|
02 October 2016 Colombia
A peace agreement between the Government and the rebel Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), ending 50 years of civil war in the country, was narrowly rejected in a referendum. Some 50.2% of those voting were against ratification of the accord, signed in the previous week by the President, Juan Manuel Santos, and the head of FARC, Rodrigo Londoño (alias Timochenko), after almost four years of negotiations. Those voting to reject the peace deal objected to concessions made to the former guerrillas, including lenient prison sentences, financial help and guaranteed parliamentary representation. Turnout was lower than expected, at less than 40%. Following the result, President Santos announced that the ceasefire remained in place and that negotiations with the FARC would resume.
19 September 2016 United Nations
A high-level Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants was held at the UN General Assembly, in New York. The meeting adopted the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, which recognized an unprecedented level of human mobility and determined to address the root causes of mass migration movements, acknowledging a shared responsibility for international co-operation in managing these. Several commitments were made that aimed to ensure the rights and safety of refugees, in particular more vulnerable women and children, and the risks posed by trafficking and forced labour. Collective intent was declared to ensure, inter alia, that refugee and migrant children receive education and are not held in detention during processing; that the rights and safety of women and girls are upheld; that countries accommodating high numbers of refugees and migrants should be supported; and that resettlement should be facilitated for all suitable refugees identified by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. A commitment was made to hold an international conference, and to adopt a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, in 2018. During the meeting, with a view to strengthening the global governance of migration, the International Organization for Migration was admitted into the UN system as a related organization.
18 September 2016 Russian Federation
Elections were held to the Gosurdarstvennaya Duma (State Duma). According to results issued by the Central Electoral Commission, the de facto ruling party, Yedinaya Rossiya (United Russia), won 343 of the 450 seats (compared with the 238 it had won at the most recent general election in 2011). The Kommunisticheskaya Partiya Rossiiskoi Federatsii (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) was placed second, with 42 seats, ahead of the nationalist Liberalno-demokraticheskaya Partiya Rossii (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia), with 39, and Spravedlivaya Rossiya (A Just Russia), with 23. Two smaller parties also obtained representation, and one independent deputy was elected.
08 September 2016 Kazakhstan
President Nursultan Nazarbaev dismissed Karim Mäsimov as Prime Minister, who was transferred to the post of Chairman of the National Security Committee. Mäsimov was succeeded as premier by the erstwhile First Deputy Prime Minister, Baqitjan Sagintaev, who was, in turn, replaced in his former position by Asqar Mamin. Several days later the erstwhile Deputy Prime Minister, Dariga Nazarbaeva, the President’s daughter, was removed from her position and instead appointed to the Senate; she was succeeded in her former post by the hitherto Minister of Defence, Imangali Tasmagambetov. A new Ministry, for Religious Affairs and Civil Society was created, while the hitherto Minister of Justice, Berik Ïmaşev, was appointed Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission.
|
 |
08 September 2016 Uzbekistan
A plenary session of the bicameral legislature, the Oliy Majlis (Supreme Assembly), voted to appoint Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Prime Minister since 2003, as acting President, replacing Nig`matilla Yo`ldoshev, who had assumed the position earlier in the month. This followed the death of the long-standing President, Islam Karimov, which had been announced on 2 September. The Constitution requires a presidential election to be held within a period of three months following Mirziyoyev’s appointment.
04 September 2016 Hong Kong
According to official figures, 58% of registered voters participated in the elections to the Legislative Council, representing the highest turnout in legislative polls since 1997. Pro-democracy candidates increased their representation to a total of 29 seats (including seven constituency seats), from 27 previously, with the localist parties (campaigning specifically for democratic rights in Hong Kong, rather than also for the Chinese mainland) securing six seats. The overall number of seats obtained by the pro-Beijing groups was reduced to 40, with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) remaining the first-placed party in the Legislative Council, with 12 seats. Of the pro-democracy groups, the Democratic Party increased its representation by one seat to seven seats, and the Civic Party retained six seats, while the localists notably included the Youngspiration (ALLinHK) alliance, with two seats, and Demosisto, with one seat. (There was one officially non-aligned candidate.)
31 August 2016 Brazil
The Federal Senate voted to remove President Dilma Rousseff from office after having found her guilty of having manipulated government accounts in order to conceal an increasing fiscal deficit, in an attempt to assist her re-election campaign in 2014. Some 61 senators voted in favour of her removal, compared to 20 against, more than the two-thirds’ majority needed. Michel Temer of the Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro was sworn in as President to complete Rousseff’s term in office, due to end on 1 January 2019. Temer had taken over as acting head of state in May after Rousseff had been impeached.
15 August 2016 Zambia
The Electoral Commission of Zambia released the results of the presidential election held on 11 August, according to which the incumbent head of state, Edgar C. Lungu, representing the Patriotic Front (PF), was narrowly re-elected having secured 50.4% of the valid votes cast. His nearest challenger, Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND), was attributed 47.6%. None of the seven other candidates secured more than 0.7% of the ballot. The rate of participation by the electorate was officially recorded at 56.5%. Results of the concurrently held elections to the National Assembly were published on 26 August. The PF took 80 of the 156 seats, while the UPND secured 58 and independent candidates won 14 seats.
07 August 2016 Thailand
At a national referendum, in which 55% of the electorate participated, 61% of voters approved a new Constitution. The charter contained provisions for a new, 250-member Senate, which would be appointed by the National Council for Peace and Order (the military junta currently governing the country), and an unelected Prime Minister, whose appointment would require approval by 250 parliamentary deputies, and by a subsequent joint session of the House of Representatives and the appointed Senate. The proposed constitution had been widely criticized on the grounds that it would effectively prolong the rule of the military junta, and both the Puea Thai party and the Democrat Party had urged its rejection.
|