Latest news with #proportional representation
National Post
11-08-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Michael Taube: The Longest Ballot Committee is annoying, but that doesn't mean it's undemocratic
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is running in a federal by-election in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot. Advance voting begins on Friday, and he should win quite comfortably on Aug. 18. Article content Article content The Longest Ballot Committee has attempted to flood ballots in seven targeted federal ridings (and one Ontario riding) since 2019. This activist movement is critical of Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system, and has signed up candidates to defend a single issue: why Canada should shift to a more fair and balanced political model of proportional representation. Article content Article content Has this campaign worked? They claim it has. In reality, its impact bas been negligible at best. Article content The Longest Ballot Committee, through its association with the now-defunct Rhinoceros Party, attempted to set a Guinness World Record during the 2019 election with the 'longest ballot papers in history.' They targeted then-Conservative leader Andrew Scheer's riding of Regina-Qu'Appelle. It was a failure: Scheer earned over 63 per cent of the vote, and only two of the eight candidates were aligned with them. Article content The Longest Ballot Committee had 15 of the 21 candidates running in St. Boniface-St. Vital (2021 election), 33 of 40 candidates in Mississauga-Lakeshore (2022 by-election) and 42 of 48 candidates in Winnipeg South Centre (2023 by-election), but the Liberals held all three seats. It also flooded two 2024 by-elections in Toronto-St. Paul's (77 of 84 candidates) and LaSalle-Émard-Verdun (79 of 91 candidates). The voters shifted to a Conservative and Bloc Quebecois candidate, respectively, for reasons that had nothing to do with proportional representation, however. Article content Article content Nevertheless, this movement has suggested it played a pivotal role in Poilievre losing his seat in Carleton in this year's election. 'This one-of-a-kind campaign has been a whole lot of fun and we want to thank again all of the volunteers, candidates, and supporters who made this year's longest ballot possible,' spokesman Tomas Szuchewycz told the Canadian Press on April 30. 'It's been a success,' said one candidate, Mark Moutter, who went off on a tangent and remarked, 'I've never seen people looking more optimistically at electoral reform, ever.' Article content
France 24
19-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Bangladesh's largest Islamist party holds mega rally
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.
