nightmare of Nigeria's polls

Throughout April, Nigerians will elect a new president, 469 members of parliament and 36 state governors.


Despite polls being postponed, politicians are campaigning across Africa's most populous country [EPA]


Running elections in Nigeria is nothing short of a logistical nightmare. Some 73 million voters in Africa's most populous nation are looking to cast ballots in the three-week-long 2011 election period.

Over 120,000 polling stations are set up across the country: from the winding, swampy creeks of Nigeria's oil rich Niger Delta in the South, to the desert plains of Nigeria's north, no area has been left uncovered. For 21 days during April, Nigerians will choose representatives for virtually every tier of government.

Nigerians will be looking to vote-in around 469 members of parliament, a new president, 36 new state governors, and hundreds of representatives in state legislatures. For electoral officials, the logistical difficulties were first witnessed on April 2 when the parliamentary elections had to be cancelled four hours into voting.

The alarm went off when millions of ballot papers and results sheets had not arrived to thousands of polling stations in the north and south.

The poll was postponed to April 9, but again due to logistical problems of getting election materials to the right places, 64 elections for parliamentarians had to be cancelled. A third attempt to hold those postponed elections will occur on April 26.

Challenges

The challenge for Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in holding the 2011 polls has been colossal. The biggest problem: finding the manpower to conduct the polls because of the sheer scale, size, and population of the country. Nigeria's population is 150 million and the country shares porous borders with four other West African countries.

Getting election materials to polling centres to register voters to participate is where the challenge began: 132,000 laptop computers; 132,000 webcams; 132,000 finger print scanners, and the batteries and hardrives for each scanner had to be acquired and shipped to Nigeria for the polls. Electoral officials have had to employ and then train some 300,000 Nigerian youth corps to man polling stations - including getting people to register, and then cast their votes.

In cities, towns, and villages all over the country, members of the community have helped poll station staff by doing everything they can to provide aid. Nigerians have been helping supply everything from water to electricity to the poll centers. Though supplying electricity may seem awkward, this issue is a fact of life in the country.

Although Nigeria is the world's sixth largest exporter of oil, 80 per cent of people live below the poverty line. Electricity and running water are scarce in most of the country. During registration for the election in February and voting in parliamentary elections on April 9, there were thousands of reports of equipment failing due to power running out. And, it's believed that the electrical and logistical problems during the April 2 poll caused lower voter turnout on the re-scheduled poll date of April 9.

Perhaps this is why getting these elections right and choosing the right representatives has been so important to many Nigerians. Nigeria has been a democratic country for only 12 years, and trillions of dollars have been lost to the corrupt practices of some politicians. Given the climate, Nigeria's electoral officials have been forgiven by most Nigerians for things going wrong.

Yet the greatest and most important test of their competence is yet to come: on Saturday, April 16, the presidential election will take place. The hope and prayer of election officials is that things go smoothly – and there is a clear winner. If not, a run-off will have to take place.

Indian graduates in a jobless dilemma - Asia - Al Jazeera English

Indian graduates in a jobless dilemma - Asia - Al Jazeera English

Ugandan opposition leader injured at protest

Kizza Besigye suffers hand injury after police use tear gas and fire shots into air during protest over cost of living.





The Ugandan Red Cross confirmed that Besigye had been injured [EPA]


Kizza Besigye, Ugandan opposition leader and president Yoweri Museveni's closest rival in February elections, has been taken to hospital after apparently being injured while taking part in a protest, police said.

"Besigye fell down, we don't know what happened to him but the next thing we saw was that a Red Cross vehicle came nearby and he jumped into it," Vincent Sekate, a police spokesman, said on Thursday.

The Ugandan Red Cross confirmed that Besigye had been injured.

Michael Richard Nataka, general secretary of the Uganda Red Cross, told the AFP news agency "He got injured in the process of the demonstration. It was a hand injury."

Police used tear gas and fired in the air to prevent Besigye from holding the march to protest the rising cost of living and what the opposition says is bad governance on the part of Museveni.

Besigye had planned for the second time this week to get Ugandans to join a walk-to-work protest march.

When the opposition leader left his home in Kasangati, a suburb of Kampala, he was met by anti-riot police.

"We stopped him from walking to work because we received information that he had asked people to join him on the way to create chaos in town," Ssekate told AFP.

"There are laws governing processions, and Besigye should follow these guidelines. Short of that we cannot allow him to proceed," he added.

