Latest news with #termlimits
Reuters
4 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Central African Republic's Touadera announces bid for third term
BANGUI, July 26 (Reuters) - Central African Republic's President Faustin-Archange Touadera said on Saturday he will run for a third term later this year, seeking to extend his rule into a second decade after scrapping term limits in 2023. "Many of you have asked for me, and my answer is yes. I am your candidate for the presidential election of December 2025," the 68-year-old said at a meeting of his party, the United Hearts Movement, in the capital Bangui. "We will continue the work of rebuilding our country." Since taking office in 2016, Touadera has enlisted outside forces to stay in power amid a persistent civil conflict, including mercenaries from Russia's Wagner militia, who intervened in 2018 on the side of the government. Landlocked Central African Republic, roughly the size of France and with a population of around 5.5 million, is deeply impoverished despite being rich in resources including gold, diamonds and timber. It has witnessed waves of instability, including coups and rebellions, since independence from France in 1960. Touadera won a second term in 2020, though militants including the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) have fought to overturn that result. The army, backed by United Nations peacekeepers and Russian and Rwandan troops, has been fighting the group for years. Touadera's current term was supposed to be his last, but in 2023 the country held a constitutional referendum that abolished the two-term limit and extended the presidential mandate from five to seven years. Opposition parties and civil society groups have said the new constitution, which was backed by more than 95% of voters, could allow Touadera to stay in power for life. The exact date of the December vote has not been announced.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Togo protests: Faure Gnassingbé's dynastic power play sparks youth anger
A new constitution that has allowed Togo's long-time head of state Faure Gnassingbé to shift to a new role as all-powerful prime minister – and escape the constraint of presidential term limits – has triggered anger on the streets of the capital, Lomé. Protests are set to continue this least five demonstrators have died while confronting official security forces in recent it is not the orthodox political opposition – predictably crushed in local elections last week – that has mobilised frustrated young Togolese it is musicians, bloggers and activists who have tapped into popular anger and weariness with a regime that has been in power – under the leadership of Faure Gnassingbé or, before him – his father Gnassingbé Éyadéma, for almost six outstrips even Cameroon's 92-year old President Paul Biya - who has just confirmed his intention to stand for an eighth successive term in elections later this year – or Gabon's father-and-son presidents, Omar Bongo and Ali Bongo, latter of whom was deposed in a coup in August 2023. The lessons of that episode did not escape Faure Gnassingbé, a shrewd and often discreet operator who quickly moved to devise a new constitutional structure for Togo, to prolong his own hold on power while playing down his personal profile, in a bid to defuse accusations of dynastic will no longer need to stand for re-election in his own 59-year-old holds the premiership because his Union pour la République (Unir) party dominates the national assembly - and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, thanks to a constituency map gerrymandered to over-represent its northern heartlands and understate the voting weight of the pro-opposition coastal Bawara, Togo's civil service and labour minister, maintains the 2024 election was above board, with "all the major political actors and parties" taking part."The government cannot be held responsible for the weakness of the opposition," Bawara told BBC Focus on Africa TV last added that those with a genuine reason to demonstrate could do so within the law, blaming activists abroad for inciting "young people to attack security forces" in an attempt to destabilise the new constitutional framework was announced at short notice in early 2024 and quickly approved by the compliant government-dominated national assembly. There was no attempt to secure general public approval through a referendum.A one-year transition concluded this May as Gnassingbé – who had been head of state since 2005 – gave up the presidency and was installed in the premiership, a post now strengthened to hold all executive power and total authority over the armed occupy the presidency, a role now reduced to a purely ceremonial function, legislators chose the 86-year old former business minister, Jean-Lucien Savi de Tové. This reshuffling of the power structure was presented abroad by regime mouthpieces as moving from a strong presidential system to a supposedly more democratic "parliamentary" model – in tune with the traditions of the Commonwealth, which Togo, like Gabon, had joined in 2022, to broaden its international connections and reduce reliance on traditional francophone links with France, the former colonial transition to new constitutional arrangements designed to perpetuate Gnassingbé's rule passed off almost without outside comment from international partners whose attention is currently focussed on Gaza and Ukraine