print-edition iconPrint edition | AsiaSep 26th 2019
5-6 minutes
NOT SINCE 1998, when huge crowds demanding reformasi brought down Suharto, Indonesia’s late dictator, have university students taken to the streets in such numbers. In cities across the archipelago and, above all, outside the parliament in Jakarta, tens of thousands have gathered in the past few days. Despite tear-gas, water cannon and beatings, their numbers are growing. Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, the recently re-elected president, faces an unexpected test.
The protesters carry a rattlebag of demands tied together by attempts by the political elite and the security forces to roll back two decades of democratic change. They call their movement reformasi dikorupsi, or reform corrupted. That Jokowi has come into the movement’s sights is significant. He swept to power in 2014 because Indonesians loved his reputation for clean government and because he was outside the intermarried elites that have long dominated politics, the security services and business.
"Ό,τι η ψυχή επιθυμεί, αυτό και πιστεύει." Δημοσθένης (Whatever the soul wishes, thats what it believes, Demosthenes)
Showing posts with label Corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Corruption. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Nancy Pelosi launches an impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump
www.economist.com
United StatesSep 25th 2019 | WASHINGTON
8-10 minutes
NANCY PELOSI has long been a Republican bogeyman. In 2018, Republican congressional candidates across America built her into a caricature of a wild-eyed, out-of-touch coastal liberal. In fact, Mrs Pelosi is among America’s most calculating politicians. That has frustrated some of those on the left of her caucus, but the leader of the House of Representatives knows that she owes her majority to moderates from conservative districts. For months, progressives pushed to open impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, while Mrs Pelosi urged caution. On September 24th, she joined their calls, announcing that the House was “moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.”
United StatesSep 25th 2019 | WASHINGTON
8-10 minutes
NANCY PELOSI has long been a Republican bogeyman. In 2018, Republican congressional candidates across America built her into a caricature of a wild-eyed, out-of-touch coastal liberal. In fact, Mrs Pelosi is among America’s most calculating politicians. That has frustrated some of those on the left of her caucus, but the leader of the House of Representatives knows that she owes her majority to moderates from conservative districts. For months, progressives pushed to open impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, while Mrs Pelosi urged caution. On September 24th, she joined their calls, announcing that the House was “moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.”
Friday, February 23, 2018
Greece Approves Bribery Investigation Involving Political Elite
By Niki Kitsantonis
Feb. 22, 2018
ATHENS — After 20 hours of acrimonious debate, Greek lawmakers on Thursday approved the formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate accusations linking 10 high-profile politicians to bribery by a Swiss drug manufacturer.
The investigation, which will follow separate and secret votes for each of the 10 politicians, was backed both by members of the coalition government and by some in the opposition. It will examine whether the politicians took kickbacks from the pharmaceutical company Novartis, or were aware of illicit payments.
The list of people to be investigated is dominated by the Greek political elite: It includes two former prime ministers, Antonis Samaras and Panagiotis Pikramenos; the current central bank governor, Yannis Stournaras; and the European Union commissioner for migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos.
Labels:
Autocracy,
Communism,
Corruption,
Greek Crisis,
SYRIZA
Friday, October 20, 2017
China’s leader Xi Jinping declares the start of a “new era”
It sounds much like the old one—only more so
The Economist
Oct 21st 2017 | BEIJING
IN THE days before the opening on October 18th of the Chinese Communist Party’s quinquennial congress, the country’s security officials put their surveillance efforts into overdrive. On Chang’an Avenue, the boulevard that passes by the venue in Tiananmen Square, naked flames were banned. Tough luck for restaurants, family dinners and smokers. Out-of-towners driving to the capital were stopped at checkpoints and made to sign papers promising not to get into trouble during the week of the congress. Foreigners were barred from travelling to Tibet. The region is well over 1,000 miles from the capital, but the party fears that even a lone banner-waving separatist sympathiser that far away could spoil the event in Beijing.
Labels:
China,
Corruption,
Economy,
Geopolitics,
South China Sea,
USA
Monday, August 7, 2017
Greece scapegoats a statistician who only did his job
The Washington Post
By Editorial Board August 4
IN GREECE, the lucrative tourism industry is threatened this summer by millions of oversized jellyfish washing ashore on the nation’s beaches. An even slimier development is the ongoing persecution of the country’s first independent chief statistician, whose tough-minded steps to straighten out Greece’s notoriously fraudulent economic data have been repaid with farcical prosecutions by a judicial system rapidly discrediting itself in the world’s eyes.
Andreas Georgiou, an American-trained economist who spent two decades working at the International Monetary Fund, was hired as Greece’s top statistician in 2010 as the country’s debt crisis was spiraling out of control. His goal was to honestly report economic data that for years had been fudged by politicians and officials seeking to minimize their own fateful fiscal mismanagement.
