Upcoming Elections
Mauritania Presidential – June 22, 2019
Mauritania’s incumbent came to power in a military coup and the country is rated “not free” by Freedom House, but some hope that political space could be opening up, albeit slowly. While most believe that the ruling party’s candidate will win, opposition candidates are participating (in contrast to the 2014 presidential election, which they boycotted), although they have expressed concerns about the electoral process and the lack of international observers.
AFP: “Amnesty asks Mauritania’s presidential candidates to end slavery. Remnants of traditional slavery are a major issue in Mauritania, a deeply conservative, predominantly Muslim state although it was officially abolished in 1981”
Ahmed Jedou, Raseef22: “‘Modern pharaoh’: how Mauritania’s government uses precautionary detention to silence dissidents”
Botswana Presidential and Parliamentary – October 2019
Peter Fabricius, Institute for Security Studies: “Former president Ian Khama’s separation from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) became a formal divorce last Saturday when he publicly announced he’d back the opposition in the October elections. This set the scene for an ugly showdown between Khama and President Mokgweetsi Masisi in the campaign.”
Cameroon Parliamentary – October 2019
Moki Edwin Kindzeka, Voice of America: “At least 73 people have been arrested in demonstrations in Cameroon as thousands of supporters of Maurice Kamto, the man who says he won the October 7 presidential election, have defied a heavy police presence and are staging protests in several towns of the central African state.”
Past Elections
Guinea-Bissau Presidential – November 3, 2019 (tentative)
Paulin Maurice Toupane, Institute for Security Studies: “Just two months after the 10 March legislative election, Guinea-Bissau is once again stuck in a political stalemate.”
Senegal Local – December 1, 2019
Africa is a Country profiles Y’en a Marre (We’re fed up/Enough is enough), a rap and journalism collective in Senegal, is working to engage more youth in civic and political life.
Sudan – Ongoing Situation
AP: “Protesters in Sudan on Friday voiced concerns that the ruling transitional military council might disperse the Khartoum sit-in that helped bring down longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir last month after a general dismissed it as ‘a threat to the revolution.’”
The Economist: “With Sudan’s street-fighting women”
Malawi Tripartite (presidential, legislative, local) – May 21, 2019
Associated Press: “The Malawi opposition leader who placed a close second in the presidential election said Friday he has petitioned the High Court to nullify the results, calling them ‘daylight robbery.’ Lazarus Chakwera spoke to reporters as President Peter Mutharika in his inaugural speech urged the southern African nation to move on.”
Andrew Green, World Politics Review: “His Disputed Reelection Is Just One of Many Challenges Facing Malawi’s Mutharika”
Benin Parliamentary – April 28, 2019
Stephen Paduano, The Atlantic: “The Fall of a Model Democracy: Benin, in West Africa, was hailed as a success story. But it shared many of the same problems as other democracies.”
Mark Duerksen, United States Department of Defense Africa Center for Strategic Studies: “Benin’s recent no-contest legislative elections are an attempt to consolidate executive power at the expense of democratic gains.”
Nigeria General – February 23, 2019
Yomi Kazeem, Quartz: “After winning re-election with 56% of the vote during February elections, Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari has been sworn in for a second four-year term in office. But the inauguration is happening amid markedly low excitement in stark contrast to Buhari’s inauguration four years ago after he was sworn into office on the back of a finely executed campaign that pitted him as a reformed democrat keen to implement ‘change,’ as he put it.”
CNN: “The 76-year-old fought a fierce battle against one of the country’s foremost politicians and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to clinch victory in the February vote — a win that is still being challenged by the opposition.”
Sierra Leone General – March 7, 2018
Andalou Agency: “In an unprecedented move, 10 main opposition lawmakers of Sierra Leone’s parliament have lost their seats as the result of a court ruling, pushing the chamber back into the ruling party’s control. The move followed an election petition filed by the ruling People’s Party SLPP against 16 opposition MPs on allegations of vote rigging, violence, and improperly getting civil servants’ salaries while seeking elected office.”
Sierra Leone Telegraph: “A peaceful protest and demonstration organised by Sierra Leone’s main opposition APC party has today turned ugly, as violence erupted outside the party’s office in Freetown, where crowds of supporters had gathered in their red party colours to protest against what the party describes as unfair treatment from the government as well as abuse of power – allegations the government denies.”
Africa This Week – June 3, 2019
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Last Updated: June 11, 2019 by 21votes
June 3, 2019
Each day, 21votes gathers election and political news from a different region of the world. We explore Africa on Mondays. Click the map pins.
