Tag Archives: elections

President Michel Aoun held talks Friday afternoon in Baabda with Prime Minister Najib Miqati. Speaking after the talks, Miqati said Aoun requested the meeting to discuss his call for holding a national dialogue conference. “I informed him of my opinion and the discussions will be continued later,” the premier added. …

Iraq’s parliament will open on January 9 for its first session since lawmakers were elected in an October vote won by Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, President Barham Saleh said Thursday. In multi-confessional and multi-ethnic Iraq, the formation of governments has involved complex negotiations ever since the 2003 US-led invasion toppled …

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who was expecting a harsher attack from President Michel Aoun, had asked his officials not to hit back, Amal sources said. The sources told al-Akhbar newspaper, in remarks published Tuesday, that Berri “prohibited” all officials in his movement from “starting arguments” with the Free Patriotic Movement, …

A top Iranian general visited Baghdad after the assassination attempt against Iraq’s prime minister, and said Tehran and its allies had nothing to do with the drone attack that lightly injured the Iraqi leader, two Iraqi politicians said Monday. News of the visit came as an Iraqi army general said …

A drone attack that targeted the Iraqi prime minister on Sunday was carried out by at least one Iranian-backed militia group, Iraqi security officials and sources close to the militias said. The sources, who spoke to Reuters on Monday on condition of anonymity, said the drones and explosives used in …

Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel has called on the Lebanese people to “withdraw legitimacy from Hizbullah’s actions” through voting for change in the upcoming parliamentary elections. “We’re not speaking of eliminating Hizbullah. We are saying that the battle will withdraw the legitimate cover it had gained from institutions,” Gemayel added, …

Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa used her new prominence to criticize Facebook as a threat to democracy. She said the social media giant fails to protect against the spread of hate and disinformation and is “biased against facts.”The veteran journalist and head of Philippine news site Rappler told Reuters …

Soldiers, prisoners and displaced people voted in special early polls in Iraq on Friday as the country prepared for a Sunday general election where turnout will show how much faith voters have left in a still young democratic system. Many Iraqis say they will not vote https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iraqis-vote-ballot-marked-by-growing-social-political-fractures-2021-09-28, having watched established …

Voters chose none of the 26 women who stood for election in Qatar’s first legislative elections on Saturday, disappointing candidates who had wanted to lend a voice for women and other Qataris in the Gulf monarchy’s political process. The vote was for 30 members of the 45-seat advisory Shura Council …

Tarek Saad is keen to help other Syrian refugees who have fled the war in their homeland to make a new home in Germany and he sees the federal election on Sept. 26 as an opportunity to do just that. Saad is campaigning in his adopted state of Schleswig-Holstein on …

Former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who fought for independence from France, reconciled his conflict-ravaged nation and was then ousted amid pro-democracy protests in 2019 after two decades in power, has died at age 84, state television announced Friday. The report on ENTV, citing a statement from the office of current President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, did not …

Street protests over worsening living conditions in Lebanon continued on Monday as roadblocks moved from one city to another. Lebanon is in the throes of a deep financial crisis called one of the worst depressions in modern times by the World Bank. The parties in power in Lebanon have been …

The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Saturday deployed security forces to confront protesters who took to the streets of Ramallah in the West Bank after one of President Mahmoud Abbas’s biggest critics died in custody. Nizar Banat had been arrested by PA forces who broke into a relative’s house where he …

A Palestinian activist who died in the custody of President Mahmoud Abbas’s security forces took blows to the head, a Palestinian rights group said after conducting an autopsy, adding the wounds indicated “an unnatural death”. According to relatives, Nizar Banat was severely beaten during his arrest by Palestinian security forces …

Israel’s president on Wednesday chose Yair Lapid, a centrist politician and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strongest rival, to try to form a new government, but his path to success was still uncertain. Israel’s longest serving leader, Netanyahu, 71, has been fighting to hold onto office through four inconclusive elections since …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced a midnight deadline on Tuesday to put together a new coalition government — or be looking at the possibility of leading his Likud party into the opposition for the first time in 12 years. Netanyahu has struggled to secure a parliamentary majority since March …

The EU has urged Israel to ensure that Palestinian elections are held across all territories, including East Jerusalem, following a unilateral decision by President Mahmoud Abbas to delay polls planned for May 22.   The Palestinian leader said that the fear Jerusalem would be excluded from the electoral process was the …

-An Israeli prosecutor told a court on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had helped a business couple to clinch deals worth hundred of millions of shekels in exchange for favourable coverage of him on a news website they controlled.https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.448.1_en.html#goog_1632484994  Prosecutor: Netanyahu’s favors were ‘currency’ 01:57 Speaking at the opening …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in court Monday for his corruption trial, which resumes as the veteran premier seeks to form a coalition to extend his record 12-year tenure. Wearing a black mask and dark suit, Netanyahu was seated in the Jerusalem District Court following an order from judges …

France on Tuesday condemned Israel’s plan to advance construction of 800 more Jewish settler homes in the occupied West Bank in a move to cement the projects shortly before pro-settlement U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office. In a statement, the French Foreign Ministry urged Israeli authorities to drop the plan. …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Thursday that the chaos unleashed on the US Capitol by US counterpart Donald Trump’s supporters exposed the fragility of Western democracy. “What we saw in the United States yesterday (Wednesday) evening and today shows above all how fragile and vulnerable Western democracy is,” Rouhani said …

