Tag: Elections

After Aung San Suu Kyi’s election win, Myanmar’s displaced Kachin are hopeful they can go home for Christmas

December 16, 2015 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Baptists, Christmas, Churches, Elections, Kachin, Refugees

As democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi prepares to assume power in Myanmar, two Baptist leaders among the country’s ethnic Kachin refugees are cautiously expecting more freedom to live their Christian faith, perhaps as soon as this Christmas. More than 100,000 ethnic Kachin, displaced due to civil war that broke . . . Read More

Myanmar’s Christians cautiously hopeful

November 12, 2015 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Buddhist nationalism, Chin, Elections, Kachin, Ma Ba Tha, Myitkyina

In Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy , has won a landslide victory in the first freely-contested election in 25 years, winning the needed two-thirds of the vote to enable it to nominate the country’s new President. Even though she herself is barred from that role, Suu Kyi has . . . Read More

Iceland makes blasphemy legal

July 3, 2015 Blasphemy, Charlie Hebdo, Elections, France, Iceland, Sweden

Iceland’s parliament has abolished its blasphemy laws, despite opposition from some of the country’s churches, reports the BBC. A bill was put forward in response to the attack against the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, by Iceland’s minority Pirate Party, which campaigns for internet and data freedom. The Pirate movement . . . Read More

Buhari takes office after election ‘miracle’

May 29, 2015 Nigeria Boko Haram, Elections, Goodluck Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari

Muhammadu Buhari will be sworn in today (May 29) as the new President of Nigeria, two months after he became the first opposition leader to win an election. On March 28, Buhari, a former general, defeated incumbent Goodluck Jonathan by a 54-46 margin – the first time the opposition had . . . Read More

Christians remain cautious about Modi

May 27, 2015 India BJP, Elections, Narendra Modi

To mark the first anniversary of his government, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 26 declared the world is “optimistic about India and is enthusiastic about exploring the opportunities India has to offer.” To which one leader of India’s churches replied: “We have nothing to celebrate. Rather, we have . . . Read More

Hope – and anxiety – after Buhari’s win

April 9, 2015 Nigeria APC, Boko Haram, Elections, Goodluck Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari, Pentecostals

Former Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress candidate for president, at Chatham House in London in February 2015.Flickr / Chatham House / Creative Commons Nigeria’s Christians, especially those in the troubled northeast, had a good reason to be worried that Muhammadu Buhari would be elected president. The former . . . Read More

Nigeria’s Christians flee ahead of election

March 27, 2015 Nigeria Elections, Igbo, Kano, Nigeria

An exodus of Christians from the mainly Muslim city of Kano, the commercial centre of northern Nigeria, is taking place because of fears of violence ahead of this weekend’s elections. Thousands are cramming onto coaches and heading to the east or south-west of the country. ‘Kano is closing for business . . . Read More

Nigerians, fearing election violence, forfeit vote to move to other end of country

March 4, 2015 Nigeria Anambra, APC, Bayelsa, Boko Haram, Elections, Enugu, Goodluck Jonathan, Igbo, Imo, Jama'atu Nasril Islam, Kaduna, Katsina, Middle Belt, Muhammadu Buhari, Niger Delta, Nigeria, Sharia, Zamfara

Ahead of Nigeria’s general elections on 28 March, hundreds of people, fearful of election violence, have fled back to their place of origin, World Watch Monitor has been told. The election was originally scheduled for 14 February, before being postponed to the March date for security reasons. Take for example . . . Read More

Nigerian elections: will religion play a part?

January 29, 2015 Nigeria Elections, Goodluck Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria

As tensions rise ahead of the February 14 elections in Nigeria, some fear the country’s unity will face a new test and religious divisions will be exacerbated. The election sees a Christian presidential candidate from the south, incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, pitted against Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim candidate from the north. . . . Read More

Boko Haram may disenfranchise 1.5m Nigerian voters

December 17, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, Elections, Goodluck Jonathan, Kidnapping, Nigeria

At least 1.5m Nigerians displaced by the Islamist insurgency may not get to vote in the country’s 2015 elections, the BBC reported 17 December. This includes many Christians who helped elect President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011. Voting laws need to be amended otherwise some voters will be disenfranchised, said Nick . . . Read More

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