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By Thalif Deen
NEW YORK (IDN) — A head of state, who presided over an authoritarian regime in Southeast Asia, was once asked about rigged elections in his country.
“I promised I will give you the right to vote,” he was quoted as saying, perhaps half-jokingly “But I did not say anything about counting those votes.”
Viewpoint by David C. Speedie
This article was produced by Globetrotter in partnership with the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord. David C. Speedie, a Board Member of ACURA, was formerly Senior Fellow and Director of the Program on U.S. Global Engagement at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Prior to this, he chaired the Program on International Peace and Security at Carnegie Corporation. Source: Globetrotter.
Viewpoint by Jan Servaes
Jan Servaes was Head of the Department of Media and Communication at the City University of Hong Kong (2013-2016). He taught ‘international communication’ in Australia, Belgium, China, Hong Kong, the US, the Netherlands and Thailand, in addition to short-term projects at about 120 universities in 55 countries. He is editor of the 2020 Handbook on Communication for Development and Social Change https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-981-10-7035-8
By Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY (IDN) — Samoa, a small island nation in the South Pacific, is currently having two governments both sworn in with one claiming that they have been appointed to govern by God and the other claiming they have got the peoples' mandate. The political crisis is also embroiled in arguments over the role of Chinese investments in the island, which was a former colony of New Zealand that gained independence in 1962.
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.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.