Blogging the democratic revolution
I hadn’t really discussed it because, as far as superficial information goes, the mainstream media and famed international election observers like Jimmeh Carter went ahead and gave the whole thing the green light. WILLisms has a great roundup of the media coverage during the past week, and yes, Ethiopia is one of the more progressive nations on the continent. Relative to everyone else, Ethiopia’s ruling party looks like a model for the rest of Africa. In fact, they were the opposition alliance that overtook the Marxist dictatorship back in the ’80s. Jimmy Carter had some good things to say. Carter,…
Egypt’s parliament has just passed a resolution which will set May 25 as the day the Egyptian population will vote to amend the constitution so as to provide for multi-candidate presidential elections. The resolution was endorsed by a huge majority of parliament, though this is because it was proposed by Mubarak and his party dominates. The government is on a diplomatic trip to Washington right now, and they are big time trying to convince American politicians that Egypt is on the way to democracy, even broadcasting the parliamentary debate over the measure on television. At this point, Egypt is very…
I didn’t watch the UK elections very closely because I was pretty sure that one way or another, the excellent Prime Minister, Tony Blair, would win. But it was a wonderful experience to see how people abroad and from other lands marvelled at this English spectacle, in all its civilized execution. I’ve always liked the UK system, but it’s instructive to see how others who live in non-democratic societies experience England’s authentic democracy. There are two very good essays out on it now, one by blogger Daniel Duquenal and the other by Aleksander Boyd, both of which are fresh in…
No, it’s not a government statistic, it’s Datanalisis, a highly regarded private pollster. They report that Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez now sports a 70% popular approval rating. The kind of news that makes you wonder if the Revolution is on his side of the fence. Or if the revolution has been frothed up by growing anti-U.S. sentiment, courtesy of Chavez, but not exclusively Chavez, a trend I am hearing from Venezuelan sources. Did people lie to this guy? How come Chavez’s May Day crowds were so small then? I don’t know. There are some mysterious contradictory currents within this news…
I’d find it hard to disagree with this. The West African Bar Association (WABA) has called for the cancellation of the results of Togo’s election and formation a government of national unity, according to a statement from its president, Femi Falana. “Any attempt to form a national government on the basis of the flawed elections will be resisted by the Togolese people,” Falana observed in a statement in Lagos Tuesday. Falana said he was not surprised by the violence that greeted the declaration of the result of the presidential election, won by candidate Faure Gnassingbe of the ruling party, because,…
Mass violence, dubbed by some as even “urban warfare,” has erupted in Togo over the last few days (See Gateway Pundit’s coverage here and some pictures here. Opposition Bob-Akitani has responded to the heavily flawed polls by declaring himself president to his supporters. Togo’s opposition presidential candidate has declared himself president with 70% of the vote, despite official results giving him only 38%. “We must fight with our lives if necessary,” Bob Akitani said, claiming the poll was rigged in favour of Faure Gnassingbe, the former leader’s son. Security forces have again fired teargas at his supporters who erected and…
Constitutionally, the Lebanese electoral law must be passed a month before the elections are to take place. Which means they have have three days left– April 29th. New and short-living Premier Mikati wants to hold the election over a period of three days. Parliament on Tuesday opened a nationally televised debate of a policy statement by Premier Mikati’s newly formed government, which is seeking a vote of confidence on a basis that the elections would be held in three stages on May 26, 29 and 31. The prime minister has made it plain that he was unshakably determined to hold…
I guess this means there’s no chance of a unity government, though that was far-fetched anyhow. Here are the cold, dry results. Announcing the results, the head of the CENI National Electoral Commission, Kissem Tchangai-Walla, said Gnassingbe of the Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) won 60.22 percent of the vote in Sunday’s poll while the main opposition candidate Emmanuel Bob-Akitani captured 38.19 percent. “In view of these results … the candidate of the RPT has been provisionally elected,” said Kissem Tchangai-Walla. The electoral commission chief said the provisional results must be confirmed by the constitutional council under Togolese law…
