The West African nation of Niger holds a referendum Tuesday that will end presidential term limits if passed. Referendums on term limits have been held worldwide in recent years. While they have failed in a handful of cases — including Honduras, Malawi, Nigeria and Zambia — most attempts have succeeded. Here is a look at some nations where there have been efforts to extend term limits:
_ALGERIA: Algeria's parliament overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2008, allowing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to win a third term in April.
_BOLIVIA: Voters approved a new constitution in January that gives President Evo Morales a shot at remaining in office through 2014 if he wins elections scheduled for December.
_CAMEROON: The National Assembly voted in 2008 to change the constitution to remove term limits despite a two-term limit in the 1996 constitution. The move enabled President Paul Biya, who has ruled since 1982, to stay in office.
_CHAD: In June 2005, a successful referendum was held to eliminate a two-term constitutional limit, enabling President Idriss Deby to swear in for a third term in 2006.
_ECUADOR: A new constitution approved by Ecuador's voters in September made President Rafael Correa eligible to run again in 2013 for another four-year term. It also gave the president greater control over spending and the central bank. Correa was re-elected in April.
_GABON: The late Omar Bongo ascended to the presidency in 1967 and held power until his death this year. In 2003, Bongo changed the constitution to get rid of term limits so he could continue running for life. Several of his children have now announced their intent to run for his job.
_HONDURAS: Before his ouster in a June 28 coup, President Manuel Zelaya had been trying to organize a referendum to gauge popular support for a constitutional overhaul, defying court orders declaring the vote illegal. Opponents say he was trying to extend his presidential term and used this as the rationale for the coup. Zelaya denies such intentions and is in exile in neighboring Nicaragua.
_TUNISIA: In 2002, Tunisians overwhelmingly approved a referendum that removed the three-term limit on the presidency. The move allowed President Zine Abidine Ben Ali, in office 1987, to seek another term in office. He will run for a fifth term in October.
_UGANDA: President Yoweri Museveni's supporters abolished presidential term limits before the 2006 elections, which he won. Museveni led an insurgency to take power in 1986.
_VENEZUELA: President Hugo Chavez won a referendum in February abolishing term limits and allowing him to run for re-election indefinitely. Chavez has been in office since 1999. The next presidential election is to be held in 2012.
Monday, 3 August 2009
Keep your £9m aid... you need it more than we do
A MALAWI campaigner has told Scotland to keep its 9million African aid cash - and use it to improve conditions here.
Top journalist Mabvuto Banda was stunned to see the levels of booze and drug abuse during an eight-day trip north of the border.
He said the number of people who die daily from booze-related illness in Scotland is comparable to the number of people who die from HIV or Aids in Malawi.
Malawi ... nation has a high child mortality rate
Malawi ... nation has a high child mortality rate
And Mr Banda, from The Nation newspaper, said the cash pledged should remain here to fund our battle with the bottle.
He said: "If the Scottish Government put more funds into preventing alcohol and drug abuse, many lives would be saved. After all, charity begins at home."
Mr Banda joined a cop patrol in Aberdeen, where he came across four drunk and aggressive teens at 4am.
He said: "I am shocked that children are gallivanting at this hour. This wouldn't happen in my country unless something was terribly wrong."
He also visited the Parkhead Youth Project and Greater Easterhouse Alcohol Awareness Project in Glasgow.
Mr Banda said: "I applaud the Scots for supporting Malawi, where the maternal and child mortality rates are amongst the highest in the world.
"But I don't see why Scots should be funding less urgent issues, like gender equality, when the people of Scotland need the money to sustain local initiatives addressing the country's serious alcohol problem."
In 2005, then-First Minister Jack McConnell pledged 3million annually.
Scottish ministers have recently committed 4million to a development programme in sub-Saharan Africa.
This will more than double to 9million by 2011.
Top journalist Mabvuto Banda was stunned to see the levels of booze and drug abuse during an eight-day trip north of the border.
He said the number of people who die daily from booze-related illness in Scotland is comparable to the number of people who die from HIV or Aids in Malawi.
Malawi ... nation has a high child mortality rate
Malawi ... nation has a high child mortality rate
And Mr Banda, from The Nation newspaper, said the cash pledged should remain here to fund our battle with the bottle.
He said: "If the Scottish Government put more funds into preventing alcohol and drug abuse, many lives would be saved. After all, charity begins at home."
Mr Banda joined a cop patrol in Aberdeen, where he came across four drunk and aggressive teens at 4am.
He said: "I am shocked that children are gallivanting at this hour. This wouldn't happen in my country unless something was terribly wrong."
He also visited the Parkhead Youth Project and Greater Easterhouse Alcohol Awareness Project in Glasgow.
Mr Banda said: "I applaud the Scots for supporting Malawi, where the maternal and child mortality rates are amongst the highest in the world.
"But I don't see why Scots should be funding less urgent issues, like gender equality, when the people of Scotland need the money to sustain local initiatives addressing the country's serious alcohol problem."
