Yearbook 2008 Bolivia. The constitutional issues also dominated this year in Bolivia. In August, a vote of confidence was held on President Evo Morales and the nine provincial governors of eastern Bolivia (the so-called Crescent Moon) who oppose the centralization of power to La Paz. Morales received unequivocal support; nearly 68 percent of voters supported…
Author: payhelpcenter
Bhutan 2008
Yearbook 2008 Bhutan. On March 24, elections were held for the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. Elections to the upper house had been made on December 31, 2007. These were Bhutan’s first free elections after a hundred years of absolute monarchy. The election to the National Assembly became a landslide victory for one…
Benin 2008
Yearbook 2008 Benin. In a politically relatively quiet year with no general election, the most notable event was a brief visit by US President George W. Bush, who in February embarked on a quick African tour of Benin. Bush described Benin’s now stable democracy as one of the African success countries that the United States…
Belize 2008
Yearbook 2008 Belize. The main opposition party United Democratic Party (UDP) won a landslide victory in the general elections to Parliament on February 7 with 57 percent of the votes cast. The People’s United Party (PUP) government gained only 41 percent and must leave the post after ten years in power, mainly due to dissatisfaction…
Belgium 2008
Yearbook 2008 Belgium. At the beginning of the year, talks on government formation resumed after the June 2007 elections, which led to a political deadlock. Finally, the parties agreed on minor constitutional changes, which on certain issues increased the influence of the regions at the expense of the federal government. On March 20, nine months…
Belarus 2008
Yearbook 2008 Belarus. In February, imprisoned opposition leader Aljaksandr Kozulin went hungry to attend his wife’s funeral. The EU and the US called on Belarus to respond to Kozulin’s wishes and to release all political prisoners. The authorities released Kozulin for three days, but when some opposition activists were released for good he was not…
Barbados 2008
Yearbook 2008 Barbados. A change of government was the result of the January 15 parliamentary elections, when opposition Democratic Workers ‘Party (DLP) won big over ruling Barbados Workers’ Party (BLP) with 20 seats (53 percent of the vote) against 10 (46.5 percent). BLP with Prime Minister Owen Arthur at the head had then ruled the…
Bangladesh 2008
Yearbook 2008 Bangladesh. After an interruption of 43 years, direct train traffic between Dhaka and Indian Calcutta resumed in April. In June, it emerged that the documents on which Bangladesh’s Declaration of Independence was signed in 1971 had disappeared. The loss was discovered when various government documents were handed over to the National Archives. Rising…
Bahrain 2008
Yearbook 2008 Bahrain. Approximately 2,500 people were reported in February to have demonstrated in the capital Manama demanding that the Shi’ite Muslim activists arrested in the northern part of the kingdom in December 2007 be released. In May, King Shaykh Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah appointed Hoda Nono – woman, Jewess and member of the…
Bahamas 2008
Yearbook 2008 Bahamas. In April, the US Coast Guard made a tragic finding off the coast of Bahamas; 20 refugees (probably Haitians) were found dead in the waters a few miles outside Nassau. Their boat had crashed and only three people could be rescued. Coastguards had been alerted by fishermen who heard the distress call….