rather than was there any complaint from fellow leaders in the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), even after Togo held fresh legislative elections just weeks after the new constitution had been promulgated, in flagrant breach of the regional bloc's protocol on good governance and democracy, which says that after a change of constitution at least six months must elapse before any major election is shaken by the decision of three military-run countries - Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger - to quit Ecowas, remaining member governments are reluctant to challenge the behaviour of others in case they follow on the streets of Lomé it has been a different rapper and regime critic Essowe Tchalla, known by his stage name "Aamron", released a satirical video calling for the "celebration" of Gnassingbé's 6 June he was arbitrarily snatched from his home at the end of May by regime security agents and taken to an unknown location, anger surged among young urban Togolese. Hundreds protested on the streets of the capital on 5 and 6 June and scores were detained by government affair took a particularly sinister twist with the discovery that Aamron had been confined to a mental hospital, a measure more reminiscent of the 1970s Soviet Union than West Africa in 2025 – and the subsequent release of a hostage video –style statement in which he was filmed admitting to psychological problems and apologising to Faure Gnassingbé, remarks he has completely disowned after being released without late June brought a further wave of street protests, with the security forces confronting youths who had set up burning rights groups reported widespread random detentions, often of uninvolved passers by, while informal pro-government militia, often armed, roamed the streets in pick-up least five people were killed and two bodies were found in the lagoons north of central Lomé, though whether they had drowned while fleeing arrest or been deliberately killed was it is cultural figures like Aamron – and Honoré Sitsopé Sokpor, a poet known by his alias "Affectio" and jailed in January – who have inspired this latest upsurge in protests. They connect to young popular opinion in a way that conventional politicians much of the Togolese public appears to have lost faith in the formal political the local elections on 17 July passed off quietly, with Unir predictably dominant according to official results, Jean-Pierre Fabre, a leading opposition figure, said there were no other voters in his local polling station when he went to cast his see the new constitution as no more than a device to perpetuate the rule of the Gnassingbé dynasty – a regime variously described by West African regional media as a "republican monarchy" and "legalist authoritarianism". A leading Togolese human rights activist says popular frustration has reached unprecedented have been previous upsurges of mass 2017 the churches supported marches demanding reform while a charismatic new opposition figure, Tikpi Atchadam, mobilised young people across the previously regime-dominated the 2020 presidential election, the regime was taken aback by the strong performance of opposition challenger Agbeyomé Kodjo, who was openly backed by the much respected 89-year old former Archbishop of Lomé, Philippe Kpodzro. Although both men have since died, the political movement inspired by the late cleric remains highly active and is regularly targeted by the once again, we are seeing frustration boil over, particularly among young urban his constitutional revamp to a supposedly "parliamentary" system, Gnassingbé aims to retain full control, yet step his own personality back from the political firing that particular manoeuvre looks condemned to failure in the face of challenge from creative leaders of popular culture – bloggers, singers and grassroots social media the hashtag #FaureMustGo is now circulating. And recent weeks have seen the launch of a new campaign for change, known as M66, which stands for "6 June Movement" from the date of Gnassingbé's Melly is a consulting fellow with the Africa Programme at Chatham House in London. You may also be interested in: Three military-run states leave West African bloc - what will change?Social media revamp by 92-year-old president struggles to woo young CamerooniansHow Trump's Africa strategy may become a double-edged swordWhy Gabon's coup leader is bucking a trend by embracing democracy Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Effort to change Memphis-Shelby County Schools board election schedule passes first test
A resolution that would abridge some Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members' terms and sync them with other county-wide elected offices passed its first stress test in the Shelby County Commission on July 23. During commission committee meetings, the long-awaited resolution was heard, which has been called a "de facto recall" by its supporters. Commissioners voted 5-1 in support, with Commissioner Charlie Caswell abstaining. Currently, MSCS board members are not held to term limits, nor are they elected during other county-wide elections. Board members serve four-year terms, and their elections are staggered. Currently, Districts 1, 6, 8, and 9 are up for election in 2026 and 2030, and Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 are up for election in 2028, 2032. The new proposal, sponsored by Commissioners Britney