Labels:
Corruption,
Greek Crisis,
Greek Oligarchs,
SYRIZA,
Third Memorandum
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Third migrant dies in a week in harsh Greek camp conditions
Mon Jan 30, 2017 | 1:07pm EST
Reuters
By Karolina Tagaris | ATHENS
The third migrant to perish in a week was found dead in his tent on Monday on Greece's Lesbos island, raising alarm about the grim winter conditions in overcrowded camps that critics have denounced as deplorable.
The dead man is believed to be about 20 and from Pakistan, a police official on the island said. Another migrant who shared his tent was critically ill and taken to hospital.
The death at the island's Moria camp follows those of a 22-year-old Egyptian and a 46-year-old Syrian who shared a tent and died days apart. Greek media reported they had inhaled fumes from a heater, but authorities would not confirm or deny that.
Reuters
By Karolina Tagaris | ATHENS
The third migrant to perish in a week was found dead in his tent on Monday on Greece's Lesbos island, raising alarm about the grim winter conditions in overcrowded camps that critics have denounced as deplorable.
The dead man is believed to be about 20 and from Pakistan, a police official on the island said. Another migrant who shared his tent was critically ill and taken to hospital.
The death at the island's Moria camp follows those of a 22-year-old Egyptian and a 46-year-old Syrian who shared a tent and died days apart. Greek media reported they had inhaled fumes from a heater, but authorities would not confirm or deny that.
Labels:
Austerity measures,
Corruption,
Greece,
Immigration,
SYRIZA
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Greece’s Syriza Defiant After Judges Annul Key Policy
Country’s supreme administrative court rules government acted unconstitutionally by licensing TV broadcasters itself
The Wall Street Journal
By MARCUS WALKER and NEKTARIA STAMOULI
Updated Oct. 27, 2016 4:27 a.m. ET
ATHENS—Greece’s ruling Syriza party vowed on Thursday to continue fighting for its radical agenda after judges struck down its plan to revamp Greece’s media sector, the culmination of a weekslong power struggle that produced allegations of blackmail and “fascist” methods.
Greece’s supreme administrative court, the Council of State, ruled late Wednesday that the government, led by the left-wing Syriza party, acted unconstitutionally by licensing TV broadcasters itself, a power that the constitution reserves for an independent media regulator.
The Wall Street Journal
By MARCUS WALKER and NEKTARIA STAMOULI
Updated Oct. 27, 2016 4:27 a.m. ET
ATHENS—Greece’s ruling Syriza party vowed on Thursday to continue fighting for its radical agenda after judges struck down its plan to revamp Greece’s media sector, the culmination of a weekslong power struggle that produced allegations of blackmail and “fascist” methods.
Greece’s supreme administrative court, the Council of State, ruled late Wednesday that the government, led by the left-wing Syriza party, acted unconstitutionally by licensing TV broadcasters itself, a power that the constitution reserves for an independent media regulator.
Monday, October 24, 2016
The threat from Russia
How to contain Vladimir Putin’s deadly, dysfunctional empire
Oct 22nd 2016
The Economist
FOUR years ago Mitt Romney, then a Republican candidate, said that Russia was America’s “number-one geopolitical foe”. Barack Obama, among others, mocked this hilarious gaffe: “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back, because the cold war’s been over for 20 years,” scoffed the president. How times change. With Russia hacking the American election, presiding over mass slaughter in Syria, annexing Crimea and talking casually about using nuclear weapons, Mr Romney’s view has become conventional wisdom. Almost the only American to dissent from it is today’s Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
Labels:
Corruption,
Economy,
Geopolitics,
Putin,
Russia,
US Elections
What is China’s plenum and why does it matter?
Oct 23rd 2016, 23:27 BY J.P. | BEIJING
The Economist
THE 200-odd highest-ranking members of China’s Communist Party—its central committee—meet only once a year. The closed-door gathering is called a plenum. This year’s starts today, October 24th, in Beijing and runs until the 27th. The agenda does not sound consequential. It will discuss, in the unlovely words of the official announcement, “the norms of political life within the party…and a revision to an intra-party supervision regulation.” So why does it matter?
The Economist
THE 200-odd highest-ranking members of China’s Communist Party—its central committee—meet only once a year. The closed-door gathering is called a plenum. This year’s starts today, October 24th, in Beijing and runs until the 27th. The agenda does not sound consequential. It will discuss, in the unlovely words of the official announcement, “the norms of political life within the party…and a revision to an intra-party supervision regulation.” So why does it matter?
Thursday, September 29, 2016
A New Twist on Greece’s Old-Style Dysfunction
A complex scandal signals Syriza is reviving the government-bank-media axis the party once campaigned against.
