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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban sought Sunday to mobilise voters for what he called a "historic" vote on April 12, while opposition supporters hoping to end the nationalist leader's 16-year rule turned out in droves at a rival rally.Huge crowds joined rival marches in Budapest Sunday, as both Orban and Magyar push allegations of foreign interference just four weeks before tightly fought elections.Tens of thousands of people attended both rallies, according to AFP journalists on site.Orban faces what could be his toughest bid for re-election after three years of stagnation, a surge in the cost of living and a pro-EU rival seen by many as a viable alternative.Both Orban's right-wing Fidesz and centre-right challenger Peter Magyar's Tisza used Hungary's March 15 national day for a show of force as the campaign enters a pivotal stage.Most surveys put Tisza ahead by a wide margin.Orban has cast the vote as a choice between war and peace, accusing his rivals of plotting to drag Hungary into the war raging in neighbouring Ukraine since Russia's February 2022 invasion, accusations which the opposition denies.Dismissing his rival's poll lead, Orban said Fidesz should aim to exceed its 2022 election landslide."We must win not like we did four years ago but better. We need not as many votes as four years ago but more," he said. "We must score a historic victory, because the next government will have a historic responsibility."Orban said his supporters' rally was the largest of its kind, filling a main square outside parliament.Opposition supporters thronged a majestic avenue stretching from near the Danube River to Heroes' Square in one of the largest rallies against Orban, exposing deep rifts in Hungary.A Fidesz supporter called Orban "Europe's best politician" while some attending Magyar's rally wondered if they had a future in Hungary if Orban gets re-elected."There is unrest all over the world, and here in our little country we want to preserve peace, calm and security. And Viktor Orban ensures that for us," said Sandorne Pista, 60, who came from the southern university town of Pecs.Orban has long been at loggerheads with the EU over a range of issues, including Ukraine.Defying Brussels, he has maintained cordial ties with Moscow, refuses to send weapons to Ukraine, and says Kyiv can never join the EU.While most polls have shown a Tisza lead, Fidesz points to surveys showing it on course to victory, though its opponents say these have mainly been conducted by institutes with financial or personal ties to the ruling party.Magyar has dismissed Orban's campaign as laughable "propaganda", but Tisza has trodden cautiously on Ukraine, saying that it opposes any fast-track EU accession for Kyiv and that it would put the issue to a binding referendum if it wins power.Magyar, speaking in a venue where Orban shot to fame in 1989 by calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the country, said Hungary's place was squarely in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato)."Holding onto power at all costs. It is all that matters to him now," Magyar said of Orban. "Provoking with war, threatening with war, stoking war. This is his ultimate weapon against the Hungarian people."Some opposition supporters also thought the election would be a watershed moment."I think this country cannot bear four more years of Fidesz rule," Noemi Szemerszki said. 

Australia ditching the British monarchy is "more important than ever" and voters would likely back a head of state elected by its parliament, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull told AFP Thursday.Turnbull — who served as prime minister from 2015 to 2018 — led the country's Republic Movement's unsuccessful 1999 referendum bid to replace the British monarchy with an Australian head of state.Almost three decades on from that poll and as the British monarchy reels from the arrest of ex-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — the first of a royal in the modern era — Turnbull told AFP an elected head of state could heal Australia's "tribal" politics."I think a republic is more important than ever," he said. "The monarchy remains this anachronism."Australia was a British colony for more than 100 years and gained de facto independence in 1901, but has never become a fully fledged republic.Current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has issued a full-throated call for Andrew to be removed from the royal line of succession.Albanese is an avowed republican but has ruled out another referendum on the issue during his tenure.But Turnbull told AFP he believed Australians would "absolutely" back a system in which the head of state was instead elected by the parliament in Canberra."The virtue of having a republic in Australia is that it emphasises the thing we have in common as Australians."In addition to being one of Australia's most prominent republicans, Turnbull is also an outspoken opponent of the AUKUS, a multi-decade defence pact with Britain and the US.The pact aims to arm Australia with a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and would provide for co-operation in developing an array of warfare technologies.But Turnbull told AFP that Australia will "almost certainly" get no nuclear submarines (SSNs) out of the deal."It's this vast expenditure and this vast investment which will very likely result in us having no submarines at all," he said."The US has made it very clear — it's set out in their legislation — that no submarines can be sold to us unless the president certifies essentially that their navy doesn't require them," he said."At the moment, they are producing about half as many SSNs as the American Navy needs, let alone to cater for the American and Australian needs."He described it as a "terrible deal" and echoed French ex-defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian's claim that Australia "has sacrificed sovereignty for the sake of security, but will end up losing both".Turnbull argued that Australia must ditch AUKUS and place its own interests front and centre as Canberra increasingly navigates a world order defined by American "bullying".He described American threats to annex Denmark's autonomous territory of Greenland "mind-boggling". "That's the stuff of a dystopian novel, frankly," he said. "This is wild stuff. And I think we're in a disrupted age." But he places little faith in the political party he once led as being able to guide Australia through troubled times."The Liberal Party is failing Australia," he said.That party has endured an existential crisis since their second consecutive defeat by Albanese's Labor last year, torn between centrists and right-wingers sceptical of climate change and urging a tougher line on immigration.Opinion polling has shown the Liberals falling behind the far-right and populist One Nation party led by Pauline Hanson, a longtime senator notorious for racist outbursts.This month, the Liberals dumped leader Sussan Ley in favour of the more right-wing Angus Taylor.Turnbull — who has described Taylor as the "best-qualified idiot" around — warned the party faced disaster if it continued down that path.He told AFP its decision last year to ditch a commitment to net zero emissions was "culture war lunacy"."The more you go off to the populist right, the more you elevate all of these culture war issues, and, you know, divisive, often racist issues, the more you elevate Hanson — you can't out-Hanson Hanson.""Australian politics is decided — and contested — in the centre." 