However, Besigye said that he was within his rights to walk to work.

"Do I have to ask for permission from the police to walk to my place of work?" he asked.

By mid-morning, Besigye, surrounded by his supporters, was still being watched by a large contingent of police.

On Monday, he was arrested and charged with "inciting violence" for attempting to organise a similar march. He will appear in court again on May 11.

Besigye's arrest was widely criticised by rights groups.

He chalked up his third consecutive loss to Museveni in a February presidential election, with the opposition saying that poll was marred by fraud.

Unveiling French hypocrisy

Forcing women to uncover their faces will not create some form of 'moderate Islam' but it does unveil French bigotry.



In one of my earlier pieces on the Arab revolutions (Tunisia's tide of defiance), I cautioned those brave souls risking life and limb for the cause of freedom in the Arab world to "beware the French" by being vigilant against their "behind the scenes machinations and manoeuvrings".

Remarkably, my fear of French deceit has been realised far quicker than I imagined. After first colonising and then propping up for decades some of the worst despots in North Africa with economic, financial and political support, the French government found itself wrong-footed by the overthrow of Tunisia's long-running autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Let us not forget that just days before Ben Ali was deposed in January, French officials - in the form of the now discredited former foreign minister Michele Alliot-Marie - offered the Tunisian regime security assistance in quelling the protests, while the same officials were making merriment in Tunisia on private holidays paid for by Ben Ali's cronies.

To quote again from my previous article: "How often are the French wont to proclaim liberté, égalité, fraternité as their most fundamental values? As far as French policy in North Africa is concerned, we may add another: Fallacy." As recent events have unfolded, however, I admit that I erred by overlooking one more very official French value: Hypocrisy.

In an effort not to be completely left behind by the massive political convulsions currently shaking the Middle East region, French political cunningness has been on ample display recently under the guise of offering French support to downtrodden Arab populations. At the receiving end of French ire have been the forces of Muammar Gaddafi of Libya. The French political and military establishment has been desperately trying to redeem itself from its earlier Tunisian debacle by attempting to take the lead in bombing Gaddafi's forces, albeit under a UN mandate, and thereby advertising its humanity.

However, the irony of the French unleashing their prestigious Rafale fighter jets on Gaddafi's forces, the very same jets that France sought to sell Libya following a $6.5bn arms sale in 2007, is glaring. Back then, Gaddafi was obviously a good guy and selling him sophisticated weapons was nothing but a noble enterprise, especially when so many business opportunities were at stake. Besides, it was not like Gaddafi was going to use the planes against his own people, right?

A faux pas (if indeed that is what it was) by the French interior minister, Claude Guéant, has not helped the French cause: He boldly described his country's military action in Libya as a "crusade," a choice of words that will not be lost on Libyans and Arabs, more widely. The French and other Europeans have carried out many a 'crusade' against the Middle East throughout history, leading to the deaths of millions of people. It is not for nothing that modern Algeria is known as balad el million shaheed in honour of the million or so martyrs who perished at the hands of the French during the war of independence in 1954-1962.

Given France's penchant for selectivity, therefore, was there really any surprise when the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, condemned Europe's participation in bombing Libya as "hypocrisy"? Tusk said such actions gave the impression that Europe only intervened when oil interests were at stake. Perhaps the French establishment would concur.

Where is the liberté at home?

Now you would think that given France's belated rush to save North African, and mostly Muslim, lives, the country was a model of solid social relations and stability at home. Suppose those Libyan civilians fleeing daily barrages from Gaddafi's tanks fled to France, they would enjoy a peaceful future there free from stigmatisation and social isolation, right? Well, no. The men may get by but the women, if they choose to wear the niqab, had better stay in Libya.

As of today, the French state will forbid face coverings in public, a measure which, while couched in generalisations, is aimed specifically at outlawing some 2,000 or so Muslim women from deciding how they dress and conform to their religion.

The government of President Nicholas Sarkozy has pledged the full force of the law to enforce these measures. Furthermore, in a bid to outdo the fascist tendencies in the country, Sarkozy's ruling party, the UMP, has gone to such extremes as to question the role of Islam in republican France. Apparently Islamic values and practices are not compatible with the French way of life.

Beware Libyans, Tunisians, Egyptians and a whole plethora of other political refugees currently battling repression. If you are thinking of escaping to France, know that your "alien" values may not be welcome there.

