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23 January 2012 Kenya
The International Criminal Court confirmed that four Kenyans, among them the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Uhuru Kenyatta, and the fomer Minister of Education, William Ruto, were to face charges of crimes against humanity relating to their roles in the nation-wide unrest that followed the disputed presidential election of December 2007. According to UN figures, approximately 1,200 people were killed and more than 600,000 displaced during ethnic and tribal violence that occurred in early 2008 after Mwai Kibaki was controversially re-elected to the presidency.
22 January 2012 Croatia
At a national referendum, 66.3% of the votes (cast by some 43.5% of the electorate) were in support of Croatian membership of the European Union (EU). Croatia was duly expected to become a full member of the EU in July 2013, after the ratification of the EU-Croatia accession treaty by the 27 existing members.
22 January 2012 Finland
At the first round of presidential elections the former Minister of Finance Sauli Niinistö of the National Coalition Party won 37.0% of the votes cast, while Pekka Haavisto of the Green League won 18.8%. In a campaign dominated by the economy and the crisis in the euro area, the two pro-European candidates defeated the Eurosceptic contenders, Paavo Väyrynen of the Centre Party and Timo Soini of the True Finns, who had both campaigned against continued membership of the euro. A second round ballot was to be held between Niinistö and Haavisto on 5 February.
22 January 2012 Arab League
The Arab League agreed on a plan of action to end the violence in Syria, requiring President Assad to transfer power to an interim government of national unity within two months, and parliamentary and presidential elections to be conducted within six months. The League determined to refer the plan to the UN Security Council, and to secure the support of the wider international community. The ministerial meeting agreed to extend the mandate of the League's observer mission in Syria, in spite of extensive criticism regarding its effectiveness in preventing government attacks against civilian demonstrators and its capacity to assess independently the level of violence. Saudi Arabia, however, announced that it would withdraw its monitors from the mission. Two days later members of the Gulf Cooperation Council also announced their withdrawal from the operation.
14 January 2012 Taiwan
At a presidential election the incumbent Ma Ying-jeou, of the Kuomintang (KMT), won a second four-year term of office with 51.60% of the votes cast. His nearest rival, Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), won 45.63% of the votes, while a third candidate, James Soong of the People First Party, only secured 2.77% of the vote. Ma’s victory confirmed popular support for his policy of economic engagement with the People’s Republic of China, which had resulted in a lowering of tensions between the two countries. At concurrent parliamentary elections to the Legislative Yuan the KMT remained the largest party in the legislature, winning 64 seats, although this represented a decline compared with its performance at the previous election (72 seats). The DPP increased its representation from 27 to 40 seats.
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14 January 2012 Kazakhstan
Elections were held to the lower legislative chamber, the Majlis (Assembly). According to results issued by the Central Election Commission on 17 January, the ruling Light Of The Fatherland People’s Democratic Party (Nur Otan) won 80.99% of the votes cast, and were to receive 83 of the 98 directly elected seats. The two other parties to obtain representation were the Bright Road Democratic Party of Kazakhstan (Ak Jol)—the only party to be represented in the outgoing legislature—who obtained 7.5% of the votes cast and eight seats, and the Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan, with 7.2% and seven seats. (A further nine deputies are indirectly related as representatives of minority ethnic groups.) International observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe described the elections as having not taken place in accordance with fundamental democratic principles.
14 January 2012 Guatemala
Otto Pérez Molina of the conservative Partido Patriota (PP) was inaugurated as President, the country’s first former military head of state since the civil war. The new President faced a divided legislature, with the PP controlling only 57 of the 158 seats, and Pérez Molina would have to rely on support from parliamentary allies to ensure support for his legislative initiatives. To this end, the new Government, which took office on the same day, included members of smaller parties. Harold Caballeros and Efraín Medina of the Visión con Valores-Encuentro por Guatemala were assigned the foreign affairs and the agriculture, livestock and food portfolios, respectively. The new President also appointed women and indigenous people to some key posts: Roxana Baldetti was sworn in as Vice-President and two other ministerial portfolios went to women. Carlos Batzín was assigned Minister of Culture and Sports, while Marta Eulalia Estrada was appointed head of the peace secretariat. Pérez Molina’s immediate priorities included approval of the 2012 budget, boosting tax revenues, and crime reduction.
9 January 2012 Guinea-Bissau
The death was announced of Malam Bacai Sanhá, President of Guinea-Bissau since 2009, following a prolonged period of illness. Under the terms of the country’s Constitution, the functions of the head of state were to be assumed on an interim basis by the President of the Assembleia Nacional Popular, pending elections which were required to be held within 90 days.
6 January 2012 Jamaica
A day after she was inaugurated as Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, leader of the People’s National Party (PNP), named her new Government. Arnold Nicholson was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade while responsibility for finance, planning and the public service was given to Peter Phillips, who had been in charge of the PNP’s successful electoral campaign. Another senior PNP figure, Peter Bunting, was appointed Minister of National Security. The PNP won a landslide victory in the general election of 29 December 2011, securing 41 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives. The Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) representation was reduced to 22 seats, 10 fewer than in the previous parliament. The defeat of the JLP was widely attributed to its mishandling of the extradition to the USA of alleged drugs-trafficker Christopher (Dudus) Coke in mid-2010.
3 January 2012 Morocco
A new Government, comprising the Islamist Parti de la justice et du développement (PJD), Istiqlal, the Mouvement populaire (MP), the Parti du progrès et du socialisme (PPS) and independents, was sworn in by King Muhammad VI. The Secretary-General of the PJD, Abdelilah Benkirane, was confirmed as Prime Minister, while Saad-Eddine el-Othmani, also of the PJD, became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation. The PJD’s Mustafa Ramid assumed the post of Minister of Justice and Liberty. Among other notable appointees were Mohand Laenser, of the MP, as Minister of the Interior, and Istiqlal’s Nizar Baraka as Minister of the Economy and Finance. Meanwhile, on 2 January el-Othmani’s predecessor in the outgoing Cabinet, Taieb Fassi Fihri, was appointed as an adviser to the King. These developments followed legislative elections held on 25 November 2011, at which the PJD had emerged as the largest party in the Chamber of Representatives, with 107 of the 395 seats.
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