Elections

Egypt’s Presidential Elections: The Russian Factor [Part III]

By Nader Bakkar

While the Gulf still seems hesitant about Field Marshal Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s presidential candidacy, Russia has extended a warm welcome, perhaps more explicitly than is appropriate. The sentiment is evidenced by Sisi’s latest visit to Moscow, where Russian President Vladimir Putin himself officially welcomed Sisi, in violation of established protocol. This will increase the possibility […]

Egypt’s Presidential Elections: From the Outside Looking In [Part II]

By Nader Bakkar

Despite personal convictions about holding presidential elections first, mentioned in the first part of this article, the nomination of two military candidates, in Minister of Defense Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and former Chief of Staff Sami Anan, has become a foregone conclusion. (At least at the time of writing.) While some candidates may already have garnered […]

Trends, Actors, and Factors in India’s 2014 Elections

“Five months ago debates in India were centered around the predictions on who will win the upcoming election, but today, the discussions are more about how a BJP government [will] look,” said Milan Vaishnav, associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s South Asia Program, at an event hosted by the South Asia Center. The […]

Egypt’s Presidential Elections: The Key Step in Egypt’s Roadmap [Part I]

By Nader Bakkar

With the announcement of the results of Egypt’s 2014 constitutional referendum, the curtains were brought down on the first stage of the July 3 roadmap. According to the consensus on the roadmap, Egyptians should now be readying for parliamentary elections. However, all indicators point to a change in the agreed upon sequence of events, in […]

The Simple Legislative Solution: Presidential Elections First

By Hafsa Halawa

On Sunday evening, interim President Adly Mansour formally ratified Egypt’s second constitution in the transitional period that has followed the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. Debate is now rife over which elections the interim president will determine should be held first. However, the answer seems simple: presidential elections will come first. Why? Because […]

Marczak on Venezuelan Election Results

By Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center

Question: What do the results suggest about the level of support for the president, the opposition and where the country may be headed? Is a big change likely to come about in Venezuela in 2014? Chavismo may have won the popular vote in the December 8 municipal elections, but the opposition can rightly claim its […]

The Coming Elections: Parliamentary or Presidential First?

By Yussef Auf

With the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi on July 3, Egypt entered a new transitional phase, the country’s third in recent years. Driven by Morsi’s policies since assuming power, a grassroots movement that eventually swelled to millions calling for his outright removal had in fact begun with a different demand: early presidential elections. Elections, they […]

NATO Congratulates Georgian People for Transparent Elections

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

I congratulate the Georgian people on holding transparent and peaceful presidential elections in which fundamental freedoms of expression, movement, and assembly were respected.

Turkey’s Pivot Away from Democracy

By Kathryn Alexeeff

For the second time in two months, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is clashing with secularists and opposition forces. The latest clash brings to the fore the question of whether Turkey will remain democratic, or if it is descending into authoritarianism. While the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) rightly emphasizes that it […]