elections
  • Roberto Toscano 5 March 2012
    Elections in Iran have always had a contradictory meaning. On one hand, they have always been less than free and fair, even when the polls were basically correct, (meaning not materially rigged), because of the vetting of candidates by the Guardian Council. On the other, they have been a flexible mechanism measuring the relative strength of the different components of the regime. Not a democracy, certainly, but a sort of pluralistic oligarchy.
  • Brahim El Guabli 13 February 2012
    Two months have elapsed since the Moroccan premature parliamentary elections of November 25th gave an unprecedented victory to the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD). The latter won 25% of the seats of the 295 seats of the Moroccan parliament. A victory that many observers of the Moroccan and Maghrebi affairs considered historic, given the unprecedented transparency, and quasi-total impartiality of the “Mother of Ministries”—the nickname of the Interior Ministry during the reign of Driss Basri because of its octopus-like shape and involvement in every aspect of the Moroccans’ life—who supervised these elections. Despite some activists’ lamentation of the negative impartiality of the authorities, none cast any serious doubt on the honesty of their results. This article endeavors to answer some of the pressing questions about the Moroccan political paysage in order discuss the internal circumstances and political calculations that forced the Makhzen—the street name of the whole regime—to cohabit with the victory of PJD despite the relentless war the same regime is waging against the Sufi Justice and Charity Brotherhood. We will also try to see the ability of a PJD-led coalition to effectuate the political change desired by the majority of citizens in the country. [1]
  • Andrea Dessì 10 February 2012
    The political landscape of the Arab world has been dramatically transformed by the events of 2011. After decades of sterile politics and engrained authoritarianism Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria have embarked on a courageous journey aimed at fostering inclusive societies based on the rule of law and accountable governance. While we are only at the beginnings of what will be a long and arduous process, it is hard to believe that things will ever go back to the way they were. From Morocco to Bahrain the Arab public is on the march, and representation through elections is what they demand.
  • Brahim El Guabli 22 November 2011
    Civil society has many roles to play in the few months and years to come in order to keep the democratic momentum in the country, and also keep conviction alive among the youth that democracy is a national need. Democracy does not need regimes; regimes need democracy because it is their only way to stay abreast of the legitimate aspirations of their people and be responsive to them. The highly dynamic and active Moroccan civil society can help in implementing the new constitution and protecting this achievement through: playing their role of watchdog, doing more grassroots activism against corruption and political malpractice, spearheading the political cultural change, fighting all forms of abuse of power and advocating for social justice in the country.Photo by Vesna Middelkoop (cc)
  • A. V. 10 October 2011
    Ennahda. It translates as the reawakening or the rebirth in English. And it is the word upon which the future of the new Tunisia could rest, as it searches for its way after January’s revolution. Ennahda is also the name of the party most likely to have success in the October 23rd elections for the Constituent Assembly. Outlawed until last March, the Mouvement de la tendance islamique, as it was called until 1989, has returned to the political stage in grand style and is based in the financial district of Montplaisir in Tunis.
  • Nicola Mirenzi 28 June 2011
    Turkey – The almost 50% of votes that Turkey’s electorate gave Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the June 12th elections proved once again that the democratic Islam that Erdoğan and his men represent is profoundly linked to the feelings and moods of the nation. But the overwhelming victory Erdoğan hoped to achieve—in order to have the power to change the constitution unilaterally, as well as to become a “Republican sultan” in Turkey’s political narrative—did not happen.
  • Federica Zoja 16 June 2010
    In a decisive year for the Egyptian political system, seriously tested by a tight electoral calendar and by the uncertainty of presidential succession, there has been a rise in the popularity of a new man, Mohammed El Baradei, now retired from his international appointments (the most prestigious, from 1997 to 2009 as the Director of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna) and now in the front line for reforming his country. He appears, however, to worry the opposition more than the majority.
  • Federica Zoja 16 March 2010
    The fragility of the agreements signed is there for everyone to see and contradicts President Al Bashir’s triumphant statements, when, speaking on State television and to the international press, he declared that the civil war in Darfur was “over.” Not all the players in the Sudanese political scenario wish for reconciliation. On the contrary, there have been violent clashes between government troops and the rebels of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA/SLM), a group that has not signed the truce.
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