Latest news with #electoral system
Free Malaysia Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Syria sets date for selection of new transitional parliament
Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa receives the final version of the electoral system for the People's Assembly in Damascus. (SANA/AP pic) DAMASCUS : Syrian authorities announced on Sunday that a new transitional parliament would be selected in September, with local electoral bodies picking two-thirds of the lawmakers and the country's interim president naming the rest. After toppling long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December after nearly 14 years of civil war, Syria's new authorities – led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa – dissolved the country's rubber-stamp legislature and adopted a temporary constitutional declaration to cover a five-year transition period. In June, a presidential decree established a 10-member committee to supervise the formation of local electoral bodies to select a new batch of lawmakers. State news agency SANA reported on Sunday that committee head Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad had met with Sharaa to discuss the process, later announcing plans for a new 210-seat parliament with 140 members chosen by the local bodies and 70 appointed by the president. 'The election of members of the People's Assembly is expected to take place between 15-20 Sept,' Ahmad was quoted as saying, vowing women would be represented in the process. Ahmad's committee presented Sharaa with the final plan for the selection process during a meeting on Saturday, according to a statement from the presidency. The local electoral bodies will be formed within about three weeks of the signing of the decree laying out the temporary system, SANA cited Ahmad as saying. After that, candidacies will open, with hopefuls given about a week to prepare their platforms before debates are held. The assembly will have a renewable mandate of 36 months, according to the constitutional declaration adopted in March. The declaration stated that the parliament would exercise legislative powers until a permanent constitution was adopted and new elections were held. When it was first announced, critics of the declaration warned it concentrated power in Sharaa's hands and failed to reflect the country's ethnic and religious diversity. The authorities' ability to maintain stability and security, particularly for minority groups, has been repeatedly called into question by periodic outbreaks of violence in which government forces and their allies have been implicated.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
India's Rahul Gandhi says he will challenge 'serious discrepancies' in electoral system
NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday India's electoral system suffers from "serious discrepancies" and he pledged to continue challenging its integrity through public mobilisation and potentially the courts. Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that controls the main opposition Congress party, last week accused authorities of manipulating voter rolls by adding fake names in the 2024 general election and other recent polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, which performed below expectations in the national vote and had to rely on allies to form a government, went on to win several state elections with relative ease. The BJP and the Election Commission have both denied the rigging charges, which are rare in the world's most populous democracy of 1.42 billion people. "There are serious discrepancies in the election system, and we will diligently keep exposing them,' Gandhi told a group of reporters citing research conducted by Congress party colleagues. However, he said he aimed to preserve public trust in democratic institutions. "We do not want to discredit the election process of India, so we are doing it slowly and deliberately," he said at his official bungalow in central Delhi, where portraits of his father and grandmother — both former prime ministers — hung from the walls. Gandhi said the party's strategy was focused on building public pressure. "We mainly want to challenge the Election Commission through the people but could eventually go to court." "If elections are rigged, no amount of cadre mobilisation will work. The game we are playing is rigged," Gandhi said, when asked by Reuters if the opposition alliance could oust Modi in the next national election in 2029. His comments come ahead of a closely contested state election in Bihar. 'The Bihar election is looking very close, but we are rising and they are declining,' he said. Bihar, one of India's most politically important states, goes to polls by November. It is ruled by an alliance of Modi's party but according to a recent survey by the VoteVibe agency, the opposition has an edge largely because of a lack of jobs.
National Post
12-08-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Canada's first-past-the-post voting system is constitutional, Ontario appeal court rules
A woman casts her vote in a federal election. Photo by Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press/File OTTAWA — A panel of three Ontario Court of Appeal judges unanimously affirmed the constitutionality of Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system in a ruling released on Monday. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Unlimited online access to National Post. National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ARTICLES Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Unlimited online access to National Post. National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors The system, laid out in the Canada Elections Act, sees the candidate who receives the most votes in a given riding or electoral district become the member of Parliament. Fair Voting BC and the Springtide Collective for Democratic Society argued in court that the first-past-the-post system violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms' guarantee of effective representation. The groups also said the system leads to the under-representation of women and other groups in Parliament, breaching the Charter's equality rights provision. Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again In a proportional representation system, the number of representatives a political party elects reflects the percentage of the total vote the party receives. In November 2023, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed the challenge from Fair Voting BC and Springtide. It said that while a proportional representation system would be a fair alternative to the current system, it's not required by the Constitution. In its decision, the province's Court of Appeal also rejected the groups' key arguments. 'The electoral system is not in conflict with either the right to vote or the right to equality. It does not violate the Charter,' Justice Grant Huscroft said in written reasons delivered on behalf of another judge on the panel. 'The appellants' arguments that the electoral system violates the Charter are, in essence, a repackaging of failed political arguments as constitutional rights violations.' The expert evidence 'put forward in support' of those arguments, Huscroft wrote, is 'replete with highly contestable policy arguments about which reasonable disagreement abounds, not only in the academic community but amongst the public at large.' 'This evidence demonstrates the shortcomings of constitutional litigation in addressing public policy disagreements,' he added. The short answer to the argument that the electoral system violates the Charter is that Canadian citizens are free to vote for anyone they choose, and for any reason they choose, Huscroft added. 'There is no constitutional requirement that their individual choices aggregate in a way that achieves some ideal of representational diversity,' he wrote. 'Neither the political party affiliation nor the personal characteristics of the candidates who win election are relevant to the constitutionality of the electoral system.' During the 2015 election campaign, then-Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised it would be the last federal election held under the first-past-the-post system.