Mauritania Presidential - June 22, 2019
Mauritania’s current leadership came to power in a military coup and the country is rated “not free” by Freedom House, but some hope that political space could be opening up, albeit slowly. While most believe that the ruling party’s candidate will win, opposition candidates are participating (in contrast to the 2014 presidential election, which they boycotted), although they have expressed concerns about the electoral process and the lack of international observers.
AFP: “Amnesty asks Mauritania’s presidential candidates to end slavery. Remnants of traditional slavery are a major issue in Mauritania, a deeply conservative, predominantly Muslim state although it was officially abolished in 1981”
Ahmed Jedou, Raseef22: “‘Modern pharaoh’: how Mauritania’s government uses precautionary detention to silence dissidents”
Botswana Presidential and Parliamentary - October 2019
Peter Fabricius, Institute for Security Studies: “Former president Ian Khama’s separation from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) became a formal divorce last Saturday when he publicly announced he’d back the opposition in the October elections. This set the scene for an ugly showdown between Khama and President Mokgweetsi Masisi in the campaign.”
Cameroon Parliamentary - October 2019
Moki Edwin Kindzeka, Voice of America: “At least 73 people have been arrested in demonstrations in Cameroon as thousands of supporters of Maurice Kamto, the man who says he won the October 7 presidential election, have defied a heavy police presence and are staging protests in several towns of the central African state.”
Guinea-Bissau Presidential - November 3, 2019 (tentative)
Paulin Maurice Toupane, Institute for Security Studies: “Just two months after the 10 March legislative election, Guinea-Bissau is once again stuck in a political stalemate.”
Senegal Local - December 1, 2019
Africa is a Country profiles Y’en a Marre (We’re fed up/Enough is enough), a rap and journalism collective in Senegal, is working to engage more youth in civic and political life.
Sudan - Ongoing Situation
AP: “Protesters in Sudan on Friday voiced concerns that the ruling transitional military council might disperse the Khartoum sit-in that helped bring down longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir last month after a general dismissed it as ‘a threat to the revolution.’”
The Economist: “With Sudan’s street-fighting women”
Malawi Tripartite (presidential, legislative, local) - May 21, 2019
Associated Press: “The Malawi opposition leader who placed a close second in the presidential election said Friday he has petitioned the High Court to nullify the results, calling them ‘daylight robbery.’ Lazarus Chakwera spoke to reporters as President Peter Mutharika in his inaugural speech urged the southern African nation to move on.”
https://twitter.com/cobbo3/status/1133981647391641601
Andrew Green, World Politics Review: “His Disputed Reelection Is Just One of Many Challenges Facing Malawi’s Mutharika”
Benin Parliamentary - April 28, 2019
Stephen Paduano, The Atlantic: “The Fall of a Model Democracy: Benin, in West Africa, was hailed as a success story. But it shared many of the same problems as other democracies.”
Mark Duerksen, United States Department of Defense Africa Center for Strategic Studies: “Benin’s recent no-contest legislative elections are an attempt to consolidate executive power at the expense of democratic gains.”
Nigeria General - February 23, 2019
Yomi Kazeem, Quartz: “After winning re-election with 56% of the vote during February elections, Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari has been sworn in for a second four-year term in office. But the inauguration is happening amid markedly low excitement in stark contrast to Buhari’s inauguration four years ago after he was sworn into office on the back of a finely executed campaign that pitted him as a reformed democrat keen to implement ‘change,’ as he put it.”
CNN: “The 76-year-old fought a fierce battle against one of the country’s foremost politicians and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to clinch victory in the February vote — a win that is still being challenged by the opposition.”
Sierra Leone General - March 7, 2018
Andalou Agency: “In an unprecedented move, 10 main opposition lawmakers of Sierra Leone’s parliament have lost their seats as the result of a court ruling, pushing the chamber back into the ruling party’s control. The move followed an election petition filed by the ruling People’s Party SLPP against 16 opposition MPs on allegations of vote rigging, violence, and improperly getting civil servants’ salaries while seeking elected office.”
Sierra Leone Telegraph: “A peaceful protest and demonstration organised by Sierra Leone’s main opposition APC party has today turned ugly, as violence erupted outside the party’s office in Freetown, where crowds of supporters had gathered in their red party colours to protest against what the party describes as unfair treatment from the government as well as abuse of power – allegations the government denies.”
Upcoming Elections
Mauritania Presidential – June 22, 2019
Mauritania’s incumbent came to power in a military coup and the country is rated “not free” by Freedom House, but some hope that political space could be opening up, albeit slowly. While most believe that the ruling party’s candidate will win, opposition candidates are participating (in contrast to the 2014 presidential election, which they boycotted), although they have expressed concerns about the electoral process and the lack of international observers.
