Elections coming up

[Hatman]

March 17th: there is a by-election in the Ontario Legislative Assembly in the riding of Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey.  Previous incumbent (former Premier Ernie Eves) is stepping down from the legislature to give the new PC leader, John Tory a seat (providing he wins).

[frenger]

Liechtenstein results

Progressive Citizens' Party (Fortschrittliche Bürgerpartei) 48.7% 12 seats

Fatherland Union (Vaterländische Union) 38.2%    10 seats

Free List (Freie Liste) 13.0% 3 seats

[Notre Dame rules!]

Liechtenstein, a country where conservative parties rack up 86.9% of the vote.  Wow!  Gotta love that!

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Liechtenstein, a country where conservative parties rack up 86.9% of the vote.  Wow!  Gotta love that!

I think Liechtenstein's Prince has a net worth greater than the GDP of the entire country. Oh, yeah, and he doesn't live there. What a joke of country.

[J. J.]

Liechtenstein, a country where conservative parties rack up 86.9% of the vote.  Wow!  Gotta love that!

I think Liechtenstein's Prince has a net worth greater than the GDP of the entire country. Oh, yeah, and he doesn't live there. What a joke of country.

The people there rather like it; the are not exactly being fenced in.

[Hatman]

Apparently there was a referendum a few years ago that passed which gave the Prince the right to veto laws and make judicial appointments. He had threatened to move to Austria and sell the palace to Bill Gates if it had not passed.

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

Liechtenstein, a country where conservative parties rack up 86.9% of the vote.  Wow!  Gotta love that!

I think Liechtenstein's Prince has a net worth greater than the GDP of the entire country. Oh, yeah, and he doesn't live there. What a joke of country.

it also has a population smaller than my city.

Coming up on April 22 (I think) is the presidential election in Togo. Since 1967 it was ruled by the dictator Gnassingbé Eyadéma, Africa's longest ruling ruler (even longer than Qadaffi!). But he had heart problems and died while being flown to France for treatment a few months ago (shows a lot when there was no hospitals in his country capapable of treating him.) The military then installed his son, Faure Gnassingbé as the new president even though the constitution said the Speaker of Parliment would become president. The UN and African Union called it a coup and and put pressure, so the Parliment went ahead and named him Speaker so he could take over. More pressure from the UN and African Union came, so he stepped down and was replaced by an interim president, but will run in the election. The opposition parties have decided to nominate a single candidate, a former leader of the independence movement, can't remember his name off hand now. But if he wins, Togo could very well make its move toward democracy, while a victory by Gnassingbé will probably mean more of the same rule that his father had for 38 years. Hopefully there will be plenty of UN and African Union observers to prevent fraud (especially considering his father once won reelection with 99.95% of the vote...)

[Notre Dame rules!]

Liechtenstein, a country where conservative parties rack up 86.9% of the vote.  Wow!  Gotta love that!

I think Liechtenstein's Prince has a net worth greater than the GDP of the entire country. Oh, yeah, and he doesn't live there. What a joke of country.

What's your point?  Bill Gates has  net worth greater than the city of Seattle.  Does that mean that Seattle is a joke of a city? 

[frenger]

Tonga elections:
http://www.electionworld.org/tonga.htm
http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/t/tonga/tonga2005.txt

Seven of teh nine seats up to election were won by members of the Human Rights and Democracy Movement, but they are outnumbered by the King's appointmens.

[ilikeverin]

Somaliland Election Countdown:

8 days

[WMS]

Somaliland Election Countdown:

8 days

You keep track of that for me, OK?

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

I'll have to root for UDUB

[WMS]

I'll have to root for UDUB

They may not be a leftist party. It's difficult to tell what the points of divergence are between the parties, since no one pays much attention to them...

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

well there has to be a communist party of some sort. Is there any third world country without one?

[WMS]

well there has to be a communist party of some sort. Is there any third world country without one?

Well, this is a highly Islamic country, so who knows? I'd say the odds are better here than in Somalia. There only appear to be three parties at the moment and one of them doesn't have a web page, so good luck finding them. Why don't you ask the Socialist International about that?

[ilikeverin]

Somaliland Election Countdown:

8 days

You keep track of that for me, OK?

7 days

[Notre Dame rules!]

Somaliland?  Your interest in this is a joke, right?

[WMS]

Somaliland?  Your interest in this is a joke, right?

Nope. I consider them to be a prime example of why the Arab League and the UN can be raging hypocrites, among other things. Also, it's nice to see Somalis who have it together and display something other than what we encountered all those years ago.

And I just find it interesting, OK? Hmph.

ILikeVerin can answer for himself. ^_^

[Notre Dame rules!]

Somaliland? Your interest in this is a joke, right?

Nope. I consider them to be a prime example of why the Arab League and the UN can be raging hypocrites, among other things. Also, it's nice to see Somalis who have it together and display something other than what we encountered all those years ago.

