GEOPOLITICA DEL MONDO MODERNO

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Asia @en - page 8

Night of terror in Dhaka: 20 hostages killed

Asia @en/BreakingNews @en di

A commando of Islamists probably affiliated to the Islamic State attacked with firearms and sidearms a restaurant attended by foreigners in the diplomatic area of the capital of Bangladesh. This morning at 7.40, am after a night of stall, special army forces intervened with a flash blitz killing six attackers and freeing 13 hostages. A seventh terrorist was arrested. Two police officers were killed during the operation.

On the floor of the restaurant were found the bodies of 20 hostages, almost all them of Italian and Japanese nationality, as reported by local sources.

Many of the victims would present fatal wounds caused by sharp weapons. An employee of the restaurant kitchens, escaped the massacre, said that the bombers have penetrated the local armed with guns, grenades and swords, at 8:45 pm on Friday, shouting “God is great”, while 20 clients of foreign nationality (including which several diplomats and Italian entrepreneurs of the textile industry) were having dinner, along with the local clientele.

To outcry followed the gunfire and explosions. Many staff members, including the Italian chef of Holey Artisan Bakery, and several dozen customers have been able to get to safety before the bombers blocked the doors and barricade inside the restaurant. According to some sources, yet to be verified, the bombers would then dedicated to the massacre, brutally killing the hostages unable to recite passages from the Koran.

Some of the employees were holed up in the bathroom, managing to save himself and starting to communicate with the outside world through mobile and social media. A crowd of about two hundred people, made up of curious, friends and relatives of the hostages, had gathered near the restaurant while the police began to outline the area and to secure the perimeter.

The blitz tof his morning ended a 10-hour siege. The identity of the victims has yet to be verified.

Today’s deaths are added to the 40 killed in the Asian country from 2013 onwards for Islamist militants hand. The victims, including foreign, atheist blogger, the gay community activists and members of religious minorities, were often slaughtered with machetes, in an unprecedented blaze of violence organized and coordinated by terrorist groups with international links. Police responded, in recent months, with a crackdown against militant Islamism that led to the arrest of more than 10,000 people across the country.

So far, though, the Bangladeshi authorities had rejected the idea that local groups could be part of a transnational Islamist networks. Today’s attack will likely force them to reconsider that position.

Luca Marchesini

The US warn Beijing in the South China Sea

Asia @en/BreakingNews @en di

The United States have decided to flex its muscles in the South China Sea to reassure regional allies and send a clear message to China, whose claims on the area appear more and more explicit.

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Two Americans Carrier Strike Group (CSG), each composed of a aircraft carriers and other warships of large size, started last Saturday a series of military exercises in the territorial waters of the Philippines, a key ally in the dispute for the control of the South Asian seas.

The drill involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers Ronald Reagan and John C. Stennis, 12,000 sailors, 140 aircraft and six battleships, a few days from the judgment that an international court is preparing to issue about the Chinese claims on the disputed sea stretches. The message is clear: the US does not intend to leave field to the Chinese opponent and regional allies, from the Philippines, will not be left alone in the face of Beijing’s pressures.

The American ships began to carry out air defense, maritime surveillance and long-range attack maneuvers, showcasing their firepower not far from the disputed waters, in which China continues its constructive activities of artificial atolls for civilian and military purposes.

The intent of the drills, in the formal language of the navy information bulletins, would be to promote the freedom of navigation and overflight in the waters and on the skies of the area. The statements that come from commands better clarify the purpose of the drill: ” (This) has been a great opportunity for us to train on how we would operate multiple Carrier Strike Sroups in a contested environment” explained Admiral John Alexander .

By Philippine, military mobilization is the clear demonstration that the US is determined to give credence to their ” ironclad commitment”, reiterated on several occasions, in favor Asian ally. ” e welcome the strong cooperation and partnership we have with our friends and allies … in light of (the dispute) where our legitimate rights have been overstepped” said Peter Galvez, spokesman of the Philippine Department of Defense.

The reference is to the decision, expected in a few weeks, in which the Court of Permanent Arbitration of The Hague will speak about the legitimacy of the Beijing claims on the the South China Sea waters, one of the most important navigable areas of the world, from economic and strategic points of view, on which also overlook Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan and on which the interests of China, US and Japan gather.

