NEW YORK: For more than two weeks now, the Democratic Party has been mired in crisis. And yet there is no sign that the threat to Joe Biden’s reelection is nearing a conclusion, as the president digs in and a growing chorus of Democratic officials, donors and strategists calls for him to step aside.
Donors and high-profile endorsers are repudiating Biden, morale inside and outside the campaign is weak, and some top Democrats are pondering whether to make a move against the embattled president. One of Biden’s allies privately described a cycle of alternating hope and despair in the style of the movie “Groundhog Day.”
The extraordinary intra-party debate still rages 15 days after Biden’s disastrous debate performance, with the president’s Thursday news conference doing little to quell fears about his prospects against Republican Donald Trump. Another five Democratic members of Congress called on Biden to step aside in the hours since the president’s high-profile press conference, bringing to nearly 20 the total number of Democratic US representatives and senators publicly pushing Biden to leave the race.
Biden’s acknowledgment Thursday that delegates were free to vote their conscience at the party’s August convention — or in a virtual roll call vote that could come much sooner — sparked a new wave of urgent conversations among Democratic officials on Friday.
“I’m in that box of delegates who are really reconsidering if they’re going to cast their vote for President Biden,” said Joe Salazar, a Democratic National Committee member from Colorado.
Biden insists he will not step down. And indeed, other delegates say they’re firmly behind the president.
The president’s team is aggressively pushing back against a collection of new data shared among Democratic officials in recent days arguing that he’s now at a considerable disadvantage in his bid to defeat Trump in November. In fact, fear is pervasive among donors and strategists working on House and Senate races that Biden’s weak standing could undermine the party’s outlook even in blue states.
Hours after his campaign issued a new strategy memo announcing a renewed focus on three pivotal Midwestern states — the so-called “Blue Wall” that has long been must-win for Democrats — one of the campaign’s field organizers in Wisconsin quit.
The lower-level staffer’s departure, announced during an internal staff conference call Thursday, was attributed directly to post-debate frustration, according to two people familiar with the matter granted anonymity to share details of the private discussion. A Biden campaign spokesperson confirmed the staff departure.
While one person leaving a campaign of more than 1,000 people isn’t proof of a larger exodus, other signs of trouble continued to pop up.
One lawmaker, Rep. Mike Levin of California, told Biden directly on Friday that he should step down in a virtual call hosted for members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.
The call began with Biden soliciting feedback on how to appeal to the Hispanic vote and what campaign events he should join over the next few months. When the call was opened to questions, Levin raised his hand to give Biden a talk about his Southern California district, with voters telling him that the president should not be on top of the party’s ticket for 2024.
Levin, according to two of the people, then encouraged the president to listen to those constituents and step down.
“I have deep respect for President Biden’s five-plus decades of public service and incredible appreciation for the work we’ve done together these last three and a half years,” the lawmaker said in a statement. “But I believe the time has come for President Biden to pass the torch.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a letter to his caucus on Friday describing a private meeting he had the night before with Biden. Notably, he did not include any endorsement of the president in the brief letter.
“In my conversation with President Biden, I directly expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward that the caucus has shared in our recent time together,” Jeffries wrote.
A private debate is playing out among the party’s donor class in particular, which is far from united on whether Vice President Kamala Harris should inherit the nomination should Biden ultimately step aside, according to conversations with more than a half-dozen donors granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Some donors believe Biden still offers the best chance of defeating Trump, despite Democratic voters expressing widespread doubts in polling about his age and readiness.
That’s even as fundraisers are being canceled and some larger donors refuse to fund any Democratic campaigns until Biden is no longer the nominee. Others are putting money behind political action committees aimed at supporting down-ballot candidates who have openly called for Biden to step aside.
Others would prefer an open convention that would allow hundreds of delegates gathered in Chicago next month to select the nominee from a collection of top-tier prospects that also includes California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, among others.
