After Kenya's, Zimbabwe's and Nigeria's recent election mayhem, observers worried Ghana might fall into the same electoral dissaray. In the runup to the recent presidential vote, both major candidates claimed they were set for victory.

Initial polls in December left a tightly contested race -- with the two leading candidates within just one percent of each other. The governing party candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo and the opposition leader and former professor John Atta Mills bitterly contested the second round of elections. After being seperated by just 23,000 votes, Ghana's final constituency voted on Saturday and catupluted Mills to the presidency.

And thus Ghana avoided the election trap. The first African country to gain its independence in 1960 holds its reputation as a democracy where power has been transfered peacefully and often, with only minor incidents (like this one). The outgoing president didn't try to extend his term, and he urged a peaceful transition. Mills' opponent conceded gracefully and the incoming president promised to be a "president for all."

Good. But now, as many governments have learned the hard way, the more difficult part is yet to come, and Ghana finds itself in an unusually precarious (or promising) turning point.

Ghana is a commodity-dependent economy in a market reeling from bubble and burst. Gold, cocoa and timber make much of the country's GDP, and agriculture employs over half the population. The fall in commodity prices spells hope and disaster all at once; lucrative exports will suffer, as will farmers' bottom lines. But urban food prices -- once crushing for the average Ghanaian -- will come down from sky high.

And despite Ghana's healthy growth rate, the impoverished majority is hungry for prosperity to trickle down. Offshore oil -- found in the summer of 2007 -- once promised to pay for a host of new public services. Now, the sunken petrol price stop drilling before it even begins.

The incoming president seems to have a good head about the economic policies needed to move forward. But he'll need the world economy, the increasingly corrupt bureaucracy, and his country's belief in democracy to be on his side, as well.

Photo: PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/Getty Images

The first thing to say about the coup attempt that followed the death of Guinean President Lansana Conté is that it's something of a miracle it took 24 years. The president, who died of diabetes Monday, was hardly a beloved exemplar of democratic values. By the time of his death, even the once-loyal Army was starting to mutiny over low pay. In fact, for many West Africa watchers, Guinea's fall into chaos has only been a matter of time. 

For more than two years leading up the president's death, political wrangling and unrest were the norm. General strikes in 2006 paralyzed the country. Conté refused to leave power and poverty was consuming the country. I was in Senegal at the time, and the stories we heard there were fierce: Strikes were so strictly adhered to that any passing soul on the street would be shot. There was violence between police and civilians -- as has also become the norm in times of crisis in Guinea.

In the compromise that ended those strikes, the president finally named a prime minister. There have been several in recent years, and the most recent, Ahmed Tidiane Souare, was a close Conté ally whom the International Crisis group wrote in June "puts reform at risk." Democratic legislative elections were scheduled for this month.

Instead, Guinea got a coup. 

So now what? For now, the military has the reins, despite claims from Souare that he retains control. The perpetrators of the coup, calling themselves the National Council for Democracy and Development, have called a curfew and promised elections in two years. As in previous times of tension, soldiers fill the streets and much of Conakry is shut down. Companies, such as mining giant BHP, are closing offices for now. Other countries in the region are condemning the coup.

So what at first seemed like a Christmas miracle for Conakry has taken a dangerous turn for the worse.

Photo: SEYLLOU/AFP/Getty Images

For much of late 2007, Belgium looked like it was on the verge of being split in two as Flemish and Wallonian politicians struggled to form a government that would preserve national unity. At one point, erstwhile Prime Minister Yves Leterme even said that there was nothing holding the country together but "the king, the football team, some beers."

Now, Leterme has been forced to step down, along with his entire government, not because of nationalist sentiment, but because of an old-fashioned banking scandal. Leterme and his ministers are accused of applying undue pressure to push through a bargain-basement sale of Belgium's partially-nationalized bank Fortis to the French bank BNP Paribas, at the expense of Belgian workers and shareholders. King Albert is now struggling to find a prime minister who is both untainted by "Fortisgate" and capable of keeping the fragile Flemish-Walloon coalition intact. No easy task.