AFP: “Amnesty asks Mauritania’s presidential candidates to end slavery. Remnants of traditional slavery are a major issue in Mauritania, a deeply conservative, predominantly Muslim state although it was officially abolished in 1981”
Ahmed Jedou, Raseef22: “‘Modern pharaoh’: how Mauritania’s government uses precautionary detention to silence dissidents”
Botswana Presidential and Parliamentary – October 2019
Peter Fabricius, Institute for Security Studies: “Former president Ian Khama’s separation from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) became a formal divorce last Saturday when he publicly announced he’d back the opposition in the October elections. This set the scene for an ugly showdown between Khama and President Mokgweetsi Masisi in the campaign.”
Cameroon Parliamentary – October 2019
Moki Edwin Kindzeka, Voice of America: “At least 73 people have been arrested in demonstrations in Cameroon as thousands of supporters of Maurice Kamto, the man who says he won the October 7 presidential election, have defied a heavy police presence and are staging protests in several towns of the central African state.”
Past Elections
Guinea-Bissau Presidential – November 3, 2019 (tentative)
Paulin Maurice Toupane, Institute for Security Studies: “Just two months after the 10 March legislative election, Guinea-Bissau is once again stuck in a political stalemate.”
Senegal Local – December 1, 2019
Africa is a Country profiles Y’en a Marre (We’re fed up/Enough is enough), a rap and journalism collective in Senegal, is working to engage more youth in civic and political life.
Sudan – Ongoing Situation
AP: “Protesters in Sudan on Friday voiced concerns that the ruling transitional military council might disperse the Khartoum sit-in that helped bring down longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir last month after a general dismissed it as ‘a threat to the revolution.’”
The Economist: “With Sudan’s street-fighting women”
Malawi Tripartite (presidential, legislative, local) – May 21, 2019
Associated Press: “The Malawi opposition leader who placed a close second in the presidential election said Friday he has petitioned the High Court to nullify the results, calling them ‘daylight robbery.’ Lazarus Chakwera spoke to reporters as President Peter Mutharika in his inaugural speech urged the southern African nation to move on.”
Andrew Green, World Politics Review: “His Disputed Reelection Is Just One of Many Challenges Facing Malawi’s Mutharika”
Benin Parliamentary – April 28, 2019
Stephen Paduano, The Atlantic: “The Fall of a Model Democracy: Benin, in West Africa, was hailed as a success story. But it shared many of the same problems as other democracies.”
Mark Duerksen, United States Department of Defense Africa Center for Strategic Studies: “Benin’s recent no-contest legislative elections are an attempt to consolidate executive power at the expense of democratic gains.”
Nigeria General – February 23, 2019
Yomi Kazeem, Quartz: “After winning re-election with 56% of the vote during February elections, Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari has been sworn in for a second four-year term in office. But the inauguration is happening amid markedly low excitement in stark contrast to Buhari’s inauguration four years ago after he was sworn into office on the back of a finely executed campaign that pitted him as a reformed democrat keen to implement ‘change,’ as he put it.”
CNN: “The 76-year-old fought a fierce battle against one of the country’s foremost politicians and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to clinch victory in the February vote — a win that is still being challenged by the opposition.”
Sierra Leone General – March 7, 2018
Andalou Agency: “In an unprecedented move, 10 main opposition lawmakers of Sierra Leone’s parliament have lost their seats as the result of a court ruling, pushing the chamber back into the ruling party’s control. The move followed an election petition filed by the ruling People’s Party SLPP against 16 opposition MPs on allegations of vote rigging, violence, and improperly getting civil servants’ salaries while seeking elected office.”
Sierra Leone Telegraph: “A peaceful protest and demonstration organised by Sierra Leone’s main opposition APC party has today turned ugly, as violence erupted outside the party’s office in Freetown, where crowds of supporters had gathered in their red party colours to protest against what the party describes as unfair treatment from the government as well as abuse of power – allegations the government denies.”
On deck: Guinea legislative (overdue – mandates of current legislators expired January 13 – date not set for new elections); Chad legislative (originally due in 2015 but have been delayed several times – unclear when they will. actually happen); Mauritania presidential (June 22); Botswana parliamentary (October); Cameroon parliamentary (October); Mozambique presidential, legislative, provincial (October 15); Somalia, Somaliland congressional and local (November 1, 2019 – tentative); Guinea-Bissau presidential (November 3 – tentative); Namibia presidential and legislative (November 27); Senegal local (December 1); Mauritius legislative (December or January)
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Category: This Week Tags: Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan