Mauritanian president’s ambitions may shape elections

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Services ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Term Limit ◽  
Municipal Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Street Protest ◽  
The Government ◽  
One Year

Subject Prospects for a presidential third term and the upcoming local and legislative elections. Significance Legislative and municipal elections due towards the end of this year will be a significant political test for both the government and President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, just one year before the crucial 2019 presidential contest. Despite his denials of any ambition to stand for a third term, there is a widespread expectation that Abdelaziz will seek to remain in office. However, that would mean scrapping the current two-term limit -- a constitutional change that would require a two-thirds majority in the national assembly. Change could provoke protests at home and criticism from Western allies. Impacts The main lines of policy on the economy, the extractives sector and public services would be unlikely to change under a new president. The IMF’s December 2017 decision to approve a new three-year programme provides a stable framework for investors. The regime will crack down hard on any large public street protest that appears likely to gather momentum.

Venezuela economic angst boosts political turbulence

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Attorney General ◽  
The United States ◽  
Oil Price ◽  
The Political ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Significance Over the holiday period, the government seized the political initiative ahead of a difficult year that will end with legislative elections. Maduro reshuffled his foreign policy team and announced a six-month economic recovery plan, before heading to China to secure a reported 20 billion dollars of new financing. In the National Assembly, the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) broke with its own constitution to renew judicial, electoral and citizen powers (ombudsman, attorney general and comptroller general) amid claims of opposition filibustering. Impacts Tentative economic policy reforms will not keep pace with the impact of oil price falls. A divided opposition will be focused on the pending anniversary of last year's violent protests. Following sanctions in December, the United States will increase pressure over the trial of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.

COVID-19, migration and inclusive cities through e-governance: strategies to manage asylum seekers in Durban, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Kariuki ◽  
Maria Lauda Goyayi ◽  
Lizzy Oluwatoyin Ofusori
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Public Services ◽  
City Government ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
The Government ◽  
The City

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role of electronic governance (e-governance) in enabling asylum seekers’ access to public services in the city of Durban, South Africa. Because of COVID-19, the government scaled down its operations, limiting access to public services, including among migrants. Design/methodology/approach Because of COVID-19-related restrictions, a systematic review was conducted of the relevant academic literature as well as the information portals of relevant government departments, municipalities and research reports on migration and refugees in South Africa. A total of 320 peer-reviewed research articles were identified. These were filtered and 68 relevant articles were selected. Findings The study found that asylum seekers have limited access to public services via information communication technology-enabled mechanisms. Whilst the city government has embraced e-governance, it is still in its nascent stages. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to a desktop one because of COVID-19 restrictions and it focused exclusively on asylum seekers. Therefore, its findings can only be generalised to this category of people. Practical implications Future studies on this subject should gather data from all categories of migrants to gain in-depth perspectives. Social implications All spheres of governance in South Africa should recognise asylum seekers as a constituency that deserves access to public services. E-governance can facilitate easier access to these services, and policies need to be aligned with this reality. Originality/value This study examined the efficacy of e-governance in enabling access to government services by asylum seekers during COVID-19. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study on this subject was conducted during this period.

Public services: a standard process model following a structured process redesign

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamal K. Mukherjee ◽  
Laura Reka ◽  
Rudina Mullahi ◽  
Keldi Jani ◽  
Jonida Taraj
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Standard Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Process Redesign ◽  
Resource Reuse ◽  
The Government

PurposeDespite widespread adoption of business process reengineering (BPR) for better delivery efficiency of public services, a structured approach continues to elude the most value-adding phase of BPR: business process redesign. From another viewpoint, the rising currency of Whole-of-Government (WoG) and “shared services” initiatives signal an unmissable trend toward resource reuse across public service agencies (PSAs) through business process standardization (BPS). This research invokes BPS into process redesign to produce a process redesign framework (PRF) and deploys the same to build a standard process model (SPM) for services of the government of Albania (GoA).Design/methodology/approachThe methodology follows the design science research (DSR) paradigm, wherein best practices extracted from literature are synthesized with stakeholder inputs to design the PRF and SPM, both of which are then evaluated with case study research.FindingsAdoption of PRF/SPM on a WoG basis will not only reduce service lead time but also enable a variety of public services to share the same process, thereby further saving costs for GoA. The research outputs will accelerate reengineering and subsequent digitalization of public service operations.Research limitations/implicationsImplementing SPM will maximize resource reuse and help offer uniform and integrated public services to GoA's customers. It will also enable demand-driven staff mobilization across GoA agencies. The proposed PRF/SPM have limitations in that they consider only flow aspects of service processes with aspects of conversion being ignored.Originality/valueThis research fulfills the need for a systematic approach to process redesign and prepares GoA for a WoG treatment to its BPR efforts.