The financial crisis and government responses seem to be having interesting effects on nationalist sentiment in Europe. In Scotland, nationalist parties saw their cause set way back by the UK government's massive bailouts of Scottish banks, which made the idea of Scottish self-sufficiency look patently ridiculous. In Belgium, it seems like Flemish nationalists could be emboldened by the central government's failure and will likely continue to make the case that the poorer French-speaking Wallonia is a drag on the national economy. This could make keeping the place intact all the more challenging.

Seth Mydans profiles Abhisit Vejjajiva, the dapper new prime minister of Thailand. Apparently, he is a Barry Manilow fan:

Critics say Mr. Abhisit is handsome, articulate and well mannered but lacks the hearty touch of successful Thai politicians. They joke that he would need a visa to travel to the rural heartland of the north and the northeast. [...]

But his cultural divide from the heartland may be difficult to breach. Asked last year about his likes and dislikes, he said that his favorite book was "The Myth of Sisyphus" by Camus and that he was a devotee of the singer Barry Manilow, whose voice is rarely heard in rural Thailand.

Photo: PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP/Getty Images

I'm sure you've heard plenty about the Rod Blagojevich corruption scandal by now. But did you know his father, Radisa Blagojevich, was a Serbian immigrant? Apparently, the story has been getting big play in the old country.

The Chicago Tribune reports that, if Internet comment sections are any indication, there isn't a lot of sympathy in Serbia for the Illinois governor.

But the Associated Press did manage to find some folks who thinks the whole thing is an American plot. "He must have been framed, it's all politics," Rod's (supposed) cousin Dragan told Blic, a Serbian tabloid, in a story that ran under the headline "The Governor Defying Entire America." The AP adds:

Cousin Dragan appeared again in Friday's Blic, saying his famous relative still owns some land in the village so "he can come to Serbia if he cannot take it any more in America."

"He can have a cow or a pig or two, a chicken. ... He is always welcome."

Photo: Brian Kersey/Getty Images News

Give Tzipi Livni some credit -- she's still keeping it real. Even with Israel's upcoming election looking ever-tight, with Likud narrowing the margin, Livni's not kowtowing to anyone. As a result, she's been pissing off, well, pretty much everyone, Arabs and Jews alike.

The Kadima party candidate might have made a misstep when, in an address students over the radio yesterday about her solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, said: "I will also be able to approach the Palestinian residents of Israel... and tell them: 'Your national aspirations lie elsewhere.'"

While Livni was merely expanding on her idea "to have two distinct national entities," she left the comment open ended. "Transferring" Israeli Arabs out of Israel is understandably a touchy subject, and one usually associated with hardline right-wingers. Needless to say, the Israeli Arab population took note and demanded that the PM hopeful define her position.

In true Livni style she clarified her statement on public radio but made no soft-ball apologies.

There is no question of carrying out a transfer or forcing them [Israeli Arabs] to leave.... I am willing to give up a part of the country over which I believe we have rights so that Israel will remain a Jewish and democratic state in which citizens have equal rights, whatever their religion."

All better, right? Not quite. Today it was the Jews turn to get offended at Livni truth-telling, this time over the return of Israeli soldier, Galid Shalit, who is being held by Hamas. "It's not always possible to bring everyone home," Livni said. Even as protestors piled up in front of her Tel Aviv home today, Livni would not take back her words.

Whether or not Livni is going to lose political ground here, she's not pandering to anyone. Perhaps Livni knows better than most that you can't please everyone all the time, especially in Israel.

Photo: Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Binyavanga Wainaina has written a viciously funny step-by-step "guide" for aspiring African dictators in South Africa's Mail & Guardian. Some of the highlights:

Rule 3. Make America or China happy. Make Israel and Saudi Arabia very happy. Become a Muslim, like Idi Amin. Visit Moammar Gadaffi often. He likes African leaders. We do not know why. Pray with George Bush and let him see your soul. Make your country's leading supermodel the ambassador to France and Italy. Ask her to wear a mini when presenting her papers to Nicholas Sarkozy...

Rule 6. Colonial countries expected little of Africans. Maintain this illusion...

Rule 10. A free press is important. But have shares in all major media and make sure that you allow them to be very critical of everything, except you. You can, these days, secretly pay bloggers. They can say, for example, that your economic policy is Keynesian, but they should never say you are a "corrupt Zulu warlord"...

