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Jack Lessenberry for Monday, February 6, 2017

There are a lot of things that Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof doesnt like. They include unions, especially teachers unions. The states rule requiring the payment of decent, prevailing wages to workers on state construction jobs. Meekhof is also very much against anything making it easier for people to vote, including making it easier to get absentee ballots.

But he also seems especially determined not to allow citizens to have access to e-mail correspondence about state business carried on by the governor and state legislators.

Ten days ago, he was part of a panel of legislators that appeared before the Michigan Press Associations annual meeting in Grand Rapids. Last December, the state House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation that would have subjected the governors communications to Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA laws.

They also created something called the Legislative Open Records Act that would have done the same thing for legislators. There were a fair amount of exemptions, more than I would have wanted, such as letters to constituents, except for lobbyists, and confidential personal and financial records. But it would have been a vast improvement.

Nearly every other state subjects their governor to FOIA, and most of them also apply FOIA to their legislatures. But not our embarrassingly unethical Michigan, which has been judged worst in the nation for transparency and accountability.

The need for the press and the public to have access to this information was strongly proven by the Flint water crisis. Governor Snyder voluntarily released what he said were his relevant emails, just as Richard Nixon released what he said were the relevant transcripts of his White House tapes. At least one of them wasnt telling the whole truth.

We dont know whether the state Senate would have passed the expanded FOIA rules as well last year, but there is reason to suspect they would have. But Arlan Meekhof, who also doesnt seem to like democracy very much, refused to allow a vote on the issue, and if he has his way, will undoubtedly do the same this year.

Detroit Free Press columnist Brian Dickerson asked Meekhof about this when he appeared at the newspaper convention, and he replied contemptuously, You guys are the only people who care about this."

Well, hes right about something.

We do care. It is our job to care, because we think people should have the right to know what their government is doing for them or to them. Meekhof has to leave the legislature at the end of next year, and wouldnt appear to have any political future.

He would have liked to run for governor, it soon became clear that he had, to put it mildly, insufficient support. His lack of a college degree closes other options.

A cynic might think the Senate majority leader is worried we might find out about him and what hes done, should his records should be made public. We cannot now know.

But we do know that democracy dies behind closed doors and locked file cabinets. We need as citizens to demand that our senators be allowed to vote on whatever new Freedom of Information Act bill the state House of Representatives passes this session.

Otherwise, how can we hold them accountable for what they do?

Jack Lessenberry is Michigan Radios Senior Political Analyst. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

Continued here:
Democracy, dying behind closed records - Michigan Radio

Artur Mas and the other defendants Irene Rigau, left, and Joana Ortega applaud supporters in Barcelona before heading to court. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The former Catalan prime minister Artur Mas has insisted he was following a democratic mandate when he organised a symbolic independence referendum three years ago and had no intention of committing any crime or disobeying anyone.

Mas, who governed Catalonia from 2010 to 2016, appeared in the high court in Barcelona on Monday along with the former vice-president Joana Ortega and former education minister Irene Rigau.

They are accused of criminal disobedience and breach of trust for holding the non-binding referendum in defiance of Spains constitutional court. If convicted, Mas could face a 10-year ban on holding office while Ortega and Rigau could be barred for nine years.

About 40,000 people took to the streets of Barcelona to show their support for the trio as they arrived for the start of their trial. Many held red and yellow separatist flags and some shouted: Independence, independence!, Down with Spains justice system! and We want to vote!

Although the constitutional court ruled the referendum was illegal five days before it was held on 9 November 2014, Mas and others went ahead with the vote, helped by more than 40,000 volunteers who opened schools and installed polling stations.

More than 80% of participants opted for independence, but only 2.3 million of Catalonias 5.4 million eligible voters took part.

Mas declined to answer questions from the prosecution on Monday morning, but told defence lawyers he was responsible for planning and driving the referendum.

However, he denied anyone had been motivated by a simple desire to defy the Spanish authorities. There was no intent to commit any crime or disobey anyone, he said. Our aim was to rise to the challenge and promote participation by all possible means.

Mas also asked why the Spanish judiciary had not done more to prevent the vote, asking: If this was so clearly a crime, why didnt the constitutional court do anything to stop it?

Speaking before the proceedings began, he accused the Spanish authorities of seeking to punish their opponents. Independence isnt on trial here, democracy is on trial, he told Agence France-Presse in the courthouse.

