First Past the Post: April 30

* I’m returning to Suffragio‘s assorted links after a Caracas and post-Caracas hiatus.  As it turns out, people really do find these useful, so I’ll continue to do this as time allows.

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South and East Asia

James Traub at Foreign Policy has a very good piece on Rahul Gandhi and Indian democracy.

Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf remains in judicial trouble over Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

Imran Khan’s appeal to young Pakistanis.

Afghan president Hamid Karzai admits receiving cash from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Team PNoy marches forward in advance of May’s Philippine elections.

North America

A Kirsten Gillibrand 2016 presidential bid?

British Columbia’s only provincial election debate.

Québec’s Liberal Party takes a turn upward in polling.

Latin America / Caribbean

Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles is expected to formally contest the April 14 election results in the next week.

The Argentine press links Paraguayan president-elect Horacio Cartes to narcotrafficking. [Spanish]

Bolivian president Evo Morales can run for reelection.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Former Madagascan president Didier Ratsiraka has returned from France after over a decade to contest the July elections.

From last week: a fairly professional cabinet for Kenya under newly elected president Uhuru Kenyatta.

Former Nigeria president Olusegun Obasanjo and current president Goodluck Jonathan quarrel over corruption.

A cheetah attacks Botswana president Ian Khana.

Western Europe

Enrico Letta’s new government wins a confidence vote by 453 to 153 in Italy.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy re-engages French politics … in Montréal.

Matthew O’Brien at The Atlantic fears for Spain.  Edward Hugh on Spain.

French prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault wants his government to avoid English words.

Also from last week: European Commission president José Manuel Barroso’s remarks apparently in favor of a more growth-oriented Europe.

The Netherlands prepares for King Willem-Alexander.

Central and Eastern Europe

Albania’s Nationalists are divided ahead of June elections.

From last week, but still relevant: how Slovenia could be the next European domino to fall.

Polls show the Bulgarian parliamentary elections will be close.

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk sacks justice minister Jarosław Gowin.

Russia and Former Soviet Union

A Ukrainian presidential commission has recommended against the pardon of Yulia Tymoshenko.

Middle East and North Africa

The 76-year-old Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika suffered a mini-stroke and flew to Paris for treatment Sunday.

The final edition of Egypt Independent.

World

Joseph Nye, who practically invented the concept of soft power, explains why China and Russia don’t have any.

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