For the first time in 20 years, Erdogan's party loses elections to opposition party in Turkiye

For the first time in 20 years, Erdogan's party loses elections to opposition party in Turkiye

    Sunday, March 31, 2024   No comments

According to preliminary data, the opposition party is leading ahead of the ruling party for the first time in 20 years in Turkey, and opposition mayors of major cities – Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir – have retained their positions.

Erdogan acknowledged that the ruling party did not achieve the desired results in the municipal elections, the outcomes of which indicate shortcomings at the local level.

Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and the candidate of the opposition Republican People's Party, announced that he had won a new term, and his colleague, the mayor of Ankara, Mansur Yavaş, announced his victory in the elections, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that these elections are "not the end of the road."

Opposition candidates advanced in the three largest Turkish cities (Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir) after about 90% of the votes were counted in the municipal elections held on Sunday.

The Turkish President said in a speech he delivered from the balcony of the headquarters of the ruling Justice and Development Party after midnight, "The municipal elections are not the end of the road, but they are a turning point."

He added, "The people have their say through the fund and send their warning to politicians through the fund, and this is a success for our democracy."

Erdogan pledged to analyze the results of the municipal elections frankly, and said, "We will review ourselves through constructive criticism."

Earlier, Ekrem Imamoglu announced that he had won a new term as mayor of Greater Istanbul, noting that he had an advantage of more than a million votes over his rival, Murat Kurum, the ruling party’s candidate.

Mansur Yavaş, the candidate of the opposition Republican People's Party, also announced that he had won a new term as mayor of Ankara.

According to the results published by the official Anadolu Agency, Imamoglu received 50.9% of the votes, compared to 40% for his competitor, after 94% of the votes were counted.

In Ankara, Yavaş obtained 59.7% compared to 32% for his competitor, after counting about 88% of the votes.

In all Turkish states, the Republican People's Party obtained 37.4% after counting more than 93% of the votes.

The ruling Justice and Development Party received 35.7%, while its ally, the National Movement Party, received 4.9%.

The Peoples' Democratic Party received 5.6%, and the Good Party received 3.7%.

Pakistan government commissioner admits election fraud; Maulana Fazlur Rehman, head of Pakistani Islamic Scholars Association, admitted that the overthrow of Imran Khan by Army Commander, General Qamar Javed Bajwa

Pakistan government commissioner admits election fraud; Maulana Fazlur Rehman, head of Pakistani Islamic Scholars Association, admitted that the overthrow of Imran Khan by Army Commander, General Qamar Javed Bajwa

    Saturday, February 17, 2024   No comments

 Today, Saturday, a government commissioner surprised everyone when he publicly admitted that he had falsified the results of the general elections held on February 8, announcing his resignation from his position, and demanding that everyone who participated in the fraud be punished.

Liaquat Ali Chatha, a government commissioner in the city of Rawalpindi (southeast of Islamabad), admitted to falsifying the results of the elections that took place under his supervision in the city of Rawalpindi.

Meanwhile, protest demonstrations swept through many Pakistani cities against what they called the manipulation that occurred in the elections, demanding a recount so that the results are correct, stressing the right of supporters of Imran Khan, founder of the Tehreek-e-Insaf Party, to win more seats.

“I bear responsibility for all these violations,” Chatha said at a press conference in Rawalpindi on Saturday afternoon. "The Chief Election Commissioner and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are involved in this matter," he added.

"We made independent candidates who received between 70,000 and 80,000 votes lose by submitting fraudulent ballot papers," he added.

In a handwritten letter, Chatha said he was resigning from his position because he was deeply involved in the "serious crime of rigging the 2024 general elections."

The handwritten letter was addressed to the governor of the Punjab province, the interim prime minister of the province, Mohsin Naqvi, and the secretary general of the province.

In front of the media, Chatha said that he “stabbed the country in the back,” referring to election fraud, so he cannot sleep.

He further said, "I must be punished for the injustice I committed, and others who participated in this injustice must be punished."

Earlier, Chatha said that he was under intense pressure not to announce the fraud to the point that he thought about committing suicide, but he finally decided to present matters to the public.

