Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | With Zimbabwe holding elections this year, the opposition had been feeling cautiously optimistic — until its arch-enemy, Robert Mugabe, was ousted from power. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, now faces the threat of a revived ZANU-PF party at polls that …
Read More »Kenya opposition inauguration a bid to ‘overthrow govt’: minister
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s interior minister said Wednesday that opposition leader Raila Odinga’s mock inauguration as “people’s president” was an effort to overthrow the government, with media outlets shut down for their complicity in the event. Odinga, 73, held a swearing-in ceremony in Nairobi on Tuesday with the …
Read More »Egypt opposition urges boycott of presidential election
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Opposition parties and figures in Egypt called Tuesday for a boycott of the March presidential election in which incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi looks set to romp to victory. Branding the poll a “charade”, the coalition of eight parties and 150 public figures announced a campaign …
Read More »Kenyan opposition leader sworn in as ‘people’s president’
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga had himself sworn in as an alternative president Tuesday in front of thousands of supporters, three months after an election he claims was stolen from him. Authorities have repeatedly warned that such an inauguration was treasonous and that Odinga could …
Read More »Kenya opposition supporters gather for Odinga ‘swearing-in’
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Supporters of Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga gathered in Nairobi Tuesday ahead of a ceremony to swear him in as an alternative president, three months after he claims an election was stolen from him. The planned “inauguration” has raised fears of violence as police had …
Read More »Gabon opposition leader prevented from flying to France
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon opposition leader Jean Ping was on Saturday prevented by the security forces from taking a flight to France over a judicial matter, he told AFP. “I was supposed to travel this evening but the security forces prevented me,” the former African Union chief told …
Read More »Russia’s top court upholds election ban on opposition leader
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia’s top court on Saturday rejected an appeal by opposition leader Alexei Navalny against a decision to bar him from running in the country’s 2018 presidential election. The Supreme Court agreed with Russia’s Central Election Commission that Navalny cannot register as a candidate due to …
Read More »Russians endorse Navalny to challenge Putin in March vote
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Thousands of Russians on Sunday endorsed the candidacy of Alexei Navalny, seen as the only Russian opposition leader who stands a fighting chance of challenging strongman Vladimir Putin in a March vote. Thousands of people who back the charismatic 41-year-old lawyer were meeting in 20 …
Read More »Day of protest flops but DR Congo opposition to fight on
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A day of protest in Democratic Republic of Congo drew a small turnout Tuesday but the opposition vowed to pursue its campaign to unseat President Joseph Kabila over long-delayed polls. Rallies were held in several cities but were attended by only a few dozen …
Read More »KENYA: Odinga parallel presidential ‘inauguration’ postponed
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s opposition has postponed a ceremony to swear in its leader Raila Odinga as a parallel president after a controversial poll it boycotted, the party said Sunday. The National Super Alliance (NASA) had planned to inaugurate Odinga on Tuesday — Kenya’s independence day. The veteran …
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