general election - The African Mirror

Jul

16

2024

Tanzania’s election laws make it hard to build political opposition – what needs to change

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

TANZANIANS go to the polls this year in local elections to vote for street and village chairpersons. This will be followed by a general election next year for councillors, members of parliament and the president. Both sets of elections are being watched closely. They’re the first to be held following a raft of changes over the past eight years to drag Tanzania away from its history of operating as a one-party state and towards a more multiparty arrangement. This history has included restrictions on opposition parties’ activities. For example, between 2016 and 2023, political rallies were banned in Tanzania. This…

Jul

13

2024

By JULIUS MAINA

Kagame’s iron grip for decades

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THERE is little doubt that Paul Kagame will win the votes necessary to extend his 24-year rule in Rwanda’s general election on 15 July 2024. The ruling party, the Rwanda Patriotic Front, nominated Kagame as its presidential candidate during a congress in March. He got 99.1% of the vote. Kagame faces Frank Habineza, who leads the opposition Democratic Green Party, and Philippe Mpayimana, an independent candidate and former journalist. In the country’s last election in 2017, Kagame garnered nearly 99% of the vote. This year, about 9.5 million Rwandans are registered to vote. Since he was first elected president in…

May

03

2024

By MANOJ KUMAR and AFTAB AHMED

Low turnout, apathy in India election a worry for Modi’s campaign

WORLD

A lower turnout so far in India’s long general election has rattled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign managers, raising into question whether his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies can achieve the landslide victory predicted by opinion polls just one month ago. The lack of momentum has been partly blamed on apathy among party workers believing victory is assured and seems to have prompted Modi to change tack in his campaign speeches to try to fire up the Hindu majority, the party’s support base, and get them out to voting stations, political analysts said. The last major opinion poll had predicted that the…

Feb

28

2024

By EDGAR GITHUA

South Sudan: some spoilers want peace to fail, putting 2024 elections at risk

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOUTH Sudan is expected to hold its first general election in December 2024. It became an independent state in 2011. The long overdue election is one of the pillars of a peace agreement signed in 2018. It helped end the 2013-2018 civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced millions. EDGAR GITHUA, Lecturer in International Studies, Strathmore University Since then, the country has progressed in relative peace, with fewer incidences of conflict reported between 2018 and 2023. However, UN experts have voiced concerns about the likelihood of elections being held within agreed timelines. The election has been slated for…

Feb

09

2024

By ASIF SHAHZAD and ARIBA SHAHID

Pakistan starts vote count, clear picture expected early Friday

WORLD

PAKISTAN began counting votes after polling ended in a general election marred by militant attacks and suspension of mobile phone services, with authorities saying that at least nine people had been killed nationwide. The vote was held as the South Asian country struggles to recover from an economic crisis while it grapples with rising militant violence in a deeply polarised political environment. TV channels are expected to make projections of first results a few hours after voting closed at 5 p.m. (1200 GMT) and a clear picture is likely to emerge early on Friday as counting continues through the night. The national…

Feb

08

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s Ramaphosa to announce election date this month

NEWS

SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa will announce the date of this year's general election later this month, his spokesman said on Wednesday. "If you count from tomorrow, the president will announce the election date within 15 days," Ramaphosa's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told reporters. Political analysts say record power cuts, poor service delivery and high levels of unemployment are likely to hurt the governing African National Congress (ANC) party that Ramaphosa, 71, leads, threatening the loss of its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994. Ramaphosa, who has struggled to rekindle economic growth since taking…

Dec

18

2023

By The African Mirror

Pockets of violence mar Congo election campaign, threaten vote

NEWS

TWO candidates running for parliament in the Democratic Republic of Congo's December 20 general election were killed in separate incidents, as a rights group warned in a report that electoral violence risks undermining the vote. A candidate for the ruling coalition in the South Kivu province in the eastern Congo region was killed by unknown gunmen while he was returning from a campaign event on Friday evening, a regional government official told Reuters. Another ruling coalition candidate in Beni, in the North Kivu province, also in eastern Congo, died from gunshot wounds late on Friday night after his campaign convoy was ambushed,…

Nov

17

2023

By SONIA ROLLEY

Congo opposition parties discuss joint election candidate, fair vote

NEWS

REPRESENTATIVES of Congo's main opposition parties began talks this week in Pretoria on how to ensure the general election on December 20 will be fair and to decide on a potential joint candidate to challenge President Felix Tshisekedi. A crowded opposition field of 25 candidates has been officially approved by the electoral commission in the Democratic Republic of Congo to face Tshisekedi who is seeking a second term. Campaigning for the election in Congo, the world's largest producer of battery material cobalt and a major copper producer will start on November 20. Opposition candidates include Tshisekedi's old rivals such as Martin…

Nov

01

2023

By SONIA ROLLEY

Congo presidential candidates call for urgent measures to ‘save’ election

NEWS

SIX presidential candidates in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including President Felix Tshisekedi's main rivals, called for urgent measures to prevent potential fraud in the upcoming general election. In a joint statement, the candidates promised to work together to prevent any manipulation of results and demanded a number of measures from the electoral commission including the publication of electoral lists and mapping of polling stations. The run-up to Congo's December 20 vote has been fraught with tension. International allies and human rights groups have accused the authorities of cracking down on dissent and freedom of expression, charges the government has denied.…

Oct

14

2023

By ANGE ADIHE KASONGO

Eyeing election, Congo president eases some terms of eastern military rule

NEWS

WITH little over two months until a general election, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said some conditions of military rule in conflict-hit eastern provinces would be eased, partly to encourage participation in the vote. He stopped short of cancelling the state of siege in North Kivu and Ituri provinces despite pressure to do so from civil society groups and the opposition who say it has done little to contain the many militias destabilising the east since it was imposed in April 2021. In a late-evening televised speech to the nation, the president said a curfew would be lifted and peaceful demonstrations…