Unfortunately, the past year was dominated by further repression of the press and internet, the prosecution of civic activists and the lawyers who represent them, and increased efforts to keep religion under the control of the state. [...] When the Oceania countries of Australia and New Zealand and the small island nations such as Vanuatu and Nauru are factored out of the analysis, the gains for freedom in Asia appear somewhat less impressive over the life of the Freedom in the World survey. [...] The promising achievements of the Cedar Revo- lution were seriously jeopardized by the conflict with Israel that erupted as a result of the actions of the Hezbollah militia's capture of an Israeli serviceman, followed by Hezbollah's efforts to bring down the elected government, and especially by Syria and Iran's ongoing campaigns to destroy the country's democracy. [...] The safety of winners in the postelection period was threatened by a law known as the "assassi- nation clause," which stated that if the winning candidate died or was disqualified prior to the convening of the new Parliament, his seat would be filled by the candi- date with the next highest number of votes. [...] The balance of power between the executive and the newly functioning legislature, as well as between the centrally appointed provincial governors and the newly elected local bodies, remained contentious and subject to negotiation throughout the year, as the process of de- fining the roles and responsibilities of various branches of government continued.
- Pages
- 1030
- Published in
- Hungary
