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On September 19, the Bangladesh parliament passed a bill unanimously enacting it as an act with the signature of the President.
Under the Digital Security Act, there are provisions to sentence a citizen for up to 14 years of jail for secretly recording any government official or for spreading any misleading and negative narratives against the nation's Liberation War under the Father of the Nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. This received major retaliation from the citizens, especially the journalists as this imposes major restrictions and could compromise the quality of their work.
The main opposition party, the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) termed it as a Black Law. Sections of the Act completely violate freedom of speech and will lead to degrading the media sources and further suppressing voices critiquing the government and increase social instability. Even after protests by both students and journalists, the Prime Minister and the government have not paid heed. The Daily Star's editor and publisher Anam said, "This law is incongruent with the intellectual environment of digital age. The growth of digital Bangladesh will be stifled by this Digital Security Act"
Macedonia's three-decade long dispute with Greece reached yet another standstill, a fortnight ago, when the referendum to change the country's name from Macedonia to Republic of North Macedonia fell through due to a low electorate turn out. Only 37 percent of the electorate, which was held on the 30th September, voted in the much-anticipated referendum that was an outcome of an agreement between Macedonia's Prime Minister, Zoran Zaev, and Greece's, Alexis Tsipras in June this year. A successful referendum would have led to Greece unblocking Macedonia's entry into the EU as well as the NATO, albeit Greece would also have had to go through a vote in the parliament themselves.
It came after the Macedonian President, Gjorge Ivanov vetoed the accord twice, even when it was passed through by the legislation. Though, the general public consensus was in favour of renaming the country, the low turnout has been seen as a victory by the right-wing politicians, of which Gjorge Ivanov is a part. He called the referendum a "right" and not an "obligation" and thus decided to boycott it. The referendum had garnered support from the US and Germany, asking the Macedonians to go through the decision whereas the Russians vehemently opposed the decision, as it would have led to an increase in the NATO, which would have been against its national interests.
On Saturday, October 6th, Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States following a 50-48 vote by the Senate. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the only Democrat to vote in favour of Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court. In the evening of October 6th, Kavanaugh was sworn in as the 114th Justice of the Supreme Court replacing retired Associate Justice Kennedy who administered his Judicial Oath. The Constitutional Oath was administered by Chief Justice John Roberts.
Kavanaugh's confirmation came after the FBI concluded it's investigation regarding the sexual assault allegations put forth against Kavanaugh by Dr Christine Ford and others. The vote was interrupted by protesters who were rightfully outraged by this confirmation.
This confirmation was a win for Trump and his administration with the majority on the Supreme Court bench now tilting towards the Conservative side. On October 8th, Trump held a ceremonial swearing in at the White House for Brett Kavanaugh. He also addressed the crowd and he began by apologizing to Kavanaugh and his family. "On behalf of our nation, I want to apologize to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure," Mr. Trump said.
Brazil, the largest country in the South American continent is mired up in political instability and economic depression faces an uphill task of elections. The country has experienced corruption scandals, high unemployment and security issues. Brazil once the up-and-coming Latin American country finds itself in the shackles of poverty and security concerns. Brazilian voters took part in the first round of elections and shortlisted two candidates, 63-year-oldJair Bolsonaro of Social Liberal Party and55-year-old Fernando Haddad of Worker'sParty. This election is paramount to Brazil's status in the international global affair and to extricate domestic suffering.
The candidates chosen, have differing ideologies and have contrasting stands on the country's priorities. Bolsonaro who has controversial opinion regarding dictators and is one of the admirers of the US President Donald Trump. His campaigns reveal that his focus area as the President of the country would be safety and security and relaxation of gun laws. Like his US counterpart he has been accused of making racist remarks and has been termed as "ultra-conservative". The Left contender Haddad is an intellectual and former mayor of Sao Paulo is backed by former President Lula da Silva. Unlike the right-wing leader his priorities are economic reconstruction of the country, promoting LGBTQ+ rights and reducing the rampant unemployment rate. Haddad had his share of controversy regarding his ambiguous stand on abortion.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir has not witnessed civic body elections in more than a decade. The last local body elections were held in 2005. The first phase of civic polls were conducted on 8th October against the backdrop of cross-border firing, rise in violent activities led by militants, call for strikes and boycott of polls by separatists and a President's rule in the state after the break-up of PDP-BJP alliance. The civic polls were also marked by boycott of polls from largest two state parties i.e. the People's Democratic Party and the National Conference, over provisions under Article 35A.
Voting was held across eleven districts - three in the Jammu region, two in Ladakh and six in the Kashmir valley. Out of the 65 per cent voter turn-out, maximum participation was from the Jammu and Ladakh region. As many as 244 candidates out of 1283 have been declared elected unopposed due to abstention from PDP and NC. This will be advantageous for the BJP and the Congress to hold electoral grounds in the Kashmir Valley.
Amid threats from militants and a pre-poll boycott from the separatists, majority of voters have showed optimism towards the power of ballot. The voters have sustained a series of unstable state governments in the past two decades due to vested political interests leading to an urgency to put in place the local civic bodies for basic and effective governance.
Cameroon conducted its parliamentary elections on 7th of October and what has hence forth followed are complications. The rebel groups existing within the country want to create a separate English-speaking state, as a result of which they banned voting in the Anglophone regions of the country which churned out voting percentage as low as 5 per cent. The US ambassador to Cameroon- Peter Henry Barlerin has also been accused of meddling in the elections and some of his statements and photos on the covers of local newspapers has sparked controversy.
Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), the election conducting body has confirmed around 18 petitions against the elections. The opposition parties such as Social Democratic Front from the Anglophone region have alleged that the elections were unfair and demand total annulment of the polls. Unofficial results claim leaders of many opposition parties as victorious. One of the much-disputed claim is by Maurice Kamto which has pushed the country towards a political crisis with the government branding him as an outlaw.
President Biya, one of the longest serving leaders of Africa is widely expected to win but petitions against the elections and the claims of victory by opposition leaders can lead to a post-electoral crisis in the country wreaking havoc.
International community should have played a prominent role and could have been able to avert the crisis by ensuring the fairness of elections. The political crisis in the country not only affects the country itself and would have its fair share of implications in the African region as well.
CONTRIBUTORS: Shambhavi Joshi, Hassan Chishti, Shefali Mhatre, Nischal Dave, Aalap Hajarnis, Vishwajeet Singh Raghav
Image Source: The Diplomat, Washington Post, NBC news, AKE International, Hindustan Times, Bulgarian News Agency (BTA)