The ruling will likely be favorable to the Philippines, which addressed to the international court to counter Chinese expansion. China, for its part, has decided to ignore the court, to which does not recognize any jurisdiction over the matter, and did not take part in the proceedings.

 

Luca Marchesini

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The Indo-Afghan “friendship dam” and the Pakistan variable

Asia @en/BreakingNews @en/Far East di

The long wave of war that ushered in the era post 11/9 has come to seriously damage the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, whose common border, weak and porous, has for years been the scene of Taliban militia incursions and growing tensions between Kabul and Karachi.

In the space created by the slow process of removal gradually entered the historic enemy of Pakistan, the India Narendra Modi. The unprecedented cooperation between India and Afghanistan now travels on a dual track, military and economic, with supplies of armaments and infrastructure investments for a billion dollars. New Dheli put on the plate the resources to build a new National Assembly in Kabul, renew the road network and enhance the power lines of the nearby Asian country battered by decades of conflict, also investing resources on humanitarian initiatives.

The emblem of this renewed relationship, which Pakistan looks to with obvious hostility, was the inauguration, two days ago,  of the “Friendship Dam” (Salma Dam), with the presence of President Modi and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani. The largest hydroelectric plant in the province of Herat, severely damaged during the civil war of the 90s, has been completely rebuilt. The project was funded with an investment of $ 300 million and for its realization 1,500 Afghan and Indian engineers worked together.

High more than 100 meters and long more than half a kilometer, the dam will be capable of generating 42 megawatts of power and will help the irrigation of 75,000 hectares of agricultural land, according to a statement released from the President Modi. The electricity generated by the plant will illuminate the houses and the streets of 560 villages and 260,000 households in the region.

The two presidents officially inaugurated the dam pressing together the starting button. The dam, President Ghani wrote in a post after the ceremony, ” another big step in deepening and broadening the relationship between Afghanistan and India “. For Modi will be the symbol of friendship between the two great neighbors and  will ” usher in hope, light up homes, nourish the fertile fields of Herat and bring prosperity to the people of the region”.

In the triangle of Central Asian relations it remains the unknown factor of the third element, the friend removed that sees his enemy take over his place. Afghanistan has long been subjected to the sphere of influence of Pakistan and India has often preferred to keep its distance. This rapprochement between New Dheli and Kabul, also on the level of military cooperation, can only put in stirring the Pakistani government and the powerful military service system, which for years have considered Afghanistan as its backyard. Also on the long-standing issue of Kashmir repercussions could occur, since Afghanistan, with its eastern offshoots, looks onto the disputed region.

 

Luca Marchesini

China: Xinjiang, bilingualism to reduce ethnic tensions

Asia @en di

The peak of ethnic tension in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China, was reached in July 2009, when in the capital of Urumqi thousands of Uyghurs clashed with Han ethnic groups. The police forces, sent to suppress clashes, were soon to face both sides and responded harshly. According to official figures released by the Chinese authorities the riots ended with 197 dead and 1721 injured. Other sources close to the Uyghurs, claimed that the victims were actually a few hundred. Human Rights Watch testified that there were police raids in the days following the clashes, with the subsequent disappearance of dozens of Uighur militants.

The tension between Uyghurs and Han has gone on for many decades, in fact since 1949, when the People’s Liberation Army took control of what was called the Second Republic of Eastern Turkestan, annexing it to the nascent Republic of China. That it was an imperialistic invasion or a peaceful annexation with the consent of the inhabitants has since then be subject of discussion and confrontation. Certainly, the strong independence movement that claims to represent 45% of the Uighur Muslim population against social and demographic invasion of the China of the Han, the main group of the whole country, has always fought to preserve the cultural specificity of Xinjiang minorities, coming several times to open conflict with the central state authorities.
Since 2009 there no other episodes of similar severity has happened, but accidents are not missed and tensions remain. The Han, which account for 41% of the region population compared to 45% of the Uyghurs, complain of discrimination on various fronts, including the workplace. Uyghurs and other minorities of the largest administrative division of the People’s Republic, continue instead to oppose what they see as China’s cultural imperialism, whose main instrument is identified in the imposition of Mandarin as the official language at the expense of the indigenous languages ​​of Turkmen origin.
To ease tensions and try to start an ethnic peace process, the central authorities have decided to promote a campaign for the dissemination of bilingualism in preschool education, as to allow the younger generations to master both Mandarin and indigenous languages. Xinjiang will thus be allowed to use central government funds to take from two to three years the period of bilingual preschool education provided to rural areas in the next four years, from 2016 to 2020. The aim is to bring 85% of children in the region, by 2020, to have access to these programs.
Funds budgeted for the first year is 154 million dollars and will be used for the construction of 552 bilingual kindergartens in the autonomous region, starting from the rural areas of the south.

