First to Northern Ireland, aka Ulster, which has been struggling for a century to rid itself of the British imperialists. [Your bias is showing. Ed.] Leading the fight to reunite the counties of the North with the rest of Eire is Sinn Féin, the political arm of the IRA.
Within minutes of taking his seat in Stormont (aka the Northern Ireland Assembly) in 1998, Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness pointed his finger at Ian Paisley, leader of the Protestant Baskets Democractic Unionist Party, and declared, "We've arrived. Change is coming and there's nothing you can do about it." He was right!
Almost complete results from Thursday's election show Sinn Féin poised to replace the DUP as the largest party at Stormont, with its leader, Mary Lou McDonald becoming first minister. That will be a first for a nationalist party. A unionist party -- pledged to keep Ulster a part of the so-called United Kingdom -- has always been the largest in the Assembly, and previously the parliament, since the formation of Northern Ireland in 1921.
Voters in the Philippines go to the polls on Monday. I like the Philippines, and Filipino people, but they do seem to have trouble electing good governments, as a result of which the country suffers from poverty caused by incompetence, corruption and general misrule.
Part of the problem is the Filipino attraction to celebrities, even stronger than that of Americans. Only in America (some say) could movie stars and media personalities become governors, senators and even President. Not so! In PI they elect movie stars and singers, sure, but also boxers, beauty contest winners and celebrities of all stripes. Ordinary people -- the "Jose Rodrigues goes to Manila" types -- don't stand a chance.
If you watch the excellent GMA video of "Lupang hinirang", the national anthem of the Philippines, you'll see, at about 2:10, a nice image of a nun holding a rosary and celebrating the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. Millions of Filipinos from all walks of life marched along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), the main artery of Metro Manila, to end the dictatorship of President Ferdinand E. Marcos and begin a new era marked by true freedom and democracy.
Now, on May 9th, it looks likely that the same people who celebrated President Marcos' downfall will put his son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., back into the presidensity. That's him -- little "Bongbong" (one of those Filipino "doorbell names") -- in the camo outfit, in front of his adoring father and Mother Imelda of the 1000 Shoes.
Young Mr Marcos has been busy rehabilitating the image of his kleptocratic parents. In his TV ads, as the voices of a choir soar to a crescendo, he raises a fist to his chest and speaks into the camera: "Together, we will rise again."
Should Bongbong be successful, it will cap one of the most remarkable resurrections since Lazarus. He has benefited from a campaign to reshape the narrative around his father, casting him not as the brutal dictator that he was, but a patriotic hero who oversaw a period of economic stability and growth for the Philippines. As the country struggles with the Wuhan flu and economic stagnation, many hope to see a return to this mythical golden era.
While Mr Marcos’ supporters argue that he should not be judged for the sins of his father, opponents fear he will continue the authoritarian trend started by outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, who launched a brutal war on drugs, locked up critics and attacked the free press. Mr Marcos has been boosted by the endorsement of... wait for it... Sara Duterte, the President's daughter, who is running for vice-president (elected separately in the Philippines).
Polling in the final week of othe campaign suggests Junior could win in a landslide. For the poor people of the Philippines, it looks like back to the future... and they will have no-one to blame but themselves.
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