No divorce on Oct 1!

China is going to celebrate the 60th anniversary of people's republic on October 1. According to the Chongqing municipal government, they divorce appointment could be made for that day, while the wedding registration will still be working.

Of course, divorce is in contrast with the harmonious society. At this sensitive moment, the government would try to prevent any potential threat to the harmony, either Tibetan separatist movement or domestic conflicts, from disrupting the rosy atmosphere in this country to celebrate the huge achievements and forget the negligible disasters in the past six decades under communist rule.

On the other hand, this day is so proud for the nation that so many people want to make it their happiest day in their lives by setting the wedding day on Oct 1. This would possibly overwhelm the capacity of the government, simply rendering it incapable of accommodating people who want to divorce. Having lived under the same roof together for several years, one day is not that hard to wait, isn't it? Probably seeing the country is so strong and prosperous, some couples would change their minds, and the society would be one step closer to "harmony".

Election watch:

Ther result of German federal parliament election has come out. Christian Democrats (CDU) led by Chancellor Angela Merkel won by a larger margin than last time, thus ending the uncomfortable "Grand Coalition" with center-left rival Social Democratic Party (SDP). Actually, out of the five main parties, only social democrats lost seats, and all the other gained significant number of seats. The biggest winner is the third party, natural ally of Merkel's party, Freedom Democratic Party (FDP), surging from 61 to 93 seats. Together with the CDU and its partner in Bavaria CSU, they won over 50% of the seats, sufficient to form a coalition government without the leftist parties.

This is certainly a good result for German people because Merkel government has performed well in the past four years. The country is moving out of the recession, faster than most of the other developed countries. Plus, a grand coalition turns out to be quite inefficient and slows down the necessary reforms in this country. A period of opposition status can also help the SPD reform itself to compete with CDU in the future.

The incumbent Socialist Party won the parliamentary election in Portugal, but its leading margin is reduced and it needs to form a coalition with other parties to get a majority in the parliament. A grand coalition with center-right PSD is likely to happen, though allying with two smaller leftist parties is also possible. But forming a coalition government is not insurmountable and José Sócrates is set to remain in the office.

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats
PS	2,068,665	36.56	-8.4	96
PSD	1,646,097	29.09	0.3	78
CDS/PP	592,064	10.46	3.2	21
BE	557,109	9.85	3.4	16
CDU	446,174	7.88	0.3	15

The presidential election in Somaliland has been delayed again due to the "current political, economic and technical conditions."