Kosovo police exchange fire with local Serbs blocking roads
Mitrovica, Kosovo Reuters Kosovo Serbs exchanged fire with the country’s police on Saturday after a flareup of tensions in the volatile northern part of the country. Earlier in the day Serbs from Kosovo’s north blocked main roads in the region to protest against the arrest of a former member of the Kosovo police who quit […]
Taiwan President quits as party head after China threat bet fails to win votes
Taipei, TaiwanReuters Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen resigned as head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party on Saturday after her strategy to frame local elections as showing defiance to China’s rising bellicosity failed to pay off and win public support. The elections for mayors, county chiefs and local councillors are ostensibly about domestic issues such as […]
Israel’s premier calls for unity after Netanyahu victory
Jerusalem AP Israel’s Prime Minister on Sunday issued a plea for national unity, days after he was defeated in national elections by the former premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, with the backing of a far-right ultranationalist party. In a memorial ceremony for the assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid warned of the deep […]
Pakistan ex-PM Khan announces march on capital to call for early elections
Lahore, PakistanReuters Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Tuesday that he would begin a protest march with his supporters from the eastern city of Lahore to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Friday to call for early elections. Smaller protests by Khan’s supporters took place last week after Pakistan’s top election tribunal found Khan guilty […]
Catholic priest denounces Angolan elections amid fears for the future of the poor
Sao Paulo, Brazil After 47 years ruling the country, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (known by the Portuguese acronym MPLA) had generated so much criticism among broad segments of the Angolan society that many people – especially the young – were desperately anxious to see it defeated in the August general elections. […]
Kenya’s church leaders call for peace in lead-up to presidential election
Nairobi, Kenya Church leaders across the country are calling for peace ahead of the 9th August presidential election contest between political long-hauler Raila Odinga and the current Deputy President, William Ruto. The East African country of more than 53 million people has experienced election violence several times in the last two decades. The worst was […]
Behind blast walls, Somali parliament to choose new president
Mogadishu, SomaliaReuters Two former presidents will face off against the incumbent in Somalia’s long-delayed presidential vote on Sunday behind blast walls to protect lawmakers from Islamist attacks and meddling by factions within the security services. President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed is among 39 candidates seeking the top post, to be chosen by parliamentarians in an airport […]
Lebanese Maronite Patriarch urges IMF deal, elections on time
Reuters Lebanon’s senior Christian cleric called on Wednesday for the government to agree a plan with the International Monetary Fund to save the country from financial collapse and said elections should be held on time later this year. The Lebanese Government began a new round of talks with the IMF last month in the hope […]
With elections delayed again, Libya’s endless transition angers its people
Tripoli/Benghazi, Libya Reuters As Libya’s political institutions pushed ahead with plans to again extend a transitional period and delay any elections, Libyans across the country were filled with weariness, cynicism and anger. Libya was meant to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in December, but arguments between factions and bodies of state over how they should […]
Democracy slipping away at record rate, intergovernmental body warns
Brussels, BelgiumReuters A greater number of countries are sliding towards authoritarianism, while the number of established democracies under threat has never been so high, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) said on Monday. Populist politics, the use of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions to silence critics, a tendency of countries to mimic the anti-democratic […]