On elections...

A couple of weeks to the end of the year yet for some countries, these next couple of weeks are extremely important.

For example, Australia has its federal elections on the 24th of November. It's the first time in a long time that the incumbent John Howard, feels uneasy about retaining his seat. While most of the Commonwealth countries may not consider this election critical (considering that the country has a stable and vibrant democracy), the "coalition of the willing" aka the Bush administration in the US will want to see Howard return to power (considering Gordon Brown isn't as friendly as Blair was).

Then there's Venezuela's constitutional referendum on the 2nd of December. It's interesting to note how determined the administration is create a socialist state. There's concern about the violence that broke out earlier this month opposing that move and one hopes that there will be no such violence on the 2nd of Dec.

Lastly there's South Korea. Having mused about the country before, one is left wondering what will happen should the new administration get in a decide to make radical changes to one those from outside may perceive as rather rational economic, social and industrialization policies.

Elections on interest in other nations Denmark ( 13th of Nov.), Jordan (20th of Nov.), Croatia (25th of Nov.), Switzerland (12th of Dec.), Thailand (23rd of Dec.) and Kenya (27th of Dec.).