Thornton, Michael Whaley, Amer Mills and Mick Wright, would put all nine seats on the same election cycle as the Shelby County Commission. It would also shorten the terms of school board members who are up for election in 2028, and put them on the ballot for the upcoming election. Commissioners Stephaine Love, Natalie McKinney, Sable Otey and Towanna Murphy all voted to fire Feagins and would have their terms shortened if the county passes the legislation. Commissioner Tamarques Porter, who did not vote to fire Feagins, would also have his term shortened. What did Shelby County Commissioners say? During the meeting, commissioners heard from state Rep. Torrey Harris, a Democrat representing Memphis, who sponsored legislation in the House allowing for the move. In the spring, the Tennessee House and Senate passed legislation requiring county board of education seats to be on the same election cycle as members of the local county legislative body. Harris said that under the prior law, the county was not in accordance with state law. State law previously stated that even-numbered districts would be up for election in even-numbered years and have a single two-year term starting after 1992, but return to four-year terms after. Odd-numbered districts would have four-year terms, and their terms would not have been shortened. The effort would make the terms staggered, even with one grouping of districts having a single term shortened. During the previous school board election in 2024, districts 1, 6, 8 and 9 were up for election, thus making the county not in accordance with the law, he said. "If we were following the current law, that would mean that last year's election would have been districts 2, 4, 6, 8," Harris said. The comments from Harris came after Commissioner Henri Brooks presented a substitute resolution, which would remove the election cycle sync up, and only apply term limits. Brooks said there is a section of the Tennessee Constitution that does not allow elected officials to have their terms shortened or abridged. "What I've been careful to do is not void the votes of the voters who previously cast votes," Brooks said. The substitute resolution did not pass, and Brooks joined other commissioners in voting against it. The resolution that did pass is scheduled to have its final vote during a July 28 commission meeting. Brooke Muckerman covers education and children's issues for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis-Shelby County Schools board election schedule could chagne Solve the daily Crossword
Arab News
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Cuba ends maximum age limit of 60 for presidential candidates
HAVANA: Cuba scrapped the maximum age limit of 60 for its presidential candidates as part of a constitutional reform approved Friday by parliament. The communist-ruled island's restriction of two five-year presidential terms and minimum age of 35 for candidates were left unchanged. The measure, approved by the Council of State, imposes no age limits on people 'in the full exercise of their physical and mental faculties, with... loyalty and revolutionary trajectory,' national assembly president Esteban Lazo said. Former president Raul Castro, who at age 94 still holds a seat in the assembly, was the first to vote for the reform that will be on the books for the 2028 presidential elections. Cuba's current president, 65-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel, was elected in 2018 and then re-elected in 2023. No favored successor has been publicly designated. The inclusion of term and age limits in the 2019 constitution marked a radical shift after the six decades in which Fidel Castro and his brother Raul were in power. In 2016, Fidel had to hand over the reins to his brother due to health problems. He died later that year, after nearly half a century leading Cuba. Raul Castro officially became president in 2008, at the age of 76. In 2021, he retired as Communist Party first secretary, handing over power to Diaz-Canel. The nation of nearly 10 million people is suffering its worst economic crisis in three decades, with shortages of all kinds of supplies, power outages, and unprecedented emigration.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Miami's lifetime term limits proposal advances. Carollo mayoral run still possible
A proposal to create stricter term limits for elected officials that became entangled in a separate, controversial measure to postpone the November 2025 election will now go before Miami voters in a special election this fall. On Thursday, the Miami City Commission green-lighted a proposal to limit elected officials to two four-year terms as mayor and two four-year terms as a commissioner during their lifetime. It passed 3-2, with Commissioners Damian Pardo, Miguel Angel Gabela and Ralph Rosado voting in favor. Commissioners Christine King and Joe Carollo voted against. The proposed change will now go to Miami voters as a ballot question in a special election in November. Pardo, the item's sponsor, said at Thursday's meeting that the proposed term limit change 'creates more focus' for elected officials to accomplish their goals in office during a fixed time frame. 'It also opens the door for other people, more innovation, other ideas, to come into those seats,' Pardo said. But King, the commission chairwoman, said restricting term limits takes away choice from voters who may want to reelect someone who's already served eight years in a particular seat. She noted that as it stands now, after serving two terms, an elected official must sit out of office for one term before returning. 