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	Bolivia"s president-elect vows to help Poorest of the Poor by Raul Burgoa Mail & Guardian Online - South Africa Bolivia   January 23, 2006.   Bolivia swears in first indigenous president. (AFP/Reuters)   Evo Morales has been inaugurated as Bolivia''s first indigenous president, taking the oath of office before world leaders at a special ceremony.   Mr Morales, 46, a former coca grower, who now takes the helm of South America''s poorest country.   An Aymara Indian who herded llamas as a boy, Mr Morales takes office after winning 54 per cent of the vote on December 18 in the biggest landslide since the country''s return to democracy in 1982.   Indians and miners, chewing coca leaves and listening to radios, swarmed the colonial government square of the world''s highest capital, where Mr Morales was inaugurated with an unprecedented 12 heads of state in attendance.   "We have a lot of faith that he can help us because he is a poor man like us," Teofira Marca Sajama said, an Indian woman from Mr Morales'' home province of Oruro.   Bolivia''s rich and poor and its neighbours hope the historic handover will bring stability to South America''s poorest country after street protests toppled the two previous presidents.   Many of those presidents attending the ceremony are fellow Latin American leftists, a reflection of the region''s shift leftward as voters reject free-market economic policies that did little to bring down high poverty rates.   "This is the century for Latin America," leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, who like Mr Morales, was raised in poverty and never went to university. "We''ve had the centuries of Europe and the United States."   Mr Morales, 46, was born in a highland village and saw four of his six siblings die as babies. A bachelor of modest means, he eschews the Western coat and tie in favour of a striped pullover and has cut his presidential salary in half to $US1,700 a month.   19 December 2005 (Mail & Guardian)   Evo Morales, Bolivia"s president-elect, wears sneakers but never a jacket and tie. And that is not the only aspect about the fiery left-winger that is going to shock the world.   Bolivia"s first native Indian president, who is simply known as "Evo" across the country, wants to rein-in United States influence and end restrictions on the coca crop that he made his life from before entering politics.   Morales (46) said South America"s poorest country had entered a new era after his main opponent conceded defeat in Sunday"s presidential election.   He has vowed to increase state control of Bolivia"s oil and gas industry as a way to distribute wealth.   Morales says his country is in need of drastic change. "For a handful of people there is money, for the others, repression," he says repeatedly.   The poverty of his own upbringing has marked much of his politics. The son of both Aymara and Quechua indigenous parents, Morales was born on October 29, 1959 in the mining region of Orinoca, high in the Andes mountains. His family was so poor that four of his six siblings died before reaching the age of two.   Morales dropped out of high school and left home in the early 1980s as the region was struck by a drought and a collapse of the mining industry.   With many indigenous highlanders he left to start a farm in the Chapare region where many raised coca, the source plant for cocaine. To survive Morales took on odd jobs, including work as a traveling musician and a football player.   With that background he became sports secretary of the Chapare coca producers guild. Soon he was the leader of about 30 000 poor families linked to farming coca plants.   Coca has been cultivated in the Andes for thousands of years, used mainly for medicinal and religious purposes. But cultivation boomed in the 1980s with the growth of the international drug trafficking trade, and especially with the growth of the Colombian drug cartels.   In the 1990s the US government pumped millions of dollars into efforts to eradicate coca production. Coca farmers and US-funded anti-drug police clashed frequently.   Morales, a popular leader of the farmers, was elected to Congress in 1997 representing the region. In 2002 he ran for the presidency at the head of his Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party. He came just two points behind conservative Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who became president.   In October 2003 Morales led mass protests that led to Sanchez de Lozada"s resignation over the future of the natural gas industry that is one of the bright spots in South America"s poorest country.   In his final campaign rally in La Paz, Morales vowed to a delirious crowd of 10 000 supporters to "re-found Bolivia" and end "the colonial state" - the division between native Indians and the mainly European-descended settlers - that has ruled since Bolivia"s independence from Spain in 1824.   Morales started the polls six months ago with just 12% voter support but scored more than 51% in the election, according to exit polls.   But he has detractors in the protest movement. Felipe Quispe, an indigenous Aymara leader and one-time classmate, said that Morales was not up to the president"s job. And if he does not nationalise the oil and gas industry "we indigenous will throw him out with even more anger", Quispe said.   The United States has also closely watched the election. Morales has said he is willing to speak to US officials. "Dialogue is always open, but we need diplomatic relations, not submission or subordination," he said.