Voters in northern England cast ballots Thursday in a local poll seen as a key test of the ruling Labour party's ability to fend off growing support for the hard right and leftists, as the country's traditional two-party system splinters.Defeat for the government in the parliamentary by-election would add to the woes facing unpopular UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who endures frequent mutterings about how much longer he can stay in office.Labour has dominated the Manchester constituency of Gorton and Denton for decades and won almost 51% of the vote there at the July 2024 general election that swept Starmer to power.But less than two years later, it is locked in a three-way fight for the seat with the anti-immigration Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, and the Greens, led by left-winger Zack Polanski.The lead-up to polling day has been fraught, with party leaders hurling insults at each other and activists accusing each other of misinformation and breaking campaign laws, highlighting the high stakes."I voted Reform because of immigration — I'm sick of it," retired nurse Elaine Simpson told AFP outside a polling station in Denton, a majority white working-class part of the constituency.The 78-year-old noted she no longer trusted Britain's more establishment parties, adding: "You wouldn't be able to print what I think of Keir Starmer."In nearby Levenshulme, home to more student and Muslim voters, the Greens appeared ascendant."The Green Party is offering hope to the wider society, marginalised people, and I think they're the choice for working people," writer Matt Alton, 31, told AFP after casting his ballot."Of people that I know around my age, I don't know anyone who's said that they're not voting Green."But local Labour councillor Basat Sheikh was confident his party could retain the seat."Our message has been clear from day one that it is about unity and not division," the 45-year-old said, as pouring rain did little to encourage voter turnout, which is typically lacklustre at such contests.Labour won the seat by more than 13,000 votes in 2024.The battle suggests British people appear increasingly willing to look towards insurgent parties to tackle long-standing, hot-button issues like the high cost of living and irregular immigration at the next general election, expected in 2029."It illustrates how the two main parties are losing so much support at the minute," University of Manchester politics lecturer Louise Thompson told AFP, referring to Labour and the main opposition Conservatives. "It could be a real sign that they are in a lot of danger."The vote was triggered by the resignation of former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne on health grounds.Matt Goodwin, a 44-year-old political scientist, is bidding to become Reform's ninth MP in the UK's 650-seat parliament.Standing for the Greens is Hannah Spencer, a 34-year-old plumber and trainee plasterer, who is hoping her party's pro-Palestinian stance will appeal to the constituency's 28% Muslim population.Local councillor Angeliki Stogia was chosen as Labour's candidate after the party's ruling body blocked the candidacy of popular Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.Burnham's bid to try to become an MP was widely seen as a precursor for a potential leadership challenge from the left against Starmer, who hails from the party's centre right.Starmer faced down calls to resign earlier this month amid a row over his appointment of Peter Mandelson, an associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain's ambassador to Washington.The prime minister has also taken flak for countless policy reversals and polls suggest he is the most unpopular British prime minister since surveys began.A win would help quieten the noise around his future before he faces a bigger moment of peril in May with elections in Scotland, Wales and London that pollsters predict will be painful for Labour. 