 

Luca Marchesini

Hot Spot – The Crisis Areas

Americas/Asia @en/South Asia di

There are several crisis areas in the world. The events shown below talk about many wars and clashes in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia.

 

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Egypt

8 policemen were killed on Sunday May 8 during an attack on a checkpoint close to Helwan police station. Islamic State and “Popular Resistance” movement claimed responsibility.

Turkey

Two cross-borders operations for Turkish forces. The first one against PKK in Iraq, the second one against Daesh in Syria. This one was conducted by 20 special forces team which killed about 55 jihadists. While other 63 were killed at the beginning of May, after Turkish airstrikes in Northern Syria.

Syria

As in Iraq, U.S. and coalition military is continuing to fight ISIS in Syria. Particularly, U.S Department of Defense disclosed that “attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted eight strikes in Syria:

— Near Manbij, two strikes destroyed two ISIL vehicles and an ISIL fighting position.

— Near Mar’a, three strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions.

— Near Palmyra, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

— Near Waleed, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL storage facility and an ISIL bed-down location, and damaged another storage facility and bed-down location. “

More than 70 killed after fighting between regular army and rebels in Aleppo on May 6. As reported by Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 30 of them were soldiers, while over 40 Nusra Front militants.

On Thursday May 5, 12 people killed after a terrorist attack close to an army conscription office east of Homs. Here, the same day, ISIS positions were bombed Russian, and Syrian airplanes.

About 30 people were killed in an air assault on a refugee camp near Sarmada. This attack were not claimed, but it’s probably by Russian or Syrian airplanes.

Libya

On Thursday May 5, Islamic State militants attacked some village between Sirte and Misurata: 5 people were killed.

As already foretold by international press, General Khalifa Haftar began attacking on Daesh in Sirte on May 4. He’s determined to continue despite Fayez Serraj wants to suspend every attack.

Myanmar

Regular army offensive against Kachin independence army positions on Wednesday May 4. At least 5 people killed and several casualties, including women.

Iraq

“U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq yesterday, “ Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported on May 8.

Iraqi security forces and al Hashed al Sha’bi militia killed 25 ISIS jihadist on May 7. “The security forces conducted proactive operations that targeted the headquarters and gatherings of ISIS in the areas of al-Hur and Zebin al-Hanshl in the vicinity of al-Ameriyat (18 km south of Fallujah), resulting in the death of 25 ISIS elements.” the commander of the 1st brigade within al-Hashed al-Sha’bi militia in al-Ameriyat, Abbas al-Issawi, said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com.

An U.S soldier killed after ISIS attack on Peshmerga defense near Mosul at the beginning of May, as the international coalition spokesman Steve Warren announced said on Thursday. but “The Peshmerga forces managed to kill 60 members of ISIS and destructed three car bombs, as well as tightening their grip on the region,” he ended. While at least 100 civilians escaped from ISIS territory in Kirkuk.

On May 1, two Samawah explosions killed about 40 people and at least 86 casualties.

Ukraine

3 people killed following clashes between Ukrainian army and rebels, despite the ceasefire.

Afghanistan

Between April 30 and May 1, AAF bombed militants in eastern Nangarhar province killing about 60 of them, while ANSF killed at least 65 jihadists during raids in Khash Rod district of Nimroz, Badakhshan province, Qads district of Badghis and in Deh Yak and Gilan districts of Ghazni province, as reported by the Ministry of Defense.