And I just find it interesting, OK? Hmph.

ILikeVerin can answer for himself. ^_^

Fair enough.  Since you take an interest in some out of the way locales, do you know anything about what is currently going on in Krygyzystan?  I can't say that I'm up to speed on the situation, but there seems to have been an election a couple of months ago, and the ruling govt is charged with rigging the vote or something, ala Ukraine. 

DW-TV has been showing scenes of rioting and such, though I haven't seen anything on the US networks about it. 

Just wondering if you know anything about the political situation in that former Soviet Republic.

[WMS]

Fair enough.  Since you take an interest in some out of the way locales, do you know anything about what is currently going on in Krygyzystan?  I can't say that I'm up to speed on the situation, but there seems to have been an election a couple of months ago, and the ruling govt is charged with rigging the vote or something, ala Ukraine. 

DW-TV has been showing scenes of rioting and such, though I haven't seen anything on the US networks about it. 

Just wondering if you know anything about the political situation in that former Soviet Republic.

Oh, I'm glad I have Stratfor right now. Basically, there were parliamentary elections (two rounds, 17 February and 13 March of this year per Electionworld.org) which were rigged - nothing new about that - but this time something different happened.

First, yes, the opposition to the (now-fled, I believe) presidential regime of Askar Akajevič Akajev had Western support this time. Yep, the same people who were involved in past electoral events in Serbia, Georgia, Ajara, Ukraine, and even a little bit in Moldova have arrived in Kyrgyzstan! The Russians and Chinese must be throwing a s*it fit over that, considering that there most definitely is the arm of the U.S. and E.U. behind this...(but not Germany, who is moving toward a pro-Russian stance).

Second, something I hadn't known before Stratfor: traditionally, the northern and southern clans in Kyrgyzstan would alternate in power - yea, even Stalin didn't interfere with that. Now President Akajev was going for a third term - he's from the north - and the tribes in the south who coincidentally make up the bulk of the protestors/resistance thought that it was time for a southerner to take over. Note how the protests began in the south of Kyrgyzstan.

Third, were you aware that a lot of those southern tribes are Uzbeks? Gee, that might add just a tad to the hostility.

Fourth, the military and police appear to have abandoned Akajev and cut a deal with the protestors/resistance.

Fifth, watch out for Uzbekistan's tyrant - he might try to interfere.

Finally, the big question is: can the protestors/resistance hold together to form a new government?

Hope that helps...
*edit*
New information: *SITUATION HIGHLY IN FLUX* (24 March 2005)

I just read my Stratfor site and things are rather complicated...it appears the U.S. and E.U. weren't quite expecting this to happen right this minute...watch Russia...watch China...watch Uzbekistan...watch Kazakhstan.
*end edit*

[London Man]

April elections:

Djibouti Presidential April 8, 2005   
Central African Republic  Presidential (Second Round)  April 10, 2005       
Portugal EU Referendum April 10, 2005           
Dominica Legislative April 11, 2005       
Northern Cyprus  Presidential April 17, 2005           
Saudi Arabia Northern Municipal (Stage Three) April 21, 2005           
Andorra Legislative April 24, 2005
New Zealand  Parliamentary April 30, 2005
Togo Presidential April 2005 

http://www.electionguide.org/2005.htm

[Notre Dame rules!]

Sen. WMS,

Good analysis.

According to DW-TV,  it was a little messier than the popular uprising in Ukraine, though not terribly so, and it appears the the military wasn't eager to put its neck out for the former Pres.  It will be interesting to see how things pan out.

[WMS]

Sen. WMS,

Good analysis.

According to DW-TV,  it was a little messier than the popular uprising in Ukraine, though not terribly so, and it appears the the military wasn't eager to put its neck out for the former Pres.  It will be interesting to see how things pan out.

Thanks. I give lots of credit to my Internet sources on this one, especially Stratfor. I added a little bit myself, especially to the more general Freedom House picture, but I mostly just assembled some sources. That bit on DW-TV sounds interesting.

There's a thread over in International Politics on Kyrgyzstan as well.

[frenger]

Sen. WMS,

Good analysis.

According to DW-TV,  it was a little messier than the popular uprising in Ukraine, though not terribly so, and it appears the the military wasn't eager to put its neck out for the former Pres.  It will be interesting to see how things pan out.

Thanks. I give lots of credit to my Internet sources on this one, especially Stratfor. I added a little bit myself, especially to the more general Freedom House picture, but I mostly just assembled some sources. That bit on DW-TV sounds interesting.

There's a thread over in International Politics on Kyrgyzstan as well.

What do your starfor sources tell you about the Transnistria elections?

[ilikeverin]

Somaliland Election countdown...

0 days, HOORAY!

*goes and looks for any sites that might have ...anything...*