	Put democracy first in Afghanistan by OpenDemocracy / New Straits Times - Malaysia Afghanistan   30 - 1 - 2006   Put democracy first in Afghanistan, by Emma Bonino. (OpenDemocracy)   As international delegates and Afghan leaders meet in London to discuss the country''s future, EU chief election observer Emma Bonino sets out the challenges and pitfalls they need to address.   While Afghan leaders and international donors gather in London this week to discuss Afghanistan''s future, Kabul is in the grip of yet another harsh winter, and most of the city''s inhabitants are without power, bar a few hours every second or third day. Although huge amounts of international money have been spent on civic infrastructure since the fall of the Taliban, material improvements have lagged behind, bringing scant relief to a largely dispirited population, who lack basic commodities and struggle daily with soaring prices.   Yet the city is bustling, and the streets stream with people. Girls in white headscarves and black gowns head for school under billboards advertising the latest brands of mobile phone. Little boys run down the slopes flying kites. And music – a vital component in Afghan life – floats in the air. The contrast with life under the Taliban''s authoritarian regime is sharp.   Kabul''s situation is paradigmatic of the contradictions still embedded in Afghan society. In December 2005, during my last visit there as Chief Observer of the EU Election Observation Mission (EU EOM), I made the case for democracy-building in Afghanistan, and it is precisely on this that the London conference needs to focus.   The "Afghanistan compact" expected to emerge from this meeting will symbolically launch the post-Bonn era. The initial rebuilding process set in motion by the 2001 Bonn agreement has come to an end: a new constitution has been announced, and a president has been democratically elected, as have the parliament and provincial councils across the country. The next phase requires a three-pronged approach: developing democratic processes within state-building; fostering civic culture; and tackling the main risks to democratisation.   Democracy''s building blocks   Efficient, accountable public institutions are crucial. The electoral system chosen for the recent elections – the single non-transferable vote – is not only extremely costly, but it also blurs representation in parliament, and thus undermines the general legitimacy of institutions it produces. In future, a more suitable electoral system is needed to ensure political pluralism.   Just and fair representation alone is not sufficient for establishing the rule of law. Much work will be required to protect basic human rights, guarantee freedom of expression, set up an independent and credible judiciary, create checks and balances that properly define the powers of each institution, and promote political party politics and other forms of "organised" political activity. The time has also come for a certain degree of decentralisation. Provincial councils have been elected; their role should now be clarified and eventually reinforced, in particular with regard to local governors directly appointed by the president.   The link between state and citizens must be strengthened, first of all by enhancing national unity and reconciliation. Here, an essential step will be to expand public participation, through recognising the role of non-governmental actors, dramatically improving the condition of women and by strengthening public and independent media outlets. The momentum gained from the recent elections should be used to pursue civic education in order to make citizens fully aware of their rights and duties, as well as the authorities'' goals and timelines. Government and parliament should make regular progress reports, detailing any problems that may have delayed results.   Overcoming obstacles to democracy   The main risk factors to democratisation are tightly interlinked. Lack of good governance impedes the termination of the vicious circle of illegal activities that breed violence and corruption, which in turn generate the law of silence and, finally, feed a culture of impunity. The consolidation of networks of local power brokers and the perseverance of illegal armed groups in parts of the country contribute to instability.   Moreover, pervasive opium and heroin production casts a long shadow over the country''s future, carrying the risk of permanently affecting politics, crippling society and distorting the economy of an already fragile state, while maintaining a "narco-elite" which finds itself increasingly at odds with the surrounding poverty.   