NDI's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Les Campbell, comments on the dim prospects for free and fair elections in Egypt under the leadership of Vice President Omar Suleiman.
Project 2011 Swift Count (PSC), a coalition of four Nigerian civil society groups from across the country, has released two preliminaryreports on voter registration based on reports from approximately 1,000 observers who were deployed across all of Nigeria's 774 local government areas.
"Yemen and National Democratic Institute (NDI) discussed here on Tuesday the current arrangements for the upcoming parliamentary election to be held on April 27.
"Vice President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi held talks with NDI regional director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Leslie Campbell on the aspects of cooperation to strengthen democratic methods in the country."
Thirty-six political parties and two independent candidates in Niger have signed a code of conduct that encourages parties and their supporters to campaign honestly and respect the outcome of Jan. 31 presidential and legislative elections. The polls will mark a return to democratic rule following last February's coup d’état that removed autocratic President Mamadou Tandja from office. NDI worked initially with 16 parties to draft the code, based on examples used successfully in other countries.
Frishta Amini (left) and Farida Hamidi (right) from Nimroz province
