Latest news with #presidentialelections
Irish Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on diaspora voting: broaden the franchise for presidential elections
The question of whether Irish citizens living abroad and in Northern Ireland should be allowed to vote in presidential elections has lingered for too long in the realm of deferral and indecision. This is despite previous commitments on the matter and the importance of the office for many Irish people who live outside the State but still identify with the nation. Only citizens ordinarily resident in the jurisdiction may vote in national elections. This excludes over a million Irish-born people living overseas and an even larger number in Northern Ireland who have a right to Irish citizenship. The rationale for this has traditionally rested on the idea that only those who live with the consequences of State policy should have a say in shaping it. But the presidency is not a policy-making office. It is a symbolic and unifying institution, often acting as a bridge between Ireland and its global citizens. Every president since Mary Robinson has embraced that role. The office embodies not only the State but the wider idea of the Irish nation. There is a strong argument that the franchise should reflect the broader Irish family, including those who have left. Extending voting rights to Irish citizens living north of the Border would be an act of constitutional generosity consistent with the spirit of the Belfast Agreement. It would recognise them as part of the national community without prejudicing their political preferences. READ MORE A referendum on the issue was announced in 2017 with cross-party support. It was delayed by Brexit and then shelved during the pandemic. Since then, political will has quietly dissipated. The Government now appears unwilling to reignite the debate, despite previous commitments and strong support from diaspora organisations. Minister of State for the Diaspora, Neale Richmond, said this week that the Government was concerned a referendum on the issue could be defeated if there was insufficient debate and consultation in advance of the vote. But it is in the Government's own gift to start that process. It should do so without further delay.
Free Malaysia Today
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Ivory Coast ex-minister released after apologising for election criticism
Supporters of Alassane Ouattara, President of the Ivory Coast, attend a rally at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium in Abidjan. (EPA Images pic) ABIDJAN : A former minister for Ivory Coast's ruling party who was arrested in June for criticising the exclusion of opposition candidates from upcoming presidential elections was released Monday after apologising, his lawyer said. Joel N'Guessan, who served as human rights minister in 2006-2007 and is a former spokesperson for the current ruling party, was arrested June 18 for 'discrediting the judicial institution and magistrates', according to prosecutors. The courts have banned four opposition figures, including former president Laurent Gbagbo, from the Oct 25 poll. In an interview with just before his arrest, N'Guessan stated that he was 'convinced that the exclusion of certain political actors will lead to a national crisis'. This past Saturday, N'Guessan apologised for his comments, and on Monday his lawyer Ange Rodrigue Dadje said in a statement that he has been granted a 'provisional release' and had returned to his residence, though he omitted whether his client still faces charges. 'I realised that my interview shocked many people in the justice system, particularly judges,' the ex-minister wrote in a statement Saturday. 'I therefore wish to offer my sincere apologies to the judicial system and the judges for my comments in this interview,' he added. Casting 'discredit on institutions' can be punished by three to five years of prison in the Ivory Coast. The West African country has experienced numerous outbreaks of violence during elections. In late 2010 and early 2011, the election of President Alassane Ouattara – an outcome contested by his rival Gbagbo – sparked turmoil which left some 3,000 people dead. The ruling party has regularly denied intervening in the electoral process, saying it leaves decisions to what it claims is an independent judiciary.
