Latest news with #ProportionalRepresentation
India.com
22-07-2025
- Politics
- India.com
Jagdeep Dhankhar Resigns: Who will be the next Vice President of India? How will the new VP be elected? Complete election process here
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar Resigns from his post New Delhi: In an unexpected move, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar on Monday evening resigned from his post citing health issues. In a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, he said his resignation will be effective immediately — 'to prioritise health care and abide by medical advice, I hereby resign as the Vice President of India, effective immediately, in accordance wills Article 67(a) of the constitution,' his letter read. In March, Dhankhar was admitted at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences following 'cardiac-related ailments'. Last month, he had fainted while attending the Golden Jubilee celebrations at the Kumaon University. Jagdeep Dhankar Resigns: In his letter, he thanked the President 'for her unwavering support and the soothing wonderful working relationship we maintained during my tenure'. 'I express my deep gratitude to the Hon'ble Prime Minister and the esteemed Council of Ministers. Prime Minister's cooperation and support have been invaluable, and I have learned much during my time in office,' the letter read. It is important to note that Jagdeep Dhankar's resignation comes at a time when the Monsoon Session of Parliament is underway. In such a situation, it becomes important to understand how the Vice President is elected. Vice President's Election: To elect the Vice President of India, only Members of Parliament from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha participate. Nominated members also take part in this election. In contrast, during the Presidential election, voting is done by Lok Sabha MPs and MLAs from all state assemblies. Vice President Elections: Eligibility To contest the election for the post of Vice President, a person must be a citizen of India. They must be over 35 years of age Fulfill all the qualifications required to be elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha. A candidate contesting for the Vice President's post must also deposit Rs 15,000 as a security deposit. This amount is forfeited if the candidate loses the election or fails to secure one-sixth of the total votes. How is voting conducted in the Vice Presidential election? In the Vice Presidential election, members of both Houses of Parliament participate. 245 members of the Rajya Sabha and 543 members of the Lok Sabha. Among the Rajya Sabha members, 12 are nominated MPs who also take part in the voting. The Vice President is elected through the Proportional Representation System using a special method called the Single Transferable Vote System. During voting, each voter casts only one vote, but they are required to rank the candidates in order of preference. On the ballot paper, the voter must mark their first preference as 1, second as 2, and so on. Jagdeep Dhankar is the third Vice President to resign before completing his term. Earlier, VV Giri stepped down from the Vice Presidency in July 1969 to contest the presidential election following the death of President Zakir Husain. After being elected as president, R Venkataraman resigned as Vice President in July 1987. He had served as Vice President from August 1984 to July 1987 and went on to hold the presidency until July 1992.
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bangladesh's largest Islamist party holds mega rally
Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Bangladesh's main Islamist party rallied on Saturday, demanding an overhaul of the electoral system as the country gears up for polls next year. The Jamaat-e-Islami party has gained significant momentum since the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a popular uprising last year. During her tenure, Hasina took a hardline stance against Jamaat, even cancelling its registration as a political party. For decades, Jamaat was barred from holding public rallies. Last month, the Supreme Court restored the party's registration, paving the way for its participation in elections slated for next April. "We have suffered a lot in the last 15 years. We went to jail, we were robbed of our political rights," Mohammad Abdul Mannan, a 29-year-old party activist, told AFP. Demonstrators braving the sweltering heat in the capital demaded changes to the distrution of seats, calling for proportional representation. "We've gathered here in masses to press our seven-point demand, which includes participatory representation in parliament," Mannan said. "Elections shouldn't be held unless our demands are fulfilled." After independence, Jamaat was banned. It later re-emerged and registered its best electoral performance in 1991 when it secured 18 seats. The party joined a coalition government in 2001, but failed to build lasting popular support. "We want a proportional representation system so that winners can't take all -- we too deserve a voice," Mannan said. Tens of thousands of demonstrators began swarming the Suhrawardy Udyan memorial in capital Dhaka by midday, spilling out into the surrounding park. Some wore T-shirts bearing the party's logo, others sported headbands inscribed with its name, while many displayed metallic badges shaped like a scale — the party's electoral symbol. Md Shafiqul Islam, 58, travelled from Bogura — a stronghold of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is eyeing a landslide victory in the polls. "I felt it was my duty as a Muslim to attend. Jamaat-e-Islami promises to establish an Islamic country, and that's why I came," Shafiqul told AFP. During Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami supported Islamabad, a role that sparks anger among many Bangladeshis today. Bangladesh's war crimes tribunal sentenced several of Jamaat-e-Islami's senior leaders to death for their roles in the war, executing four of them. Many Bangladeshis believe the party must acknowledge its past to regain public trust and become a viable electoral force. But at the rally, supporters offered a different take. "Jamaat is being blamed unfairly," said a 33-year-old private service holder, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. "It did nothing except uphold the integrity of the nation." sa/abh/lb Solve the daily Crossword
The Star
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Myanmar polls: 77 parties register, 56 approved so far