By YANNIS PALAIOLOGOS
Sept. 28, 2016 3:54 p.m. ET
The Wall Street Journal
There’s been a lot of hand-wringing in Europe about the rise of right-wing populism, about the clampdown on media freedom and judicial independence in places such as Hungary and Poland. But Greece’s populist government, led by the hard-left Syriza party, seems to share many of the same authoritarian instincts of its formerly communist partners, whose values Syriza claims to abhor.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Greece Cracks Down on ‘Triangle of Corruption’ in TV
By NIKI KITSANTONISAUG. 29, 2016
The New York Times
ATHENS — Since Greece opened its media to private broadcasting in the 1980s, the market has been an almost unregulated scrum. Licenses are given out on an ad hoc basis. Media outlets have proliferated. The chaos ushered in hundreds of millions of dollars of debt and invited the undue influence of banks, media barons and successive governments.
Now, the government led by the leftist Syriza party under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says it wants to crack down on what it characterizes as a “triangle of corruption,” by auctioning off a limited number of licenses on Tuesday.
But whether that effort is actually aimed at bringing order to the market or is yet another attempt by a Greek government to shape the media to its advantage has set off a hot debate and an intense wrangle for power here.
The New York Times
ATHENS — Since Greece opened its media to private broadcasting in the 1980s, the market has been an almost unregulated scrum. Licenses are given out on an ad hoc basis. Media outlets have proliferated. The chaos ushered in hundreds of millions of dollars of debt and invited the undue influence of banks, media barons and successive governments.
Now, the government led by the leftist Syriza party under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says it wants to crack down on what it characterizes as a “triangle of corruption,” by auctioning off a limited number of licenses on Tuesday.
But whether that effort is actually aimed at bringing order to the market or is yet another attempt by a Greek government to shape the media to its advantage has set off a hot debate and an intense wrangle for power here.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Dying Infants and No Medicine: Inside Venezuela’s Failing Hospitals
By NICHOLAS CASEYMAY 15, 2016
The New York Times
BARCELONA, Venezuela — By morning, three newborns were already dead.
The day had begun with the usual hazards: chronic shortages of antibiotics, intravenous solutions, even food. Then a blackout swept over the city, shutting down the respirators in the maternity ward.
Doctors kept ailing infants alive by pumping air into their lungs by hand for hours. By nightfall, four more newborns had died.
“The death of a baby is our daily bread,” said Dr. Osleidy Camejo, a surgeon in the nation’s capital, Caracas, referring to the toll from Venezuela’s collapsing hospitals.
The New York Times
BARCELONA, Venezuela — By morning, three newborns were already dead.
The day had begun with the usual hazards: chronic shortages of antibiotics, intravenous solutions, even food. Then a blackout swept over the city, shutting down the respirators in the maternity ward.
Doctors kept ailing infants alive by pumping air into their lungs by hand for hours. By nightfall, four more newborns had died.
“The death of a baby is our daily bread,” said Dr. Osleidy Camejo, a surgeon in the nation’s capital, Caracas, referring to the toll from Venezuela’s collapsing hospitals.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Επιστολή του καθηγητή Ιωάννη Π. Ιωαννιδη (έδρα C. F. Rehnborg του πανεπιστημίου Stanford) προς τον κ. Κυριάκο Μητσοτάκη
O Ιωάννης
Π.Α. Ιωαννίδης κατέχει την έδρα C.F. Rehnborg πρόληψης νοσημάτων στο
πανεπιστήμιο Stanford όπου είναι τακτικός καθηγητής παθολογίας, έρευνας και
πολιτικής υγείας και στατιστικής. Έχει διατελέσει επίσης καθηγητής στα
πανεπιστήμια Harvard, Tufts, Imperial College και Ιωαννίνων και είναι τακτiκό
μέλος της European Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Έχει τιμηθεί με επίτιμους τίλους και ανώτατες διακρίσεις από πολλά πανεπιστήμια και ερευνητικούς οργανισμούς. Τα δύο τελευταία βιβλία του (Τοκάτα για την κόρη με το καμένο πρόσωπο [Κέδρος 2012], Παραλλαγές πάνω στην τέχνη της φυγής και ένα απονενοημένο ριτσερκάρ [Κέδρος 2014]) βρεθηκαν στις βραχείες λίστες του Αναγνώστη για τα καλύτερα βραβεία της χρονιάς. Όπως αναφέρει στην ιστοσελίδα του χαίρεται να διδάσκεται από νέους ανθρώπους όλων των ηλικιών και να του θυμίζουν ότι δεν ξέρει σχεδόν τίποτα.
