I’m working on a piece on the elections across Africa but here is a quick roundup:
After a turning out in record numbers in Ivory Coast’s presidential elections voters will return to the polls on November 28 for a second round of polling after no candidate successfully reached the 50% threshold. The country’s election commission announced that with nearly all of the results tabulated incumbent Laurent Gbagbo won 38% and opposition leader Alassane Ouattara 32% of the vote.
More than 90% of voters in Niger made clear their support for a new constitution that they expect will restore democratic rule in a country that saw a military junta oust ex-President Mamadou Tandja in a February coup.
Tanzanians are unsettled after perplexing delays in announcing the results of Sunday’s general election. Tensions are particularly high in several lake zone districts, including Mwanza City, where protests veered toward rioting.
All three of these situations call for at least cautious optimism, though the situation in Tanzania bears watching. The same cannot be said for Guinea, where the continuing delays in holding the country’s long-awaited presidential election are leading to increasing violence and intimidation. The eastern region has seen the forced displacement of thousands of ethnic Peul supporters of presidential candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo, according to an official for the Red Cross in Guinea and local officials of Diallo’s party. I hope I am wrong, but I think that we have not seen the worst news from Guinea’s election.
