Stories about Elections from May, 2007
Syria: Assad for a second term with the “approval” of 97.68%
President Bashar Assad won his second term in office by a landslide. 97.62% voted “Yes” on the presidential referendum this week. Andre of Flight of Ideas, cannot comprehend though how...
Panama: Political Season Heating Up, The Return of Noriega, and Crime in Panama: a Love Story
Presidential elections in Panama are not scheduled until May 2009, but bloggers are already keeping a watchful eye out for any developments. Another interesting turn of events that will arrive sooner than the elections is the expected release of former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega. Finally, in addition to blog entries about visas, travel and food, one blogger's hopeful encounter with a beautiful woman turns out to be something more unexpected and less appealing.
Jordan: The Other 3% in Syria
From Jordan, Naseem Al Tarawnah writes: ‘The BBC Reported: “The interior ministry said he (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) won the backing of more than 97% of Syria’s 12 million voters...
Ecuador: Video of Candidate for Constituent Assembly
Ecuador Elige [ES] posts a YouTube video of an interview with Marcelo Ruiz, a pre–candidate for the Constituent Assembly.
Guatemala: Asking About Guatemala
A poem called “Today, they me asked about you, Guatemala,” led Jorge Cabrera to reflect on the state of affairs in his native country [ES]. He writes, “Let's talk about...
Papua New Guinea: Elections
Islandbaby describes the dynamics of voting in Papua New Guinea. “So the result is that people, as extensions of familial and tribal groups, vote in context rather than on perspective...
Philippines: Local Campaigning
Mong Palatino, a candidate in the recent elections (and GlobalVoices contributor) in the Philippines gives us a glimpse into how campaigning is carried out at a local level. “I was...
Malawians on the world stage: academic honors, music, science and technology
There is one discernible theme running through the Malawian blogosphere in the month of May. This round-up focuses mostly on what these bloggers have written in this month, now approaching its end. One Malawian has received international honors for his contributions to world scholarship, while two female Malawian musicians have launched their latest music albums outside Malawi. One Malawian scientist calls for the Malawi government to put in place mechanisms to prepare for the looming disaster that might possibly be triggered by global warming, and two Malawians have made their mark in the world of technology. It has been a month of Malawians showcasing their mettle on the world stage, and here with it all.
Syria: Presidential Referendum and Lebanon Clashes
Today, Syria is reelecting president Bashar Assad for a new seven-year term in office. The process is done through a referendum, which means there will be no other challengers. The referendum paper has a green circle that says "Yes" and a gray one that says "No". The result is expected to be 99.xx% in favour of the president - as is the tradition in Syria for the last 37 years. Yazan Badran sums up the reactions of Syrian bloggers here.
Arabeyes: Unlicensed Bahrainis; Silent Algerians; Kidneyless Egyptians and More
What is banned and allowed in Bahrain? How did the government and politicians react to the low turn out at the Algerian elections last week? Why did an Egyptian man sell his kidney? And finally - why do you need Wasta in Jordan? These are the main questions the following translation of Arabic blogs shed light on this week.
Argentina: Recap of Mayoral Debate
Robert of Line of Sight had plenty to say about the recent Mayor of Jefe de Gobierno debate for the June 3 elections. The three candidates participated in a forum...
Latvia: Presidential Candidates
Marginalia and All About Latvia write about the presidential candidates, including the governing coalition's Valdis Zatlers, “the nearly unknown medical doctor.”
Romania: Referendum's Low Turnout
Csikszereda Musings writes on the results of the impeachment referendum and offers a few reasons for a low turnout: “This huge defeat to the sponsors of the referendum was, however,...
Barbados: Integrity Standards
“Our political system has NO RULES about accountability, transparency, integrity & conflict of interest standards or laws that allow citizens to access government information. In such a free-for-all system it...
Guatemala: Insight into Polls
Luis Figueroa of Carpe Diem [ES] notices the decline in polls for Alvaro Colom, who has participated in the past three elections. Also of note, is that Nobel Prize winner,...
Mexico: Incidents Already Surfacing in Yucatán Elections
The campaign for governor elections are well underway. Incidents of violence are already popping up in Yucatán. Enigmatario [ES] writes about what is at stake.
Argentina: Election Coverage on Mobile Phones
Election coverage in Argentina is moving to mobile phones according to the blog Prixma [ES]. The daily La Nación, in addition to publishing a regular website with election news, will...
Bahamas: Election Court
WeblogBahamas.com thinks that the PLP's decision to go to election court to contest four seats won by the FNM in the recent General Elections is “both peculiar and unprecedented”.
Romania: Impeachment Referendum
Transatlantic Politics and Edward Lucas – on the referendum on president Traian Basescu's impeachment.
Algeria: Election Results
Algerian blogger Nouri updates us on the results of the Algerian elections here. “As would be expected, voter turn-out was low with only 6.6 million votes cast out of an...
East Timor: Reflections on the Presidential elections
Timor Online brings up Max Lane‘s reflections on the latest Presidential elections (also in Portuguese), which circulated through ETAN's East Timor list, and “are the result of conversations over the...
