Monday 24 October 2011

Tunisian elections: an Arab Spring victory?

This week Tunisians went to the polls in what was regarded by some as the first election of the Arab Spring
The BBC has a good FAQ on the importance of the elections.
Other sources of news include
The Official Tunisian News Agency (TAP) which has government press releases in English.
Tunisia.live.net - is a really good 'post revolution website' set up by Tunisians. It has blogs, podcasts and video and image content.
CNN coverage
Other sources of background information on Tunisia include:
Amnesty International
Frontline Defenders also has reports from human rights agencies/ grassroots groups working in the region.
Carnegie Endowment - website has an Arab Reform bulletin which contains a range of articles on political reform in the Arab World. These include some covering Tunisia.
Also interesting is the Arab Reform Initiative which has been set up by a network of independent research and policy institutes. There are some recent articles and opinion pieces on Tunisia
However for the latest comment try the Global voices online project which has blogs.
finally the EU sent an observation mission to cover the elections. their findings can now be found on their website

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Oman elections - did they answer activist demands?

Recently Oman went to the polls. A number of newspapers asked the question of whether the elections would settle protestors demands.
Times of Oman reported a poll turnout success.
Al- Jazeera also referred to high turnout. as did the Oman Observer
The Government Ministry of information also hailed the success.
However in the past Freedom House has been critical of the state of democracy in Oman. Likewise
Human Rights Watch

Gulf Analyst JE Peterson
has a number of articles on the political situation in Oamn which can be downloaded free from his website.
The Gulf Research center think tank also has analysis and news.
Arab Human Rights Index also has materials.
Finally try looking at Human Security Gateway which links to a collection of recent academic papers on politics and human rights from think tanks

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Cameroon Presidential elections were they fair?

Cameroon presidential elections took place on the 9th October.
the IFES website is a good starting point for data on the electoral system.
According to AfricaNews the official electoral body has suffered a blow to its credibility.
Allafrica.com reported that the opposition called the vote a 'mess'
Brookings Institution has also voiced doubts
Cameroon Center for Democracy and Human Rights - also has materials on its website discussing the state of democracy in the region.
The Commonwealth - had observers at the election. So they are likely to submit their reports soon. Though at present information is limited to a press release only.
Transparency International Cameroon also has information in French about elections and the state of democracy in the region.