LAGOS, Nigeria — Will Nigerians experience their first democratic transition of power since the end of colonial rule, or will corruption and disarray prevent the country’s fragile democracy from continuing another four years? It’s the question on everybody’s mind in the weeks ahead of the April 14 vote for president in the oil-rich, but troubled, West African nation. A week after the vote for president, legislative and local elections are scheduled to take place. After gaining independence from Britain in 1960, leader after leader in Nigeria has had his authority usurped by military coups. Though there have been fleeting periods [...]
CHOICE PARIS ADDRESSES — Whoever chose the location of French presidential front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy’s campaign headquarters has a sense of humor. The large, glass-fronted but somewhat rundown Sarkozy center of operations is in the rue d’Enghien, a predominantly immigrant neighborhood in the city’s 10th arrondissement. Travel agencies advertise cheap flights to Conakry, Abidjan and Tunis, and the smell of sizzling kebabs fills the air: A strange backdrop for a candidate who has made tightening up on immigration the heart of his conservative campaign. A large portrait of former interior minister Sarko (to the French) in the entrance hall is visible [...]
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of two commentary articles written by members of the opposition to the government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. This article is written by Ibrahim El-Houdaiby, a member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. The second installment will be penned by a member of the secular wing of the Egyptian opposition. CAIRO, Egypt — The latest escalation by the Egyptian regime against the Muslim Brotherhood has been widely portrayed as a conflict between a “secular” government and a religious-Islamist opposition. This is hardly the case. It is rather part of a larger conflict [...]
