Consolidating Parliamentary Democracy: Opinion
Out, Damned Spots: Hard Work to Rid Trade of Blood
By Tim Hughes
18 January 2007, Business Day
HOLLYWOOD is no longer a diamond’s best friend. Nominated for a number of industry awards, the blockbuster film Blood Diamond represents the greatest public relations challenge to the diamond industry since the exposure of the role diamonds played in fuelling civil wars and conflict in southern, west and central Africa in the 1990s. Indeed, the film itself is set in Sierra Leone in the 1990s and would have been of far greater social and political impact had it been made then.
Are blood diamonds forever?
By Tim Hughes
8 November 2006, Business Day
SECRETIVE, collusive and brutal, or progressive, developmental and transparent? These are the two faces the diamond industry is attempting to come to grips with. Historically, the former reputation is well-earned and well-deserved. Today, the picture is markedly different.
Democracy in the Balance: Parliament’s Window of Opportunity
July 2006, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation SA Reconciliation Barometer
Current debate on the relationship between the executive and legislature may help the South African Parliament to define itself as a genuine ‘people’s parliament’ in the eyes of the public, says TIM HUGHES, team leader of the South African Institute for International Affairs’ Programme for Parliamentary Democracy in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region.
Fine Art of Selling SA to the World
By Tim Hughes
20 June 2006, Business Day
ZIMBABWE is off the radar screen; HIV is off the radar screen. Can you believe not a single British journalist requested an interview about Jacob Zuma’s trial?” This is the Utopia recently portrayed by SA’s high commissioner to the UK, Lindiwe Mabuza. These assertions are as dangerous as they are disingenuous.
Hamas: The Burden of Leadership
By Tim Hughes
20 April 2006, Business Day
THE landlocked Palestinian microstate, one sixth the size of Lesotho, is in danger of dying before it is born. Hamas will be the state’s midwife or undertaker.
What is Hamas Doing in South Africa?
by Tim Hughes
31 March 2006, Haaretz.com
"There will be cloudy weather over parts of racist South Africa," Zimbabwean TV weather anchors would forecast during the dark days of apartheid. Understandable perhaps, but bizarre. Fast forward to contemporary Israel and one wonders whether a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority will accept assistance in dealing with avian flu from the non-existent State of Israel?
Israelis Apathetic Over Today's Vital Election
by Tim Hughes
28 March 2006, The Mercury
Jerusalem: Kadima! The truck driver yelled on the street below. Was the Israeli election campaign finally hitting the streets of Tel Aviv?
Time to Bring Democracy Back to Parliament
By Tim Hughes
3 February 2006, Business Day
WE THE people are allowing South African parliamentary democracy to fail us. To illustrate the point, how many readers of Business Day have participated in Parliament, attended a parliamentary portfolio committee meeting, or even met the MP who is assigned to their constituency?
The Elusive Search for an African NGO?
By Tim Hughes
3 October 2005, Cape Times
The apartheid regime funded, banned and bombed them, the Mugabe regime is legislating them out of existence and the Godfather of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is now questioning their integrity.
SADC's League of Honourable Gentlemen
By Tim Hughes
Sunday Independent, 17 July 2005
They constitute a league of Honourable, if not always extraordinary, gentlemen. They are the leaders of opposition parties in SADC. They share much in common besides being late-middle-aged males wandering in the political wilderness.
Sleutelrol vir LP's om leiers in toom te hou : Tim Hughes oor Afrika
Tim Hughes
Die Burger, 21 March 2005
Demokrasie is duur maar die alternatiewe kan veel duurder wees. Die transformasie van Afrika en meer spesifiek Suider-Afrika van sy diktature en oligargieë na wydverspreide demokrasie is nie minder besonders as die val van sosialistiese regimes in Oos Europa nie.
Harmony and discord in South African foreign policy making, composers conductors & players
Review by Will Bernard
SAfm, 13 March 2005
It’s no secret that I am a fan of the many books emanating from the South African Institute for International Affairs. Not only does the institute boast a veritable posse of dam fine writers, it also seems to be their main aim to cut through the clutter, writing with clarity and simplicity that makes easily digestible that which many practitioners would prefer to remain an arcane subject.
Plotting the decline of a tyrant
Tim Hughes
Business Day, 25 April 2005
Tyranny is rule by fear. The government of Zimbabwe is a tyranny. Tyrannies lack legitimacy and popular consent, relying rather on the abuse of state power to remain in office. Insofar as the state has a virtual monopoly on the instruments and use of force, this presents a potent weapon in the hands of a tyrant. Tyrannies deftly and crudely manipulate the discourse and institutions of democracy while simultaneously occluding its space.