Saudi Arabia

Daesh militants killed a Saudi soldier during a battle in the western Taif region on May 7. Two assailants opened fire on a police station before retreating to the mountain village of Thaqeef where the soldier was killed.

 

WPC strengthens the power of Kim Jong-Un

Asia @en/BreakingNews @en di

The General Congress of the Workers’ Party of North Korea, which began last Friday, 36 years after the previous one, continues as planned, further strengthening the power of the president Kim Jong-Un, who succeeded his father Kim Jong-Il in 2011.

Sunday May 8, state television broadcasted a long speech in which supreme leader, in front of 3400 delegates came from every corner of the country, has announced a new five-year plan to restore momentum to the ailing national economy. Despite the emphasis with it was presented, the new plan does not foresee major changes neither politically nor economically.

In fact, the North Korean president was stingy with details, referring vaguely to the need for greater automation of industry and agriculture and an increase in coal production over the next five years. Most of the discussion has focused on the celebration of the efforts and the progress made by the country over the past 36 years, with frequent references to the ideology of Juche, centered on the concepts of autonomy and self-sufficiency. At the same time, the leaders called for an increase in foreign trade, showing little consideration for the tightening of economic sanctions wanted by the UN after nuclear tests conducted last January.

In a country that, despite everything, is growing by about one percentage point of GDP every year, Jong-Un stressed the need to find new energy resources that can generate enough electricity to support the development, in a country still struggling with frequent blackouts, which also affect the capital Pjongyang. To this end, the DPRK intends to focus on nuclear energy and renewable energy sources.

The President also referred to nuclear arsenal, on whose development more of the regime’s efforts are focusing. In a statement by the soothing flavor, Kim has ensured that North Korea does not intend to resort to atomic weapons, “unless its sovereignty is encroached upon by any aggressive hostile forces with nukes.”.

An unusually diplomatic approach has also featured references to South Korea, with which the regime would like to return to dialogue to lower the level of tension. An offer harshly rejected, in close halfway point, by the Minister for the Unification of the South: “It speaks of inter-Korean dialogue while continuing to develop a nuclear arsenal,” he said, branding statements by Kim Jong-Un as mere propaganda.

The next day, as if to confirm the mistrust of South Korean, the Workers’ Party has decided formally, during the Congress, to further strengthen the nuclear arsenal of the country “for the purpose of self-defense”, again defying the UN and the his system of sanctions.

Although there is not yet a official closing date, the Congress should continue for a few days. Foreign media were invited to attend the historic event, but, until now, journalists have not been able to pass through the doors of the great Palace of Culture, whose parterre covers an area equal to two football fields. The reporters took part in guided tours, under the watchful gaze of party officials but, in fact, have not yet been able to perform the job for which they were accredited.

The climate for the press, actually, is not easy. Last Friday the members of a BBC team, sent to cover the Congress, were placed under arrest and later expelled. As reported by the Chinese press agency, the British were expelled for ” attacking the DPRK system and non-objective reporting.”

While the foreign press has to deal with the North Korean idea of ​​objectivity, the supreme leader of the country further strengthens its power. Monday, in fact, delegates awarded Kim Jong-Un of a new title: President of the Workers Party, a position he joins that of first secretary.

 

Luca Marchesini

The New Australian Cyber Security Strategy

Asia @en di

“Now, there is no global institution or infrastructure more important to the future prosperity and freedom of our global community than the Internet itself. And in what should be a humbling lesson for politicians and governments, the Internet has grown almost entirely without the direction or control of any government […].

Ensuring that the architecture and administration of global cyberspace remains free of government domination or control is one of the key global strategic issues of our time”.

With these words Australia’s Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull  haslaunched, on April 21,the first Australian Cyber Strategy review since 2009.

Previous governments tried to adopt a strategy but they always stopped.

Now Tunrbull, who’s facing a two months election campaign, has promised $230 million across 53 new initiatives to boost the new strategy.

Canberra’s conservative approach aims to support the existing american driven liberal internet order.

Considering China’s (a major australian business partner) position over the issue, this is a significant political decision.

Australia’s cybersecurity capabilities are meant to attack as well as defend, to protect an open, free and secure cyberspace.

