Algeria’s Regime Under Threat
MEES, 8 March 2019 Hundreds of thousands of Algerians have taken to the streets to demand an end to the 20-year presidency of Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Just five weeks remain before planned presidential elections on 18 April, at which the 82-year-old Bouteflika is running for a controversial fifth term. There have been protests against the regime [...]
Gulf Loses Patience With Sudan
As protests against the 30-year regime of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir enter a third month the reluctance of traditional Gulf allies to provide financial backing leaves him increasingly isolated. MEES, 22 February 2019 More than two months since protests began on 19 December against an increase in the price of bread and other basic commodities, [...]
Libya Election Timetable To Slip Further Amid Factional Divisions
MEES, 27 July 2018 Libya’s parliament, the House of Representatives (HOR) is poised to vote on the terms of a planned referendum on constitutional changes, with a timetable in place for elections by the end of the year. But after another round of damaging politicking in recent weeks, there is little chance that the plans [...]
Bouteflika debate consumes Algerian politics
Opponents question the ailing president’s fitness to govern, but critics say the country lacks a credible alternative. Al Jazeera – 8 August 2014 Last month, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika surpassed the 100-day mark of his term after winning an unprecedented fourth mandate on April 17. In other parts of the world, the 100-day point presents [...]
Erdogan lined up for victory in presidential polls
Frontline Club – 25 July 2014 Turkey’s prime minister Racep Tayyip Erdogan will win next month’s presidential elections and become the country’s first directly elected president, according to a panel of experts assembled at the Frontline Club on 22 July 2014.
Another toothless ceasefire for South Sudan
African Energy – 30 May 2014 On paper at least, the new ceasefire signed on 9 May between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and his opponent Riek Machar is a step forward. Not only does it recommit them to the terms of the 23 January ceasefire, but provisions for a transitional unity government and fresh [...]
Silence please, Algeria is dying: an interview with Kamal Benkoussa
The Atlantic Council – 17 April 2014 Today is Election Day in Algeria and analysts predict that the aging and ailing incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stands to win yet another term in office, effectively making him president for life. The political space has remained closed since the government canceled the country’s first democratic elections in [...]
Bouteflika win likely in Algeria amid dissent
Despite unprecedented opposition protests, Algerians are poised to re-elect president to fourth term. Al Jazeera – 13 April 2014 A group of protesters gathered last month at Algiers University in the centre of the city, ready to demonstrate against Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s decision to run for a fourth consecutive term as president of Algeria. Police were [...]
South Sudan politics: Machar mulls his moves
6th August 2013 The Economist SPEAKING from his government house in the centre of South Sudan’s capital, Juba, Riek Machar knows that it will not be his home for much longer. The man who had been the country’s vice-president since its secession from Sudan two years ago was unceremoniously sacked, along with the entire cabinet, [...]
Tunisia divided on new political regime
21 March, 2012 Yesterday Tunisia celebrated the 56th anniversary of its independence from French colonial rule. But a little over a year since the ouster of president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power, it is no longer freedom from imperialism that defines the politics of this small North African nation. The key [...]
Israel continues to champion pre-emptive attack on Iran
A pre-emptive strike against Iran would be justifiable in the case of an imminent threat of attack, according to a senior Israeli diplomat speaking in London on 16 March. “Iran represents an existential threat to the state of Israel and we will not compromise on our national security,” said Ran Gidor, minister-counsellor for political affairs [...]