YANGON: A total of 77 political parties have applied for registration as of the deadline. Of those, 56 parties have been approved to date, according to the Union Election Commission (UEC). With general elections scheduled for December this year, the UEC had previously announced on April 8 that all applications to establish or re-register political parties must be submitted by May 9. This was to allow enough time for political parties to prepare for election-related activities and campaign efforts. Between the announcement and the May 9 deadline, 77 parties submitted applications. Among them, 27 parties applied under Article 3 of the Political Parties Registration Law (to establish new parties), while 50 parties applied under Article 25 (for continuation or re-registration), the UEC stated. The UEC is currently reviewing the remaining applications to determine eligibility for party formation. Although 56 parties have been officially registered so far, only 54 are currently recognised due to the cancellation of registration for the Shan State Kokang Democratic Party (on November 20, 2023) and the Mro Ethnic Party (on November 22, 2023). The UEC also revealed plans to hold elections in 267 townships nationwide. The 2025 general elections will implement a mixed voting system: both the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system and Proportional Representation (PR) will be used. Elections will be organised in phases based on regional conditions. The exact dates for each phase will be announced later, depending on the local security situation. Elections will proceed only in townships deemed secure at the time of announcement. Townships unable to participate will also be publicly identified. The FPTP and PR systems will apply to elections for the Upper House, Lower House and State/Regional Hluttaws. Relevant electoral laws and bylaws are currently being drafted and will be announced once finalised. Electronic voting machines using a microcontroller system will be deployed for the elections. The UEC claims the system is simple, secure, and reliable. The commission is also working to align the election laws and procedures with the reformed voting system to ensure voters in each constituency can elect their respective parliamentary representatives accordingly. - Eleven Media/ANN
ABC News
30-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
One Nation's Senate victories show the 2016 electoral reforms were right
Depending on your point of view, the election of One Nation Senators to represent New South Wales and Western Australia is either vindication of Malcolm Turnbull's 2016 Senate electoral reforms, or an argument as to why the system should not have been changed. The argument against is that under the group voting tickets abolished by the reforms, parties would conspire to prevent One Nation winning Senate seats. In 1998, Labor and the Coalition famously swapped preferences to stop One Nation electing senators on preferences in all states except Queensland where the new party polled a quota in its own right. Elsewhere the major party deal resulted in the Australian Democrats electing several senators despite polling fewer votes than One Nation. The problem with supporting party control of preferences is that elections are about electing representatives to represent the will of the electorate, not about engineering the exclusion of certain parties. Majority view at the time might have been that keeping One Nation out of the Senate was good, but it is a view at odds with the idea that the Senate is elected by proportional representation, and a party with significant support should have a reasonable chance of gaining representation. But what some viewed as the advantage of group voting tickets in keeping pariah parties out of the Senate was later undermined as preference deals became ever more complex. A system that started as an institutionalised version of a how-to-vote card, slowly morphed into a monster with opaque preference deals that voters had no hope of understanding. Instead of final seats being decided by voters, they were increasingly determined through preference deals arranged by preference "whisperers". The tactic of preference "harvesting" developed where multiple minor and so-called "micro" parties would swap preferences with each other ahead of all larger parties. And thanks to group voting tickets, these tiny parties with no ability to campaign or distribute how-to-votes, could still deliver 95 per cent of their votes as preferences into what became known as the micro-party alliance. More and more parties nominated. Ballot papers hit the maximum printable width of one metre, requiring the Australian Electoral Commission to shrink the font size and issue magnifying sheets. In NSW at the 2013 Senate election there were 46 party columns on the ballot paper and 110 candidates. Voters had two voting options, the arduous task of numbering preferences for every candidate below the line, or the easy option to select a single box above the line and adopt a party's unknown ticket of preferences. Understandably, many voters took the easier option. With so many parties on the ballot paper, it became hard for voters to spot the parties they knew amongst flood of new parties with attractive and sometimes confusing names. The nadir of the system was the 2013 Victorian Senate result when Ricky Muir of the little-known Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party was elected to the final Victorian seat defeating a Liberal candidate who started the count with more than 20 times as many votes. Such a victory would have been impossible under a system where voters completed their own preferences. Ahead of the 2016 Senate, the Turnbull government abolished group voting tickets with a reform bill backed by the Coalition and the Greens but opportunistically opposed by Labor. The new system abolished party control over preferences and introduced an element of option preferential voting. The ballot paper instructions were to number a minimum six party squares above the line on the ballot paper, or a minimum 12 preferences in candidate boxes below the line. Elections since the 2016 reforms have seen the number of parties and groups contesting election halve, making it easier for voters to find candidates and parties they know. But it also weakened the flow of preferences between parties. At the two half-Senate elections since the reforms, all Senate seats have been won by parties with the highest vote, or partial quota, at the start of the count. The two victories by One Nation are the first half-Senate election since the reforms were introduced where a party has come from behind to win after preferences. But neither victory was from a ridiculously low vote. Both the elected One Nation Senators polled more than two-thirds of the vote for their Labor opponent at the start of the count. The flows of preferences received by One Nation may have been assisted by the party appearing in the preference recommendations on Coalition how-to-votes. The smaller ballot paper probably helped voters notice One Nation while completing preferences. Since the reforms were introduced, preference flows between left-wing parties have been stronger than between right-wing parties. The 2025 Senate result could be a sign that supporters of small right-wing parties are learning that preferences can be their friend rather than their enemy. One Nation's victory is a vindication of the 2016 Senate reforms in ensuring that Senate elections were decided by the votes and preferences of voters, not the opaque deals of preference traders. One Nation's victories have denied Labor two extra Senate seats, Labor finishes with 28 seats rather than 30, but 28 plus 11 Greens still gives the two parties a Senate majority before having to deal with the other ten members of the cross bench. But it may not be good news for the Coalition. One Nation now holds four seats that were previously Coalition seats. The Coalition may have to work more closely with One Nation than some of its members would prefer, a situation that may exacerbate internal tension within the Coalition parties.
