Elections in various countries

[tiramisu]

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[rotting bones]

I think they're talking about the sudden, unilateral dissolution of J&K as a state. They had equally brilliant explanations for BJP's previous acts of terrorism. In the US, I believe the technical term for such brilliance is 4D chess.

[rotting bones]

BTW They arrested evil genius Shah Faesal, the notorious Islamo-Bolshevik radical moderate. They are hoping to get him possibly, and I'm just speculating here, for his brilliant move of posting an openly seditionist message on Twitter of all places. Without having assembled anything resembling a movement first. How can ordinary mortals hope to comprehend the 4D moves of geniuses?

[Vijay]

So apparently, this is the guy who was largely responsible for Ladakh being split off from Kashmir.

[mèþru]

I support an independent Kashmir, but I think that separating Ladakh from Kashmir is a good idea - although I don't think anyone has the authority to do it outside of an agreement to resolve the status of Kashmir.

[Vijay]

I don't think it's a good idea because it doesn't seem to be what Ladakhis actually want. At least a plurality of the population of Ladakh is Muslim according to the national census figures, and Kargil (which is in Ladakh) is already threatening to protest the decision to split Jammu and Kashmir.

[tiramisu]

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[Vijay]

Fair enough, but if Ladakhis are split over it, then I don't think it's a good idea to decide for them to split Ladakh off from Jammu and Kashmir.

To be fair, I don't think it's a good idea to force them to stay as part of Jammu and Kashmir, either. I think Ladakhis should be allowed to decide for themselves what happens to Ladakh.

[mèþru]

I think Ladakhis should be allowed to decide for themselves what happens to Ladakh.

Fair enough, this principle is the most important. Like how I think Wales should be independent, but not as long as the Welsh are against it themselves.

[rotting bones]

I'd definitely support Ladakhi independence from Kashmir as part of a deal that's less obviously hostile to the majority.

I think if Shah Faesal had tried to leave before posting the message, they would still have arrested him, but they'd probably have released him after pretending to restore normalcy in Kashmir. His party members say he was leaving to file a case against the country in the International Court of Justice. He could have done that then. Now I'm not so sure.

[tiramisu]

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[mèþru]

The Joint List's conditions may be reasonable for people who want statesmanship, but unreasonable for people interested in the survival of the parties in Blue & White. The common opinion in Israel is that Fatah is not a real partner for peace and Blue & White are running on continuing a very similar policy to Likud but without Bibi's corruption or religious interference. If Blue & White agreed to the Joint List's conditions they would lose the next election.

No one will give Lieberman the mandates to become prime minister. A minority government is much much more likely. Lieberman is very unpopular among people who don't already consider voting for him.

[Vijay]

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featu ... 27902.html

[tiramisu]

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[mèþru]

"Straddling the sides of the aisle" hides many issues that make people who otherwise would be natural supporters of Lieberman wary. Part of it is racism against Russians. Part of it is that Lieberman has a reputation of corruption and if you were to ask a random Israeli a few years ago who is the most corrupt MK they would either say Deri or Lieberman. Another part is that people worry about Russian government political influence and Lieberman is seen as a middleman between post-USSR interest groups and Israeli politics. There is just so much negativity about Lieberman that those who aren't for him as their first or second choice would probably choose someone ideologically further away from themselves than him purely based off of his reputation.

[tiramisu]

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[mèþru]

The point is that until pretty recently, Lieberman had the worst reputation and image of the three. I think most Lapid supporters and Netanyahu supporters would be more comfortable voting fot the other one than either would be for Lieberman despite him being ostensibly ideologically in between.

[mèþru]

Now that Amir Peretz has shaved his moustache I don't know what to believe in anymore. Rabbits eat wolves and grass is purple. Who knows anything about politics anymore? Maybe Lieberman can win the prime ministership after all. Even Trump's election and Brexit were more likely than Peretz shaving the most iconic thing he ever had off.

[mèþru]

In unrelated news, the fascists in Italy are being kicked out of government without elections: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49502232

[MacAnDàil]

Or, more exactly, they decided to leave the government, probably in order to gain a majority, and then an alternative government managed to form to replace the earlier one. And the current trend in the polls since Salvini's attempt at full power is gains for the Democratic Party and for 5 Star while Lega Nord is losing support. So, assuming the new coalition had hold things together, they may well manage to get another go after the next election. So rabbits maybe did eat wolves? By working together.