On October 20, 2018, millions of Afghans voted in the first parliamentary election since 2010, electing members to the Wolesi Jirga, or House of the People. Parliamentary term limits are currently set at five years, meaning that under ideal circumstances an election would have taken place at some point in 2015. However, a myriad of…
On July 25, 2018, Pakistan held its first general election in five years. With the 2013 election described as one of the “bloodiest” in Pakistan’s history (BBC News, May 2, 2013), the 2018 election seems to have followed the trend following high-casualty attacks carried out by the Islamic State and a number of reports of…
Zimbabweans go to the polls on 30 July to select the president, members of parliament, and local government representatives. This election season is shaped by several marked differences from previous contests. Many of the parliamentary and council candidates are not party incumbents, and there are many independent candidates. Both of the main parties competing are…
Last week was marked by a surge in reported fatalities in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as the start of the third session of the 21st Century Panglong Union Peace Conference amidst a spike in violence in Myanmar. In Afghanistan, highly lethal engagements between state forces and the Taliban reportedly left at least 40 soldiers…
Parliamentary elections in Afghanistan have been delayed for nearly three years due to security concerns and debates over election processes (Reuters, 1 April 2018). With the date now set for 20 October, officials are rushing to try to register as many voters as possible. Both officials of the Independent Election Commission and potential voters have…
2018 has seen modest levels of political violence and protest events in South Africa relative to preceding years. The decrease in events can be explained by a number of factors, including the absence of elections (election violence), the decrease in student protests at tertiary institutions nationwide and the February 2018 change in leadership from the…
On 27 May 2018, members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly voted overwhelmingly to approve the KP-FATA merger bill, which days earlier had been passed through both houses of Pakistan’s National Assembly (Dawn, 27 May 2018). This bill, officially the 31st Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, will merge the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas…
The ruling Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) secured a comfortable victory in the 2018 West Bengal panchayat (village government) elections on May 14 in India. However, political violence and inadequate security arrangements during the election nomination and polling phases prevented opposition parties and citizens from fulfilling their democratic right to participate in free elections. The different…
Since the beginning of May 2018, voters in both Lebanon and Iraq have gone to the polls in historic elections. There have been concerns that these elections could spark violence amongst the participating actors due to sectarian tensions and the divisive political landscapes in these countries — as well as pressures from the Syrian Civil…
On 17 April, the Zimbabwean government drew international attention and outrage when it responded to a nurses’ strike by firing a third of the public health sector nurses (VOA, 24 April 2018). This nurses’ strike is not an isolated incident; it is a reflection of the increasing unrest and dissatisfaction since the coup in November…