elections - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Mali political parties request elections after junta shuns transition promise

POLITICAL parties in Mali have requested a time frame for presidential elections after the ruling junta failed to organise polls within a promised 24-month transition back to democracy. Mali has been under military rule since August 2020, the first of eight coups in West and Central Africa over four years, including in its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger. Regional blocs have been trying to negotiate transitions but the interim governments are dragging their feet. Mali's current junta seized power in a second 2021 coup and later promised to take 24 months from March 2022 to restore civilian rule, with a start date…

Mar

2024

By RACHEL SAVAGE

Senegal’s election: What is at stake for investors?

BUSINESS

INTERNATIONAL investors will be closely monitoring the presidential election in Senegal, scheduled for March 24, after delays incited widespread protests. The country, usually one of coup-prone West Africa's most stable democracies, has been gripped by tension since early February, when President Macky Sall tried to postpone the vote that had been due to take place on Feb. 25 by 10 months, leading to warnings of democratic backsliding. WHAT ARE INVESTORS FOCUSED ON? Senegal has about $4.2 billion of outstanding international bonds, two issued in euros and three in U.S. dollars. For investors in those bonds, the current focus is on whether the presidential vote will be…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Libyan leaders agree to form new unified government

NEWS

THREE key Libyan leaders said they had agreed on the "necessity" of forming a new unified government that would supervise long-delayed elections. A political process to resolve more than a decade of conflict in Libya has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed amid disputes over the eligibility of the main candidates. The leaders are the president of the Presidential Council (PC) Mohamed Menfi, the head of the High State Council (HSC) Mohamed Takala, who are both based in Tripoli, and Aguila Saleh, speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) in Benghazi. In a joint statement, the…

Mar

2024

By MOSOTHO MOEPYA

South Africa heads to the 2024 general elections with the highest number of young voters

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AS we commemorate 30 years of electoral democracy, we cannot overlook the profound contributions made by successive generations of South African youth. The heroes of the struggle against apartheid were not only found in the pages of history but among the young men and women who stood up, took arms, and fast-tracked the journey to liberation in 1976. The 2024 generation now faces a unique challenge - to continue building the future and democracy that others have fought for. Our democracy is not merely a system of governance; it is a dynamic and living entity that thrives on the engagement…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Key facts about Iran’s elections on Friday

WORLD

IRANIANS will vote in a parliamentary election on March 1 seen as a litmus test of the clerical establishment's popularity amid growing discontent over economic, political and social strains. Iran's clerical rulers are seeking a big turnout to shore up their legitimacy, damaged following months of mass protests ignited by the death in custody of a young woman in 2022. On the same day as the parliamentary vote, Iran holds elections to pick 88 members of a powerful clerical body known as the Assembly of Experts, which is tasked with appointing or dismissing the supreme leader. Following are some facts about Iran's election process:…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Nigeria counts votes in elections to choose new state governors

NEWS

MACDONALD DZIRUTWE NIGERIA'S election officials counted ballots after polls closed in a delayed vote to pick new state governors, amid reports of scattered violence and voter intimidation, including in Lagos, where a tight race was expected. Polls began closing from 1330 GMT and counting immediately followed, but time was extended where voting started late. Final results are expected by Monday. In southeastern Imo state, a hotbed of separatist violence, security forces rescued 19 electoral officials who had been abducted by thugs, but election materials were lost, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said. "While the commission remains grateful to the…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Election observers are important for democracy – but few voters know what they do

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ELECTION observers keep watch over polls throughout the world. Their job is to support efforts to improve electoral quality and to provide transparency. In African countries, both local citizens and international observers have been deployed regularly since the 1990s. During several recent elections across the continent, however, questions have arisen about the competence and impartiality of observation missions. This has led to concerns about the future of observation, both in Africa and elsewhere. Authors THOMAS MOLONY, Senior Lecturer in African Studies, The University of Edinburgh ROBERT MACDONALD, Research Fellow in African Studies, The University of Edinburgh In 2023, more than…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Gabon president proposes cutting presidential mandate to five years

NEWS

GABON President Ali Bongo proposed shortening the presidential mandate from seven to five years as he began consultations to prepare for elections this year and measures to prevent violence. More than two days of deadly unrest followed Gabon's last elections in 2016 after the opposition rejected Ali Bongo's victory and alleged fraud. "On the eve of future general elections, I have today decided to set the term of office for all elections to five years," Bongo said on Monday. The move will require constitutional reform and a vote in parliament. Sixty-four-year-old Bongo has been president of the oil-producing West African…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Nigeria won’t use 240 new polling units due to insecurity – electoral commission

NEWS

CAMILLUS EBOH NIGERIA'S electoral commission head said that 240 polling centres will not be used in upcoming elections, as no one had chosen them due to insecurity in the surrounding areas. Separatist and gang violence is a major concern for Nigerians when they vote on February 25 for new members of parliament and for a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari. When new voters register in Nigeria, they are allowed to choose a polling centre. Most people choose the nearest to where they live because movement is restricted by security agencies on election day. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Mahmood…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Legitimacy crisis for Libya’s political institutions

NEWS

LIBYAN protesters want the political authorities to quit and hold elections after previous transitional periods created institutions that clung on long after their mandates expired. Here are Libya's main political institutions that have so far failed to overcome entrenched differences between rival authorities in the east and west of the country, a divide that emerged after the 2011 toppling of autocrat Muammar Gaddafi. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Libya's House of Representatives was elected in 2014 as the national parliament with a four-year mandate to oversee a transition to a new constitution prepared by another elected body. But the legitimacy of the…