If all these things fail and you find yourself in State House surrounded by screaming citizens carrying homemade weaponry, make sure you have a Hummer (Raila Odinga) in your garage. They are cheap now in America. You can burst out of your palace and make your way to Somalia, where you can become a pirate who earns $50-million a year.

Of course, if you don't have government connections in an unstable African country, you may have to start a country of your own. FP's got your back.

(Hat tip: Ethan Zuckerman)

Update: Apparently I had a brain malfunction and Beth flagged this last week in Smart takes. Sorry about that.

Photo: WALTER DHLADHLA/AFP/Getty Images

Peace talks opened in Nairobi today between the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the rebel group led by General Laurent Nkunda. There is one reason -- above the many other good ones -- that I am unfortunately a skeptic: the U.N.-appointed moderator, Olusegun Obasanjo.

At first glance, Obasanjo is a great pick. He's an African statesman who helped bring democracy to Nigeria after a history that included a brutal civil war, a string of military dictators (he was one of them), and years of economic decline. "Baba," his nickname meaning "Papa', aptly characterized his ruling style: a benevolent elected dictator who -- for the most part -- had control over an unwieldly country.

But then there are the details. Obasanjo managed those various parties through patronage -- granting monies here and there, favoritism or punishment to this and that. He was the master of holding peace summits with little goal other than the summit itself. Behind the scenes, the governors under his watch paid off militants, sometimes supported them, and skimmed oil wealth off the top. The status quo was stable only so far as everyone could be paid off. Today, without his personality to manage the situation, the delta is on the brink of exploding.

Then there are the elections. In Obasanjo's last days as president, he tried (unsuccesfully) to change the constitution so that he could run for a third term. In the neighborhood I used to live, rumor had it that truckloads of money were delivered to the homes of skeptical senators. When elections did take place, they were so massively rigged that the ruling party easily won.

So can Obasanjo bring the two sides together in the DR Congo? I sure hope so. Perhaps his wiley personality can do just that. I just hope his example isn't the one they follow.

ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images

The explosive events that regularly occur in Lebanon tend to obscure, rather than reveal, the balance of power in the country. Analysts have a habit of taking the latest news as proof that the country is completely dominated by America and its allies, or by Syria's proxies in Lebanon.

By far the worst example of this is former Middle East correspondent Thanassis Cambanis, who pontificated recently in the Middle East Bulletin that, "Hezbollah, Syria and Iran are stronger in Lebanon that any point in the last decade." Cambanis went on to argue that this new balance of power required the United States to reconcile itself to negotiations with those sympathetic to Hezbollah.

Are Hezbollah and Syria really stronger than at any point in the last 10 years? Syrian troops occupied Lebanon until 2005. Until that time, all of the country's major Christian leaders were either in exile for their anti-Syrian views, or imprisoned. The Sunni and Druze political leaders were uniformly loyal to Syria, an alliance these Lebanese politicians broke in 2005 and one that has never been revived. The Syrians strong-armed Lebanese parliamentarians into accepting their hand-picked choice for president in 1998, and then into unconstitutionally extending his term in 2004. The main thing we learn from Cambanis's analysis is that he doesn’t have the first clue about recent Lebanese history.

Hezbollah recently won an important victory against the government through an armed invasion of Sunni areas of Beirut. But they were fighting against attempts by the Lebanese government to rein in their autonomy -- a fact that Lebanese parties had assented to quietly until just a few years ago, out of fear of the power of Syria and its allies. Syria occupied Lebanon for 25 years, and it was never reasonable to assume that all Syrian influence would be eradicated immediately. A little perspective shows that, rather than being in ascendance, Syria and Hezbollah's clout in Lebanon is close to its historical low, and the balance of power is not nearly as grim as some would have us believe.

Imagine living in a country with 231 million percent inflation, a failed power-sharing agreement, closing schools and hospitals, and an astronomical emigration rate of refugees into neighboring South Africa.

Now, add a cholera epidemic that has left more than 300 people dead and thousands more sick. And President Robert Mugabe, instead of ending the crisis, seems to be using it as an "excuse to clamp down on everyday life," according to SW Radio Africa.