Irish Times
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Government fears referendum to give Irish diaspora vote in presidential elections ‘could be lost'
There is a significant concern that the Government could lose a referendum to extend the vote in presidential elections to Irish citizens living abroad, the Minister of State for Diaspora has said. Neale Richmond said he was personally in favour of giving the right to vote in presidential elections to the Irish diaspora 'anywhere ... if they are entitled to Irish citizenship'. He said it should not just be limited to Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland . [ Should people in Northern Ireland vote in Irish presidential elections? Opens in new window ] 'It is my personal opinion, my party's policy and it is the Government's policy that we will introduce voting for the Irish abroad for presidential elections,' said the Fine Gael TD during a visit to London. READ MORE Mr Richmond noted the Government recently accepted an opposition Dáil motion on the issue. 'But it's a tricky debate,' he said. However, he complained of 'deliberate disinformation from the commentariat', which he suggested had misled some to believe that extending presidential votes could also bring into play voting for the Oireachtas or local councils. He said there is a 'major concern' a poll on giving the diaspora votes for the presidency could be defeated 'if we hold this referendum without a proper debate, without a proper consultation and without letting people know what this means'. In response to the suggestion that there was relative political unanimity on the issue, he said: 'We had relative unanimity on the last two referendums [held last year on expanding the definition of the family and on references to a woman's place in the home] and we lost those spectacularly badly.' The Dublin Rathdown TD said he was not trying to be a 'killjoy' on the issue. 'But as a politician, I don't want to run a referendum and lose it because then you can't have another referendum on this issue for a generation.' Why does Ireland's presidential race still have no one at the starting line? Listen | 42:06 The Minister was speaking at the Irish Embassy in London at the launch of the Global Irish Survey, a Government survey of the diaspora that is available at and will run until the end of August. He said the Government wanted to canvass the views of Irish people living abroad before formulating a new strategy for the diaspora; the existing five-year strategy runs out at the end of the year. Mr Richmond said he hoped a new strategy would be in place by next April. In addition to maintaining connections with people who had recently left the Republic, he said it would also seek to 'go deeper' with second, third and fourth generation descendants. In addition to launching the survey, he was also due to hold talks with Jenny Chapman, the British Labour government's development minister.
Reuters
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Chile picks Jeannette Jara to face off against right-wing presidential field
SANTIAGO, June 29 (Reuters) - Chileans overwhelmingly elected Jeannette Jara, the country's former labor minister, on Sunday to be the incumbent government's candidate and face off against a field of right-wing contenders in November's presidential elections. Jara, a member of Chile's communist party, won the presidential primaries with 60.31% of the vote while Carolina Toha, the former interior minister and member of the Democratic Socialism party, came in a distant second with 27.91%, with 98.27% of ballots tallied. Only the governing coalition, led by leftist President Gabriel Boric, participated in Sunday's primaries while right-wing candidates, who have led most of the presidential polls, are opting to fight it out on election day on November 16. "The important thing is that by the end of the day, the progressive sectors are going to be behind a single candidate," Boric told reporters in a press conference after voting in the southern city of Punta Arenas. Jara, who served as the government's labor minister until this April, gained popularity when she helped pass the government's promise to reduce the work week to 40 hours. Consecutive re-election is not allowed in Chile and Boric, who rode a wave of left-wing optimism to power following widespread protests against inequality, has seen his poll numbers dwindle since taking office. Many of his promised progressive reforms, including the drafting of a new constitution, failed to materialize or were heavily moderated by Congress and voters became more concerned over rising crime and immigration. This elevated a number of right-wing candidates to the top of presidential polls, with Evelyn Matthei and Jose Antonio Kast vying for the top spot. Matthei, an experienced right-wing candidate, has centered her campaign around "order, progress and hope," while hard-right firebrand Jose Antonio Kast, who lost the election against Boric in 2021, has resurged with a tough-on-crime platform. If no candidate reaches a majority of votes in November, a runoff election will be held on December 14.
Reuters
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Bolivia's Rodriguez back on ballot in presidential race, Morales still out
LA PAZ, June 5 (Reuters) - Bolivian Senate leader Andronico Rodriguez is eligible to run in the nation's presidential elections later this year, a constitutional court confirmed on Thursday, while former President Evo Morales remains out of the running. Rodriguez, a leftist leader who has received backing from current President Luis Arce, had difficulties registering his party in the race. Morales, meanwhile, is constitutionally barred from running, though he has called for his supporters to take to the streets to demand his eligibility.