I’m not sure what day the election results are supposed to be announced, as a date hasn’t been written in anything that I’ve read. I’m going to have to assume that it will be announced whenever they are done counting… and recounting. The problem here is that everybody knows that the longer it takes the government to count the vote, the more chances they have to commit fraud. So get a load of this. Togo’s opposition is awaiting results from Sunday’s presidential election, amid street violence that has killed several people and injured dozens. Voters were asked to choose a…
Back in February, Togo experienced a constitutional coup of sorts. ÄDictatorÅ Gnassingbe Eyadema died after a long, treacherous rule of 38 years. The coup happened when his son, Faure Gnassingbe, decided to assume power despite constitutional law dictating otherwise. The UN, of all bodies, said no to this happening, so what did Faure do? He immediately amended the constitution! Immediately afterward, the African Union, the same one that endorsed Mugabe’s reelection, condemned the move and imposed immediate sanctions on the country. So did the United States. Faure stepped down, and on March 3rd, elections were called for April 24th. This…
The third and last round of the Saudi municipal elections are over. The votes still need to be counted and winners announced, but in any case, they will probably turn out relatively similar to the previous two rounds. Riyadh, 21 April (AKI) – Saudis went to the polls on Thursday for the third and final phase of the Kingdom’s historic municipal elections after twelve days of intense campaigning, which officially ended on Wednesday. Some 140,000 Saudis were expected to vote in the poll, but they are only electing half the members of their municipal councils. The other half will be…
Work, work, work. In the meantime, though, the third round of municipals are starting up in Saudi Arabia. JEDDAH, 21 April 2005 ???????? The business city of Jeddah will go to the polls today with the rest of the Western Region to elect new municipal councils in Saudi Arabia????????s historic democratic exercise. As many as 548 candidates are contesting for seven Jeddah seats, pinning their hopes on some 80,000 registered voters. Saudis in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah as well as Taif, Qasim, Hail, Tabuk, Al-Jouf and the Northern Border Region also go to polls today in the…
Finally: Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati announced he has succeeded in forming a new government, after a month and a half of political wrangling by pro-Syrian and opposition politicians. Lebanon’s fledgling Prime Minister Najib Mikati made the eagerly-waited announcement that he had put together a new government at the presidential palace. The government, with those named today, he insisted, will be a short-term administration, destined to supervise parliamentary elections, quickly, and within the constitutional time frame, “God willing,” as he put it. Mr. Mikati denied that there had been a tug-of-war between Lebanon’s opposition movement and pro-Syrian politicians, in choosing…
Probably one of the least noticed news items of the day is the results of municipal elections in the Basque separatist region of Spain. BILBAO, Spain, April 18 (Reuters) – Spain’s ruling Socialists declared Basque premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe’s plan for virtual independence from Madrid dead on Monday after he suffered a setback in regional polls. Ibarretxe, who had tried to turn Sunday’s poll into a plebiscite on his controversial plan, emerged weakened. The big winners were the Socialists and a little-known party backed by radical nationalists unable to vote for Batasuna, banned as the political wing of guerrilla group…
When thousands of Venezuelans came forward last year to exercise their legally guaranteed democratic right to sign a petition to recall their president, precious few realized the kind of use dictator Hugo Chavez could and did make of that signature list afterward. It was published on the Internet – the names, addresses and social-security-number equivalent of all those who signed. It was used to blacklist signers, deny people work, target dissidents. Thousands of people were affected, not just in those who were not hired for jobs, but for those who were denied services, lost rights, got harassed and were brutalized.…
I knew that the parliament had declined new election for June 26 as set by the old parliament, but I didn’t know that they’d set a new date. In any case, it’s not the much further away from the old date. Legislators initially hesitated in accepting his offer to step down, reluctant to allow him a dignified exit. After days of debate, they deepened his disgrace by stripping him of privileges he had gained as the Central Asian nation’s first president under a 2003 law. Yesterday, legislators in the 75-seat parliament voted, 38 to 2, to ”suspend Askar Akayev’s presidential…