Power sharing talks were set to reconvene today under former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki's mediation, but serious disputes remain about the allocation of ministries between President Robert Mugabe and his opposition-party prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai. In a sign of his unwillingness to yield power, Mugabe accussed a delegation of "elders," including Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, and Graça Machel (the former wife of Nelson Mandela) of trying to oust his government. He refused them entry to the crippled country.

But after everything else, it might be cholera that pushes the limits of how far failed this failed-state can go. South Africa is doing its best to keep the cholera on one side of the border, but further collapse could send an flood of refugees where there has always been a trickle. That would further destabilize a politically shaky South Africa in the midst of its presidential transition.

It's time to change our rhetorical terms on Zimbabwe. No longer on the brink of collapse: over the edge.

The world isn't lacking in politicians caught in love scandals, but Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has embroiled himself in a drama so juicy it feels scripted for daytime soaps.

His ex-wife, Marisabel Rodriguez -- a blond haired, blue-eyed former television anchor (now married to her tennis coach) -- has been mirthlessly needling her ex-husband while she herself campaigns to become mayor of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, on an opposition ticket.

The couple divorced in 2004 after seven years of marriage and made headlines last year when Chávez rather publically sued over custody issues pertaining to their daughter, Rosines. Though the president withdrew the suit, Rodriguez claimed it was a ploy to sabotage her newly announced political pursuits -- a ruling against her, under Venezuelan law, could have legally kept her from running for public office.

Chávez has good reason not to want his ex to run. Aside from any personal embarrassment the Venezuelan leader might endure over Rodriguez's outspoken campaigning style and her public criticisms of his presidency, he could suffer politically. His high approval ratings are said to be slipping, and the opposition stands to gain significant ground -- as many as one third of the country's governorships -- in regional elections Sunday.

Venezuelans are keen to hear the former Mrs. Chávez's insights on her ex-husband's intentions for his country:

[T]he Chávez of today ... doesn't have much in common with [the Chávez] of 1997,” she said. "If he is not a dictator, at least he seems it."

What's more, Ms. Rodriguez is proving hugely popular among women voters. In general, these women are turned off by the president's "testosterone-pumped politics" and can relate to the former first lady's emotional suffering.

Photo: ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images

Western media have picked up a story from the Russian business daily Vedemosti speculating that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may be planning a return to the presidency, perhaps as early as 2009. That the whole story is reported second-hand and based on one anonymous source makes me a bit wary (Matt Drudge is less cautious). That said, the scenario doesn't seem completely outlandish and fits with some of the theories that were floating around back when Putin first announced Dmitry Medvedev as his replacement in December 2007.

Medvedev's proposal to expand the presidential term to six years may have been step one of the plan:

Mr Medvedev announced the reform today [Wednesday] in his first state-of-the-nation address to Russia's legislators. The newspaper quoted an unidentified Kremlin official as saying that the initiative had been drawn up last year, while Mr Putin was still president.

Mr Medvedev, 43, would oversee the constitutional amendment and push through some unpopular social reforms before resigning in 2009 and calling a snap election to make way for his mentor.

Mr Putin, 56, would then govern for two more terms, totaling 12 years. This would take his second presidential era to 2021, the paper noted, one year beyond the completion of the so-called "Putin Plan" for Russia's economic and social development.

<!--#include file="m63-article-related-attachements.html"--> <!-- BEGIN: Module - M63 - Article Related Attachements --><!-- BEGIN: Comment Teaser Module --><!-- END: Module - M63 - Article Related Attachements --><!-- Call Wide Article Attachment Module --><!--TEMPLATE:call file="wideArticleAttachment.jsp" /-->

Putin might also use the financial crisis to his advantage. Medvedev seems to be taking the lead in talking to the Russian public about the economy while Putin sticks to foreign policy, his strong suit. If the economic situation significantly worsens, Medvedev and his fellow "liberals" can take the blame for the fallout. Putin can then make his return to the presidency on a hardline nationalist platform. How much say Medvedev has in all of this is anyone's guess.

I would treat this story more as a calculated leak designed to test public opinion rather than a set plan of action, but it's certainly appearing more likely that the United States will be dealing with Vladimir Putin throughout the Obama administration, and perhaps into the next one as well.

Photo: Artyom Korotayev/Epsilon/Getty Images

When economic times get tough, sounding out of touch on pocketbook issues can debilitate even the most nimble politician. Just ask Taro Aso. The Japanese prime minister was already being pilloried as an elitist over his hotel bar tab and his epicurean tastes. So you'd think he'd be extra careful to avoid a pocketbook gaffe, right?

