Politics

Algeria: Opposition candidates challenge President Tebboune’s re-election

Published

1 week ago

September 12, 2024

Two opposition candidates from the recently concluded elections in Algeria have formally contested the provisional result, sharply criticising election officials and contesting the vote total.

The first move towards contesting the election results was taken by Islamist Abdellali Hassani Cherif and socialist Youcef Aouchiche, who filed appeals with Algeria’s Constitutional Court. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the incumbent president, won the election with 94.7% of the vote.

According to Algerian law, the court has ten days from the time the provisional election results are announced to decide on the appeals. Should a ruling be rendered, the electoral body might be forced to redo the totals for each candidate without doubting Tebboune’s victory.

Both candidates criticized Mohamed Charfi, the head of Algeria’s National Independent Electoral Authority (ANIE), the day before they filed their appeals.

“President Tebboune didn’t need this stuffing. We knew he’d be reelected, but with these results, ANIE hasn’t done him any favours,” Cherif said. “We want our votes — the votes of the people who voted for us — to be returned to us. I know it won’t change the outcome of the vote, but it will go down in history.”

At a press conference, Aouchiche’s campaign manager presented visuals that he said demonstrated how the results had been tampered with, labelling the result a “shameful and gross manipulation.”

He referred to the 1970s, when the only recognised political party in the nation ran its preferred candidate unopposed, saying, “These results, which do not correspond at all to the number of votes communicated to us by the regional delegations of the same ANIE, are a disgrace for the Algeria of 2024, taking us back to that era.”

The disparities in the number of votes counted to determine the outcome and the turnout statistics released by election officials the day before have been criticised by the two contenders. Tebboune joined them late on Sunday, September 9, joining the public outrage that his rivals had stoked against ANIE.

Campaign managers for Tebboune, Aouchiche, and Cherif questioned the results released by ANIE and noted that they didn’t match the regional data provided by local authorities in a joint statement.

“We inform national public opinion that inaccuracies, contradictions, ambiguities and inconsistencies were noted in the figures when the provisional results of the presidential election were announced by the chairman of the National Independent Election Authority,” they wrote.

Algeria has a system of universal suffrage. The President. who is chosen for a five-year term that is renewable once is in charge of both the High Security Council and the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister, who serves as the head of state, is chosen by him. The Council of Ministers is chosen by the Prime Minister.

Politics

Again, warring parties in Sudan open to peaceful solutions

Published

4 mins ago

September 19, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to US President Joe Biden’s demand for the warring sides to resume talks, Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) declared they are amenable to peaceful resolutions to the conflict, which has been raging for more than 17 months.

Army Chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who made this announcement on Wednesday, said the Sudanese government was still open to any positive initiatives aimed at ending the conflict. RSF Leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, then expressed a similar opinion early on Thursday.

“We reaffirm our commitment to ceasefire negotiations. We believe that the path to peace lies in dialogue, not random violence, and we will continue to engage in peace processes to secure a future free from fear and suffering for all Sudanese civilians,” Dagalo said on X.

Nonetheless, both men accused one another of abuses and shared guilt for the inability to put a stop to a conflict that has claimed the lives of over 12,000 people since it began in April 2023. They haven’t provided a detailed plan for arriving at a peaceful resolution.

Competition between the army and the RSF, which had previously shared power following a coup, erupted into open battle and marked the start of the conflict.

The United States-led mediators reported last month that although they had obtained commitments from both sides during discussions in Switzerland to enhance access for humanitarian aid, the progress had been impeded by the Sudanese army’s absence from the talks.

“We stand ready to work with all international partners in pursuit of a peaceful resolution that alleviates the suffering of our people and sets Sudan on a path towards security, stability, the rule of law, and the democratic transfer of power,” Burhan, the army chief, said in a statement.

Each side has accused the other of abusing power, although both have refuted earlier claims made by rights organisations and the US. Neither responded to the accusations or provided a statement in response to requests for comment.

Earlier in the month, a United Nations-mandated panel stated that both sides in Sudan’s civil war had engaged in acts that may qualify as war crimes, and proposed that to protect civilians, international powers must expand the arms embargo and send in peacekeepers.

Politics

Ghanian opposition protests, demands audit of voters register

Published

1 day ago

September 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Ghana’s major opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party protested statewide on Tuesday, seeking an independent forensic audit to clean up the voter register for free and fair elections.

NDC leaders said the election commission secretly relocated voters to various voting sites, undermining the register.

In red and black, thousands of supporters marched through Accra’s main streets, blasting reggae and campaign music and calling on international bodies, Ghana’s peace council, and religious and civil society groups to intervene. Protest leaders petitioned parliament and the Accra electoral agency. Ghana’s other 15 regions also saw protests, local media said.

Protester Kwame Acheampong, 68, told Reuters in Akan that his registration had been moved from the capital to Tamale. He asked, “How can I vote in Tamale?”

Meanwhile, the electoral commission claims the flaws were fixed. It suspended a northern Pusiga district director in August for “using his credentials to transfer voters without their knowledge.” Ghana is one of Africa’s most stable democracies, although eight people died in the last election, which was marred by opposition claims that the government unjustly influenced the vote, which it rejected.

Allegations of irregularities tarnish the electoral authorities. Afrobarometer’s July survey found Ghana’s election commission’s trust at an all-time low since confidence polls began in 1999. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, NDC chairman, told demonstrators he wanted “transparent elections.”

Ghana will have general elections for president and parliamentarians on December 7, 2024. President Nana Akufo-Addo cannot run again due to term limits after eight years. Old NDC president John Dramani Mahama will face New Patriotic Party Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia in the election.

The President of Ghana is elected in two rounds, while 275 MPs are elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting.