Politics

I can’t believe President Gloria Arroyo is running for Congress in the election next year! She said she wants continue her commitment in serving the Filipino people. She also considers it as an act of humility to run for a lower office after holding the highest office of the country!

I think it’s really a greed for power! There are a lot of other things she can do if she’s serious in public service.

She faced several impeachment complaints while in office for corruption allegations. Though none of these attempts succeed during her term, she might face them after she stepped down as President next year. By running for a seat in Congress she will keep herself immune from legal suits. Good thinking Ms Arroyo! Your act just proves that the corruption cases against are most probably true!

Imagine paying $500 billion for your dinner bill or spending $10 trillion for your grocery shopping. Well, it sounds impossible but it’s real and it’s happening in the hyperinflation-ravaged African country – Zimbabwe!

The country has a record breaking 2.2 million percent of inflation where all prices of goods double or triple every other day! The country’s central bank has been printing money of high denomination notes to cope with the skyrocketing prices and higher demand for money! Recently, the central bank just issued a $100 billion note.

Businesses, individuals and machines face a difficulty of dealing with so many zeros! Most calculators can only hold up to 12 digits making it difficult to do arithmetics. Price tags now have a caution sign saying multiply all prices by $1 million!

Inflation occurs when there are shortages in the supply of goods and services which is a rampant problem in Zimbabwe. With too much supply of money competing to buy a very limited supply of goods and services cause prices to go up. Shops and other businesses sometimes accept US dollar note when selling their goods. However, they face arrest when caught as it is illegal to do so.

The root cause of this problem is the political crisis of the country which has been going on for several years when their president started to forcefully confiscate the farms of white people in the country without compensation. The farms were given to the african people who do not have the necessary skills to continue the farming business which resulted to a shortage of food supply.

This fact only means that the political situation of a country has a direct and strong influence on the economy. For instance, statistical data show that unemployment rate in the United States is higher when Bush was the President compared to the time of Clinton!

 A head of the government has the control over the economy through the tax policy and goverment spending policy. That is why it is very important to consider economic programs of the candidate during elections!

Zimbabwe has already showed the world a living example of the direct relationship between politics and the economy. With the worsening political and economic situation of the country, I think it is about time for other countries and maybe the United Nations to intervene and remove the current President from office!

Coincidentally, the Philippines and Russia are celebrating their independence days on June 12. Philippines celebrate their independence from Spain which happened in 1898 and Russia celebrates the adoption of its declaration of independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. Another coincidence however is that there are controversies surrounding the genuinity of this celebration of these two countries.

The Philippines Independence Day occurred on 12 June 1898 ending the 300-year colonial rule of Spain after the latter were defeated during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Spain sold the entire Philippine archipelago to the United States for $20 million. Shortly afterwards, the Filipino forces proclaimed the sovereignty and independence from Spain and named the first president of the Philippine Republic. However, the declaration was not recognised by the US or Spain for some reason. The $20 million deal may have played a huge role in the decision of the two countries. There’s even an additional debate that the Spanish-American War was not a real battle at all – just a drama!

The United States only recognised the Philippine Independence day on July 4, 1946 which is after World War II. Since then Philippines celebrated Independence Day on July 4 until it was changed again to June 12 in 1964 as advised by some Historians. I’m not sure if July 4 is another coincidence again because US is celebrating their Independence Day on July 4!

Russia on the other hand has its own controversy about the June 12 celebration. The day was not actually an independence from any colonial rule as the former Soviet Union was ruled by the same Russia now. Russian people and foreigners are disoriented completely by the name “Independence Day” which raises the question, independence from what? Obviously, June 12 is just the date when the Russian Parliament declared its Sovereignty of the Russian Federation.

Independence is something that should have been fought for by the people for a common reason. It should be something that are widely recognised first by the people as their independence before the authorities can officially approve and declare them as independence day!

Barack Obama has made history as the first black US presidential nominee as he declared himself victorious over Hillary Clinton on the last day of voting in the Democratic primaries race.

He will face Republican candidate John McCain on the battle to the White House. As the campaign starts to the November election, we cannot deny the fact that the difference in the race of the two persons will still be a big factor in the election. There maybe still some people who shun the idea of a first black president. US is a nation that has long been divided on issues about race. Will Obama on his way as the most powerful person in the world be the tool for that change? Or will he be make another history of being the first black presidential candidate defeated in the election?

It is also interesting to note their age difference being McCain 71 and Obama just 46. It won’t only be a battle between races but also between ages. Bosses and world leaders are becoming younger these days and McCain may not be able to secure the support of young people.  

At the end of the day the issues that the two candidates are pushing for are the important things that will help them to victory.  George W Bush was not able to manage the issue on Iraq properly as shown in the result of his approval rating. This will be passed on to whoever succeeds him.

Australia’s form of government is a constitutional monarchy with head of the state being Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, represented by the Governor General of Australia . Her role as a head of state of Australia is distinct from her role as Head of the State of the UK and other Commonwealth nations. There has been a long history of debate among Australians to convert their government to a Republic form where the head of the state will be a president who will be elected by the people. The debate started even before Australia become a federation in 1901.

The pro-Republican movement says that it is inappropriate for a person who is not resident nor a citizen of Australia to become the country’s head of the state. They also argue that the Queen cannot adequately represent Australia to the rest of the world because she lives in England not in Australia. The Queen is also the head of State of the UK and other commonwealth countries like Canada. The pro-republicans believe that it is improper for the same person to be both the head of state of more than one country. 

The pro-Monarch groups however think that the republican movement is a less patriotic and an anti-Australian move that does not defend the constitution. It is also a distracting and costly issue that divides people this time when there are actually many other real challenges and problems to face. They also believe that converting Australia to a republic would be very costly to implement and may affect the stability of the country’s economy.

There was a referendum held in 1999 where every Australians were asked whether they like Australia to become a Republic with a head of the state being President. The result is 55% voting ‘no’ to the republican model. Many Republican politicians believe that the circumstances have changed now and more people like to become Republic. There maybe a new referendum to come again especially now that the current Prime Minister is anti-monarch.

As the US Democratic Party is close to finalising its presidential candidate, the Republican Party is planning ways to counteract the popularity of Democratic Party or maybe take advantage of the Democrat’s division due to the long drawn out Democratic Party’s primary process. It cannot be denied that the two contenders of the Democratic Party rose to fame due to the historical importance it will bring when either Barack Obama or Hilary Clinton wins as President. Obama will become the first US black president and Clinton would be the first female president. Now Obama has a majority of the all important delegate count. At the rate this going, it seems that Obama will win the primary nomination and will eventually be the Democratic Presidential Candidate. Political commentators are speculating that he will pick either John Edwards or Hilary Clinton as vice presidential candidate to draw the white, working class votes. Do you think it’s a wise choice for Republican Candidate John McCain to choose Condoleezza Rice as vice president to lure black and female voters to the Republican Party?