Its the first time that a democratic government is [being] tried for having allowed people to vote. Its an unprecedented moment.

But Spains foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, insisted the trial was merely proof of the rule of law in Spain, adding: What is on trial is an act that failed to acknowledge a constitutional court sentence, nothing more.

The trial, scheduled for five days, comes amid souring relations between Madrid and Barcelona and seven months before the pro-independence Catalan government plans to hold a binding referendum on splitting from Spain.

The renewed push has again been blocked by Spains constitutional court. It has warned Mass successor, Carles Puigdemont, and Carme Forcadell, the speaker of the Catalan parliament, that they had a duty to stop or paralyse any move to ignore or dodge the suspension, or face potential liabilities, including at a penal level. Forcadell faces charges of contempt of court and neglect of duty for allowing the parliament to vote on plans to secede from Spain last July.

While the separatist movement has acquired huge momentum over recent years, any vote would probably be very close. A poll at the end of December showed 46.8% of people in the region are against independence, compared with 45.3% who are in favour.

Read more here:
Former Catalan PM defends 'democratic' independence vote - The Guardian

Written by Chakshu Roy | Published:February 7, 2017 2:08 am More money will also allow the deploying of digital infrastructure to facilitate and encourage citizens engagement with the institution.

It is the season of the Union budget. The focus of discussion within and outside Parliament is about allocation, spending, taxation and reform. Missing from the public discourse is a conversation about Parliaments budget. This year, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been allocated Rs 1,052 crore. It is a 3 per cent increase over last years estimates and 0.049 per cent of our total budget. A 2012 report of the Inter-Parliamentary Union puts this number in perspective: In 2010, the US Congress had a budget of $5.12 billion, followed by the Parliament of Japan at $1.71 billion and France at $1.17 billion. In the same year, the average budget of 110 parliaments was 0.49 per cent of the countrys budget.

Our Parliament is the focal point of our democracy. It shoulders the responsibility of enacting a robust legal framework and holding the government accountable. The houses of Parliament are also supposed to be at the forefront of thought leadership on policy issues. To do its job effectively, Parliament needs adequate resources. However, there has been almost no focused debate about Parliaments financial needs. Public discussion has centred around the salaries and allowances of MPs. And while deriding the free air tickets and housing in Lutyens Delhi makes for entertaining reading, it does not address the gap that exists in Parliaments intellectual and infrastructure requirements.

The Library and Reference, Research, Documentation and Information Service (LARRDIS) is the research arm of Parliament. Its job is to provide research and reference materials to MPs on legislative and other issues. It has a sanctioned strength of 231 staffers. But as per numbers from August 2016, it discharges its duties with a reduced number of 176. Thats about 8 per cent of the strength of the Lok Sabha secretariat, which has about 2,300 staffers. Increased budgetary support to Parliament can be used to increase LARRDISs staff strength, enable professional development of its researchers and allow MPs to employ professional research staff .

This is not a new idea. The Congressional Research Service housed in the Library of the US Congress employs 600 people. According to its website, more than 400 of these employees are policy analysts, attorneys and information professionals working across a variety of disciplines. In addition, the Congressional Budget Office employs another 200 professionals. Many other parliaments recognise the importance of providing MPs with non-partisan research. These supplement MPs intellectual depth by giving them funds to hire research teams.

Our Parliament is one of a handful which has a wealth of information available on its website. More money will also allow the deploying of digital infrastructure to facilitate and encourage citizens engagement with the institution. For example, debates are available in text form. Linking them to recorded video proceedings available with the television channels of both houses will draw in a younger generation.

Somnath Chatterjee, speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha, wrote in his memoirs: The greatness of Parliament lies not just in its majestic building, but is derived from and sustained by the quality of debates that take place inside it. Investing in Parliament will deepen and sharpen its deliberations, resulting in effective governance frameworks. After all, we shouldnt expect a great Parliament without providing the money for one.

More:
Budgeting For Democracy - The Indian Express

T&T is a democracy. A democracy is defined as a state under the direct or representative rule of its people. The government rules but are the people represented?

Democracy is a factor of the rule of law. The rule of law is de facto the protection of citizens. Are we safe?

A democracy's foundation is, in practice, built on the integrity of institutions. T&T's institutions have become asylums for political kleptocracy. What form of democracy is T&T?