But Harris, who is the first woman, Black woman and person of Asian descent to serve as vice president, commands deep loyalty from key Democratic constituencies. Even if donors persuaded someone to run in a potential open primary, that candidate would be in a position of challenging and trying to sideline someone who has set those historic firsts.
The Biden-Harris campaign is in a position of implicitly undercutting Harris’ prospects to protect Biden’s.
Biden’s campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon released a memo Thursday conceding “increased anxiety” within the party, although she suggested that movement against the president, “while real, is not a sea-change in the state of the race.”
And O’Malley Dillon wrote that there is “no indication that other Democratic candidates would outperform the president against Trump.”
Salazar, the DNC member from Colorado, declined to say whether there was an organized effort among delegates to rally behind another presidential nominee when asked. But he criticized DNC leadership in Washington for declining to answer key logistical questions about how or when delegates could nominate a Biden replacement should they wish to.
Biden’s nomination could be sealed in a matter of days due to a virtual roll call that would make him the nominee well before the convention opens Aug. 19. The DNC originally set up the virtual roll call to preempt an Ohio ballot requirement that could have kept Biden off the ballot there.
Ohio has since changed its law. But despite numerous inquiries from The Associated Press and other media, the DNC won’t say whether it will keep the virtual roll call or when it will hold it.
The virtual vote to make Biden the nominee could be as soon as July 19, Salazar said, although a DNC spokesperson said the vote could not take place before July 21.
Meanwhile, Trump’s fundraising is surging. And the presumptive Republican nominee has only just begun to spend on television advertising, while Biden has poured tens of millions of dollars into battleground-state advertising in recent months.
Biden’s allies are hoping for a respite in the coming days with the Republican National Convention opening Monday in Milwaukee.
Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley said the GOP was prepared to win this fall regardless of whether Biden steps out of the race or not.
“I think if Kamala Harris steps in, she is going to run on the exact same platform that Joe Biden has been running on, and it is a failed platform based on failed policies that have really hurt American families,” he said. “The Democratic Party is in complete disarray.”
The Democratic Party crisis after Biden’s debate spirals with no clear ending
https://arab.news/mafvz
The Democratic Party crisis after Biden’s debate spirals with no clear ending
- Donors and high-profile endorsers are repudiating Biden, and some top Democrats are pondering whether to make a move against him
- Biden insists he will not step down. And indeed, other delegates say they’re firmly behind the president
From the Balkans to Southeast Asia: High-stakes elections test fragile stabilities across three continents
- Myanmar junta stages election after five years of civil war
- Central African Republic votes, Russia ally Touadera seeks third term
- Guinea votes in presidential election expected to cement Doumbouya’s rule
- Kosovo votes in bid to end year-long political impasse
YANGON/BANGUI/CONAKRY/PRISTINA: Four nations across three continents — Myanmar, Central African Republic, Guinea, and Kosovo — have officially opened polls Sunday in a pivotal day for global democracy and shifting political tides.
While the contexts range from the desperate search for an end to civil war in Southeast Asia to breaking parliamentary deadlocks in the Balkans, each vote carries profound implications for regional stability and the future of civilian rule.
Heavily restricted polls
Myanmar’s ruling junta is touting the exercise as a return to democracy five years after it ousted the last elected government, triggering civil war.
But early voters at a downtown station near the gleaming Sule Pagoda — the site of huge pro-democracy protests after the coup — were outnumbered by journalists and polling staff, a far cry from the snaking queues of voters formed outside polling stations in the last election in 2020.
The military declared that election void, ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and seized power in 2021. Suu Kyi remains jailed, while her hugely popular party has been dissolved and was not taking part.
Campaigners, Western diplomats and the UN’s rights chief have all condemned the phased month-long vote, citing a ballot stacked with military allies and a stark crackdown on dissent.
The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party is widely expected to emerge as the largest one, in what critics say would be a rebranding of martial rule.
The Southeast Asian nation of around 50 million is riven by civil war and there will be no voting in rebel-held areas.