De politieke participatie aan de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen

Res Publica ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-338
Author(s):  
Wilfried Dewachter ◽  
Edith Lismont
Keyword(s):  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Municipal Politics ◽  
Municipal Policy ◽  
Municipal Elections ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
The Government ◽  
Participation Research ◽  
National Electorate ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Made In

Municipal elections are not the only channel of participation in the municipal policy nor are they the only participation-problem. But it is nevertheless useful to make research into them because they are the unique institutionalized possibility of participation.This participation-research deals with the different aspects of the municipal elections.The first thing to note is that a number of council-members are pointed out by elections without competition. This phenomenon is not very extended: 373 out of some 2,600 municipalities, 12 % of the council members, 200,000 voters. There is no notable change of size since 1920 in this phenomenon.Compared to the legislative elections, candidatures are very stable and limited : an average of 2,3 candidates per seat. These limited candidatures also mean that in practically half of the cases municipal elections have a two-parties system, by which the electoral corps chose directly the Court of Mayor and Aldermen. But even in municipalities with more than two parties, this «direct choice of the government» is made in 75 % of the cases. In respect of these facts, participation is qualitatively much better than in the case of the parliamentary elections.Forsaking of choice is notably lower at municipal than at parliamentary elections. As to the use of preference-votes, the choice of the municipal electorate is richer than that of the national electorate not only because municipal electors more aften express their preference for individuals, but also and not in the least because, by this more frequent use of preference-votes, they have real participation in the choice of the councilmembers themselves.The possibilities of choice at municipal elections offer an original alternative : to vote beyond party-frontiers with the «mixed vote».  This multi-party vote is but seldom used : by 2,5 % of the electorate.And even then those who tlus mixed way lose half of their votingcapacity.  Generally seen however, the municipal elections show a more favorable participation-pattern than the legislative ones. This leads to the question if it can be imputed to the voters when something is wrong with municipal politics. Is this problem not-situated on a higher level of the participation-pyramid ?

Venezuela's Maduro gains breathing space, for now

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Selection Process ◽  
Socialist Party ◽  
Bolivarian Revolution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
Broad Base ◽  
Breathing Space ◽  
The Government

Significance The party base of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) began the process of nominations for primaries that will be convened in June to select candidates for the 2015 National Assembly elections. The government enters the selection process on the back of a rise in popular support catalysed by perceived US aggression and Maduro's strong anti-imperialist narrative. Impacts The broad base of the PSUV nominations process contrasts with MUD plans, fuelling doubts over MUD divisions. Chavista 'battle units' will nominate four candidates, a strategy that is boosting waning enthusiasm for the Bolivarian Revolution. The primaries process strengthens the government's commitment to the parliamentary elections, the date of which has yet to be set.

Coalition conflicts carry credibility costs in Chile

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Municipal Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reform Programme ◽  
The Future ◽  
General Elections ◽  
The Government

Subject Outlook for the coalition and the government's reform programme. Significance Seventeen months into its four-year term, the centre-left government of President Michelle Bachelet is deeply divided on the future of its reform plans, with the conflicts aggravated by sluggish growth and the administration's mounting unpopularity. There are signs that, looking ahead to October 2016 municipal elections and November 2017 general elections, the centre Christian Democrat Party (PDC) is starting to mark a distance from the government in a bid to appeal to voters alienated by the coalition's left wing. Impacts Infighting within the coalition will persist to the detriment of the government's credibility. For the 2016 municipal elections, the two wings of the coalition will probably field separate candidates. Uncertainty about the government's reform plans will hamper any acceleration of economic growth.

Prospects for Venezuela in 2016

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Situation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
The Government

Subject Prospects for Venezuela in 2016. Significance The conduct and results of the December 6 National Assembly elections will shape political and economic prospects in 2016. The contest will not presage stability, reform or consensus; instead, gridlock and a deepening of polarisation is expected. Amid an erosion of President Nicolas Maduro's already waning credibility, mobilisation for a recall referendum will be the focus of opposition activity. The grave economic situation will remain a background consideration for both the government and its opponents.

Burundi regime survival eclipses international status

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regime Survival ◽  
The Government ◽  
Chief Prosecutor ◽  
International Status

Significance The decision was the latest move by the government to spurn international involvement in its political crisis. Relations between Burundi and the ICC have been deteriorating since the ICC chief prosecutor announced in April an investigation into political violence that has engulfed the country since President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision to seek a third term in office. Impacts Aid suspensions or sanctions could raise the price of isolation, but implementation will require coordination, an uncertain proposition. The president and his supporters will move toward consolidating power, including through constitutional change. Burundi may withdraw its contingent of troops from the AU Mission in Somalia. Renewed insecurity would drive further forced migration above the hundreds of thousands already displaced.

Gabon's president will consolidate his power

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Term Limits ◽  
African Union ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Slow Progress ◽  
The Government

Subject Gabonese constitutional controversy Significance The Gabonese parliament and senate, dominated by the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), unanimously passed a revised constitution on January 10. The new constitution will reportedly not include term limits, while providing President Ali Bongo with immunity from future prosecution. The opposition, led by former African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Jean Ping, has rejected the document and described it as a setback for democracy. Impacts The legislative elections could face a fourth postponement given the slow progress in poll preparations. The government could enter the Eurobond market once more after raising 200 million dollars in an oversubscribed August issue. Bongo's administration will likely prioritise domestic over external debtors as part of a broader plan to stimulate the economy.

Guinea’s constitutional crisis may escalate further

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
National Front ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Climate ◽  
The Government ◽  
Opposition Parties

Significance The National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC) coalition, a grouping of opposition parties and civil society groups, has vowed to continue protests until the government drops its plans. A referendum over a new constitution could be held as early as December alongside planned legislative elections. Impacts The crisis could put the economy under growing pressure, resulting in reduced international investment and potential aid freezes. The worsening economic climate could see public-sector strikes intensify, particularly in the education sector. Persistent protests may trigger defections from the governing Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) and its allies. A potential compromise is that Conde pursues a new constitution as a legacy project, while agreeing to abandon any third-term bid.

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