'Four years out of office is a lifetime in politics,' King said Thursday. The special election will cost the city several hundred thousand dollars, according to the city clerk, but the exact amount won't be known until a later date. When Pardo first announced the item in the spring, the reform measure promised to block career politicians who've spent years, if not decades, in City Hall, from returning to office. But a recent change to the proposal included a loophole that could pave the way for certain legacy politicians to return. The proposal still limits elected officials to two terms in each role, but it now comes with a carve-out that excludes 'any time served as a result of having been elected to fill a vacancy' — meaning that candidates who win a special election could still serve two additional four-year terms. Under the earlier version, Carollo, a former mayor, could have been blocked from seeking elected office in Miami again, since he has served two terms as mayor and multiple stints as city commissioner, dating back to 1979. However, Carollo won his first term as mayor in a special election to fill the vacancy created by the death of Mayor Stephen Clark in 1996. That means that under the new version of the term limits proposal, Carollo would be eligible to run for mayor again — an idea he has been teasing for months. READ MORE: Dynasty city: How three Miami families may extend their decades of political power The odds of Pardo intentionally creating any sort of benefit for Carollo are slim, seeing as the pair are political adversaries who've consistently sparred over city issues for the better part of a year. Pardo said the change was made in effort to be fair to candidates who are elected in a special election, filling in for the remainder of a term. 'The concept was all about equity, fairness and democracy,' Pardo said Thursday. He added that the city attorney advised him that counting a shortened term that was won through a special election as a full term 'leaves us open to legal challenges.' 'In the drafting process, these legal issues came up about what is a term and what is fair,' Pardo said. The first version of Pardo's proposal also didn't define the length of a term, meaning that, in theory, even serving one day in office could count as a term. But the legislation now restricts elected officials to two four-year terms specifically. That might seem like a minor change, but it could open the door for former Mayor Xavier Suarez to return to City Hall — something he also has been considering and has yet to rule out. Suarez has served three terms as mayor — seemingly disqualifying him under the earlier version of Pardo's term limits proposal — but only one of those terms was a four-year term. In a text message last week, Suarez said he was still 'considering' running for mayor and that he doesn't think the proposed term limits change will affect him. The change also benefits Rosado, a newly elected commissioner who won a special election last month to replace the late Commissioner Manolo Reyes. Rosado's term was supposed to run through November 2027, but a City Commission vote last month extended his term to 2028. If voters pass the new version of the term limits proposal, Rosado will be allowed to run for two more four-year terms after he finishes his current one, allowing him, in theory, to be a Miami city commissioner for 11 years. Under other circumstances, the term limits proposal would have gone on the ballot in the November 2025 general election, where residents were slated to vote on a new mayor and two city commissioners. But in a 3-2 vote last month, the City Commission postponed the upcoming November election to 2026. That measure, also sponsored by Pardo, achieved the goal of moving the city from odd- to even-year elections, when voter turnout is higher. But it came with the side effect of giving the city's elected officials an extra year an office, including Carollo and Mayor Francis Suarez, who are both termed out in November. The change has spurred outrage among residents, as well as criticism from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier, who has threatened legal action against the city but has yet to take formal action. Pardo has argued that the decision to move the election back to 2026 'cures' a flaw in his term limits proposal. If the general election had taken place in November 2025 and the term limits question was included on the same ballot as candidates who could be affected by the term restrictions, that could set up the city for a legal challenge. So in a roundabout way, moving the election date back gave the city a safer legal avenue for putting the term limits proposal to voters. But it's still up in the air whether Miami's next general election will take place this November or next. Following last month's City Commission vote to postpone the election, mayoral candidate and former City Manager Emilio González filed a lawsuit against the city. He's asking the court to determine that the ordinance the city passed is 'unlawful and invalid,' effectively reverting the election date back to 2025. The parties are scheduled to have a hearing on the matter in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Wednesday.