Wrong. Now, Aso has bungled a key question for any Japanese politician: What's the price of a cup of instant noodles?

Aso said: 'I think it used to be very cheap, but now it costs around 400 yen (4.12 dollars), doesn't it?'

An opposition lawmaker immediately retorted that a cup of instant noodles -- popular with Japanese on a tight budget -- actually costs around 170 yen.

Aso admitted with a wry smile: "I don't buy them myself these days."

Granted, it's better to err on the high side in making these sorts of seat-of-the-pants estimates. But what's with the gratuitous remark there at the end? It's almost like he's trying to give the opposition a boost.

As for this ill-timed photo op from earlier today, it's just icing on the cake:

Austrian politics are turning out to be uncharacteristically interesting these days. Stefan Petzner (right), the successor to Jörg Haider, was sacked yesterday after admitting to having a long-running affair with the leader of Austria's far right.

Haider died earlier this month in a high-speed car crash after drinking heavily at a gay club. Then on Wednesday, Petzner announced that Haider was "the man of my life," and that "we had a special relationship that went far beyond friendship." Before meeting Haider, the 27-year-old Petzner had previously been a journalist writing about cosmetic treatments. His ascent to the head of the party was seen as a fulfillment of Haider's last wish, as Haider had frequently mentioned that he wanted Petzner to succeed him.

Haider's homosexuality had been widely rumored, though the mainstream Austrian press had refrained from reporting on it before Petzner's tell-all interview. Haider became infamous for his seemingly sympathetic views toward the Nazi regime. If only this conflicted man was still alive, and one could confront him with evidence about what the Nazis did to people like him.

There are two stories today about Western politicans soliciting donations from Russian citizens. One is just funny, the other, a potentially bigger deal.

The BBC reports that Russia's U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin has been receiving mailers from McCain's campaign asking for help to "stop the Democrats from seizing control of Washington and implementing their radically liberal policy for our nation."

It's obviously just a mistake so there's no foul here, but Russia's U.N. mission seems to be relishing the opportunity to embarrass Mr. "We are all Georgians." As McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said, "it sounds like they're having a little fun at our expense."

If the British media seems to be overselling the Churkin story, it's probably an attempt to tie it to a British scandal with potentially far more serious implications. In a letter to the Times of London today, hedge fund manager Nathaniel Rothschild accused shadow chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne (above) of soliciting a donation to the Conservative Party from Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska while all three were vacationing on the Greek Island of Corfu over the Summer.

Rothschild suggests that Osborne asked for £50,000 on board Deripaska's private yacht and discussed with a Tory fund raiser how the Russian citizen's donation could be channeled through one of the British companies he owns. Osborne has denied soliciting the donation, though he admits spending time on the yacht. The Osborne allegations are actually just the latest twist in a scandal that until now focused on European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, a Labour Party member, who also availed himself of Deripaska's hospitality at the same gathering.

Memo to politicians everywhere: Even if you're not doing anything explicitly illegal, avoid spending time on yachts with wealthy foreign nationals. It never looks good.

An otherwise bland Asahi Shimbun article from Friday raises the interesting possibility that a victory by Barack Obama could put some wind beneath the wings of Ichiro Ozawa, the Japanese opposition leader (picture at right).

Ozawa heads the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which is more or less the Washington Generals of Japanese politics -- doomed to lose out year after year to the dominant Liberal Democratic Party. But given all the recent governmental upheaval, the DPJ's legislative gains, and the continued low popularity ratings for new Prime Minister Taro Aso (left), Ozawa clearly sees an opening.

Which leads Robert Dujarric, a professor at Temple University's Japan campus, to speculate to the Tokyo-based newspaper that Aso must be worrying that Japanese voters are thinking that change is possible for them, too: "If Obama, why not Ozawa?"

At 66, Ozawa is not exactly a spring chicken. And he may even be less popular than Aso -- Newsweek's Christian Caryl describes the opposition leader as "known for muddled speeches and a penchant for intrigue."

