POLITICS

Malaysia

The political system in Malaysia seems complicated and corrupt. 

According to the journalist we met with, who works for the New Strait Times, which made clear is dominated by government control, she said majority of the media is controlled by the government and there are barely any independent journalists. She said the government dictates what gets asked in interviews and what gets sent to press. She spoke about her experience on being asked to write 'smear' campaigns in certain situations. Immediately after this meeting our opinions on Malaysia had shifted as we heard first hand situations that were imaginable within a government - well maybe not imaginable but definitely unheard of. 

The day after we had a meeting with a professor at ISTAC he told us that Malaysia is the only Muslim country with regular elections since independence, and since then there has been vast political developments. "Democracy needs transparency and accountability" he said.  And continued to tell us that most political parties in Malaysia are ethnic based and elections in Malaysia aren't fair. He said that politics are taking over religion, by separating politics and religion Islam would be free. This suggests there is a need for secularism withing Malaysia politics.

"No body should have absolute freedom"
Tun Dr Mahatir

"if Malaysia is unhappy then they are doing a good job, if they are happy they are favouring them to much"

These were the words of Tun Dr Mahatir, Malaysia's previous Prime Minister. The meeting with Tun Dr Mahatir was extremely insightful and we got his first hand opinion on politics, religion, economics etc. Tun Dr Mahatir expressed his concerns on the current political party and said that there is corruption and less dedication in the current party.
He said that Malaysia is sliding towards an extremist view and because the current leader doesn't want to become unpopular he isn't standing up against extreme Islam.

Currently there is an ongoing campaign created in 2010 by the government and Prime Minister Najib Razak called 1Malaysia. This campaign calls for the cabinet, government agencies, and civil servants to focus on creating ethnic harmony, national unity, and efficient governance. 

Turkey

Politics in Turkey take politics to a new level. There is a big tide in the wave of politics. 

The current ruling party, is the AKP, originally said to be developed form Islamist views. It is said before the AKP took power that Turkey was unstable. When talking to Turkish people about their opinions on the current party, they are very much torn in the middle. Some people perceive the president 'god like' which has created a mass following for the AKP, where as others don't support the party but can appreciate what they have done for the country, such as regular rubbish control which has made the city of Istanbul cleaner and more presentable. 

The party has previously been perceived as a radical movement due to religious views.

On our trip to Istanbul we had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the AKP but our meeting the AKP was very stages and disingenuous. This left the room skeptical as to their motives as they found it hard to answer some of our questions (because they weren't rehearsed before hand)

After the meeting at the AKP we decided to go to dinner near the tourist square, just as we sat down and ordered, it wasnt long before Halim called us back to the hotel due to a suicide bombing on the tourism police. This was an attack carried out by the Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Party, their reasoning "to punish murderers of Berkin Elvan and to cal to account the fascist state that protects the AKP's corrupt, stealing ministers". This attacked was just five days after the attack on the Dolmabahce Palace which is the building the houses the Istanbul offices of the Prime Minister. 

According to our meeting with Gencer Ozcan of Bilgi University,  he says the AKP are betrayers and are working with he "upper mind" = Ghost enemies

We also got the opportunity to meet with Zaman Media, which is the largest media organisation in Turkey and supported by religious civil organisations and the Hizmat leftist group. During this meeting Mr Boldier said that the current president has no legitimacy and is creating a cult of followers. He expects June may see the Prime Minister as president and see the PM revolt against the president.  Supreme will =  President, Clean = Prime Minister

Much like Malaysia the president has control over majority of the media in Turkey and is responsible for journalists of Zaman media being arrested because of their support for the Hizmat movement.

Spain

In my opinion we had very little political experience in Spain. The trip to Spain was more historical than political. Walking the streets of Granada there was a heavy police presence but at no time did i see a political presence or was it discussed. 

Morocco

Morocco is ran by the monarchy led by King Mohamed VI who got into power when his father died. Since his leadership there is said to be a tendency towards more liberal and democratic values in Morocco. 

Although Mohamed didn't have a blood line so technically the monarchy is not related to the religion and there is a tendency to exaggerate the religiosity of the monarchy although the King is considered a secular political leader but also 'The commander of the faithful'. 

Morocco politics seem to be influenced quite substantially by Islam but this support seems to vary through generations and educated to non-educated people.

During our meeting at EGE university Professor Moudden said that at no point is the Quran used to legitimate a bill in parliament religious dimension in parliament symbolic. He said that The king is king due to his success in politics not religion although the Moroccan public might disagree. He also said liberalism is also the ideology of the coloniser.

"Borders are being challenged by peoples desires, how can we make sense of a world that has become so confusing" - Professor Moudden