Monday:
The elections have taken place in Pakistan – and, in spite of the troublingly low turnout, they have passed off without major terrorism – and it looks like President Mustbehavingalaugh has been DEFEATED.
And in Cuba, the old rogue President Fidel Castrol GTX (Grey Thatch eXtreme) has bowed to the inevitable and admitted it is time that he retired to spend his remaining years with his remaining organs.
These unrelated world events are linked by the brief flowering of HOPE that they might offer a chance of a better way, before the crushing boot of CYNICISM stamps down saying "get real"!
Mr Jonathan's take on Pakistan is on the PESSIMISTIC side. And you can't blame him.
Circumstances may have changed in Pakistan, with the Pakistan People's Party of Ms Benazir Bhutto offering a coalition deal to the Pakistan Muslim League (N) of Mr Narwaz Shariff, leaving President Mustbehavingalaugh and his Pakistan Muslim League (Q) out in the cold, but by how much?
The REAL test for the new government will be whether they reinstate the JUDGES who President Mustbehavingalaugh deposed and had put under house arrest.
But you've got to worry when the election hasn't stopped the government there from deciding to BAN YouTube as BLASPHEMOUS. Worse still, the reason for getting their theological panties in a bunch was those Danish cartoons, surfacing again. And worst of all, they decided to tackle the perceived blasphemy by HIJACKING the entire site and bringing it down.
So, a victory for modern secularism?
Actually, for a glimpse of something more positive, the secular parties DID win in Pakistan's most religiously CONTROVERSIAL province: the border with Afghanistan where the Taleban roam like predatory WRAITHS!
Meanwhile, for all that absolutely EVERYONE in the American election declared universal joy and hope for Cuba, the likelihood of change there is SMALL, for although Mr Castrol's BROTHER – Rule Castrol! – has said he will hear the complaints of the people about food shortages and, er, lack of Internet access, the appointment of HARDLINER, Mr Jose Ramon Machado Ventura (Pet Detective), as his deputy does not suggest any early abandonment of the Cuban Communist project.
Elsewhere in the world, Britain and America (but NOT Russia) welcome the Earth's one-hundred-and-ninety-third country, as Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.
The Serbs, you might guess, ain't happy. And this is BAD news. Not because they managed to cause two major wars in Europe inside of a hundred years… though actually that IS worth worrying about… but because the recently elected pro-EU Serbian government now looks a bit STUPID and might fall back under the sway of President Vampire Putin, ruler (as of next weekend, from beyond the grave) of Russia.
And I have to say that, since I do not for example fancy SCOTLAND splitting off from Great Britain, nor Britain splitting off from Europe, I can't be ENTIRELY happy about this either.
While I wish the Kosovans nothing but success in their new country, it would be nice to see people trying to work TOGETHER a bit more, rather than just splitting apart all the time.
1 comment:
A well-summarised world tour, Millennium, and you might like to read a rather good list (by someone rather less good) of just why Mr Castrol Senior was so very not a good thing, courtesy of Mr Bernard.
Post a Comment