Stories about Elections from February, 2012
Yemen: Yemen S-Election!
Yemen's Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi - unanimously nominated by parliament as the only presidential candidate for Yemen's February 21 election - has kicked off his campaign. Netizens comment on this one-man election race.
Mexico: Josefina Vázquez Mota Wins PAN Primary
Bloggings by boz reports that “Josefina Vázquez Mota, a member of Congress and President Calderon's former secretary of education and secretary of social development, won the PAN [National Action Party] primary yesterday and will be their candidate for president.” He goes on to explain why he thinks her victory is “the...
East Timor Presidential Candidates
Centru Jornalista Investigativu Timor Leste uploads the list of presidential candidates in East Timor who have registered with the Court.
Russia: Practice of Compulsory Military Service Comes Under Attack
Russia's compulsory military service practices are under attack due to a variety of reasons, including economic inefficiency, governmental corruption, and brutal hazing rituals that incite young conscripts to take their own lives. Donna Welles reports.
Jamaica: Women's Political Role
“The troubling disrespect for the ‘girls’ appointed to the Cabinet seems to confirm that the JLP is committed to the backward notion that ‘man must run tings’”: Jamaica Woman Tongue argues that “turning the size of Mrs Simpson Miller’s Cabinet into a gender issue betrays a deep-seated prejudice against women...
Tunisia: Politicians and Deputies Opt for Open Governance Through Social Media
The toppling of the Ben Ali regime last January paved the way for a growth in the use of social media across Tunisia. Today, politicians are using the same tools repressed by the state to get their messages across to the people. Ahmed Medien takes us behind the scenes.
Armenia: Questioning pre-election developments
As the May parliamentary elections approach, Unzipped questions the arrest of an opposition journalist for an alleged motoring offense and the suspected political ambitions of a former foreign minister believed to be close to political forces within the ruling regime.
Russia: Day of Protests Divides Citizens
Despite temperatures of -20 degrees, thousands of Russians went out to the streets to participate in election manifestations. Some, organised online, were protesting against the elections and possible re-election of prime minister Vladimir Putin. Others, partly organised by pressure and bribes as well as fear of possible revolutions manifested that Putin should stay.
Kuwait: Parliamentary Election Marred by Violence
Incidents of violence have marked Kuwait's parliamentary elections. One candidate, Mohammed Al-Juwaihel, became the target of angry tribespeople after making discriminatory remarks and his election tent hub was burnt down. Mona Kareem provides a multimedia report.
Côte d'Ivoire: Hackers Threaten Intelligence Agency Upon Arrest of Journalist
Managing editor of newspaper Le Patriote, Charles Sanga, was arrested by the Ivorian intelligence agency, DTS, following a controversial story about the constitutional court of Côte d'Ivoire. The next day, anonymous hackers threatened to leak confidential documents of the agency if he was not released.
Barbados: Voting Strategy
Politics is on the Barbadian blogging agenda, here and here, as bloggers consider “the viability of a third political party” and the need to “send many independents to Parliament…to disrupt the circle of corruption.”
Kenya: War, Guns and Votes
What will be the impact of Kenya's war with Al Shabaab on the 2012/13 elections?: “A number of questions: will the heightened security requirements associated with the threat of terrorism from Al Shabaab also help secure the country against election violence? Or will security forces be used to intervene in...
Turkmenistan: Sham NGOs’ role in fake presidential elections
Turkmenistan’s upcoming presidential poll is truly a strange creature. neweurasia’s Annasoltan reviews how it has evolved in the last few months, including the role of government-organized NGOs (GONGOs).
Venezuela: Banners for Thought
After the displaying of annonymous banners in Caracas, which raised questions about the upcoming elections and other issues, the hashtag #pregúntate [es] (“ask yourself”) was created to continue the discussion on Twitter. You can see photos and more in the blog Twitter Venezuela [es] by Roger Zet.
Colombia: What is in a name?
The Born on December 31st documentary by Priscila Padilla exposes a human rights violation the Wayuu indigenous group have been under. Many of their national IDs, mass produced to get important votes in election periods, state they were all born on the same date and feature offensive made-up names; which...
Cambodia: Photos of Senate Elections
Lauren Crothers posts pictures of the recent senate elections in Cambodia. The pictures were taken at Boeng Trabek high school in Phnom Penh.
Russia: “For Fair Elections” Protest Coordination Portal Launches
RosMiting.ru (Russian meeting), a community portal of protest actions, had launched. The portal accumulates information about protest events in various cities of Russia. It was created by the same team which started other interactive portals such as RosYama, RosPil, RosAgit, and RosVybory, politically-engaged crowdsourced communities and interactive portals developed in...
Russia: Vladimir Putin Ignites a Pre-Election Debate on Nationalism
Following Vladimir Putin's article [ru] on ‘nationality question,’ Dmitry Rogozin, vice-premier and former leader of semi-nationalist party “Rodina,” had published [ru] an op-ed in which he calls nationalists who participate in post-election protests to join pro-government ranks. Oleg Kashin, Kommersant reporter, analyses [ru] it as a scary perspective for non-Russians who considered Putin a some sort...
Bahamas: Same Old Election Game
Blogworld “regard[s] the incoherencies that pass for election rhetoric with a sense of disgust” and explains why.
