Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz says:

I think Pakistan is on the road to democracy. Every country has ways of adapting to and adopting democratic principles and values. We have our own. Pakistan needs no lesson in democracy. We know what we need to do. We know how to reflect the views of our people. Pakistan has had free and fair elections. All parties are free to criticize and comment on government policies. In fact, the press in Pakistan is very, very active which we encourage. Pakistan’s democracy is adapted to our needs. I think we have to get away from this complex of syndromes that what happens in Westminster and Capitol Hill and Bundestag and the Diet is applicable in every other country. We have to evolve our own way of using democratic values and principles. Pakistan is a country where even right from the local level we have elected office-bearers to the provincial level and also to the federal level. So we are very comfortable with the democratic process. In Pakistan we have elected assemblies. We are very active. They represent the people’s interests and views, and this is what the country has to build on and has to develop. But we will adapt to and adopt whatever system to suit our needs.

Apparently Pakistan's road to democracy is full of potholes:

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) said on Tuesday that there is no loophole in the 17th Amendment that allows President Pervez Musharraf to retain his army uniform after December this year.

“President Musharraf can prolong his tenure as chief of army staff (COAS) only at gunpoint. There is no provision that gives him a way to continue occupying the offices of both president of Pakistan and COAS simultaneously,” said SCBA President Justice (r) Tariq Mahmood.

He was leading a demonstration in front of the Supreme Court against the appointment of junior judges to the Supreme Court and the proposed amendment to the Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Act.

“We have a federal, parliamentary and democratic system. A president in uniform will be detrimental to the federation and democracy in our country,” he said.

Musharraf's continued role as Chief of Army Staff may well be a good idea, given Pakistan's chronic instability, problems with terrorism, and history of nuclear proliferation. The Army has been the only consistently competent entity in Pakistani society. And on the whole, Musharraf has been as good an ally as the violent politics of his nation allows. But American support for continued military dictatorship, benign though it may be, will no doubt make the United States' pro-democracy rhetoric ring hollow in the Muslim world and especially Pakistan.

"Sepoy" of Chapati Mystery, who knows far more about Pakistan than I ever will, says that though is is impressed with Aziz's economic stewardship, "there is no hope for Pakistan if the General does not retire and democracy does not return."

It takes one to know one:

President Mohammad Khatami here Tuesday in a telephone conversation with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud congratulated him and the Lebanese nation on the continuation of his presidency.

The Press Affairs Office of the Presidential Office quoted Khatami as saying the extension of the term indicates the popularity of the president among the people.

He also lauded the decision by the Lebanese parliament in getting such an extension as a right decision.

Boy, that Mohammad Khatami sure is a nice man.