Polling stations opened across most Syrian governorates on Sunday as voters cast their ballots in the country's first parliamentary elections since the overthrow of the former regime, marking a significant milestone in Syria's ongoing political transition. According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), members of accredited regional electoral bodies are voting to elect two-thirds of the 210-seat People's Assembly — equivalent to 140 members — through subcommittees and electoral colleges, while President Ahmad Al Sharaa will appoint the remaining third. Nominations for Assembly membership closed on September 28 across 50 electoral districts nationwide, with a total of 1,578 candidates, including approximately 14% women. The People's Assembly will serve a 30-month term, renewable within a four-year transitional period, with the possibility of a one-year extension if required to ensure the continuity of legislative work during this critical stage. Under the current framework, the Assembly is responsible for proposing, approving, and amending laws, ratifying international treaties, endorsing the state budget, and granting general amnesty when necessary. It will also play a foundational role in drafting a permanent constitution, to be submitted to a national referendum once adequate security and stability are achieved. Following its adoption, parliamentary, local, and presidential elections will be held under the new constitutional framework to establish permanent governance structures. These elections come three months after President Al Sharaa issued a decree establishing the Higher Committee for Parliamentary Elections, tasked with overseeing the process and ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory standards. Sunday's vote is a key step toward rebuilding Syria's legislative institutions and laying the groundwork for long-term political stability following years of conflict.

At a rally of pounding drums and ululating women, star Malawian rapper Fredokiss urged young people to vote in Septembers's elections despite their disenchantment with the government and the choice of main presidential candidates, all aged over 70.More than half of the population of the impoverished central African country is under 35 and the turnout on September 16 of young voters who made up 54% of registered voters in the 2019 election is seen as a potential game-changer."Young people have the numbers, we have the voice," the 37-year-old rapper-turned-politician told AFP on the sidelines of the recent event in the southern city of Blantyre, a part-rally and part-street party held in a swirl of the red colours of his United Transformation Movement (UTM)."We are the ones who will choose the next president whether we like them or not and the next MPs and councillors," said Fredokiss, whose real name is Fredo Penjani Kalua.But with campaigning in full swing, many young voters said that they were uninspired by the familiar faces running to unseat President Lazarus Chakwera, 70, and his Malawi Congress Party, which has been accused of mismanagement since regaining power in 2020.Chakwera took office following 2020 elections after the previous year's poll was nullified over charges of widespread irregularities.His main challengers are two former presidents: Peter Mutharika, 85, of the Democratic Progressive Party, and People's Party candidate Joyce Banda, 74.At 51, former central bank governor Dalitso Kabambe candidate for another of the major parties, the UTM is a spring chicken in comparison."This is our country, our home. We have to make it better," said Fredokiss, who is running for the second time for a seat in parliament after losing out in 2019.Nearly three-quarters of Malawi's more than 21mn people live in extreme poverty, according to the World Bank.Months of inflation nearing 30% and crippling fuel shortages have made the economy a key issue in the largely rural and underdeveloped country, which is rich in natural resources but heavily indebted and dependent on foreign aid.Fredokiss uses his music to denounce nepotism, tribalism and cronyism in Malawian politics, and to criticise the exploitation of local labour by foreign businesses and the crushing weight of youth unemployment."Governments and politicians are not providing solutions for young people: jobs, business opportunities, real hope," Fredokiss said. "That's why many are disgruntled. But this election should be the start, not the end, of our action." "It's the same old faces with the same tired promises," said a 30-year-old shopkeeper in the capital, Lilongwe, who would only give her name as Sandra."I registered hoping for fresh candidates with real ideas, but none have shown up so why waste my vote?" "None of the candidates make sense to me, so why pretend my vote would?" said Robert Chimtolo, 30, who runs the Maphunziro youth empowerment non-profit organisation.60% of the under-35 electorate turned out at the 2019 vote compared to 80% of older voters, according to election commission figures.Low youth participation is a structural issue, according to Charles Kajoloweka, head of the Youth and Society NGO."Youth wings in political parties are often dysfunctional, unfunded and lack training opportunities," he said. "Politics has become a marketplace for the rich, not a contest of ideas." To help politicians connect with the young electorate, civil society groups drafted a Malawi Youth Manifesto of priorities from climate action to digital skills.The main priorities for Malawi's younger people are job creation (26%), education (25%) and access to business loans (23%), according to an Afrobarometer survey of 1,200 people in August last year.University of Malawi politics lecturer Boniface Dulani said that while younger voters were disillusioned, they were not disengaged, as shown by a strong turnout at demonstrations in February against rising living costs the biggest protest in the capital Lilongwe in years."The problem is rather that the traditional way of doing politics is not connecting well with the young generation," he said.Youth-led post-election protests rocked Kenya, Mozambique and Senegal last year while Malawi has seen a series of small demonstrations this year over the economic crisis.