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By Radwan Jakeem
NEW YORK (IDN) — A senior UN official in charge of the region has urged the Palestinian authorities to set a new date for heading to the polls, originally scheduled for May 22.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had announced the postponement of the planned parliamentary elections, amidst a dispute over voting rights in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, according to news reports.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore…and then run?”
Those were the prophetic words of poet Langston Hughes but they could also explain the rising frustration in an African election season where hopes for a democratic change are deferred and the incumbent holds on to power year after year after year.
By Lia Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — Another African leader has lost the fight for his life—this time in a private hospital in Brazzaville, where he was last seen lifting up his oxygen mask and warning his supporters that he is “fighting death.”
Family members of Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas—the leading opposition candidate in Congo-Brazzaville’s current presidential election—were unable to bring him to France in time for treatment of COVID-19 while voting is underway.
The following is a revised version of the previous report titled "India Falls from ‘Free’ to ‘Partly Free’ in Freedom Index"
By Ditsa Bhattacharya, NewsClick and ICF Team
NEW DELHI (IDN) — India's status fell from "free" to "partly free" in the Freedom in the World 2021 report released on March 3. India's score in the index decreased by four points, from 71 in 2020, to 67 in 2021. The report, published by Freedom House, a US-based non-governmental organisation, measures the strength of democratic processes in countries. The report attributed the decline in India's score to the policies of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | BRUSSELS (IDN) — As Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni bore down on rights groups and the opposition, the European Union (EU) Parliament responded with the threat of sanctions against Ugandan individuals and organizations they hold responsible for abuses during the recent general election.
Museveni apparently sparked the EU backlash when he instructed the Ministry of Finance, in a letter dated January 1, to suspend the activities of the Democratic Governance Facility, a basket fund of European countries that bankroll most Ugandan civil society organizations that work on governance, rights and related themes.
Viewpoint by Chandra Muzaffar
This article is being reproduced from the Website of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST) presided over by Dr Chandra Muzaffar.
KUALA LUMPUR (IDN) – According to official estimates, Donald J. Trump obtained a little more than 74 million votes in the November 2020 presidential election losing to Joseph Biden who secured a little more than 81 million votes. Biden won by a comfortable margin, but Trump also performed remarkably well. What explains his performance? Analysis of his performance may reveal the growing influence of a certain combination of forces that may shape elections in not only the United States but also in other parts of the world in the coming years.
By Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY (IDN) – Both coverage in the Asian press and statements by neighbouring Asian governments reported in the media on the grabbing of exclusive power by the military in Myanmar, reflects the traditional Asian adage that democracy should go hand in hand with economic and political stability. Thus, sanctions and external funding of protest groups (usually urban elites and the young) are discouraged.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Endangered citizens of the Central African Republic are fleeing the country in the hundreds of thousands as rebel fighters seek to overturn the recent re-election of President Faustin Archange Touadera with familiar cries of fraud and demands for his ouster.
Touadera was re-elected after a vote on December 27, defeating 16 other candidates. The country’s electoral college said he captured 54 per cent of the vote – enough to make a runoff unnecessary.
Viewpoint by Bill Dahl*
QUERETARO, Mexico (IDN) – Donald Trump lost the U.S. Presidential election. Trump garnered 73.9 million votes to Joe Biden’s 80 million (47.2% to 51.1%). Yet, Trump refuses to formally concede his loss. His attempts to win legal challenges based upon assertions of widespread voter fraud have been unanimously rejected by U.S. courts. The official certification of the election results is scheduled for December 14, 2020.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Elections are a deadly game in Uganda. That was the message issued twice by Security Minister General Elly Tumwine as political rallies heat up and a national election to elect the President and the Parliament scheduled for January 14, 2021 draws near.
"Police have a right to shoot you and kill you if you reach a certain level of violence," Gen. Tumwine declared. "Can I repeat? Police have a right to shoot you and you die for nothing.... do it at your own risk."
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