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Iten, Oswald
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5 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Sympathy vote for Argentinian president
The Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was re-elected with 53 percent of the vote on Sunday. Her re-election owes much to the fate of her husband, the liberal-conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung comments: "When Néstor died of heart failure a year ago the Argentinians reacted - as in the old days - with a wave of sympathy. Christina's popularity leapt by 25 percent. After last Sunday she can claim not only to be Argentina's first female president but also the first to be re-elected into office. Her victory however is also based on the disunity of the opposition. Its exponents were incapable of putting the party's interests above the interests of their respective cliques."
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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Argentina
In the shadow of her mentor
Things won't be easy for Brazil's new President Dilma Rousseff because she will have to measure up to her charismatic predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the liberal-conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung notes: "If Rousseff can't maintain the same success rate it won't be as easy for her as it was for her mentor to gloss this over with charisma. Rousseff, an economist who has tended to come across as arrogant, really needs to work on this quality so vital for politicians, otherwise she could quickly be crushed by the unprecedented popularity of the outgoing Lula da Silva. Rousseff will have to rapidly develop her own profile. If she doesn't her government could turn into a South American version of the Medvedev-Putin duo, or worse still, a caricature of the Peróns and the Kirchners in the neighbouring countries. Lula can do his bit to aid the profile of the first female president of the largest state in Latin America by making it clear from the start that he didn't nominate Rousseff just to hold his place so he can take power again in four years' time."
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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Brazil
Lula has made Brazil a global player
On October 3, Brazil elects a successor to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was first voted into office in 2002. During his term in office the country has become a significant player on the global stage, writes the conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung: "Lula sees Brazil's enhanced clout as entitling it to a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Without any regard for Western viewpoints he has made himself part of the Iranian plan for getting around sanctions in the nuclear dispute. In his own country he blocks the IAEA inspectors' access to nuclear facilities, waking memories of the times when Brazil worked towards building up its own nuclear arsenal. Brazil's submarines are to be propelled by nuclear power. Lula no longer sees his country as the US's backyard and is scorning Washington with his refusal to recognise the new president of Honduras and with his visits to his close friend Fidel Castro as well as other potentates."
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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Domestic Policy, » Brazil
Oswald Iten on Swiss drug policy
The Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung contends that it is important to adopt a more relaxed attitude towards drugs and convert the drug shadow economy into a liberal system, whereby Switzerland could play a pioneering role: "Switzerland is one of the states that question the wisdom of traditional drug policy. With its 'four-pillared policy' in which in addition to repression, prevention and damage control a heroin-based therapy was introduced, it is playing a pioneering role that has attracted international attention. Experts are leading a high-level and rational discussion about how to overcome the inconsistencies in the differentiation between legal and illegal substances through models that take account of a drug's scientifically researched addictive potential and potential for harming people's health. That each legal step can be subjected to a vote will help to ensure a drug policy that not only experts but also the people understand."
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More from the press review on the subject » Health Policy, » Switzerland, » Global
A second chance for Zapatero
Oswald Iten discusses the role of the conservative opposition in Spain: "The conservative People's Party's tough opposition policy has not paid off politically. You can't convince informed citizens that anything that comes from the government is fundamentally bad, particularly if, when it comes to factual issues, one acted or would act in the same way. The Partido Popular would be well advised to style itself as a modern right wing party that is finally freeing itself from the legacy of the Civil War of 1936 to 1939 by examining the past self-critically and not giving the impression that its social policy is dictated by the Church hierarchy. Those who want voters to give them the mandate to govern must make their mark from the opposition. The opposition party will now have to reflect carefully on whether this is possible with two-time loser Mariano Rajoy, who liked to call the Prime Minister a liar, at its helm."
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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Spain
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