CTV News
11-08-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Canada's federal voting system is constitutional, Ontario Court of Appeal rules
A sample ballot box is seen at Elections Canada's offices in Gatineau, Que., on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang OTTAWA — A panel of three Ontario Court of Appeal judges unanimously affirmed the constitutionality of Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system in a ruling released on Monday. The system, laid out in the Canada Elections Act, sees the candidate who receives the most votes in a given riding or electoral district become the member of Parliament. Fair Voting BC and the Springtide Collective for Democratic Society argued in court that the first-past-the-post system violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms' guarantee of effective representation. The groups also said the system leads to the under-representation of women and other groups in Parliament, breaching the Charter's equality rights provision. In a proportional representation system, the number of representatives a party elects reflects the percentage of the total vote the party receives. In November 2023, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed the challenge from Fair Voting BC and Springtide. It said that while a proportional representation system would be a fair alternative to the current system, it's not required by the Constitution. In its decision, the province's Court of Appeal also rejected the groups' key arguments. 'The electoral system is not in conflict with either the right to vote or the right to equality. It does not violate the Charter,' Justice Grant Huscroft said in written reasons delivered on behalf of another judge on the panel. 'The appellants' arguments that the electoral system violates the Charter are, in essence, a repackaging of failed political arguments as constitutional rights violations.' The expert evidence 'put forward in support' of those arguments, Huscroft wrote, is 'replete with highly contestable policy arguments about which reasonable disagreement abounds, not only in the academic community but amongst the public at large.' 'This evidence demonstrates the shortcomings of constitutional litigation in addressing public policy disagreements,' he added. The short answer to the argument that the electoral system violates the Charter is that Canadian citizens are free to vote for anyone they choose, and for any reason they choose, Huscroft added. 'There is no constitutional requirement that their individual choices aggregate in a way that achieves some ideal of representational diversity,' he wrote. 'Neither the political party affiliation nor the personal characteristics of the candidates who win election are relevant to the constitutionality of the electoral system.' During the 2015 election campaign, then-Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised it would be the last federal election held under the first-past-the-post system. Once in office, however, Trudeau's government abandoned his pledge to replace the system. Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
CBC
11-08-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Canada's voting system is constitutional, Ontario Court of Appeal rules
Social Sharing A panel of three Ontario Court of Appeal judges unanimously affirmed the constitutionality of Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system in a ruling released on Monday. The system, laid out in the Canada Elections Act, sees the candidate who receives the most votes in a given riding or electoral district become the member of Parliament. Fair Voting BC and the Springtide Collective for Democratic Society argued in court that the system violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms' guarantee of effective representation. The groups also said the system leads to the underrepresentation of women and other groups in Parliament, breaching the Charter's equality rights provision. In a proportional representation system, the number of representatives a party elects reflects the percentage of the total vote the party receives. In November 2023, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed the challenge from Fair Voting BC and Springtide. It said that while a proportional representation system would be a fair alternative to the current system, it's not required by the Constitution. In its decision, the province's Court of Appeal also rejected the groups' key arguments. "The electoral system is not in conflict with either the right to vote or the right to equality. It does not violate the Charter," Justice Grant Huscroft said in written reasons delivered on behalf of another judge on the panel. "The appellants' arguments that the electoral system violates the Charter are, in essence, a repackaging of failed political arguments as constitutional rights violations." Limitations of litigating policy disputes The expert evidence "put forward in support" of those arguments, Huscroft wrote, is "replete with highly contestable policy arguments about which reasonable disagreement abounds, not only in the academic community but amongst the public at large… "This evidence demonstrates the shortcomings of constitutional litigation in addressing public policy disagreements." The short answer to the argument that the electoral system violates the Charter is that Canadian citizens are free to vote for anyone they choose, and for any reason they choose, Huscroft added. "There is no constitutional requirement that their individual choices aggregate in a way that achieves some ideal of representational diversity," he wrote. "Neither the political party affiliation nor the personal characteristics of the candidates who win election are relevant to the constitutionality of the electoral system." During the 2015 election campaign, then Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised it would be the last federal election held under the first-past-the-post system.
