Nepotism | Jotup

Pakistan election results in political instability when the country needed it least

Retrieved on:

星期一, 二月 12, 2024

Shock results in Pakistan’s national election threaten to see the country free-fall into political crisis.

Key Points:

Shock results in Pakistan’s national election threaten to see the country free-fall into political crisis.
Days after the election, it remains unclear which party (or parties) will form a government and who the next prime minister will be.
Independent candidates affiliated to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice/PTI), the party of former prime minister, Imran Khan, won 95 of 264 seats.
The country has been under military rule for nearly as much time as it has been under a civilian government.

Close contest

Behind the scenes, Sharif and his PML-N is negotiating power-sharing with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan People Party (PPP).
He is also hoping to co-opt some of Khan’s PTI-backed candidates, and is showing some success.
If he manages to put together a coalition, Sharif will come to power with much baggage.

Stability is unlikely

These results meant the Awami League had won an outright majority to govern the whole of Pakistan.
East Pakistan became Bangladesh and West Pakistan simply became Pakistan.
Over half a century later, it is unlikely that Khan will stay quiet if his party is denied power.

Pakistan’s economy is in crisis

The cost of essentials such as wheat, sugar and vegetables are now unaffordable for many ordinary people whose wages are being stretched to breaking point.
The number of people living in poverty in Pakistan has climbed to nearly 40%.
And price hikes for electricity and fuel in September 2023 led to protests, with thousands taking to the streets and burning their electricity bills.

Parveen Akhtar has previously received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and the British Academy.

Judge Brittanye Morris Aims to Continue a Legacy of Compassionate Public Service with Re-Election Bid

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星期二, 十一月 28, 2023

Lawyer, Texas Southern University, Family, Nepotism, Klein Forest High School, Cronyism, Houston Police Department, Multimedia, District court, University, Morris, Tobacco, Nursing

HOUSTON, Nov. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- When most people are asked to describe lawyers and judges, kindness and compassion are often not the first words that come to most people's minds. But 333rd District Judge Brittanye Morris is trying to change those stereotypes with her fair and compassionate approach to her work on the bench and in the community. It's an approach that has worked well for her since taking her oath of office, and it's one she seeks to uphold in her re-election bid.

Key Points:

But 333rd District Judge Brittanye Morris is trying to change those stereotypes with her fair and compassionate approach to her work on the bench and in the community.
Before running for the district judge position, Ms. Morris worked as an attorney in the Houston area.
Due to her humble upbringing in a family of public servants and her down-to-earth personality, Ms. Morris is considered a political outsider.
"I aim to take a fair and compassionate approach to my work on the bench," said Ms. Morris.

Hunter Biden is the latest presidential child to stain a White House reputation − but others have shined it up

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星期六, 九月 16, 2023

Heart, White House, Senate, Politics, Eye, League, Research, Democratic Convention, Privacy, Affection, Brain, Bidens, Lightning, Parenting, GOP, Crash, Feminism, Time, Father, Republican, Nepotism, House, Family, News, Social media, Hunting, Birth control, Tobacco, Toy, Property insurance

The charges relate to Hunter Biden’s alleged lying about his drug use when he purchased a gun in 2018.

Key Points:

The charges relate to Hunter Biden’s alleged lying about his drug use when he purchased a gun in 2018.
And a conviction could mean prison time of 10 years or more.
Those dynamics have only intensified over time, especially in recent decades as presidents increasingly put their private lives on public display.

America, mirrored

The fact that gender norms often precluded presidential daughters from an explicitly political role paradoxically could make them more popular public figures.
The assumption that young children should be free from the political rough-and-tumble has recently made them highly effective symbols for presidential image-making.
Presidents have often sought a role for their adult sons in supporting their administrations.
In 1837, Martin Van Buren appointed his son, Abraham, to serve as his private secretary, at the time a high-level confidential advisor.
Over a century later, Dwight Eisenhower selected his son, John, to serve as assistant staff secretary.
Yet whatever benefit he believed he drew from these adult children, Trump found they were immediate lightning rods for public criticism.

How to look normal

While the adult children of most Republican candidates have been invisible on the current campaign trail, Florida Gov.
Ron DeSantis – often described as awkward and lacking charm – has made a point of appearing with his young children.
At the Democratic Convention in 2008, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden nominated his father as the party’s candidate for vice president.
If his administration cannot cast Biden as a young dad like Ron DeSantis, they can surround him with his grandchildren.

Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech sounded more like a snake oil salesman than a statesman

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星期二, 八月 22, 2023

Narendra Modi’s tenth consecutive Independence Day speech as Indian prime minister, delivered from the Red Fort in Delhi on August 15, was long (90 minutes) and characteristically loaded with bombast.

Key Points:

Narendra Modi’s tenth consecutive Independence Day speech as Indian prime minister, delivered from the Red Fort in Delhi on August 15, was long (90 minutes) and characteristically loaded with bombast.
At times, he resembled the old snake oil salesman cliché: he proclaimed the success of his product and ignored its side effects.
He was vague on detail and tried to distance himself from any problems his policies had caused.
India’s Independence Day speech is supposed to celebrate freedom from British colonial rule which ended in 1947.

Rhetoric versus reality

Sadly but predictably, few media organisations were brave enough to point to the contrast between his rhetoric and reality when he listed his government’s successes.
A blatantly assertive Hindu supremacist vigilante mob culture is on display where hate speech against Muslims and Christians has become normalised.
Were Modi a statesman worthy of his position, he would have assured India’s minorities that they are equal rights-bearing citizens.
He would have refrained from platitudes about peace and the “Indian family” and rather spelled out policy proposals to tackle ethnic violence in Manipur.

Stump speech

Modi’s speech spent some time accusing his political opponents of the “three evils” his government had worked hard to eradicate.
It is significant that the day before his speech, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (named after India’s first and longest-serving prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru) was renamed Prime Minister’s Museum and Library.
Modi’s speech was nothing more than a stump speech for the 2024 election aimed firmly at the country’s Hindu majority.
Towards the end of his speech, Modi expressed his confidence that on August 15 2024, he would again address the country from the Red Fort after being reelected.

Sierra Leone election: voter trust has been shaken, and will need to be regained

Retrieved on:

星期五, 六月 30, 2023

With 56% of votes cast in the election on 24 June, Bio was declared winner ahead of his main rival, Samura Kamara, who polled 41%.

Key Points:

With 56% of votes cast in the election on 24 June, Bio was declared winner ahead of his main rival, Samura Kamara, who polled 41%.
Kamara rejected the result and international election observers have highlighted some problems with the way votes were counted.
There has been relative calm across Sierra Leone since Bio was sworn in.

What did you learn from the outcome of this election?

Sierra Leoneans expect that the election process is potentially corrupt unless there is full transparency in the whole process.
The public had very high levels of trust in the two elections immediately after the civil war, which ended in 2002, because the United Nations was heavily involved.
It was involved in the planning and execution of the 2002 election and, to a lesser degree, the 2007 elections.

What has changed between 2012 and 2023 to result in the return of nepotism and cronyism?

The citizens complied without complaint, even as these were technically violations of basic human rights.
This is because the people were so committed to ensuring a free and fair election.

Who has been responsible for the pre-election violence?

A standard-bearer who considers themselves wronged will call on the party’s followers to “demonstrate”.
This is to ensure that those who are potentially corrupt see that others are trying to hold them to account.

What factors determine voter turnout?

The new president will do essentially what the last president did, with minor variations.
They have a sense of two things: one which is extremely likely, and the other which might happen.
So they turn out to vote for the candidate who will hurt them the least, and might actually help them.

What does the 2023 election outcome portend for democracy?

There may still be violence, and there may be a crackdown on protest, which starts down a dangerous road to authoritarianism or potentially wider violence.
Backsliding anywhere is dangerous, and no election is too small to ignore.

Police Scotland: the UK’s second-largest force is also grappling with misogyny and racism

Retrieved on:

星期三, 四月 19, 2023

Police Scotland, the UK’s second-largest force, may not face a crisis in public trust and confidence of the same scale.

Key Points:

Police Scotland, the UK’s second-largest force, may not face a crisis in public trust and confidence of the same scale.
Following the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, police leaders did not consider racism to be a problem in Scotland’s policing.
Bayoh’s family has repeatedly insisted his death was a consequence of disproportionate use of force and motivated by racial bias.
The Scottish Police Federation said that the force had a “vigorous” approach to handling misconduct that sets it apart from the UK’s other forces.

Recruitment and retention

Meanwhile, a higher proportion of officers from minority backgrounds continue to leave the force.
Or they were on friendly terms with those who engaged in this behaviour, leaving little room for victims to speak out.
The HMICS inspection also found that the representation of black and minority ethnic officers has never risen above 1%, compared with a 4% share of the Scottish population.
Retention data shows that between 2019-20, of the 865 officers who left Police Scotland, 2% were black and minority ethnic and 24% were female.

Weak accountability

In 2013, Scotland’s local police forces were merged into one, and the Scottish Police Authority was created to replace local police boards.
This, coupled with a lack of formal powers for local democratic oversight of policing, has resulted in weak and lopsided police governance in Scotland.
And the Scottish Police Authority’s own board and senior executive team lacks any representation from minority ethnic backgrounds.
The first minister will have several party-specific issues dividing his attention, including a lack of transparency or rigorous accountability in the party.

Police Scotland: the UK’s second largest force is also grappling with misogyny and racism

Retrieved on:

星期三, 四月 19, 2023

A damning report published in March found the UK’s largest police force rife with ill-treatment of women, ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ officers.

Key Points:

A damning report published in March found the UK’s largest police force rife with ill-treatment of women, ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ officers.
Police Scotland, the UK’s second-largest force, may not face a crisis in public trust and confidence of the same scale.
Following the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, police leaders did not consider racism to be a problem in Scotland’s policing.
Bayoh’s family has repeatedly insisted his death was a consequence of disproportionate use of force and motivated by racial bias.

Recruitment and retention

Meanwhile, a higher proportion of officers from minority backgrounds continue to leave the force.
Or they were on friendly terms with those who engaged in this behaviour, leaving little room for victims to speak out.
The HMICS inspection also found that the representation of black and minority ethnic officers has never risen above 1%, compared with a 4% share of the Scottish population.
Retention data shows that between 2019-20, of the 865 officers who left Police Scotland, 2% were black and minority ethnic and 24% were female.

Weak accountability

In 2013, Scotland’s local police forces were merged into one, and the Scottish Police Authority was created to replace local police boards.
This, coupled with a lack of formal powers for local democratic oversight of policing, has resulted in weak and lopsided police governance in Scotland.
And the Scottish Police Authority’s own board and senior executive team lacks any representation from minority ethnic backgrounds.
The first minister will have several party-specific issues dividing his attention, including a lack of transparency or rigorous accountability in the party.