In 2005, then-First Minister Jack McConnell pledged 3million annually.
Scottish ministers have recently committed 4million to a development programme in sub-Saharan Africa.
This will more than double to 9million by 2011.
Last candidate for Bishop of Northern Malawi withdraws
The sole candidate standing for election as Bishop of the Diocese of Northern Malawi has withdrawn from the Aug 1 election.
However, suggestions that the Very Rev. J. Scott Wilson, SSC of the Diocese of Forth Worth withdrew from the election after questions were raised about his being a member of the breakaway diocese are unfounded, The Church of England Newspaper has learned.
On July 22 the Daily Telegraph blogger Damien Thompson published an extract of an email he received from Anglican Information---a pressure group associated with the one-time bishop-elect of Lake Malawi, Ealing vicar the Rev. Nicholas Henderson.
Anglican Information claimed that Fr. Wilson, “formerly of Fort Worth diocese in the Episcopal Church of the United States has withdrawn his candidacy. Although he was runner-up to former Bishop Christopher Boyle (now retired to England) Wilson has left the Episcopal Church and actively joined a new breakaway faction in the United States known as ACNA (Anglican Church of North America). This has a very doubtful status in the Anglican Communion or with Canterbury. Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana pointed out only last week that Wilson would not be able to subscribe to Canon 6 of the Provincial Canons as he is not in a Province in communion with Canterbury.”
On July 9 the Dean of the Church of the Province of Central Africa confirmed to CEN that Fr. Wilson was the sole candidate on the ballot in Northern Malawi. However, upon his return to Texas after a final visit in June to the diocese before the election, Fr. Wilson decided to stand down.
On July 27 Fr. Wilson told CEN that after prayerful consideration he did not believe he was called to be the bishop of the central African diocese. “I was not at peace” about this, he explained, adding he wrote to the vicar general of the diocese, the Rev. James Chifisi upon his return to Texas.
However, “at no time” was the question of his membership in the ACNA ever raised “by anyone connected” to the election, and it played no part in his decision to withdraw.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Fort Worth challenged the assertion that its clergy were not in communion with Canterbury, noting they were bona fide members of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, a status affirmed by the February primates meeting in Alexandria.
Although Fr. Wilson has withdrawn, the vicar general reports the election will go forward with a local candidate likely to be put forward for consideration.
The Diocese of Lake Malawi will also elect a bishop on Aug 1, completing the ranks of the provinces House of Bishops for the first time since 2005. After the two Malawi sees are filled, the province will then be able to elect a new archbishop to succeed Archbishop Bernard Malango—who stepped down in 2007. The Central African canons require a full House of Bishops to elect a new archbishop.
However, suggestions that the Very Rev. J. Scott Wilson, SSC of the Diocese of Forth Worth withdrew from the election after questions were raised about his being a member of the breakaway diocese are unfounded, The Church of England Newspaper has learned.
On July 22 the Daily Telegraph blogger Damien Thompson published an extract of an email he received from Anglican Information---a pressure group associated with the one-time bishop-elect of Lake Malawi, Ealing vicar the Rev. Nicholas Henderson.
Anglican Information claimed that Fr. Wilson, “formerly of Fort Worth diocese in the Episcopal Church of the United States has withdrawn his candidacy. Although he was runner-up to former Bishop Christopher Boyle (now retired to England) Wilson has left the Episcopal Church and actively joined a new breakaway faction in the United States known as ACNA (Anglican Church of North America). This has a very doubtful status in the Anglican Communion or with Canterbury. Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana pointed out only last week that Wilson would not be able to subscribe to Canon 6 of the Provincial Canons as he is not in a Province in communion with Canterbury.”
On July 9 the Dean of the Church of the Province of Central Africa confirmed to CEN that Fr. Wilson was the sole candidate on the ballot in Northern Malawi. However, upon his return to Texas after a final visit in June to the diocese before the election, Fr. Wilson decided to stand down.
On July 27 Fr. Wilson told CEN that after prayerful consideration he did not believe he was called to be the bishop of the central African diocese. “I was not at peace” about this, he explained, adding he wrote to the vicar general of the diocese, the Rev. James Chifisi upon his return to Texas.
However, “at no time” was the question of his membership in the ACNA ever raised “by anyone connected” to the election, and it played no part in his decision to withdraw.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Fort Worth challenged the assertion that its clergy were not in communion with Canterbury, noting they were bona fide members of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, a status affirmed by the February primates meeting in Alexandria.
Although Fr. Wilson has withdrawn, the vicar general reports the election will go forward with a local candidate likely to be put forward for consideration.
The Diocese of Lake Malawi will also elect a bishop on Aug 1, completing the ranks of the provinces House of Bishops for the first time since 2005. After the two Malawi sees are filled, the province will then be able to elect a new archbishop to succeed Archbishop Bernard Malango—who stepped down in 2007. The Central African canons require a full House of Bishops to elect a new archbishop.
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