The startling thing about France's actions is not just the audacity with which these policies are pursued but also the belief that such measures will have no bearing on external relations.

While the two faces of France are now on public display, this hypocrisy barely raises any questions at home.

Sarkozy's arms dealer and business acquaintances will rush to the Middle East, to the Gulf, to North Africa, at the next available opportunity to sign multi-billion euro contracts. Here they will intermingle with Muslims, male and female (yes females also step out of their homes in the Arab world) who, lo and behold, may be veiled.

Why are they veiled? Not because their husbands beat them into covering their heads and faces but because they have chosen to do so. (Is it really so hard to believe that they can decide for themselves?) Now France may well have a problem with such a choice. Then it should make a point by breaking all relations with this region, so that the rest of the world knows what the French feel about the practice of niqab, and, for that matter, halal food and Islamic finance. And, for good measure, perhaps male circumcision too. It is always good to know where people and governments stand on certain issues. Sarkozy and his coterie should have enough courage to declare publicly their animosity towards Islamic practices, if indeed that is what they harbour.

French government policy will not create some form of 'moderate Islam' by forcing women to uncover their faces. If it has achieved anything, it has successfully unveiled French hypocrisy and bigotry towards Muslims. The people of the Middle East are not fooled by France's diversionary tactics in pretending to back human rights in Libya.

Lest anyone ask how Gaddafi's brutality should be dealt with if not militarily, that is not the point of contention. The Gaddafi gang rightly needs to be defeated with broad international, including Arab, military support. Suffice to say that France need not overexert itself in this endeavour given how bankrupt its recent policies have proven. A tiresome, hypocritical, wannabe global power will not redeem itself so easily.

Berlusconi sex hearing over in minutes

Case against Italian prime minister on charges of paying for sex with an underage nightclub dancer adjourned until May.

Neither Berlusconi nor 'Ruby the heartstealer' attended the trial in Milan [Reuters]


The trial of Silvio Berlusconi, Italian prime minister, on charges that he paid a teenaged nightclub dancer for sex and later abused his power in an attempt to cover it up, has been adjourned.

The trial started on Wednesday and Al Jazeera's correspondent, Barbara Serra, reported from outside the Milan court that "the judge adjourned the trial until May 31, after just 7 minutes".

Neither Berlusconi nor Karima El Mahroug, the Moroccan-born woman in question, who goes by the stage name of Ruby the Heartstealer, were in the courtroom when the trial was declared open.

"It hinges on Berlusconi's alleged abuse of power, since September, many pictures have appeared in the press of young girls believed to have attended his 'Bunga Bunga' sex parties," Al Jazeera's Serra said.

Protests in Rome

Meanwhile, several hundreds of people joined a rally in central Rome on Tuesday to call for an end of the manipulation of Italy's legal system for the benefit of the country's premier.

'Purple People', the anti-Berlusconi group, which does not follow any political party, named the rally 'Night for Democracy'.

It is only the latest in a series of demonstrations held in the Italian capital on Tuesday against the scandal-ridden media tycoon.

The Italian parliament voted on Tuesday to seek to move Berlusconi's underage prostitution case to a special ministerial tribunal rather than the Milan court where it was adjourned on Wednesday.

"There's still a chance, jurisdication will go from here to a special ministerial tribunal... and then it will be more likely for Berlusconi to get off the charges," our correspondent added.

Gianfranco Mascia, the spokesman for the Purple People, said that "We thought it was important to show that the citizens revolt against any abuse made inside the parliament."

"The parliament is still being used to solve the problems of a single person, which is Silvio Berlusconi, while in Italy there are many problems left unsolved", Mascia added.

"This way he will make all the laws he wants," said Marcello Veccia, one of the protesters who gathered in Rome's Piazza Santi Apostoli, a few hundreds metres from Berlusconi's residence in central Rome.

The vote in the lower house of parliament will have no immediate effect on the trial, which will proceed as normal pending a decision by the constitutional court which could take some months.

Berlusconi is accused of paying nightclub dancer Mahroug for sex when she was below the legal age limit of 18.

Most of the meetings with El Mahroug, took place at the prime minister's private residence in Arcore, just outside of Milan.

He is also accused of a related charge of abuse of office over telephone calls he made to have the young woman released from a Milan police station, where she had been detained following unrelated theft accusations.