Djibouti — One of the many unfree places left in the world where a “president” can call the opposition cowards while firing tear gas at them for protesting a rigged election. Djibouti’s incumbent leader, Ismail Omar Guelleh, has won presidential elections boycotted by the opposition and in which he was the sole candidate. The high turnout – 78.9% – was the only unpredictable element in the polls. Mr Guelleh, who won 100% of the ballots cast, told France’s Le Figaro newspaper he regretted “having no opponent”. Earlier on Friday, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters rallying against…
The official Pora website hasn’t been updated in months, so I’ve been really wondering what they’ve been up to since the Orange Revolution. Since then, they’ve created the Red Pora youth organization, which seeks to immitate its Ukrainian civic campaign in Russia. There still isn’t much, but according to this article, Pora has backed Mikhail Kasyanov for president in 2008. A political youth group has said it will support former Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov in his bid for the presidency in 2008. The group, called Pora! (High Time), has the same name as the youth group in Ukraine that…
Previous statements have said that they would not contest the election results in court, as it would be futile given that it is controlled by Mugabe. Now, they have decided to do so in the districts where the most flagrant violations occured. Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has reversed its earlier decision not to challenge the results of last week’s parliamentary election in court. The party is now taking cases of what it calls the most blatant irregularities to the Electoral Court. The Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC, will challenge one or two results from…
Let the race begin! (Kyodo) _ The Mongolian presidential election campaign officially kicked off Friday with speeches, music and rallies as four candidate began vying for the top spot in one of the world’s youngest democracies. Until May 20, the candidates will fly or drive around the landlocked East Asian nation to speak with some of the 1 million voters, including a rural nomadic population, about poverty alleviation and other key issues. The leading contender is Nambariin Enkhbayar, a former prime minister backed by the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party. His main rival is Mendsaikhani Enkhsaikhan of the Democratic Party. The…
The new unicameral parliament in effect since the dissolution of the upper house has renounced the election date set by the previous parliament for June 26. A new date hasn’t been announced as the legislature is busy discussing what to do now that Akayev has resigned. Kyrgyzstan????????s unicameral parliament has repealed a resolution adopted by the former bicameral legislature that set June 26 as the date for the country????????s special presidential election. A new election date will be set only after legislators review the issue of former President Askar Akayev????????s resignation. Parliament on April 7 postponed debate on Akayev????????s resignation…
This article caught my eye just before I went to hit the bed. Very sneaky. Very smart. Observer teams from African countries and regional organisations have been unanimous in declaring the elections free and fair, but the US embassy said that although the Zimbabwe government had not invited it to send observer teams from abroad, it had sent 25 of its Harare-based diplomats to observe the process in almost half of the 120 constituencies. Their reports showed “several patterns of irregularities” – the exclusion of observers from four polling stations, the failure to publish the results of each polling station…
April 4th is the day Moldova’s Parliament holds elections for President. Up for re-election is Communist Party leader Voronin, who won 56 of the 101 votes, of which he only needed 61 to win. In other words, his party needed to pursuade some of the opposition his way. If a president is not elected after two times, then parliament dissolves and a new election is held. Well, five votes isn’t much, so it was a pretty easy battle for Voronin to win. But before the election, the pro-Moscow Democratic Moldova bloc presented a list of 22 demands for its participation.…
I’ve been reading this article with the above title. It’s pretty long and informative, but I think this quote sums it up, “They haven’t ever seen a good election and wouldn’t know one if it hit them in the face.” Truer words have never been spoken!
Well the results are in and they’ve been plenty doctored. Here’s the overview, with the opposition promising something unspecified to happen. Harare ???????? President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party has secured a majority in parliament, according to results announced Friday in an election the opposition says was marred by fraud. Thursday’s vote was seen as a test of the legitimacy of Mr. Mugabe’s increasingly autocratic regime after 25 years in power. Mr. Mugabe, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, is the last on the continent who has ruled his country since independence from the colonial powers. Mr. Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic…