International Politics Update

I just came across two interesting articles about the intersection of the web and politics overseas.

-The ruling party in Malaysia now requires all candidates for internal party positions create a blog introducing themselves and their political plans. This is widely thought to be a reaction to the heavy losses suffered by the ruling coalition in the March general elections, which in part were blamed on underestimating the strength of campaigning online. Abdul Rahman Dahlan, secretary general of the youth wing of the United Malays National Party, went as far as stating that "[a]ll candidates must have blogs..if not, they are not qualified to be leaders.

-This article details how "the clash over Pakistan's future" is being fought on Facebook. Pakistan has censored several blogs critical of current President Pervez Musharraf. Facebook, however, has been left untouched. As a result, a lot of the online dialogue and debate over who should lead Pakistan has taken place in Facebook groups with names like "THE ONLY HOPE - MUSHARRAF" and "I think a turnip would make a better Head of State than Musharraf."