Political Parties

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's opinion concerning the voting rights of 17-year-olds is a welcome return to sensibility. The political parties have long enjoyed the right to determine how to select their nominees for office. And for decades in Maryland, teens who turn 18 before the general election have had the right to vote in the primary - even if they're only 17 at the time. How did 17-year-olds suddenly lose this right? It was the result of an unfortunate chain of events starting with last year's Court of Appeals decision striking down the state's recently enacted early voting law. The court's new interpretation of the state constitution applied general election standards to primaries.

The Harford County Public Works Department's engineering and construction division will conduct a public meeting tomorrow on the closing of West Medical Hall Road in Bel Air. The hearing will begin at 6 p.m. at the Harford County Department of Public Works, 212 S. Bond St., Bel Air, third-floor conference room. Comments from the public will be received on the petition to close the road. Plats and/or plans for the proposed closing may be reviewed from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays at the department offices.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Muhammad Akif Khan does not wear his uniform to work anymore, changing in the office instead. He takes taxis instead of driving his car. And he no longer sleeps at home, worried that the police may come for him. Khan is no criminal, no political activist. Instead, he's a lawyer, known in Pakistan as a "black coat," because of the black suits and ties lawyers must wear in court. Because of his job, Khan has become by default a key member of the opposition to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his decision to impose emergency rule Saturday.

RAMADI, Iraq -- A group of Sunni tribal leaders in Iraq's beleaguered Anbar province said yesterday that they intend to form a national party to oppose such insurgent groups as al-Qaida in Iraq and to re-engage in Iraq's political process. The announcement came after 200 sheiks said to represent 50 tribes met here and agreed to form a provincial sheiks council and hold the first convention next month of their new party, called Iraq Awakening. Sheiks from three other provinces will attend, organizers said.

Nonpartisanship improves governing Now that the election has been decided, everyone's talking about the need for bipartisanship ("Partisan jockeying begins," Nov. 10). This is wrong. Partisanship in this context means loyalty to a political party. Political parties are a medium for running an election, for narrowing the field of those seeking offices to a manageable number and for getting out information about those candidates. Political parties are not part of the legislative or governing process.

LOS ANGELES -- President Bush signed a bill Thursday authorizing a 700-mile-long fence along the U.S.-Mexico border but leaving aside other aspects of the immigration debate for now. As a Mexican, I'm outraged that Mr. Bush and other politicians in Washington believe it is necessary to build a wall to keep my compatriots from coming here to work. But I'm also ashamed that Mexico is, in many ways, to blame for making the border fence possible. Mexico's failure to understand the immigration debate in the U.S. has weakened its negotiating position.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Leaders of Iraq's major political blocs announced a plan yesterday to create local committees of clerics, tribal leaders and military officers to help quell violence in the capital. The local committees, which would have no police powers, would work with Iraqi police to set up checkpoints and identify dangerous elements in the community, and advise officers on other security issues. The government also announced that a central committee for peace and security would monitor police performance in Baghdad's neighborhood and report abuses.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Barack Obama insists that he is not running for president, but he's not exactly running away from it either. Why should he? The Illinois Democrat has leaped further and faster into America's public consciousness than any presidential hopeful in memory, based on one speech. With media following him like flies to spilled honey - all the way to Africa and back - he's kept up a full schedule of political speeches on behalf of Democrats nationwide and ranks as one of his party's most-requested fundraising guests.

In the first television ad trumpeting his U.S. Senate bid, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele suggests he'll be a "different kind of senator" who will criticize both political parties. He does not mention that he is a Republican. The 30-second ad is to run for two weeks on Baltimore, Washington, Hagerstown and Salisbury TV stations. The spot shows Steele, wearing a dark suit and striped tie, sitting casually on a wooden stool and talking directly to the camera. "I know what you're thinking," he says, upbeat music playing in the background.

ECATEPEC, Mexico -- Want to add a room to the house? Get fitted for reading glasses? Take home a bicycle or container of gasoline? Better yet, qualify for a free-meals program? If you're needy and registered to vote in Mexico, now is the time to improve your lot. It's election season, and in poor communities all over the country the three big political parties are dispensing campaign largess, with the hope or understanding that recipients will return the favor at the ballot box July 2. Scores of senior citizens gathered under a tent in the main plaza of this Mexico City suburb in the second week of June to sign up for a new $70 monthly food subsidy.