The Irish Times: Monitors cite flaws in Central Asian polls
CENTRAL ASIA: Sunday's general elections in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were riddled with irregularities, Western monitors and opposition leaders alleged yesterday.The central Asian neighbours, both dominated by high mountains and Soviet-era presidents, were the focus of US and Russian attention over the weekend amid whispers that they could follow the path of Ukraine and Georgia to peaceful revolution. Mass protests failed to materialise, however, despite widespread complaints...
Asian Polls: Asian voters likely to be little swayed by terror: analysts
Last week's Madrid bomb attacks just days before Spain's national elections have rekindled fears of terrorist attacks in Asia as over a billion voters prepare to cast ballots in their own polls this year.The blasts -- suspected of being the handiwork of groups linked to Al-Qaeda -- are widely believed to have helped tip the scales in Sunday's election against the conservative government in favour of the socialists.Political analysts here, however,...
Key Asian polls will reshape war on terror
FOUR elections in Asia -- two this weekend and two in coming weeks -- demonstrate the continuing centrality of the war on terror in our lives. The elections this weekend -- in Malaysia and Taiwan -- and the two coming shortly in The Philippines and Indonesia -- are all immensely important to Australia.All four will have consequences for the war on terror, which is now the key strategic reality we face.Taiwan's election seems to have least to do with the war. But global...
PREVIEW: Slim hopes for change in Central Asian polls
Moscow (dpa) - Hopes of change are glimmering in more parts of the former Soviet Union after Ukraine's recent ``orange revolution'', but not in the Central Asian republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as they go to the polls this weekend.The opposition in Moldova also adopted the symbolic orange colour against the ruling communists in parliamentary elections scheduled for next month, seeking to mirror the victory of Ukrainian opposition leader...