Stolen elections and dictators for leaders are not unique to Africa, as the media would often have us believe. While I’m angered and embarrassed by the situation in the Ivory Coast, as well as worried about friends in the country (though glad that ECOWAS has seen fit to take swift punitive action against Gbagbo), and hot on the heels of this disgrace comes the news (thanks again to Wikileaks), that wanted Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir has stolen $9bn dollars of his people’s money, let’s not forget that today in Belarus presidential ‘elections’ are being held, that is to say, the 're-election' of Europe’s last dictator, Alexander Lukashenka. While he has been careful to give the polls a semblance of plurality, it’s a foregone conclusion that Lukashenka will once again be president of the former Soviet state, as he has been since 1994.Amnesty International has published its key concerns about human rights in Belarus in the run up to the elections. “The human rights of people in Belarus are routinely abused by the state. Freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest are not respected. Human rights defenders are harassed. We have serious concerns about unfair trials and the use of torture in detention. This is all the more worrying because Belarus is the only country in Europe still to retain the death penalty,” said Amnesty international UK Director Kate Allen.
See below a video from Al Jazeera.**UPDATE - EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS, 20 December
Question mark over EU policy after Belarus election violence
Worse than expected violence on the streets of Minsk following presidential elections on Sunday (19 December) have placed a question mark over EU's new policy of engagement with Belarus.
The union in October again suspended a travel ban on President Aleskander Luksahenko and 35 top officials originally imposed after a post-election crackdown in 2006 in the hope that better relations would pull the administration closer to EU standards and interests.
A stream of EU VIPs have also travelled to the region in recent months, dangling the prospect of up to €3 billion in aid if the election goes off well.
But Mr Lukashenko on Sunday evening responded by sending riot police to attack a huge crowd of between 20,000 and 40,000 protesters which gathered in the capital's central Independence Square to call for him to step down or at the least to hold a second round in the vote.
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| Opposition candidate Vladimir Neklyaev was injured in the clash |
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6 comments:
Brown was an unelected leader. And if there had been a Lib-Lab coalition we would have had another unelected leader. So democracy is more complicated than "who ever gets the most votes wins". But on another note, as I am starting to understand the Ivory Coast situation, the national rule of a southern based PM in a nation with an unambiguious north/south divide isn't suited for a stable democracy. Not that you can't hold the incumbent to account. As for the last European dictatorship - very under-reported so thanks for the write up. Its nice to see European despots for a change.
I have to disagree with you, SIP. Brown was unelected but his party was elected and he wasn't a dictator. When he did go to the polls, he lost in free and fair elections and vacated the post. As for the Ivory Coast, Gbagbo must go. Enough already! How many people have been killed in the last week? The people have spoken. Their voice is as worthy as anyone else's. We had this nonsense almost ten years ago that dragged the Ivory Coast down from what was once a stable, relatively prosperous country. The situation is sad and embarrasing for an Africa. Just as sad and embarrassing as Belarus is for Europe... and not forgetting Kosovo in light of recent allegations....
I didn't say Brown was a dictator, I said he was unelected, which is and will always remain the case. In fact, i think this is the same position that Gbagbo is in - i don't believe he ran a dictatorship for all the faults of his government. It's also the case that if there had been a Lib-Lab coaltion, we would have had another 'unelected' leader. Imagine if the world was different powerful African nations had to report the news back home. I think they would be highly critical of the outcome, whilst of course, not really communicating the complexity of our particular democracy. Brown also had the right to start a 'power struggle' which he rightly declined to do. Gbaagbo has, obviously, taken this path. I'm not saying the incumbent is right, but we always get this kind of news reported to us without any understanding of the complexities of government. Gbagbo must go, but he is being brutally defended by military and police men who believe he should remain. Plus, he had supporters protesting in the streets of Paris this weekend. I think its as important to understand where their beliefs come from,as well as condemn the violence/kidnapping and other uncalled for actions. The portrayal of the situation in IC is a bit too uncomplicated for my liking and I haven't made my mind up about the way forward for IC yet. It seems to me, if his opposition was to be given the premiership, it would instigate more conflict. If Gbagbo must go, but his replacement leaves IC volatile, how is that an alternative the international community can insist upon? Thats why the solution in so many situations like this for me is reform. Southern dominated national government is not working out for IC.
In the UK, we don't vote for a leader, we vote for a party/local representative. As for Ivory Coast, a (democratic) election is an election. If you're not prepared to accept the outcome, why bother with the farce and expense?
you're correct to say that about the UK. This would be an example of a complexity of our democracy people may not be aware of. Biased reporting could exploit this. Judging by the prominence of the TV debates this year, and the impact of gaffes made by Brown on the Labour campaign, I would say many UK voters don't grasp this concept either.
Yes - its true many leaders only will believe in democracy as long as they win the count. It's a good question, why hold an election only to disregard the result? I would rather hear more questions and debate about this Gbagbo's motives, than international outrage. The international community doesn't have a good track record when it comes to African leaders they chose to support in elections and have often been culpable for putting despots in positions of power in our contintent. It's this history that needs to be applied to the situation too.
Well, it will be interesting to see how Europe deals with Lukashenko considering they're about to impose a travel ban on Gbagbo and they had previously eased restrictions on Lukashenko and his associates. Let's see how they handle this one. It will say alot about the way things stand and whether autocracy in Africa is seen as different from autocracy in Europe.
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