The commerce constituent of a democracy is the equal opportunity, fair competition and free market economic model of capitalism. T&T's State-owned enterprises (SOE's) and (government) special purpose companies have developed a monopoly/oligarchy that unfairly competes with private/free enterprise.

T&T's political system is a (parliamentary) democracy, but so is Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Venezuela. Although the above-mentioned nations are defined as democracies, in practice, they are collapsed democracies evidenced by their failed state status.

It is instructive that Zimbabwe was once the food production mecca of Africa, the Congo is endowed with vast natural resource wealth, Nigeria is rich in oil and Venezuela, a First World modern country, with arguably the biggest oil reserves in the world, all have fallen under the yoke of a false democracy ruled by political malpractices.

Is T&T a democracy? Yes, of course we are. But the moot question to ask is, what kind of democracy are we''?

I offer the argument to the question stated above, with justification supported by empirical evidence, that T&T's state of democracy is substantially illustrated in the quotations that follow

Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty. Plato

A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51 per cent of the people may take away the rights of the other 49.Thomas Jefferson

We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both.Louis D Brandeis

Continue reading here:
What's the state of democracy, T&T? - Trinidad & Tobago Express

By: PTI | New Delhi | Published:February 6, 2017 11:19 pm Kharge said it was not right to say that Congress did nothing over the last 60 years as Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and other leaders of the party had made sacrifices for the nation. (Representational Image)

If Narendra Modi has become the Prime Minister despite his poor background, it is because we preserved democracy. This is what Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said while responding to oft-repeated contention of the BJP that nothing was done during the Congress rule in 60 years.

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The claim over who made sacrifices for the countrys independence also led to a clash between BJP and Congress members during a debate on Motion of Thanks to the Presidents Address. Kharge said it was not right to say that Congress did nothing over the last 60 years as Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and other leaders of the party had made sacrifices for the nation.

The Congress leader took objection to BJPs contention that all development was taking place only under the Modi government.

He said the current NDA dispensation would even go on to claim that the Green and White revolutions took place under it.

Taking a dig, he said BJP would claim that even Verghese Kurien, father of White Revolution, was born during the Modi government.

When people were facing hunger, it was Congress which gave them food, he said. It was done by Indira Gandhi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi was quick to add.

Amid continued alteraction between the two sides continued, Kharge said over the 60 years, Congress had preserved Constitution and democracy because of which Modi could become the Prime Minister.

If anybody has to be given credit, it is Congress, Nehru and Indira. You are asking what happened in 60 years? If nothing had happened, you would not have been alive and Constitution would not have been protected, he said.

If anybody worked to protect the Constitution, it was us, he said, adding You emotionally exploit people in the name of the religion. You are trying to break the nation. It is because of the Congress party that democracy and the Constitution has been protected. It has played a pivotal role in preserving democracy.

He said nobody has made sacrifices from BJP and in this regard used a certain word.

The ruling side reacted sharply to the use of that word and demanded apology from Kharge besides expunging of the unparliamentary word.

We condemn this. Lakhs of people have sacrificed their lives for the nation. Congress party is not the custodian of making sacrifices, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar who was seen interacting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the remark was made.

He said Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of BJPs ideological parent Bhartiya Jana Sangh had laid down his life in Kashmir for the unity of the nation.

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay (another Jana Sangh stalwart) also laid down his life for the country, Kumar said.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan also took objection to use of the word uttered by Kharge and said the word will not go on record.

What is wrong has be to called a wrong. There are different versions of history. There is no reason for any controversy over the issue, he said.

But the Congress too protested for expunging the word.

Some BJP members said Indira had imposed Emergency in the country.

Sonia was quick to react, we have an Emergency even today.

Kharge added: at that time, it was a declared Emergency. Under you there is an undeclared Emergency. No journalist can say anything, nobody can do anything

At another point, when Kharge flayed the government over merger of railway budget and rising number of derailments, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey questioned him as to what he had done when he was Railway Minister in UPA-II.

Hitting back, but in a lighter vein, Kharge said, I am aware that you (Dubey) love us (the Congress), but you have been married to them (the BJP). How much you love Modi ji, he will not make you the minister.

This led everyone, including Modi, in splits.

Read the rest here:
We preserved democracy because of which Modi could become PM: Congress - The Indian Express