We may be witnessing the birth of a new international pro-democracy movement.
On April 2 occupy movement marchers and their allies marched from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to Washington DC to protest the corrupting influence of big money on political elections in the US. The demonstrators arrived in the nation's capitol on April 11 where thousands of protesters have gathered to participate in acts of peaceful civil disobedience.
Democracy Now! is reporting that 635 people have been arrested so far during these ongoing demonstrations against the US Supreme Court decision on the Citizens United case which allows enormous amounts of money to be poured into political campaigns through Super PACS, etc. The court decision that "money is free speech" has upset many US voters who say that big money is now controlling the election system. www.democracynow.org/...
This convergence on the US capitol is happening at the same time that international political scandals have surfaced due to disclosures made from the Panama Papers leak. Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is being forced to resign, and protesters in London have been calling for the resignation of UK PM David Cameron.
In France, an estimated 120,000 people have been participating in two weeks of occupy style demonstrations which began in Paris as a protest against an extended work week and other new laws regulating labor practices. The news agency France 24 is referring to the movement as a resurgence of the international occupy movement which spread across the planet in 2011.
The Washington DC protests have been organized via two websites - democracyspring.org and democracyawakening.org. MoveOn.org and other groups plan to join the events April 16 - 18.
The difference between the two pro-democracy campaigns has been downplayed by some of the folks involved, although the Democracy Spring demonstrations seem to be organized by grassroots occupy activists while the Democracy Awakening events are sponsored by what may be referred to as more "mainstream" organizations.
The Democracy Spring events are taking place during a national election for US President. The Republican and Democratic parties are in the process of choosing their candidates in primaries and caucuses across the country. Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has endorsed the protests in Washington, DC, saying that he is proud that people are standing against the Citizens United decision. Meanwhile, there is a petition at Change.org challenging the results of the Arizona Democratic party primary and questioning some incidents associated with the voting in Illinois, Massachusetts, and Nevada.
The Democracy Spring movement in the US is receiving international news coverage. Demonstrations and workshops are scheduled through April 18.
(Original Report April 14, 2016 By Mark Taylor-Canfield For Democracy Watch News)
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