Elections
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By Michael Allen on April 7, 2009
North Africa’s forthcoming elections – a presidential poll in Algeria this week, Tunisia’s presidential and legislative elections in October, and Morocco’s municipal elections in June – “attest not to the vibrancy of democracy in the region, but rather to its lingering authoritarianism“, writes Dana Moss.
In Algeria, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will amend the constitution to allow [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Elections, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, authoritarianism, promoting democracy | Tagged Arab democracy, authoritarianism, Elections |
By Michael Allen on March 27, 2009
Indonesia, one of the most robust democracies in the Muslim world, goes to the polls next month. The country’s “underappreciated” democratic transition is proving to be a source of relative stability in a volatile region, with Jakarta emerging as a possibly pivotal force in determining the political trajectory of the region.
The archipelago illustrates how “Islam, [read full story]
Posted in Asia, Democracy assistance, Elections, Events, Islam/politics, democracy promotion, promoting democracy | Tagged Democracy assistance, democracy promotion, Elections, Events, indonesia, Islam/politics, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on March 24, 2009
Growing political intolerance and polarization have returned to Nicaragua as President Daniel Ortega’s Government of Reconciliation and National Unity proves to be anything but. Pro-government Sandinista gangs have physically attacked opposition groups criticizing last year’s allegedly fraudulent elections.
“Nicaragua has come a long way from the heady days of 1990, when Chamorro’s election win appeared to [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Elections, Latin America and the Carribean, media | Tagged Backlash, Elections, media, nicaragua |
By Michael Allen on March 18, 2009
Voters go to the polls today to vote in a controversial referendum as oil-rich Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev Aliyev becomes the latest “petro-president” to consolidate his grip on power by abolishing term limits. Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez secured the necessary constitutional amendments last month, the Kazakh parliament lifted presidential term limits in 2007, and the Kremlin [read full story]
Posted in Elections, Eurasia, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, authoritarianism, corruption | Tagged Aliyev, authoritarianism, corruption, Elections, Eurasia, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society |
By Michael Allen on March 17, 2009
Indonesia’s elections commission has certified 10 local and two foreign survey groups – the European Union and the US-based National Democratic Institute – to undertake quick counts (aka Parallel Vote Tabulations) for the forthcoming legislative and presidential elections. The commission also certified 24 local and seven foreign observer organizations.
“Many Indonesians believe that their experience with [read full story]
Posted in Asia, Democracy assistance, Elections, Islam/politics, National Endowment for Democracy, authoritarianism, democracy promotion, promoting democracy | Tagged Asia, authoritarianism, Democracy assistance, democracy promotion, Elections, Islam/politics, National Endowment for Democracy, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on March 17, 2009
The Obama administration has sought to lower expectations for Afghanistan, suggesting that stability is the principal priority. Clearly, a failing state cannot sustain a genuine democracy, but others are reluctant to give up the country’s experiment with democracy, suggesting that “the custom of holding elections, even if some early rounds may be somewhat flawed, eventually [read full story]
Posted in Asia, Elections, Failed states, corruption, democracy promotion, foreign policy, promoting democracy | Tagged Asia, corruption, democracy promotion, Elections, Failed states, foreign policy, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on March 4, 2009
The new U.S. administration is likely to downplay, but not downgrade democracy as a foreign policy imperative. President Barack Obama is unlikely to be as vocal in highlighting democracy as a leading policy objective, and he has demonstrably pragmatic, realist instincts.
But he also has a conviction that democracy is closely intertwined with economic, security and [read full story]
Posted in Africa, Backlash, China, Democracy assistance, Elections, Human rights, Russia, democracy promotion, promoting democracy | Tagged Democracy assistance, democracy promotion, Elections, obama |
By Michael Allen on March 2, 2009
Iran’s presidential election campaign is due to start at the end of May, but the contest has already began, judging by the vitriolic nature of recent exchanges. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the official Islamic New Agency to publish a scathing attack on reformist candidate and former president Muhammad Khatami.
The article, notes Amir Taheri claims that [read full story]
Posted in Elections, Iran, Islam/politics, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, authoritarianism, democracy promotion, dissidents, promoting democracy | Tagged authoritarianism, democracy promotion, dissidents, Elections, iran, Islam/politics, National Endowment for Democracy |
By Michael Allen on February 27, 2009
Democracy activists are expressing concern at the detention of Madock Chivasa, chairperson of Zimbabwe’s Youth Forum and spokesperson for the National Constitutional Assembly, after he was arrested Thursday evening along with several other activists.
Five members of the Chivasa family were severely assaulted last year by over 30 ZANU-PF members, using staves, shamboks and whips.
The arrest [read full story]
Posted in Africa, Elections, Human rights, Labour/labor unions, NGOs/Civil society, dissidents | Tagged dissidents, Elections, Labour/labor unions, NGOs/Civil society, Zimbabwe |
By Michael Allen on February 19, 2009
Observers breathed a sigh of relief when Iraq’s provincial elections passed by with relatively little violence and gains by non-sectarian secular parties. The final tallies were confirmed today, but as results are assessed, and the political horse-trading and coalition-building begins, complaints of electoral fraud may yet spill over into violence.
The election was marred by low [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Elections, Islam/politics, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society | Tagged Democracy assistance, Elections, Iraq, Islam/politics, Middle East and North Africa |
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