AlYunaniya » referendum

Zimbabwe: UNICEF urges protection for children from potential electoral violence

AlYunaniya Staff — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 11:08:32 +0000

Keep children out of harm’s way, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) urged Zimbabweans, who head next week to the polls in a constitutional referendum and later this year in general elections.

“At times of great uncertainty, such as during an election, it is important that homes, communities, and schools continue to be havens of safety for children and that they have uninterrupted access to basic social services,” UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said in a press release.

“Children are not political and should be sheltered, in all countries, from political turbulence,” he stated.

Speaking at the end of a two-day visit to the southern African country, Lake wished Zimbabweans a peaceful election, saying it was everybody’s duty to ensure that children and women suffered no violence and disruption to their lives during the 16 March referendum and later general elections.

The referendum will decide a new constitution which, if adopted, will pave the way for elections after June when the current presidential and parliamentary terms expire.

Last month, independent UN experts urged Zimbabwean authorities to ensure that fundamental rights are respected in the run up to the referendum, following reports of civil society organizations being subjected to searches, harassment and intimidation by the police.

While in Zimbabwe, Lake met with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicholas Goche, and welcomed their assurances on the protection of children.

He also visited St. Joseph’s rural health clinic and St. Vincent Primary School which have received medicines and textbooks, respectively, through a donor-supported funding mechanism managed by UNICEF.

Egypt’s Islamists claim majority in referendum; Opposition claims fraud

AlYunaniya Staff — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 13:23:12 +0000

After three weeks of mass protests, Egyptians headed to the ballot boxes in the first round of the constitutional referendum in Egypt backed by President Mohamed Mursi and Islamist allies, with initial results indicating that supporters of the draft document have a narrow lead.

The early result of the poll is based on unofficial tallies that emerged on Sunday. Official results are not due to be released until the second round on December 22.

The Muslim Brotherhood said the group’s tallies showed that 56.5 per cent of voters had supported the constitution, while 43 per cent had voted ‘no’, according to results posted on their website ikhwanweb.com.

“The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP)’s central operations room followed the course of the vote on Egypt’s new Constitution Saturday. Our monitors noted a large turnout of voters. They further noted that the operation flowed smoothly, in a systematic manner, without incident, in the vast majority of polling stations in all governorates,” the Muslim Brotherhood said in a statement.

The vote this time is on a 63-page document that would be Egypt’s post-revolution constitution, and which has been the subject of a growing rift between Islamist forces and their opponents, who oppose the draft for not representing all Egyptians.

Menawhile, Egypt’s opposition cried fraud in Saturday’s first round the referendum on a new constitution, accusing President Mohamed Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood of rigging votes to adopt the Islamist-backed text, AFP reported.

The main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front, had announced on Saturday night after polls closed that almost two thirds of voters had rejected the constitution drafted by an Islamist-dominated council, AP reported..

If the constitution is approved, Mursi hopes it will end a tumultuous transition almost two years after a popular uprising that pusted president Hosni Mubarak.

Germany denies proposing Greek referendum

AlYunaniya Staff — Sat, 19 May 2012 06:29:55 +0000

German-Greek relations were further strained on Friday after Greece’s new government spokesman, Dimitris Tsiodras, said Chancellor Angela Merkel had raised the idea of Greece holding a referendum about its eurozone membership next month in parallel with its June 17 elections, which Germany strongly denied.

According to, Dimitris Tsiodras, during a telephone conversation between Papoulias and Merkel, the latter “conveyed some thoughts” about a possible referendum in which she emphasized Europe’s determination to help Greece emerge from the crisis.

Tsiodras said a referendum was “obviously” out of the question, as it falls outside the jurisdiction of Greece’s newly appointed caretaker government, Kathimerini reported.

The rise of parties opposing austerity commitments, has raised fears that if anti-bailout parties prevail the country could be forced to leave the euro.ND leader Antonis Samaras commented, “Greece doesn’t need a referendum to prove its choice in favour of the euro, a choice that it’s defending with bloody sacrifices,” he said. Radical Left Coalition leader Alexis Tsipras accused main parties PASOK and ND “for giving Merkel the right” to treat Greece ”as a protectorate”. PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos said, “referendums fall exclusively within the competencies of the government and the Greek Parliament and not the EU or other member states.”

Fitch ratings agency on Thursday downgraded Greece to CCC, the lowest possible grade for a country that is not in default, warning of Greek exit from the eurozone, according to Reuters.

On Friday, Fitch also downgraded the credit ratings of five Greek banks: the National Bank of Greece, Piraeus,Agricultural Bank of Greece, Eurobank, and Alpha.