election

With Hungary heading into a pivotal election, US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Budapest and launched a blistering attack on the European Union, denouncing what he described as "disgraceful" meddling while praising Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as a key Donald Trump ally in the fight to defend Western civilisation. Mr Vance's trip to the Hungarian capital, coming only days before a vote that independent polling suggests Mr Orbán is on course to lose, highlights how vital the nationalist leader's re-election is seen to be…

Tuesday April 7, 2026 Djibouti (AX) — With Djibouti’s presidential vote just days away, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has sent an Election Observation Mission to the country to track the April 10, 2026 poll, the regional organization said Monday. The delegation was invited by the Djiboutian government and the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI), according to an IGAD statement released Tuesday. The observer team is headed by former Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome and includes 17…

Friday April 3, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia on Thursday crossed a long-awaited threshold toward universal suffrage, with 390 newly elected members of the Banadir Regional Council sworn in at the Banadir Regional Court in Mogadishu. The ceremony marked the capital’s first one-person, one-vote local election in more than half a century. The council members were chosen in December 2025 from Mogadishu’s 16 districts and represent 20 political parties, reflecting a notable break from Somalia’s traditional clan-based political…

Somalia has used an indirect election system, built around clan and delegate representation, for much of the past two decades. Under this approach, national leadership is chosen through layers of representation rather than direct ballots cast by the public. Somali lawmakers and political leaders are now debating a shift toward direct voting and "one person, one vote" universal suffrage. This explainer sets out the difference between Somalia's indirect system and direct voting, what the change would mean, and why the…

BAIDOA, Somalia — Armed tension surged across southern Somalia on Saturday after federal forces started moving from Buurhakaba toward defenses near Baidoa, raising the specter of a direct confrontation tied to a widening dispute over the Southwest State’s election schedule. The operation follows the arrival of roughly 2,000 federal soldiers in Buurhakaba. Some contingents reportedly came from the Lower Shabelle region, traveling through areas controlled by militant groups without meeting resistance—an itinerary that has…

Hungarian Prime Minister Vitkor Orbán faces perhaps the most consequential test of his 16-year rule as voters prepare to go to the polls on 12 April. Opinion polls put his nationalist Fidesz party nine points behind the centre-right Tisza party, led by Péter Magyar, a 44-year-old lawyer and former Fidesz insider now running a vigorous challenge. Mr Magyar has ridden a platform focused on anti-corruption and business-friendly reform, building momentum after strong showings for his party in European and local ballots in 2024.…

Danish voters appeared to hand Mette Frederiksen her most punishing result in more than a century, as turbulence over migration and welfare eclipsed broad backing for her confrontational posture with the United States over Greenland. Ms Frederiksen, who has led the Social Democrats since taking office in 2019, ran on the claim that her tested, tough stewardship would guide Denmark through a fraught relationship with President Donald Trump and help steer the country's response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. But at home she…

Slovenia faces immediate coalition negotiations after an election produced no clear victor in a contest that could reshape both domestic priorities and the country's foreign policy direction. With nearly all ballots tallied from Sunday's vote, Prime Minister Robert Golob’s liberal Freedom Movement (GS) and the right-leaning Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) of populist former premier Janez Jansa finished in a virtual tie. Neither party, as things stand, will reach the 46-seat threshold required for a majority in the 90-seat…

Monday March 23, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — In a fresh escalation of its standoff with Mogadishu, Southwest State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen has moved to set up his own Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, a decision announced just one week after he cut ties with Somalia’s federal government. Under a presidential decree dated March 23, 2026, Laftagareen appointed a chairperson, deputy chairperson, secretary and additional members to the commission, which is expected to steer both the groundwork and…

Sunday March 22, 2026 Dhusamareb (AX) — With Somalia’s federal leadership and the Southwest State locked in an increasingly sharp political standoff, Galmudug Vice President Ali Dahir Iid on Thursday stepped forward with an offer to broker talks, pressing both Mogadishu and Baidoa to return to dialogue before the dispute deepens. Iid said Galmudug stands ready to help “lay the groundwork” for renewed discussions between the Federal Government of Somalia and the Southwest State administration, arguing that a prolonged…