http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2012/03/chinese-power-politics
The Chinese government has just removed the Southern party boss, Bo Xilai from office. Bo was accused of corruption, and he was removed from office just days after the Premier, Wen Jiabao pronounced him a corrupt leader during a highly-publicized nation event. Priot to this happening, Bo was thought to be headed towards an even higher position within the party, being on the Standing Committee of the Politburo. He was one of the "princelings" and had moved quickly through the party and gained popularity through his low-cost housing plan and attempts to combat the city's corruption. He's also a strong promoter of Red Culture, or the culture of Mao. This was a strange occurence, because rifts between high-up government officials don't often occur in the eyes of the people. This is once again a signal from the top saying don't question our authority. The CCP saw a problem and they quickly eliminated the problem. The party has absolute control, and if anyone tries to mess with the traditional way things go, then the party will act. Mr. Bo is just another example of a modern person trying to bring some new perspective to China, however it appears China is not ready. Labeling Bo under the heading of corrupt leaders puts the party in good light by showing the Chinese people that they aren't afraid to cut prominent people out of government if they aren't following the party's idealogy.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Current Event #5
http://www.economist.com/node/21549973
A huge uproar in Russia was caused last week when the outgoing Prime Minister, and former president, Vladimir Putin was elected back into the office of the presidency. He won with a 64% majority, ensuring that he would not have to go into the second round of elections, and won the presidency for himself. People all over Russia are rioting and mad because the elections were clearly rigged for Putin. The last few elections hadn't been very hard to manipulate because people didn't care as much, but now it's clear that civil society is taking hold of Russia. It's said that Putin supporters rode buses throughout Russia from one polling station to the next, and that the Kremlin was clearly in on the plan. A majority of people in Moscow are especially angry with the rigged vote. Putin himself had to force about 100,000 people together to unwillingly attend a celebration party for his victory. The people had to be guarded by police forces. All of Putin's main opponents had already been barred from being able to truly compete before the race for the presidency ever took place. The Kremlin-run media has been running news about Putin's victory since the end of the election. 15,000 Muscovites gathered in Pushkin Square to protest the election. Putin's been using threats of violence to get the protesters out. I think that time is running short for Putin's presidency. He may have to step down from the presidency in order to appease the country and especially the middle class Muscovites. He did them a real dishonor by making the election corrupt, and now he's lost almost all sense of legitmacy that he had before. The Russian people don't like the movement away from democracy and back towards communist ideals. It will be interesting to see how long Putin keeps trying to make this corrupt government work before he caves in.
A huge uproar in Russia was caused last week when the outgoing Prime Minister, and former president, Vladimir Putin was elected back into the office of the presidency. He won with a 64% majority, ensuring that he would not have to go into the second round of elections, and won the presidency for himself. People all over Russia are rioting and mad because the elections were clearly rigged for Putin. The last few elections hadn't been very hard to manipulate because people didn't care as much, but now it's clear that civil society is taking hold of Russia. It's said that Putin supporters rode buses throughout Russia from one polling station to the next, and that the Kremlin was clearly in on the plan. A majority of people in Moscow are especially angry with the rigged vote. Putin himself had to force about 100,000 people together to unwillingly attend a celebration party for his victory. The people had to be guarded by police forces. All of Putin's main opponents had already been barred from being able to truly compete before the race for the presidency ever took place. The Kremlin-run media has been running news about Putin's victory since the end of the election. 15,000 Muscovites gathered in Pushkin Square to protest the election. Putin's been using threats of violence to get the protesters out. I think that time is running short for Putin's presidency. He may have to step down from the presidency in order to appease the country and especially the middle class Muscovites. He did them a real dishonor by making the election corrupt, and now he's lost almost all sense of legitmacy that he had before. The Russian people don't like the movement away from democracy and back towards communist ideals. It will be interesting to see how long Putin keeps trying to make this corrupt government work before he caves in.
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