The Strategy establishes five themes of action over the next four years.

The five pillars

A national cyber partnership between government, researchers andbusiness including regular meetings to strengthen leadership and tackle emerging issues.

Cyberstrategy is a top down process, because it is a strategic issue for leaders as well as for It and security staff.

Three actions underpins the first pillar:

  1. Annual cybersecurity leaders meetings;
  2. Appointment of a Minister assisting the Prime Minister for cyber  security;
  3. Improvement of Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) capabilities;

Empower strong cyber defences to better detect, deter and respond

to threats and anticipate risks.

Global Responsibility and influence: Working with international partners through the appointment of a Cyber Ambassador and other channels while building regional cyber capacity to crack down on cybercriminals and shut safe havens for cybercrime.

Growth and Innovation: Helping Australian cyber security businesses to grow and prosper, establishing a Cyber Security Growth Centre with private sector.

Creating a cyber smart nation: establishing Academic Centres ofCyber Security Excellence in universities and fostering high level skills both at managerial and workforce level to tackle the gap by 2020.

Lack of courage?

While action plans to tackle cyber threats are on the way in most advanced economies, the australian blueprint is a bit late and it appears to be conditioned by safe play, addressing the issue in a diplomatic way.

Australia is at the centre of the XXI century leading area, and  should do more, according to some commentators, to improve national awareness on the issue.

Surely, in comparison with billionaire investment made by other countries, australian budget seems too small to make a difference.

China renews its citizens surveillance system

Asia @en di

China, like all authoritarian systems, has the constant need to keep under control its own citizens to monitor their behaviors, anticipate possible conflicts and find appropriate solutions to the problems.

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The main obstacle, to the Asian giant, is its own size. Prepare effective monitoring standards for a billion and 375 million inhabitants is clearly not a simple task. The authority of the central government, however, have developed a new system that could make the control mechanisms most efficients.

Its name is “Grid management system” and, once implemented nationally, could allow the Chinese Communist Party to exercise a supervision ability never experienced before.

Until today, the information gathered by the Chinese authorities came from a number of different sources. Excessive diversification, combined with the frightening amount of information, made the analysis of collected data complex and confused. Over the past five years China has therefore been working on a state-of-the-art program that can streamline this analysis, relying on an orderly and consistent database.

The cornerstone of the new system is the grid administrator. On every inhabited area it is applied a grid, composed of a certain number of quadrants. In the case of a big city, the sectors could be thousands. Each official has the task to control a quadrant and the households within it, up to a maximum of two hundred.

The official collects information about each block of its competence and fill in a form which will then compose, together with the others, a huge overall database. Data may include rent prices, the number of inhabitants, their workplaces, what time you leave home and what time they came back.

The administrator also has the task of keeping eyes and ears open, to record any complaints or protests by citizens, on any topic. Each grievance is then transcribed on the database as a possible threat. The authorities, local or central, analyzing the data so aggregated, will understand if in a certain territory widespread expressions of discontent are manifesting and intervene early, before the protest mountains further. The answer will not necessarily be police; what matters, for the authorities, is the prevention of any form of organized conflict and the safeguarding of social stability.

The monitoring capacity will be an increasingly important element for the central government of China, since the slowdown in economic growth and the consolidation of a fierce industrial system seem destined to exacerbate economic and social inequality among citizens and to fuel the fire of protest.

 

Luca Marchesini

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Mitsubishi admits manipulating emissions data

Asia @en di

 

A new “VolksWagen case” is on the horizon of the Rising Sun, albeit on a smaller scale. Mitsubishi Motors, historic Japanese auto maker, has admitted that he rigged the data related to the energy efficiency of some of its vehicles.

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The president of the group, Tetsuro Aikawa, called a press conference in Tokyo to apologize to customers, and stakeholders of Mitshubishi, revealing that data relating to 625,000 vehicles were falsified to increase the values ​​of mileage and simulate a minor fuel consumption. 157 thousand of these are branded Mitsubishi, while the remaining 468 thousand were produced for Nissan. In all cases, these are mini cars with an engine size of 660 cc, very popular on the Japanese market.