Έχει τιμηθεί με επίτιμους τίλους και ανώτατες διακρίσεις από πολλά πανεπιστήμια και ερευνητικούς οργανισμούς. Τα δύο τελευταία βιβλία του (Τοκάτα για την κόρη με το καμένο πρόσωπο [Κέδρος 2012], Παραλλαγές πάνω στην τέχνη της φυγής και ένα απονενοημένο ριτσερκάρ [Κέδρος 2014]) βρεθηκαν στις βραχείες λίστες του Αναγνώστη για τα καλύτερα βραβεία της χρονιάς. Όπως αναφέρει στην ιστοσελίδα του χαίρεται να διδάσκεται από νέους ανθρώπους όλων των ηλικιών και να του θυμίζουν ότι δεν ξέρει σχεδόν τίποτα.
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Labels:
Corruption,
Grexit,
Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης,
Μνημόνιο,
Νέα Δημοκρατία
Friday, January 29, 2016
A Russian journalist explains why there is no corruption in Russia
The Washington Post
By Adam
Taylor January 28 at 2:33 PM
In the
West, many think of modern Russia
as near synonymous with corruption. We know all about the oligarchs, the mafia
and the "Wild East" capitalism of the 1990s. One recent poll found
that Russia
was considered one of the more corrupt countries in the world, placing 119 out
of 168 on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (where a
lower ranking indicates a higher perceived level of corruption).
Friday, January 8, 2016
Be Scared of China's Debt, Not Its Stocks
107 JAN 7,
2016 5:34 PM EST
By Noah
Smith
Bloomberg
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
U.S. to banks: 'No such thing as too big to jail'
CNN
Kevin
Johnson, USA
TODAY 6:40 p.m. EDT May 5, 2014
WASHINGTON
— Foreshadowing possible criminal charges against banking giants Credit Suisse
and BNP Paribas, Attorney General Eric Holder offered an ominous warning
Monday, saying, "There is no such thing as too big to jail.''
Monday, March 31, 2014
Exclusive: China seizes $14.5 billion assets from family, associates of ex-security chief: sources
BY BENJAMIN
KANG LIM AND BEN BLANCHARD
(Reuters) -
Chinese authorities have seized assets worth at least 90 billion yuan ($14.5
billion) from family members and associates of retired domestic security tsar
Zhou Yongkang, who is at the centre of China 's biggest corruption scandal
in more than six decades, two sources said.
More than
300 of Zhou's relatives, political allies, proteges and staff have also been
taken into custody or questioned in the past four months, the sources, who have
been briefed on the investigation, told Reuters.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
In Greece, Elites Are Starting to Feel the Pain
By NIKI KITSANTONIS
JAN. 16, 2014
JAN. 16, 2014
The New
York Times
ATHENS —
Since the country’s financial meltdown, Greeks have protested what many here
criticize as the unfairness of the biting austerity measures that have raised
taxes and trimmed salaries and benefits for average Greeks, while the elite
escaped similar burdens or being held accountable for their part in creating
the mess in the first place.
Suddenly,
to the satisfaction of many here, that dynamic has begun to change. With new
vigor, Greek prosecutors working independently of politicians — and sometimes
in the face of passive resistance from them — are pursuing corruption cases
against a widening pool of current and former high-ranking state officials and
members of the business elite once deemed untouchable.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Greece to overhaul defense buying after scandal
BY HARRY
PAPACHRISTOU
(Reuters) -
Greece
will overhaul arms procurement to make it more transparent, Defense Minister
Dimitris Avramopoulos said on Friday, after a wide-ranging corruption inquiry
led to the arrest of a former defense official and two arms dealers.
Heavy arms
spending was one of the reasons Athens
piled up debt and had to be rescued with European Union and IMF bailouts
totaling 240 billion euros ($328 billion) in 2010 and 2012.
These were
accompanied by strict conditions that have increased poverty and unemployment,
so the scandal has touched a raw nerve with many Greeks.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Turkey's Byzantine Scandal
Corruption
charges threaten the country's Islamist leader.
Dec. 26,
2013 3:07 p.m. ET
The Wall Street Journal
Recep
Tayyip Erdogan has spent the past week blaming a burgeoning corruption scandal
on foreign plotters. But Wednesday's trio of resignations from his cabinet,
which were intended to insulate Turkey 's
Islamist Prime Minister, had the effect of bringing the scandal to his
doorstep.
The
Interior and Economy Ministers did their duty by denouncing the investigations
and professing the prime minister's (and their own) innocence. But Erdogan
Bayraktar, the Minister for the Environment and a confidant of the PM, went out
with a bang. Mr. Bayraktar said Wednesday that he was pressured to resign to
shield Mr. Erdogan from the scandal, which concerns alleged payoffs to
facilitate real-estate development deals. He also suggested that if it was
right for him to step aside for the country's sake, then Mr. Erdogan should
resign as well.
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