Though everybody apparently agrees that the illegal revenue must be decreased, few seem to accept the fact that this will not happen as long as farmers remain the principal focus of counter-narcotics strategies. The illegal drug economy poses a serious threat to stability and democracy in Afghanistan, so it is crucial to promote a sincere and open-minded debate about it, and to consider the merit of different ideas and approaches. This debate must not exclude the possibility of licensed opium production for medical purposes, with quotas granted as in many other countries.   The post-Bonn compact should also carefully consider managing people''s expectations. Undeliverable promises must be avoided, so as not to reproduce the cruel disappointment that occurred after the 2004 presidential elections, when many anticipated that their quality of life would rapidly change for the better. Furthermore, suspicion about malpractices, corruption and waste can lead to disillusionment and hence to disengagement. An independent democratisation monitoring unit – composed of representatives from the government, the UN, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and other civil society actors – should be created to make periodic comprehensive reviews and serve as an advisory body to the government on democratisation issues.   While launching the second phase of the process initiated by the Bonn agreement, the London conference will also renew the commitment of the international community over the next five years. This engagement should induce the Afghan authorities to act in a concrete and accountable manner in pushing ahead sustainable reforms in the interests of the Afghan people.   December 19, 2005   Afghanistan opens first parliament in Three Decades. (New Straits Times - Malaysia)   Afghanistan opened its first session of parliament after three decades of war, in the final step of a transition to democracy launched when the Taliban were toppled four years ago.   Afghanistan opened its first session of parliament after three decades of war, in the final step of a transition to democracy launched when the Taliban were toppled four years ago.   "I ask the nation to work with unity and national partnership for the creation of a strong and prosperous Afghanistan," the frail former king said.   The opening of parliament is the final step in the transition to democracy for Afghanistan agreed at an international conference in Bonn, Germany, weeks after the Taliban fell in a US-led attack in November 2001.   Milestones along the way have included the adoption of a new constitution in 2003 and the election that confirmed interim leader Karzai as president in October 2004.   "It is a source of great honor that after years of violence and misery, Afghanistan has taken firm steps in determining its fate," the head of the parliament secretariat Azizullah Ludin said in a speech to the opening session.   "Afghanistan has passed a great, historic test with the constitutional Loya Jirga (traditional gathering), presidential election and now with the parliamentary elections," he said.   While officials have trumpeted the occasion as proof that Afghanistan is moving away from its bloody past, analysts say the make-up of the parliament elected in September is a disappointment because of the dominance of mujahedin warlords, some of them accused of rights abuses.   The mujahedin (holy warriors) led the resistance to a 1979 Soviet invasion that ended when Moscow withdrew a decade later.   They then turned on each other in an ethnically charged battle for power that killed around 50,000 people in the capital Kabul, which today bears the scars of the conflict.   The extremist Taliban took power in 1996, imposing harsh Islamic law on the war-weary population before being toppled in a US-led campaign launched when they did not surrender Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. A handful of former Taliban are also among the new parliamentarians.   "Lots of Afghans are disappointed and cynical because they feel like people who perpetrated serious human rights abuses have been allowed back in the parliament," Human Rights Watch Asia research director Sam Zarifi said. "There"s a very clear sense in Afghan people that they want to get rid of the figures from the past," he said.   But among the new MPs are several progressives, including many of the women who had 25 percent of seats reserved in the House of Representatives, a turnaround from the days of the Taliban"s ban on women taking part in politics or even taking jobs.   Even as parliament opened, it was unclear how long its first session would last, with some officials saying it was expected to adjourn almost immediately until next year.   Hours before the opening session, three policemen were killed and one was missing after an attack by Taliban insurgents in the insurgency-hit eastern Kunar province, officials said.   The insurgency has killed more than 1,500 people this year, undermining the war-ravaged country"s quest for stability.
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