The company also admitted to violate of the Japanese law, adopting irregular test methodologies since 2002. The revelation has prompted the Japanese Ministry of Transportation to launch a judicial investigation to verify the extent of counterfeiting and the related damage inflicted on consumers .

The only certain damage, for now, is what Mitsubishi has inflicted to the value of his own actions: after the press conference of Aikawa, in fact, the capitalization value on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped by 15 percent: a hard stop for the profits of the sixth Japanese auto maker, so far driven by the growth of global demand for automobiles.

The problems, moreover, could not be limited to vehicles identified to date, since the group is conducting further internal investigation to determine if the vehicles sold outside Japan have been tested with the same irregular methods.

According to the preliminary estimate made by a JP Morgan analyst, the scandal could cost the holding about 50 million yen ($ 450 million), consisting of customers compensation and replacement costs. But the real damage, for Mitsubishi, could be the impairment of the brand reliabilit, whose repercussions in economic terms are currently not quantifiable.

The revelations have produced an immediate reaction from the Japanese authorities. The police conducted a raid on one of the main offices of Mitsubishi Motors, in the city of Okazaki, to collect documentation and has ordered the company to provide, within the 27th of April, a detailed report on the situation and test so far conducted on vehicles. The aim of the authorities is to understand how the tests have been falsified and verify that the scandal has not greater proportions of those until today emerged.

It is not the first time that Mitsubishi is forced to restore consumer confidence. In the early 2000s, the Japanese giant faced another scandal, when it emerged that some of its cars had a number of serious defects, as malfunctioning brakes and clutches and tanks that fell off the vehicle while driving.

The Walkswagen scandal, which cost to Wolfsburg company 6.7 billion dollars and the loss of substantial market shares, isn’ttherefore remained an isolated case, and only the future will tell us how many other manufacturers have rigged the data on emissions, cheating consumers, to add some zero to their income.

 

Luca Marchesini

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Aung San Suu Kyi wants to release political prisoners

Asia @en di

After the oath of Htin Kyaw, the first democratically elected president of Myanmar after 56 years of military dictatorship, continues the path of change in the country of Southeast Asia.

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Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), of which the new government is a direct expression, could not assume the role of prime minister because of a constitutional provision which was introduced by the junta military to avoid the risk of her coming to power. The “Steel Orchid”, however, since the election campaign ended with the last November elections, had promised the citizens of Myanmar that, if victorious, she would have ruled the country “above” the President.

To enable her to fulfill this commitment, the new Parliament has created an ad hoc position for San Suu Kyi, assigning her the role of the State Consultant. In this official position, the party leader can directly contact and summon ministers, departments, organizations, associations and individuals to discuss the main of government agenda. A role that, in fact, allows Suu Kyi to rule indirectly, through the “delegate” President Htin Kyaw.

One of the first issues on which Aung San Suu Kyi intends to assert its weight is that of political prisoners. Last Thursday the Nobel prize, with a post on Facebook, has stated his intention to push for a mass amnesty that allows the release of political prisoners, activists and students imprisoned by the military junta in recent years.

The arbitrary imprisonment of thousands of activists for democracy has been a dramatic constant during the decades of dictatorship, and the same Suu Kyi had been living for 15 years under house arrest. Many of the recently elected MPs, as well, have tried the hard repression of the regime and the hardships of prison life.

The semi-civilian transition government, which was in power from 2011 to 2015, had already granted the freedom to hundreds of political prisoners, but it is estimated that there are still 90 imprisoned activists and another 400 awaiting trial. About 70 of these are students arrested before last November’s elections, charged of having participated in illegal meetings or taking part, in March 2015, in the street protests against the educational reform, harshly repressed by the police. After more than a year, the trials in many cases have yet to come to sentence.

The decisive initiative of Suu Kyi, which portends a direct intervention, in short, by the prime minister Kyaw, could push the prosecutor to drop the charges against the students. But the difficulties are still many, considering the deep inefficiency of the judicial system in Myanmar.

The first problem, again, is represented by the army, to which the current constitution guarantees a quarter of parliamentary seats and the control of some of the most important ministries. The power of the military, in Myanmar, has been mutilated but is still strong and widespread. Every democratic reform will inevitably have to deal with its opposition.

 

Luca Marchesini

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