In response to Chatha's allegations, the Election Commission of Pakistan said it "strongly rejects the accusations leveled against her or her boss."

In a press statement, the election monitoring body said that none of its officials had issued any instructions to Chatha to “change the election results.”

He added, "But the Election Commission will conduct an investigation into the matter as soon as possible."

For his part, interim Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi ordered an “impartial investigation” into the allegations leveled by Chatha.

Yesterday, the leader of the Pakistani Islamic Scholars Association, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, detonated a heavy political bomb when he admitted that the overthrow of Imran Khan from power in April 2022 came based on directives from the then Army Commander, General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Fazlur Rahman explained that he was personally against the move of no confidence in Imran Khan's government, but this position would not have worked in light of the insistence of other parties, most notably the Muslim League led by Nawaz Sharif and the People's Party led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Fazlur Rehman was the head of the People's Democratic Movement coalition that ousted Imran Khan and the PTI in April 2022 and took power, after which Shahbaz Sharif led a multi-party coalition of the country for 16 months before handing over the reins to the interim government.

Regarding the recent elections, Fazlur Rehman pointed out that it is clear that fraud occurred in the elections, and that the PML-N party is the biggest beneficiary of that.

He said to me, "Parliament has lost its credibility." He added, "Decisions will no longer be made in Parliament, but will be taken in the streets," indicating that there will be protests in the country against the results of the elections, the validity of which is being debated.

After 127 days of killing in Gaza, US admin officials admit errors: We made mistakes and we do not trust the current Netanyahu government

After 127 days of killing in Gaza, US admin officials admit errors: We made mistakes and we do not trust the current Netanyahu government

    Saturday, February 10, 2024   No comments

Another example of Western democracies' behavior showing that for them  politics trumps human rights, US officials now worried that their next presidential elections could be decided by the administration’s handling of the war on Gaza. Officials are now in damage control mode admitting errors and justifying their actions and inactions. The entire world wanted the war to stop, 80% of nation-states in the world voted to stop the killing, a vote opposed only by the US government and 5%, countries most informed readers will not be able to place them on the map. Even the UK a long time partner of the US could not vote against, so they abstained.

 White House officials claim that they now know that this government of Israel cannot be trusted. The problem for the administration is this: the head of this government, Netanyahu, is the longest serving prime minister, and therefore, therefore, his policies and stances have been known for a long time. So, what kind of government is not open for discovery to determine whether it should have the confidence of the US government. The US government must have known for years that this long serving right wing government has no desire for peace. The continuous building of illegal settlements on occupied land in West Bank is the manifestation of their rejection of any just solution.

The New York Times quoted US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer as saying that Washington had made “mistakes in responding to the crisis since last October 7.”

Finer added, “The Biden administration should have quickly condemned Israeli statements that compared the Palestinians to animals.”

The aide offered some of the administration's clearest expressions of remorse for its response to the Gaza war, a sign of growing Democratic pressure on President Biden.

In a closed meeting with Arab American leaders in Michigan this week, one of President Biden's top foreign policy aides acknowledged mistakes in the administration's response to the war in Gaza, saying he had "no confidence" that the Israeli government is willing to accept war in Gaza. Taking “purposeful steps” towards establishing a Palestinian state.

“It did not in any way address the loss of Palestinian life during the course of the first 100 days of the conflict,” Mr. Finer said. “There is no excuse for that. It should not have happened. I believe it will not happen again. But we know that there was a lot of damage done.

“Out of a desire to sort of focus on solving the problem and not engaging in a rhetorical back-and-forth with people who, in many cases, I think we all find somewhat abhorrent, we did not sufficiently indicate that we totally rejected and disagreed with those sorts of sentiments,” Mr. Finer said.

He did not clarify which Israeli officials he was referring to, but in the conflict’s early days, Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, said, “We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly.” Some other Israeli officials have also faced criticism for dehumanizing language.

