Tag Archives: elections

12May/08

A Tipping Point for Tehran

NIR BOMS and REZA BULORCHI,

July 27, 2005

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s “elected” president, will officially assume his post next month. The elections, no doubt, were a sham and the controversy about voting irregularities is far from settled. Iran’s opposition sources revealed that the national ID cards of about five million dead people were provided to regime supporters, enabling them to vote multiple times at multiple locations.

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12May/08

Mubarak’s Double Game

19 December 2004

Nir Boms and Aaron Mannes 

In the struggle to build a democratic Middle East, Egypt is a crucial front and the upcoming October 2005 presidential elections present a unique opportunity for reform.  Prominent Egyptian reformers have expressed interest in running against President for life Hosni Mubarak, including Professor Saad al-Din Ibrahim – one of the Arab world’s leading voices for democracy and human rights. 

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11May/08

Deceptive Damascus

By Elliot Chodoff and Nir Boms
June 15, 2007

The Syrian regime, which brooks no opposition at home, supports terrorists of all varieties abroad and eliminates foreign political leaders who have the temerity to oppose the subjugation of their country, continues to attempt to paint the face of democracy on its strongman dictatorial system. 

Three events over the past two weeks provided a clear view of the nature of the Syrian regime: the publication of official election results, the response to the U.N. decision to establish a tribunal on the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the assassination of Walid Eido, an anti-Syrian Lebanese lawmaker and prominent supporter of the tribunal.

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06May/08

Egypt’s New ‘Democracy’

 

By Nir Boms/ Michael Meunier
Published November 21, 2005


Barely a month following President Hosni Mubarak’s predictable re-election, Egypt finds itself in full campaign mode again. The results of the first round of the parliamentary elections were just published, confirming a considerable gain in power for candidates affiliated with the banned Muslim Brotherhood. 

Still, it is the second round of elections this year in the most significant Arab country in the world — so, something good is probably happening, right? The September elections in Egypt, the first-ever “open” elections, have come and gone in the Middle East news cycle, clearing the way for another round of assassinations in Lebanon; escalations in Gaza; suicide attacks in Iraq and Jordan. The headlines have told us about the “launch” of a “new path of progress for Egypt.” But words and promises are cheap in the Middle East. Reality has its own peace of mind. 

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