In junta-controlled territory, the first of three rounds started at 6:00 a.m. (2330 GMT Saturday), including in constituencies in the cities of Yangon, Mandalay and the capital Naypyidaw.
The run-up saw none of the feverish public rallies that Suu Kyi once commanded, and the junta has waged a withering pre-vote offensive to claw back territory.
“It is impossible for this election to be free and fair,” said Moe Moe Myint, who has spent the past two months “on the run” from junta air strikes.
The military ruled Myanmar for most of its post-independence history before a 10-year interlude saw a civilian government take the reins in a burst of optimism and reform.
But after Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party trounced pro-military opponents in the 2020 elections, Min Aung Hlaing snatched power in a coup, alleging widespread voter fraud.
The Asian Network for Free Elections says 90 percent of the seats in the last elections went to organizations that will not appear on Sunday’s ballots.
New electronic voting machines will not allow write-in candidates or spoiled ballots.
The junta is pursuing prosecutions against more than 200 people for violating draconian legislation forbidding “disruption” of the poll, including protest or criticism.
“These elections are clearly taking place in an environment of violence and repression,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said this week.
The second round of polling will take place in two weeks before the third and final round on January 25, but the junta has conceded elections cannot happen in almost one in five lower house constituencies.
Touadera victory would likely advance Russian interests
In the Central African Republic, President Faustin-Archange Touadera is seeking a third term as the chronically unstable country holds national elections, touting security gains made with the help of Russian mercenaries and Rwandan soldiers.
The 68-year-old mathematician oversaw a constitutional referendum in 2023 that scrapped the presidential term limit, drawing an outcry from his critics who accused him of seeking to rule for life.
A Touadera victory — the expected outcome — would likely further the interests of Russia, which has traded security assistance for access to resources including gold and diamonds. Touadera is also offering access to the country’s lithium and uranium reserves to anyone interested.
The opposition field of six candidates is led by two former prime ministers, Anicet-Georges Dologuele and Henri-Marie Dondra, both of whom survived attempts by Touadera’s supporters to have them disqualified for allegedly holding foreign citizenship.
Though both men remain on the ballot, Touadera is still seen as the favorite given his control over state institutions and superior financial resources, analysts say.
The challenges to the candidacies of Dologuele and Dondra “aligned with an apparent pattern of administrative manoeuvring that has disproportionately impeded opposition politicians while favoring the ruling United Hearts Party,” Human Rights Watch said last month.
“Their late admission to the race raises questions about whether voters have been given a genuine choice.”
In 2018, CAR became the first country in West and Central Africa to bring in Russia’s Wagner mercenaries, a step since also taken by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Two years later Rwanda deployed troops to shore up Touadera’s government as rebel groups threatened the capital and tried to disrupt the 2020 elections, ultimately preventing voting at 800 polling stations across the country, or 14 percent of the total.
The country is more secure now after Touadera signed several peace deals with rebel groups this year.
But those gains remain fragile: Rebels have not fully disarmed, reintegration is incomplete, and incursions by combatants from neighboring Sudan fuel insecurity in the east. Beyond the presidential contest, the elections on Sunday cover legislative, regional and municipal positions.
Provisional results are expected by January 5.
If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, a presidential runoff will take place on February 15, while legislative runoffs will take place on April 5.
Pangea-Risk, a consultancy, wrote in a note to clients that the risk of unrest after the election was high as opponents were likely to challenge Touadera’s expected victory.
A smooth voting process could reinforce Touadera’s claim that stability is returning, which was buttressed last year with the UN Security Council’s lifting of an arms embargo and the lifting of a separate embargo on diamond exports.
In November, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of its peacekeeping mission. The US opposed the decision, calling for a shorter extension and a handover of security to Bangui.
Guinea's transition to civilian rule
In Guinea, the election is widely expected to hand Mamady Doumbouya, who seized power in a 2021 coup, a seven-year mandate, completing the West African nation’s transition back to civilian rule.
The former special forces commander, believed to be in his early 40s, faces eight other candidates in a fragmented field with no strong challenger. Ousted president Alpha Conde and longtime opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo remain in exile.
Guinea holds the world’s largest bauxite reserves and the richest untapped iron ore deposit at Simandou, officially launched last month after years of delay.
Doumbouya has claimed credit for pushing the project forward and ensuring Guinea benefits from its output.
His government this year also revoked EGA subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation’s license after a refinery dispute, transferring its assets to a state-owned firm.
The turn toward resource nationalism — echoed in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger — has boosted his popularity, as has his youth in a country where the median age is about 19.
“For us young people, Doumbouya represents the opportunity to send the old political class into retirement,” said Mohamed Kaba, a mechanic in Conakry. “There is a lot of corruption right now, but I hope these things will be sorted out.”
If elected, Doumbouya “will likely utilize his position to further entrench his power and that of the military over Guinea,” said Benedict Manzin, lead Middle East and Africa analyst at risk consultancy Sibylline.
“In particular he is likely to position his allies and associates to benefit from the expected economic boom associated with the launch of production” at Simandou, Manzin added.
A transition charter adopted after the coup barred junta members from contesting elections. But in September, Guineans overwhelmingly backed a new constitution removing that clause, extending presidential terms to seven years and creating a Senate.
Political debate has been muted under Doumbouya. Civil society groups accuse his government of banning protests, curbing press freedom and restricting opposition activity.
The campaign period “has been severely restricted, marked by intimidation of opposition actors, apparently politically motivated enforced disappearances, and constraints on media freedom,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said Friday. These conditions “risk undermining the credibility of the electoral process,” he added.
The government did not respond to a request for comment.
Doumbouya kept a low profile during the campaign, leaving surrogates to make his case.
At a closing rally on Thursday in Conakry, he skipped a speech although he danced with his wife while Congolese star Koffi Olomide performed.
He wore a white baseball cap and track jacket emblazoned with the name of his movement: “Generation for Modernity and Development.”
About 6.7 million people are registered to vote, with provisional results expected within 48 to 72 hours of polls closing.
Kosovo's political crisis
In Kosovo, Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s party seeks a majority to end a year-long political deadlock that has paralyzed parliament and delayed international funding.
The vote is the second this year in Europe’s youngest nation after Kurti’s Vetevendosje party fell short of a majority in February. Months of failed coalition talks prompted President Vjosa Osmani to dissolve parliament in November and call an early election.
Failure to form a government and reopen parliament would prolong the crisis at a critical time: lawmakers must elect a new president in April and ratify 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in loan agreements from the European Union and World Bank that expire in the coming months.
The Balkan country’s opposition parties have refused to govern with Kurti, criticizing his handling of ties with Western allies and his approach to Kosovo’s ethnically divided north, where a Serb minority lives. Kurti blames the opposition for the impasse.
To woo voters, Kurti has pledged an additional month of salary per year for public sector workers, one billion euros per year in capital investment and a new prosecution unit to fight organized crime. Opposition parties have also focused on improving living standards.
Opinion polls are not published in Kosovo, leaving the outcome uncertain. Many voters say they are disillusioned.
“There wouldn’t be great joy if Kurti wins, nor would there be if the opposition wins. This country needs drastic changes, and I don’t see that change coming,” said Edi Krasiqi, a doctor.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 with US backing, including a 1999 NATO bombing campaign against Serbian forces trying to crush an uprising by the 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority.
Despite international support, the country of 1.6 million has struggled with poverty, instability and organized crime. Kurti’s tenure, which began in 2021, was the first time a Pristina government completed a full term.
Tensions with Serbia flared in 2023, prompting the EU to impose sanctions on Kosovo. The bloc said this month it would lift them after ethnic Serb mayors were elected in northern municipalities, but the measures likely cost Kosovo hundreds of millions of euros.
(With AFP & Reuters)