Pakistan announces the final results of the elections, and Imran Khan’s party takes the lead

Pakistan announces the final results of the elections, and Imran Khan’s party takes the lead

    Friday, February 09, 2024   No comments

Despite criminal charges ban of policical participation, Imran Khan still has decisive inluence in Pakistani politics. 

Updates: The Pakistani General Election Commission in Islamabad announced the completion of the counting of votes for the general elections, and revealed the victory of 264 candidates out of 266 seats for the Federal Parliament, while the election of one seat was postponed and the result of a winner in another seat was suspended.

The results show that independents won 101 out of 264 seats, most of them supported by the Tehreek-e-Insaf party (which is banned from running in the elections) led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is in prison.

The Muslim League-Nawaz Party (former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif) came in second place, which won 75 seats, becoming the party that won the largest number of seats in Parliament after Imran Khan’s supporters ran as independent candidates.

The People's Party came in third place, winning 54 seats, the United Qaumi Movement won 17 seats, while the rest of the other political forces won 17 seats.

The final results were released more than 60 hours after voting ended on Thursday, a delay that raised questions about the electoral process.

Previous reporting on this stroy:

Geo News reported on Friday (Feb. 9) that independent candidates supported by former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan won 21 seats out of a total of 50 for which the counting of votes in the national elections has been completed so far. Any political party needs 133 seats in Parliament to ensure a simple majority.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which Khan leads, was banned from running in the elections as a party, but the informal poll, the results of which were broadcast on local television channels, showed that independent candidates, including dozens of those chosen by his party, are leading in most electoral districts, whether in the federal parliamentary elections or the regional parliamentary elections. .

Eleven hours after the polls closed, the Electoral Commission did not publish any results, attributing this delay to “internet problems.”

It was expected that the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz Sharif's wing would win the largest number of seats in the elections that took place on Thursday, as analysts confirm that the 74-year-old former prime minister concluded an unannounced agreement with the army to return to the premiership.

But local television channels said that the Muslim League's performance in the elections was bad, and that Sharif himself was lagging behind his competitor in the electoral district in which he ran.

Yesterday, Thursday, the 2024 general elections process began in Pakistan, amid fears against the backdrop of the deteriorating security situation in the country, especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces in western Pakistan, on the border with Afghanistan.

As a global superpower, US foreign policy can sink presidential elections, Should Biden worry given his stance on Gaza war?

As a global superpower, US foreign policy can sink presidential elections, Should Biden worry given his stance on Gaza war?

    Saturday, February 03, 2024   No comments

A 1-2% segment of the population might be insignificant in national elections. In the US however, there is no national elections even for the president. A candidate must win elections in each state, and each state they would win will provide the candidate with electors needed to secure a win which is 270. 

This structure gives power to the so-called battleground states more than it give power to most populous states that tend to be reliably for one party or another. For these reasons, the presence of Muslim and Arab Americans in the swing state of Michigan is bringing attention to community there ahead of the 2024 presidential elections. This article sheds some light on the attention given to the Muslim and Arab communities and their allies.

Read the article...

 

Sheikh Hasina wins elections boycotted by the opposition in Bangladesh

Sheikh Hasina wins elections boycotted by the opposition in Bangladesh

    Sunday, January 07, 2024   No comments

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (76 years old) won a fifth term in power, after legislative elections that were boycotted by the main opposition party and described as “sham elections.”

A spokesman for the National Election Commission said on Sunday that the ruling Awami League party led by Sheikh Hasina “won more than 50% of the seats,” while the counting process is still ongoing.

Bangladesh, which occupies eighth place on the list of the world's most populous countries (about 170 million people), has witnessed strong economic growth under the leadership of the Awami League party led by Hasina, according to Agence France-Presse, which adds that the government has faced accusations of violating human rights several times and suppressing the opposition with violent methods. .

The Awami League party faces almost no opponents in the electoral districts in which it competes, but it has refrained from nominating candidates in a number of them, in an attempt to avoid parliament becoming a tool controlled by one party.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, whose ranks witnessed a widespread wave of arrests, called for a general strike at the end of the week, and urged residents not to participate in what it described as “sham” elections.