· May, 2007

Stories about Elections from May, 2007

Panama: Political Season Heating Up, The Return of Noriega, and Crime in Panama: a Love Story

  30 May 2007

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 in Sunday’s referendum.” Question: If Bashar Al-Assad was running unopposed, who were the other 3% voting for?’

Guatemala: Asking About Guatemala

  29 May 2007

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 the people, the news, and the insecurity that affects all of the people that make up what we call Guatemala....

Papua New Guinea: Elections

  28 May 2007

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 and what comes out are unrealistic expectations which appear to have very little to do with the job of political...

Philippines: Local Campaigning

  28 May 2007

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 not just a candidate for three months. I was also a blogger who became more fascinated in the particular ways...

Malawians on the world stage: academic honors, music, science and technology

  28 May 2007

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.

Argentina: Recap of Mayoral Debate

  25 May 2007

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 on the political program “A Dos Voces,” which led to some chaos during the open floor debate.

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, not as conclusive as it might have been (though to my mind it is pretty damned conclusive) because the turnout...

Barbados: Integrity Standards

  23 May 2007

“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 would take a saint to not become corrupted.” Barbados Free Press cites the reasons why they think one political party...

Guatemala: Insight into Polls

  23 May 2007

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, Rigoberta Menchú, has risen from 1.4% in January to 6.2% in May. He believes that her numbers could be higher...

Argentina: Election Coverage on Mobile Phones

  23 May 2007

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 now offer election news via text messages. Interested individuals can even follow elections results in these formats.

Bahamas: Election Court

  22 May 2007

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”.

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 electorate of some 19-odd million Algerians (36.51%). Of those votes cast, 14.5% were spoiled,” he notes.

East Timor: Reflections on the Presidential elections

  21 May 2007

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 phone with contacts in East Timor and with friends in Jakarta who also are in close contact with East Timor,...