The general election in Italy ended in a political gridlock as no party was able to gain a majority in the senate while in the house a coalition of the center-left Italy Common Good gained enough support to gain a majority. In the senate, the votes gained by upstart former comedian Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement that is against the euro prevents an active coalition being formed. Former Prime Minister Silvio Burlusconi's People of Freedom coalition gained 29.1% of the vote despite Burlusconi being on trial for seeing an underage prostitute with the promise of repealing a recent property tax that has proven very unpopular. Economists fear an economic downturn based on gridlock, the showing of the anti-euro faction, and the probability of another election soon. New austerity measures, which many see as essential to the Italian economy are politically impossible with the outcome of the election.
The South Africa's Priority Crimes Litigation Unit of National Prosecuting Authority and the Directorate for the Priority Crime Investigation Unit of the Police Service are to open an investigation of the use of wide-spread rape by members of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's political party ZANU-PF as a political tool in the 2008 presidential election according to NGO AIDS Free World. A South African court ruled in 2012 that the country was obligated to investigate the charges due to international law obligations. This may be the first time that "universal jurisdiction" has been claimed in a rape case.
Evidence has been gathered from 84 victims in Zimbabwe that have identified over 200 perpetrators and organizers. According to the reports rapists would wear ZANU-PF shirts, sing party songs and made political statements. Victims would be taken to party camps that may be used during this year's election and raped on average at least five times but that may be an underestimate since many of the women fell unconscious during the rapes. None of the rapists have been charged by Zimbabwe authorities.
The investigation is seen as putting Mugabe on notice that he is being watched while a constitutional referendum and a national election go on this year. Zimbabwe refuses to ratify the International Criminal Court and is protected from investigation by China's UN veto. There are also reports that civil society leaders in Zimbabwe have been arrested or attacked in recent weeks in advance of the votes.
On February 21st the Bulgarian parliament accepted the resignation of the government in the wake of a three week long bloody protest against current austerity policies that have seen electricity cost clime over 13% in the last six months. Mismanagement and corruption, including accusations of a proposed electrical board commissioner were also points of the protest. While the austerity policies have hit the weak middle class in the country they have enabled the government to avoid asking for a financial bail-out. A caretaker government will be appointed and elections will be held in April or May. In the meantime, the contract with a Czech electrical firm, which is one of the three main power suppliers in the country, will be reviewed.
Protester's chants of "No parties!" have underlined the public discontent in the current political system. Price fixing by the electrical firms have squeezed people on fixed incomes who now have a power bill in excess of their monthly funds. Protesters have specific demands that would promote government openness: cancellation of electricity contracts and nationalization of future ones, declassification and revision of all privatization contracts over the last 24 years, an end to the privatization process, formation of a constituent assembly to revise the constitution with specific measures to move the legislature closer to the people. Bulgaria is just the latest western country to feel pressure from common citizens since the 2008 financial crisis.
Rafael Correa yesterday won a third term as Ecuador's president with an impressive 63% of the vote on Sunday. Guillermao Lasso, a former Correa supporter, had 21% and right-wing candidate Lucio Gutierrez had 6%. Correa has been considered a populist who has dropped the poverty rate in Ecuador by five percentage points by lavish spending on social programs backed by oil exports mainly to China. He has taken criticism from the left for attacks on press liberties and for not supporting locals opposed to heavy mining in the country. International critics in the west have lambasted him as a populist strongman when he defaulted on $3.9 billion in foreign investment obligations when he first took office and when he granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange last year.
