#elections

Geoff Porter’s op-ed in the International Herald Tribune provides an outstanding discussion on Libya’s new electoral law (view the law in Arabic) and its implications for the government’s ability to democratically represent citizens, encourage political unity, and further disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) of former fighters. In sum, Porter highlights concerns that surround the law’s exclusion of […]

The following is an announcement by Amnesty International. (New York) – Iran has unleashed a wave of repression in the lead up to parliamentary elections this week, Amnesty International reports today, targeting everyone from students, lawyers, religious leaders and bloggers to political activists and their relatives. The authorities have launched a new “cyber army” and […]

While U.S. voters grumble about Congressional deadlock and lack of presidential alternatives, we often forget how good we have it. A slow thaw from autocracy in former Soviet states since 1991 has uncovered various national specimens, from reformer to recidivist. Observers have watched with increasing pessimism as jailed and beaten opposition candidates, single-party access to […]

2011 has been a year filled with change, reform, progress and challenges across the Middle East and North Africa, Morocco included. As we anticipate what 2012 holds for the region, here’s a recap of key moments in 2011 for Morocco: February 20 – Thousands demonstrated across Morocco in solidarity with protesters in Egypt and Tunisia, […]

Today, in Washington, DC there was a really interesting roundtable, “What’s Next for Morocco? Assessing opportunities and challenges after the elections.” The experts on the panel were academics, think tank leaders and former US diplomats. (Click here for a full description of the event, the participants and the video.) I say “interesting” because the panel […]

There’s a LOT going on in the Middle East/North Africa this week—elections in Morocco and Egypt, unrest in Syria, crackdown on protesters in Bahrain…the list goes on.  Don’t have time to sift through all the commentaries and coverage?  No problem.  Let me break it down for you and give some highlights about what’s being said […]

Yesterday, Moroccans went to the polls for the first parliamentary elections after the Constitutional referendum earlier this summer. As I mentioned last week, there would be three questions to answer after the elections, so let’s see 1) What was the turnout? The official figure is 45%, which is definitely decent. (). The big fear was […]

As Morocco prepares for parliamentary elections this Friday, check out this campaign poster by the Party of Justice and Development (Islamists) from @__Hisham (a great person to follow on Twitter for insightful Morocco-related info, btw). It’s what some in Morocco are referring to as the PJD’s female “Dream Team.” It is, of course, interesting because […]

So, next Friday, Morocco will be the first country in the region to hold parliamentary elections since the Arab Spring. (Tunisia’s recent election, an Islamist-strong assembly was chosen to write the new constitution. Egypt will hold parliamentary elections on Monday, November 28 to choose members of both its legislative chambers.) Morocco hasn’t received as much […]

Hollywood and other sects have made millions of dollars speculating on the eventual end of the world in 2012. However, should 2012 be instead seen as the year of the renouveau? Powerful states will go through a change of leadership next year; as is the case with France, the United States, China, Russia, Spain, India, […]

Next month (October 23rd) the people of Tunisia will vote to elect a Constituent Assembly, with the primary task of drafting a new constitution!  The National Constituent Assembly (NCA) will be composed of 218 members, and will have to draft a new constitution for Tunisia within a year.  Furthermore, the NCS will also elect from […]

The following is a contributing piece from guest writer Ladan Yazdian. Ms. Yazdian is a foreign affairs and Middle East specialist. She holds a BA and an MA in political science. She is currently a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech, working on global security, foreign policy, international relations, and human rights. In the wake of […]