ROUND TWO IN MALDIVES POLL
After being ousted in a soft coup 18-months ago, ex-President Mohamed Nasheed commands 45% of the popular vote in the Maldives presidential race. Resulting from the requirement that a candidate win an absolute majority of the vote to be declared victor, the Maldives will hold a run-off election tentatively scheduled for September 28. Nasheed claims he was deposed in a bloodless coup when the army and police forces removed him at gunpoint. An internal investigative commission by the new government, allied to former Maldivan dictator and Nasheed rival Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, concluded that Nasheed’s claims were without backing. The candidate most likely to pose a challenge to Nasheed in the runoff is Yaamin Abdul Gayoom, brother of the former Maldivian dictator. Although Qayyoom only received 25% of the vote in the first round, the Nasheed camp remains concerned that the other candidates will throw their weight behind Qayyoom to create a competitive coalition in the run-off. (BBC, September 7, 2013; AP, September 8, 2013)
PUNJAB MILITANTS FLOCK TO BORDER
Since the joint announcement by U.S. and NATO forces that their military presence in Afghanistan would expire in 2014, Pakistan has seen a mass migration of militants from its Punjab province to the more remote and unstable areas along the Af-Pak border; primarily North Waziristan. The common wisdom among Pakistani academics and analysts is that these Pashtun militants are gearing up to support a post-occupation Taliban resistance to the Afghan national government. Although the Punjabi militants have yet to coordinate efforts with the Taliban, they offer the Afghan insurgency an unanticipated reserve from which to pull from. Observers estimate that in the past two years the number of Pashtun militants on the Af-Pak border has tripled. Previous assessments by NATO have predicted a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan in the immediate month following the Coalition’s military withdrawal. (AP, September 7, 2013)
HINDU-MUSLIM VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN INDIA
Violence in northern India erupted on September 7 in response to the killing of three Hindu men who had attempted to protect a woman from verbal harassment. A large retinue of “thousands” of Hindu farmers attended a rally Saturday before some began attacking Muslim populations in villages near Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. An estimated 31 people have been killed, and inter-religious rioting and violence continues despite the declaration of a curfew in the region. Three BJP politicians were arrested Saturday after allegedly delivering inflammatory speeches at the Hindu farmer rally. (Reuters, September 9, 2013; The Guardian, September 9, 2013)
DRONE STRIKE HITS HAQQANI LEADER
A drone strike in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) reportedly killed Sangeen Zadran, a high-level official from the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network, considered by many to be the most lethal and effective militant group in the Af-Pak region. Zandran was acting commander of the Haqqani Network and was an integral member of the Taliban shadow government, serving as unofficial Taliban governor of Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province. Paktika is a strategically significant area, as it boasts borders with Pakistan’s Waziristan regions as well as Balochistan, areas where militants routinely cross the border. Among the many accusations leveled at Zadran are charges of overseeing border crossings of foreign Taliban operatives and executing borderland kidnappings. His death leaves the Haqqani network temporarily without a leader and removes a critical arbiter of cross-border militant transfer, at least in the short-term. (Reuters, September 6, 2013)
NEW PAK PRESIDENT SWORN IN
Among the highest accolades that can be afforded to outgoing Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is that he wasn’t forced to resign by the judiciary and he wasn’t overthrown by a military coup, unprecedented accomplishments for a Pakistani president. In the last five years many of the powers that were traditionally under the presidential purview were transferred to the prime minister and other federal branches. Other notable changes in the Pakistani leadership this year include the retirement of Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Chief Justice Muhammad Chaudhry of Pakistan’s Supreme Court. Mr. Zardari is to be replaced by incoming President Mamnoon Hussain, who was sworn in Monday. (New York Times, September 8, 2013)