Still, he seems to be embracing a new style of politics and reaching out to young voters: going on an Internet talk show, alluding to past unrequited love, and dishing about his favorite type of tofu. Ozawa probably won't be able to convince too many people that he's some sort of Obama clone. But for a country where politicians have long been intolerably boring and opaque, win or lose, it's a welcome change.

One interesting consequence of the U.K.'s massive bank bailouts is that the British government is now the largest stakeholder in Scotland's two largest banks. Scottish nationalists are none too pleased about this, and their opponents are relishing the opportunity to rub it in their faces:

They now look pretty silly," Brian Wilson, a Scot and former Labor Party member of Parliament, said of independence campaigners. "In the long term, when a mature judgment has to be made about independence, this episode will be remembered."

Independence from the United Kingdom is the driving force behind the political party currently in power in Scotland, the Scottish National Party, or SNP. Polls show that perhaps 25 to 30 percent of Scots support the idea.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a native Scot but an outspoken advocate of keeping Scotland in the U.K. fold, seemed to go out of his way Tuesday to tweak advocates of independence, especially the SNP [...]

"We were able to act decisively with 37 billion pounds; that would not have been possible for a Scottish administration," said Brown, whose own political fortunes have been boosted by his handling of the crisis.

The fact that the SNP's Web site offered up now-bankrupt Iceland as a model of prosperity is also a bit embarassing.

(Hat tip: Marginal Revolution)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree on Tuesday that will pave the way for full diplomatic relations between Syria and Lebanon for the first time since their independence 60 years ago. The two countries will likely exchange ambassadors before the end of the year. The Syrian government has historically perceived Lebanon as a territory illegitimately carved out of Syria by the French colonial presence, a fact which accounted for their past refusal to establish formal ties.

Lebanon’s anti-Syrian leaders deserve the lion’s share of the credit for forcing Syria to accede to reality. Certainly, if Syrian intelligence services still determined the course of Lebanese politics, as they did before 2005, the Syrian government would not have seen the need to make this concession. While the anti-Syrian movement has been faulted for not fundamentally changing Lebanon's sectarian and feudal political system, the exchange of embassies shows that Lebanon's political landscape has been significantly altered during the past three years.

But rather than a sign of their success, some Lebanese commentators view the planned Syrian embassy as a threat. A Syrian embassy “would be an axis point for Syria’s allies in the country, a very useful means of allowing the Assad regime to exert its political influence in Beirut on a day-to-day basis in a way it cannot do so today,” writes Michael Young in Beirut’s Daily Star. While diplomatic recognition is a step in the right direction, it still does not mean that Syria is ready to respect the independence of its smaller neighbor.

Austrian politician Jörg Haider did not have long to savor his triumph in one of the year's nastiest elections -- the far-right leader died this weekend in a car crash. Haider had been driving at more than twice the speed limit after leaving a nightclub when his car hit a concrete traffic barrier and flipped over several times. Haider's Alliance for the Future won 11 percent of the vote in the September elections, while the Freedom Party, led by his former protege Heinz-Christian Strache, captured 18 percent of the electorate.

Haider's death will likely help the far right consolidate its influence. Personal enmity between Haider and Strache prevented the two far-right parties from coordinating their efforts, and would have likely prevented them from participating together in a coalition government. With the Alliance for the Future deprived of its popular icon, the charismatic Strache has an opportunity to unite the far right under his leadership.

Haider's rise in the 1990s marked the resurgence of a potent political movement that played to anti-immigrant, often anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish fears. Even in death, he seems to be working for the advancement of this immoral cause.

U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has performed abysmally in some TV appearances (yesterday's debate aside), but at least she hasn't gone as far as Thai political candidate Chuwit Kamolvisit, who is running for governor of Bangkok. Yesterday, he laid the smack down -- quite literally -- on a popular news anchor when he got asked some questions he didn't want to answer.

At the end of the Updated News at Noon program, Kamolvisit pounced on the interviewer, hit him in the face, and stomped on him before the TV crew dragged the candidate away. Kamolvisit, a former bodybuilder who has been involved in Bangkok's sex industry, said, "I couldn't stand it when he humiliated me on air."

Kamolvisit has done outrageous things before. In 2005, after being elected to Parliament, he smashed a bathtub with a sledgehammer as a way of symbolically smashing his ties to the sex industry: