Archive for July, 2009

Ruling bloc wins Iraqi Kurd election

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Iraqi Kurdistan’s two-party ruling alliance has retained control of the autonomous region’s parliament, taking 57% of the vote in elections.

Masood Barzani was re-elected in the presidential poll with 69.6%, the preliminary results indicate.

He said he hoped the elections would be a “first step to solving issues with Baghdad”.

Tension has been high between the Kurds and the central government over the control of oil and disputed territory.

The winning coalition partners are Mr Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

The reformist Change movement won 23% in Saturday’s elections, the preliminary results show.

Analysts say the coalition, led by Noshirwan Mustafa, put up stronger opposition than had been expected.

Tags: ,
Posted in Elections - General, Politics - Middle East | 1 Comment »

Iraqi Kurdistan presidential elections

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

The Iraqi Kurdistan presidential elections will take place on 25 July 2009, coinciding with the Iraqi Kurdistan parliamentary elections of 2009. A total of 2.5 million citizens of Iraqi Kurdistan are eligible to vote for the parliamentary and presidential elections. It is the first time that the president of Iraqi Kurdistan will be chosen directly through popular votes. People currently living outside Iraqi Kurdistan will not be allowed to vote.

Like the parliamentary elections, campaigning for the elections officially started on 22 June 2009 and will be stopped 48 hours before voting starts The elections will be held with 84 registration centers and 5,403 polling stations in Kurdistan and 5 polling stations in Baghdad. Below are the candidates listed with their lot number. The Iraqi Kurdistan presidential elections will take place on 25 July 2009, coinciding with the Iraqi Kurdistan parliamentary elections of 2009. A total of 2.5 million citizens of Iraqi Kurdistan are eligible to vote for the parliamentary and presidential elections. It is the first time that the president of Iraqi Kurdistan will be chosen directly through popular votes. People currently living outside Iraqi Kurdistan will not be allowed to vote.
Like the parliamentary elections, campaigning for the elections officially started on 22 June 2009 and will be stopped 48 hours before voting starts The elections will be held with 84 registration centers and 5,403 polling stations in Kurdistan and 5 polling stations in Baghdad. Below are the candidates listed with their lot number.

Tags: ,
Posted in Elections - General, Politics - Middle East, Politics - South Asia | No Comments »

Iraqi Kurds to vote Saturday

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Voters in Kurdistan in northern Iraq go to the polls on Saturday in a double election, to choose a new parliament and a president for their autonomous region.

The elections have been the most vibrant and exciting since 1992, when the Kurds held their first-ever free polls after winning de facto autonomy.

That first election saw a massive turnout, with huge crowds of Kurds besieging the polling stations until after midnight, thrilled by the novelty of choosing their own leaders by ballot.

Tags: ,
Posted in Elections - General, Politics - Middle East, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Sri Lankan local government elections, 2009

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Local government elections are scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka on 8 August 2009 for two local councils in the north of the country: Jaffna Municipal Council and Vavuniya Urban Council.

These will be the first elections in the country since the government declared victory in the 26 year old civil war on 18 May 2009. They will also be the first local elections held in the Northern Province in more than 11 years.

On 25 May 2009 the government announced that local elections would be held in Jaffna and Vavuniya.

Nominations took place between 18 June 2009 and 25 June 2009. After the nominations closed the Sri Lankan Department of Election announced that the elections would take place on 8 August 2009, the same day as the Uva Provincial Council elections.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has said that the elections are being held too early, with so many of the electorate displaced. It expects the Jaffna elections to be violent and the results rigged, just like the 2008 Eastern Provincial Counil elections.

The United National Party (UNP) and the People’s Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL) have called on the election authorities to bring in foreign election observers.

Vote at VoteGlobal.com

Tags:
Posted in Elections - General, Politics - South Asia | No Comments »

Japanese general election, 2009

Friday, July 24th, 2009

General elections in Japan will be held on 30 August 2009 for all seats of the House of Representatives, which designates a Prime Minister of Japan. In the election, it is widely expected that the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) will defeat the ruling coalition (Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and New Komeito Party), ending its 50 year near-uninterrupted control of government. According to a recent poll conducted by the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper, 41 percent said they would vote for the DPJ, while 24 percent for the LDP.

The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) also expects to increase its share of seats, with some opinion polls suggesting that it could possibly overtake New Komeito as the third largest party in the lower house.

The last election took place in 2005 in which the LDP led by popular prime minister Junichiro Koizumi won in landslide, enabling him to complete the privatization of Japan Post. Since then Japan has had three further prime ministers – Shinzo Abe, Yasuo Fukuda and Taro Aso – who have come to power without there being a general election.

Vote at VoteGlobal.com

Tags:
Posted in Elections - General, Politics - Asia-Pacific | No Comments »

German federal election, 2009

Friday, July 24th, 2009

The 17th German federal election is currently scheduled for September 27, 2009 and will be held to elect the members of the Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany.

Since the 2005 election, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has governed in a coalition with the SPD. However, it is her stated goal to win a majority for CDU/CSU and FDP (the CDU/CSU’s traditional coalition partner) in 2009. Foreign minister and Vice Chancellor Frank Walter Steinmeier (SPD) was formally nominated as his party’s chancellor-candidate at a convention on October 18, 2008. He aims to form a government in which the SPD is the strongest party, but which also excludes the Left.

In all polls held so far in 2009, CDU/CSU and FDP are clearly ahead of the other traditional coalition partners in Germany, with an average vote share of around 50%.

Vote at VoteGlobal.com

Tags: , ,
Posted in Elections - General, Politics - E.U. | No Comments »

Afghan election officially postponed till August 2009

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Afghan presidential election due to be held in spring 2009 has been officially postponed till Aug. 20

Tags: ,
Posted in Elections - General, Politics - Middle East, Politics - South Asia | No Comments »

Iranian opposition leader unveils new political group

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

The main opposition leader in Iran, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has confirmed plans to form a new broad-based political front.

Writing on his website, he said the front would have a charter and would give the opposition a legal framework.

Mr Mousavi was the leading reformist candidate in the disputed presidential elections in Iran on 12 June.

Meanwhile, his wife has confirmed that her brother was among those detained during protests against the presidential election.

Mr Mousavi has made it clear that the new front will not be a substitute for popular protest, but a way of giving the Green movement – as it has become known – a legal political framework.

Tags: ,
Posted in Elections - General, Politics - Middle East | 1 Comment »

Mauritania election chief quits

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

The head of Mauritania’s electoral commission has resigned because he has doubts over the “reliability” of last week’s presidential vote.

Sid’Ahmed Ould Deye said the complaints he had received had sown doubts in his mind – despite his own commission being satisfied with the election.

Official results gave victory to Gen Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, who initially took power in a coup last year.

The opposition has said the poll was rigged and lodged complaints.

Overseas observers praised the poll’s conduct but said the challenges should be investigated.

Mr Deye said he had resigned as a matter of “conscience”.

Tags:
Posted in Elections - General, Politics - Africa | No Comments »

Kyrgyz candidate pulls out of polls

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

The main opposition candidate in Kyrgyzstan’s presidential election pulls out on polling day, claiming widespread vote fraud.

r Atambayev said the vote, in which President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is running for a second term, was illegitimate and a new election should be held.

The US and Russia both have military bases in the strategically important Central Asian nation.

Mr Bakiyev is widely expected to hold on to the presidency.

Mr Atambayev told a news conference in the capital Bishkek: “Due to mass voter fraud we demand that this election be stopped and a new election held instead.”

He had earlier said he planned to lead a march to the election commission later in the evening, when preliminary results are to be announced.

“We will not be defeated,” Mr Atambayev said after casting his ballot.

Tags: ,
Posted in Elections - General, Politics - E.U. | No Comments »