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Showing posts with the label democracy

As Slovakia's trust in democracy fades, its election frontrunner campaigns against aid to Ukraine

A populist former prime minister whose party is favored to win Slovakia’s early parliamentary election plans to reverse the country’s military and political support for neighboring Ukraine if he returns to power MICHALOVCE, Slovakia -- A populist former prime minister whose party is favored to win Slovakia’s early parliamentary election plans to reverse the country’s Military and political support for neighboring Ukraine, in a direct challenge to the European Union and NATO, if he returns to power. Robert Fico, who led Slovakia from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018, is the frontrunner to occupy the prime minister's office after the Sept. 30 election. He and his left-wing Direction, or Smer, party have campaigned on a clear pro-Russian and anti-American message. His candidacy is part of a wider trend across Europe. Only Hungary has an openly pro-Russian government, but in other countries, including Germany, France, and Spain, populist parties skeptical of intervention in U...

Zimbabwean president at his inauguration says the disputed election reveals a ‘mature democracy’

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa says last month's elections are a sign of the country’s “mature democracy.” HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday hailed recent elections as a sign of the country’s “mature democracy” and a victory over Western adversaries, as he took an oath of office following a vote whose credibility was questioned by both Western and African observers. Mnangagwa, 80, won disputed polls held on Aug. 26, garnering 52.6% of the vote ahead of main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s 44%. His ZANU-PF party, which has ruled the tiny nation of 15 million people since independence from white minority rule in 1980, also retained a parliamentary majority. “There are no losers but victory for the people of Zimbabwe against the neo-colonial tendencies of our country’s detractors and those who believe that might is right. … We have shamed our detractors,” he said before jubilant supporters, many of them bussed to pack a 60,000-seater Chi...