Day: June 12, 2021

Commentators reported low turnout Saturday in parts of Algeria, which was holding its first parliamentary elections since a 2019 popular uprising swept away veteran President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika.

Some political parties called on voters to boycott the election, while the government urged them to “fulfill their electoral duty.”

Nevertheless, Mohammed Sharafi, head of Algeria’s Independent Electoral Commission, told journalists late Saturday that turnout “was over 30%” and that “more than 23.5 million voters had cast their ballots. Earlier, Saturday afternoon, Sharafi indicated that turnout was aboutas 10.2% as of 2PM, but he said subsequent reports showed it was picking up.

“Voting results,” he insisted, “are no longer being manipulated, as they once were in previous elections.”

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune told a press conference after casting his ballot that he was hoping to put together a “new Algeria” after the country’s fresh parliament was seated. He said democracy “gives citizens the right to boycott elections” but urged voters to “do their civic duty.”

Freedom of expression

He said citizens had the right to boycott the vote as long as they don’t try to impose their boycott on others. Everyone in the country, he said, was free to express convictions and views. Democracy, he said, requires that the majority respect the minority.

Sharafi told voters the “point of the election is that voters should know which candidates’ political platform coincides with their own positions and convictions.”

Abdel Qader, a young man from Algiers who identified himself as a member of the popular protest movement, told Arab media he would like to see a new government that’s responsive to the demands of the people.

He said it was his hope that the new government formed after the elections would respond to the demands of the popular protest movement and that conflicts would start resolving themselves.

Khattar Abou Diab, who teaches political science at the University of Paris, told VOA that Algeria’s political landscape was a bit “disorganized,” but that the country’s political leaders were “seeking a new political legitimacy.”

He said there were many political candidates and the electoral landscape was not entirely clear, but that the president appeared to be trying to win over independents to put together a new political majority.

Lots of candidates

Voters were given an unusually large number of lists of candidates to pick from Saturday. Almost two dozen lists could be seen at some polling stations.

Egyptian political sociologist Said Sadek told VOA that Algerian voters remained suspicious and disappointed that the regime did not meet the demands of the popular revolutionary movement that toppled Bouteflika. “Algeria also continues to suffer from economic woes, corruption and distrust,” he said.

Abdallah Jaballah, leader of the Islamist Growth and Justice Party, told Arab media he was not pleased with the way the situation was evolving.

He said the government had imposed this election on the people, and that it would either continue down this path or would back off and respond to public opinion.

Final results of Saturday’s parliamentary voting were not expected until next week.

Source: Voice of America

Eritrean community in Sweden conducted annual meeting in the city of Guttenberg on 5 June. The meeting in which over 80 nationals from various Swedish cities took part elected new executive committee and adopted various resolutions and recommendations.

Commending the strong unity and perseverance the Eritrean community members demonstrated in the past years, Mr. Biniam Misgina, chairman of the Eritrean Community in Sweden, called for strengthening organizational capacity and participation in the national development drives.

Mr. Sirak Bahlibi, head of Public and Community Affairs at the Eritrean Embassy in Sweden, on his part commending the Eritrean community in Sweden for the overall participation in the national affairs called for strengthening unity and participation in the national development programs.

In the same vein, Eritrean nationals from 22 German cities conducted virtual activity assessment meeting on 6 June.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Yohannes Woldu, Charge d’Affairs at the Eritrean Embassy in Germany, called on the youth to play leading role in the nation building process with their knowledge and expertise.

Mr. Kahsai Tewolde, head of Public and Community Affairs, on his part gave briefing on the objective situation in the homeland and the region.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

Malawi’s government said Saturday that it had received news of its diplomats’ alleged misconduct in South Africa with regret and that it would punish those involved when they returned home.

South Africa on Friday declared all Malawian diplomats persona non grata for abusing diplomatic privileges and gave them 72 hours to leave the country.

South Africa’s Ministry of International Relations said in a statement that the action followed an investigation that found the diplomats had been buying duty-free alcohol with cash and then reselling it to retailers.

A Malawi government spokesperson, Gospel Kazako, told local media Saturday that the government had already talked with some of its South Africa-based diplomats.

“What they are saying is that they are being accused of abusing the tax privileges that they had,” Kazako said. “You know, according to the Vienna Convention of 1961, diplomats have certain privileges, and one of the privileges is that of not paying tax in the hosting country on certain items and certain services. Alcohol is one of those items, so there was abuse, according to South African government.”

The South African Revenue Service said the scandal, which also involved diplomats from other countries including Rwanda, Burundi and Lesotho, had led to the estimated loss of millions of dollars in unpaid taxes every month. It has not yet been determined how long the illegal enterprise was operating.

Not ‘normal consumption’

John Chikago, Malawi’s former high commissioner to South Africa, told VOA the matter was strange and surprising.

“We buy with the diplomatic card, and you can’t just buy any amount, unless you have a party at your house or there is national day [celebration] for your country,” he said. “But if it is normal consumption, you should buy only one bottle or two bottles. But they were buying cartons. How? So, it appears there was a syndicate.”

Chikago said the issue could tarnish the image of Malawian diplomats in other embassies.

“That is the image we are giving to South Africa — that we are corrupt people, because embassies are the image of Malawi — so it must stop,” he said.

Sheriff Kaisi, a political science lecturer at Blantyre International University, dismissed fears that the incident would affect diplomatic relations between Malawi and South Africa. But he said the image of ordinary Malawians living in South Africa could be affected.

“We have quite a number of citizens living in South Africa,” he said. “They will be seen as people who are not trustworthy, people who cannot follow rules of the game.”

However, Malawi’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Friday evening that the Malawi government had conveyed regret to the South African government about the conduct of the diplomats involved, and that it would take appropriate action when the diplomats returned to Malawi.

Source: Voice of America