Mike Pompeo on Thursday paid the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state to an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, in a parting show of solidarity with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the outgoing Trump administration. Palestinians accused Pompeo of helping Israel to cement its control over …

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday he was pleased about “the humiliating downfall” of U.S. President Donald Trump, but urged regional allies to be on alert for any U.S. or Israeli “folly” during the rest of his term in office. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in a televised speech, described …

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a U.S. government request to drop Donald Trump as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit by a writer who said the president falsely denied raping her in a Manhattan department store a quarter century ago. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan refused to …

Israel and Sudan agreed on Friday to take steps to normalize relations in a deal brokered with the help of the United States, making Khartoum the third Arab government to set aside hostilities with Israel in the last two months. U.S. President Donald Trump, seeking re-election on Nov. 3, sealed …

Lebanon’s former premier Saad al-Hariri appeared on course to be nominated for a fourth term as prime minister on Thursday and try to form a new government to tackle the country’s deepest crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war. Hariri needs to win the most support from parliamentarians who were holding …

Wearing face masks, waving black flags and keeping two yards apart, thousands of Israelis demonstrated against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu under strict coronavirus restrictions on Sunday. Netanyahu, who denies any wrongdoing, is under criminal indictment in three corruption cases. He is also negotiating a power-sharing deal with his rival Benny …

Bernie Sanders has endorsed the Democratic candidate and former vice president Joe Biden for president, a week after the progressive senator ended his campaign. The announcement on Monday was made in an event Mr Biden streamed live online because of the coronavirus pandemic. Appearing on a split screen and with …

Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the speaker of the parliament on Monday to put into motion a move in parliament, which he had rejected, that could weaken close ally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hold on power. The rare court intervention in parliamentary procedure followed Yuli Edelstein’s refusal to hold a vote …

Opposition leader Benny Gantz will be asked to form a new government, Israel’s president said on Sunday, boosting his chances of ousting veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was a blow to Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political life amid unprecedented political deadlock and a criminal indictment for corruption, …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial was delayed on Sunday for two months, until May, due to the coronavirus crisis. Israel’s Justice Ministry said the trial, due to have opened on March 17 with the reading of an indictment against Israel’s longest-serving leader in three graft cases, would begin …

Algeria’s government has canceled political gatherings because of the coronavirus, it said on Tuesday, though it was not immediately clear if this would entail a ban on the mass protests that have convulsed the state for more than a year. Health Minister Abderrahmane Benbouzid said in comments broadcast on state …

Preparations in our country for a major political event – the upcoming December 22, 2019 elections to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, regional, district and city councils are in progress. This year’s elections will be held on the basis of the newly adopted …

By Nurbek Olloyor   The important event, elections to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, for regional, district and city councils’ deputies will be held in our country at the beginning of the third decade of December of this year. From the history of any government, it can be …

The Abu Dhabi Committee for the fourth cycle of the Federal National Council, FNC, elections has opened its headquarters in the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Saif Ali Al Qubaisi, Executive Director of the Department of Citizens’ Affairs at the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court and Chairman of …

Algeria’s constitutional council has concluded it will not be possible to hold presidential elections on July 4 as planned, state TV reported on Sunday, prolonging the country’s transition after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned two months ago. The constitutional council cited a lack of valid candidates, saying it had received only …

Israeli lawmakers voted to dissolve parliament on Thursday, paving the way for a new election after veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government before a midnight deadline. Netanyahu preferred a new ballot, set for Sept. 17, to the alternative, under which Israeli President Reuven Rivlin could …

Bahrainis vote on Saturday in a parliamentary election from which opposition groups have been barred, in a crackdown on dissent in the small Sunni-led, Western-allied kingdom. Activists have called for a boycott of the vote, which they say is a “farce”. The government says the election is democratic. The Sunni …

Member of the PLO Executive Committee, and the DFLP’s Political Bureau, Tayseer Khaled saluted the Palestinian Jerusalemites, as they have boycotted the municipal elections in the occupied East Jerusalem, which emphasizes their solid position on the city despite all the maneuvers exerted by the Israel Government and the occupation Municipality …

by Osamah Khalil   The 2018 mid-term elections are expected to be the most expensive in American history. Four years ago, the 2014 mid-term elections had fewer donors than in previous elections but spending still surpassed previous elections. To fill their campaign coffers, Democrats and Republicans are again expected to rely …

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is being widely praised for his drastic steps, including the austerity measures he took within one month of coming into power. His first official visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is even more commendable for it will largely be focused on the …

by Graham E. Fuller 8 August 2018   A bold new political face has come to power in the recent Pakistani elections, possibly offering the US a new opportunity in that country. Sadly the opportunity will likely be squandered—again. There’s something about Pakistani and US interests that seem doomed to …

Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe’s ruling party was declared the winner early Friday morning of the country’s first elections since the fall of authoritarian leader Robert Mugabe. But the opposition, which has accused the ruling party of vote rigging, has vowed to protest the result. According to the election commission, Mnangagwa …

Pakistan’s opposition parties have rejected the general election results, calling for what they described as a transparent, and free and fair re-election. Cricket star Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) won 115 seats in Wednesday’s vote, but fell short of the 137 needed to secure an outright majority. The latest …