Notions

     The strong, brown and henna bearing hands dug me a hole to serve as a loving womb. I sat there small yet secure, waiting for the rain – and sometimes the tears – to feed me life. As a sprout I dug myself up to find myself between my rising siblings who were hugging the confident and fair sun. I was showered with love and hate, with peace and war, and with screams and music. When the hands that planted me embraced my trunk, I felt at home...I felt I belonged. However the thunder of gunfire and angry boots crushed the serenity, and shook my existence. I tried to stand but the forces were stronger…and I succumbed watching my lifeless body bidding this land farewell. When I finally fell over the land upon which I once stood tall, I gazed into this beautiful, unjust world. Only then did I find the unborn, fragile seeds hiding in the blood-soaked soil, waiting for death before seeing life.  It was then that I realised that my sacrifice was not in vain, and that I...

        Un artículo publicado en El País el 19 de junio hace un resumen sobre la entrevista de Pedro Sánchez con TVE, emitida desde el Palacio de La Moncloa. Siendo que El Pa ís socialista decidió arrojar luz sobre estas 10 frases principales, uno debe suponer que conllevan claves para la visión de Sánchez sobre que debe gobernar España en lo próximos años, y la manera de tratar los   temas prioritarios en la agenda nacional. Pues no. Fijándose en estas 10 frases claves, se puede deducir que todos lo que sale de las boca del presidente del gobierno nuevo es algo retorico, dolorosamente esperado, o un intento de auto justificación o elogio. De hecho, las frases son totalmente superfluas y vacías. Éstas son las frases. 1. Aspiro a agotar la legislatura y que las elecciones sean en 2020. Esperado. El objetivo de Sánchez fue y sigue siendo ser jefe de gobierno. Nadie pensaba que los socialistas llaman a celebrar nuevas elecciones y ar...

              Electronic voting (e-voting) in parliament is a transparent voting mechanism that allows for accurate counts of votes and monitoring of deputies´ voting behaviour. However, not all parliaments have introduced such a modality in their voting sessions. Jordan is one of the countries that have considered this voting modality but has shied away from implementation. The question is why? Background E-voting was introduced in the Jordanian House of Representative (HoR) in 2006 with the support and funding of USAID. The system  per se  was installed in 2004, but was non-operational owing to the lack of reference in the  HoR’s  Internal By-law (No. 800 of the year 1996) to e-voting as a voting modality. The By-law was modified in 2006 under the tenancy of HoR Speaker Abdel Hadi Al Majli, whereby reference was made to using ‘modern technical means’ for voting, with the exception of voti...

     The Charlevoix G7 Summit (June 8–9, 2018) Communique started off with a poetic confirmation to the ‘shared values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and commitment to promote a rules-based international order’. The Communique laid out a number of commitments, grouped under common headings of investing in growth, preparing for jobs of the future, advancing gender equality, building a more peaceful and secure world, and working together on climate change. Point 13 of the aforementioned document indicates that the G7 elite club is committed to ‘responding to foreign actors who seek to undermine our democratic societies and institutions, our electoral processes, our sovereignty and our security as outlined in the  Charlevoix Commitment on Defending Democracy from Foreign Threats ’. What is the Charlevoix Commitment on Defending Democracy from Foreign Threats? Well, it is yet another commitment of the Leaders of the G7...