Latin America
Mexican public voice protest over Presidential election results
A non-partisan protest has erupted throughout Mexico City over concerns that the newly elected President Enrique Nieto was elected under unfair conditions. The protest has come after a recount confirmed the original result, despite official and opposition concerns of inconsistencies and vote buying, respectively. Nieto’s leftist and closest rival, Andres Obrador has said he intends to make a legal challenge following the results, adding that he can prove that the use of illicit finances secured the victory. Nieto denies any wrong doing by himself or his party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) , who have a history of vote buying, clientelism and rent-seeking throughout their near seventy year rule over Mexico from 1929.
Africa and Middle East
Conference pledges $16billion to Afghan to ease transition processes
A conference in Japan has pledged to donate $16B to Afghanistan as part of the Nato-led troop withdrawal that is due to begin in 2014. The civilian aid will be injected over the next four years, with the biggest donors being the US, Germany and the UK. The money is aimed at tackling corruption and will be used to mitigate possibilities of chaos after the withdrawal. The vast majority of the Afghan economy is reliant on International development. According to the World Bank, 95% of Afghanistan’s GDP comes from aid.
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Libya starts vote-counting in democratic elections
Today Libya begins counting the votes for yesterday’s landmark election. It is the first national election for over half a century. The election consists of a new 200 strong assembly, who are charged with choosing a prime minister and cabinet. The BBC has reported that early turnout figures are around 60%, with largely peaceful proceedings throughout the country. There are more than a 100 parties competing, however it appears that the ‘Justice and Construction Party’ are the most prominent. The elections have received open support from the international community and heads of state alike.
Europe
Hollande advocates new ‘genocide law’
French president Francois Hollande has announced that he intends to introduce a bill, which would make it illegal to deny the 1915-16 Armenian genocide. Armenian’s claim that the Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million people during this period. A similar law was renounced after being ruled ‘unconstitutional’ on the grounds of free speech.
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Suspension for Romanian President, Basescu
The President of Romania has been suspended by the country’s parliament for 30 days. The Parliament came to their decision after concerns about exploiting and overstepping his powers in government’s legal and business affairs. A referendum will held soon to decide whether or not he should be removed from office.
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