In Italy, on the other hand, the constitutional court retains considerable power to reign in Berlusconi (and is in fact about to decide whether a government law postponing the Cavaliere's trials until he leaves office is permissible or not).
He said the families were upset that it had taken more than a month for Jonathan to schedule a visit to Chibok, but that promising to come and then postponing without an explanation gave them even less faith in the authorities.
Critics fear that, having so far failed to find a successor, Mr Karzai may engineer a political crisis to provide an excuse for postponing the vote.Mr Karzai should stop playing games.
The government looked clumsy postponing the December summit on the basis of its fear of Ebola, though that one decision may not prove too costly.
Some 171 appeals have been launched, postponing the formation of a new government.
Add international inspections to that mix, plus curbs on other uranium enrichment, and optimists think an imperfect interim deal could take shape, capable of postponing a larger nuclear stand-off.
There is still time for NATO to redeem itself, but it is running out fast.With only a third of the voters registered, with warlords and drug barons ruling the roost in much of the country, and with ominous "night letters" threatening anyone who votes with death, there is a case for postponing September's election.
The more measured approach of José Sócrates, Portugal's prime minister, involved limiting wage cuts to politicians and senior civil servants, increasing value-added tax and postponing big infrastructure projects.
Firms that promise to pay bonuses are postponing them, in order to delay accounting for them until the next financial year.
Instead, they will put that off for a few more years, thus postponing any productivity gains a new system might bring.Should January 1st 2000 bring civilisation crashing to a halt, with aeroplanes falling from the sky and anarchy in the streets, such concerns will not be uppermost.
But postponing it will leave an even more severe financial crisis looming just over the horizon.
