DEMocracy, Liberal and Secular Swill

We start the day with a snippet from AP, something not found in Malaysiakini and certainly not in the People's Parliament!

By SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press Writer Tue Jul 15, 2:08 PM ET
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey's Islamic-rooted government was elected last year with a huge majority, continues to bask in popular support — and will probably fall within a month.

Well and good.. ah what a triumph for good old democracy u might say.. but whoa there when you get to this part of the same article. Impartiality of the judiciary certainly alive and kicking here unlike in Bolehland :

The strange state of affairs is not due to any internal revolt or opposition threat, but to a case before Turkey's Constitutional Court that seeks to ban the Justice and Development Party on charges of undermining secularism.With the court stacked with members of the secular elite, many Turks expect to see their democratically elected government booted out.The consequences could be grave for Turkey's bid to join the European Union and for stability in this NATO member of 70 million people that strategically straddles Europe and the Middle East.Foreign investors could be unsettled, and political gridlock would halt crucial reforms. Perhaps most importantly, such a radical step would trigger questions in an already leery EU about whether Turkey is the mature democracy it portrays itself to be.

and all the hoo -ha is over this... rings a bell somewhere PAS?:

The indictment cites the government's effort to lift a ban on Islamic head scarves in universities and other measures meant to expand the rights of devout Muslims in the educational system, as well as attempts to shut down pig farms and restrict alcohol advertising on TV.

Now, this is the interesting part or rather fart:

But some observers, including EU leaders weighing Turkey's membership bid, are beginning to consider the AKP as better for democracy than the secularists, whose intolerance of religious symbolism is seen as running counter to liberal values. In turning the principles of Ataturk into a rigid orthodoxy, the secularists have shown a strong authoritarian streak that sits ill with the nation's ambitions to join the European bloc. And their nationalism has led them to bridle at most EU demands for reform. By contrast, the government has been credited with maintaining the political and financial stability seen as critical to bringing about reforms needed to revive the nation's EU bid, including curbing the military's say in politics and expanding free speech.

and poor common man, what chance do thou have except to bleat :

"AKP represents a pathway to freedom for the people," said Osman Yuksel, a 41-year-old shop owner. "Closing the AKP would be wrong and will not solve any problems. I do not think AKP is a threat to secularism. That idea is just a fixation of the military."

for in the end when push comes to shove, dem liberals certainly will not have any qualms of defending the status quo. Majority and popularity be damned! (shades of 79 trying to wrest power from 140, dont you think? .......back out there somewhere in the global boondocks):

Still, any attempt to relax the state's uncompromisingly secular stance in this 99 percent Muslim country has long been met with strident protests from the urban elite as well as the army — which has staged three coups amid civil strife or political turmoil since the 1960s.

to get the unexpurgated version, click this link

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080715/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_political_crisis;_ylt=AvIvULRPGU3f5IeBYOhbqlWs0NUE

well, this is not the first time, it has happened .. remember how Necmetian Erbakan was manouvred out a few years back and his Refah was the precursor to the Justice and Development Party:

A faction of moderate conservative members within the now-banned Welfare Party, known as Yenilikçiler, or in English, the Reformist faction, formed the Justice and Development Party on August 14 2001.,

(source :Wikipedia)

and jumping jeepers.. i bet even the sodomy prosecutors cant beat this one:

The prosecution supports this ban with "evidence" it has lifted from Google. (source : Wikipedia under Justice and Development Party)

And when you have the same ol story in democracies elsewhere.. remember FIS and Abbas Madani in Algeria in the 80s and 90s, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the 1950s and the demonising of Obama in the US of A ....... Jangan Tak Pandang Belakang..ya ..do you hear me PAS?

whither the theology of liberal - secualrism and its poodle,Democracy?..... i wonder my dear buffalo.