Arrests of opposition leaders in Tanzania, Uganda and Ivory Coast

The authorities in Uganda, Tanzania, and the Ivory Coast are arresting the opposition leaders amid the elections’ disputes. In Uganda, a popular reggae singer, Bobi Wine, was arrested just after being certified as a candidate for the elections. The current president, Yoweri Museveni, has been in power since 1986 and has just changed the constitution that now allows him to run for the office despite his old age. A wave of detentions of opposition leaders occurred in Tanzania after they called for mass protests over allegedly rigged elections. The U.S. ambassador in the country urged the Tanzanian government to cease the arrests. Prosecutors from Ivory Coast indicted opposition leaders with terrorism charges after they boycotted elections on 31st October, in which the current president, Alassane Ouattara, was elected for the third term. Ouattara claims that approval of a new constitution in 2016 restarted his mandate and therefore he could run despite the two-terms constitutional limit.

Iraqi president, Barham Saleh, has ratified the new election law that aims at providing independent candidates with a better chance of winning seats in the parliament. It comes in response to the ongoing protests in the country. People demand the government to end corruption and hold early elections.