Photo source: Al Jazeera By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe UpFront T he protests in Belarus happened after a rigged presidential election in August 2020, when  President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory for a sixth term. The Berlin-based Centre for East European and International Studies   had conducted one of the first large surveys  and concluded that at least seven hundred thousand out of the five million people may have protested. They were mostly men, often single, living in large cities who had protested. The youth had mobilised themselves in the protests amid the violence. The sheer scale of the protests gave people hope that the government they had lived under since 1994 may actually come to an end . During the initial days, the mood was festive. Women wore bright dresses, some wearing high heels, as if they were on their way to a theatre. Hipsters drank cold drinks. There were also students who draped themselves in red and white Belarusian flags sing...

Photo source: New Mandala By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront What began as a student led protests, in a military classroom, in August 2020 against a military revolt, over the behaviour and attire of students, ballooned into full scale protests against the sweeping range of issues at the heart of Thailand's inequalities. The growing crowds that assembled in various cities cited three demands, which was encapsulated by a slogan ‘Resign, Rewrite, Reform’. They were calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former army chief and the architect of a 2014 coup, the overhauling of the constitution, and bringing the monarchy under the purview of the constitution. A ten point formula for change was even read out at one rally. Hunger games, Harry Potter and Hamtaro (a famous Japanese cartoon) all had been used as motifs in the protests. As the protests have grown, Prayuth had adopted a more conciliatory approach. But, the protesters appear to be unmoved, in a coun...

Photo source: Al Jazeera By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront B efore parliamentarians returned from a summer break in September 2020, protestors had gathered to block the parliament building in Bulgaria. They had accused the government of protecting the tycoons and other influential men. There were also accusations of mafia links to those in power, curbing of freedom of speech, prosecution racketeering and inaction against plunder. These issues have been largely returned with a loud silence. The ambiance of these protests were such, as if the memories of 2013 protests had been fresh in the minds of many Bulgarians, when the French ambassador protested amongst the demonstrators against the grip of the oligarchs on the country. At that time, protests were also due to the interruption of EU funding and students also occupied the Sofia University. Metrics, such as by Transparency International indicate that the perception of corruption in Bulgaria is highest in the European Union. ...

Photo Source: DW By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront I n December 2020, when presidential elections were won by incumbent Faustin Archange Touadera, an alliance of rebel groups, calling themselves the Coalition of Patriots for Change, loyal to former President Francois Bozize, who was not allowed on the 2020 ballot through a constitutional court ruling, launched attacks and captured significant territories throughout the country. The post-election violence made matters worse for its people,  as an estimated 240,000 people were displaced, according to UN relief workers. The main roads between Central African Republic and Cameroon had been closed for almost two months, as per reportages done by Associated Press. The rebels then controlled nearly two thirds of the country, making it difficult to deliver humanitarian aid. They had left Bangassou in January 2020, after an ultimatum from the United Nations peacekeeping forces, but established their presence in nearby towns such as ...

 Photo source: Voice of America By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront M alawi is only the second African country to officially cancel a presidential election, after Kenya in 2017. It is also the first in which the opposition won the re-run election. The initial May 2019 vote had narrowly returned incumbent Peter Mutharika to the presidency. But it resulted in widespread protests. Military was sent in to curb the protests from spreading. Afrobarometer in their research found out that sixty percent of Malawians believed that the said protests were justified. More than fifty three percent of Malawians said they agreed with the key demand of protest leaders that the chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission resign for mismanaging the election. It was less than a year after, in February 2020, a landmark ruling by Malawi’s constitutional court annulled the result citing ‘widespread, systematic and grave’ irregularities, including missing signatures, duplicate forms, the infamou...

  Photo source: Al Jazeera By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront In June 2019, a social movement began in Liberia born out of hapless conditions. It is alarming to a country which already suffered in a fourteen-year civil war that killed over two hundred fifty thousand people. The flurry of protests escalated in early January 2020 where thousands of protestors in Monrovia demanded the fall of George Weah’s government, a former soccer star. The protest leaders, members of a group called the Council of Patriots, had a long list of demands. One of them said they were demonstrating over issues of corruption, governance, the removal of a supreme court justice, and an increase in domestic violence and rape, as well as economic problems. Weah had initially tried to block their demonstrations, but then allowed them to be carried forward. When people outside the capitol building had started cooking evening meals, against police orders, the law enforcement began to forcefully clear the are...

Photo source: Guardian By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront When Daphne Caruana Galizia, a prominent journalist, described as ‘one woman Wikileaks’, was murdered in a car bomb blast, in Malta, in October 2017, a huge number of demonstrators attended a vigil in Sliema, her hometown. But, in the following time, no one knew that the intensity of protests would change the Maltese society. It is because protests became sustainable. A movement was born which converged other anti-establishment crusades. It was Malta’s worst socio-political crises since its independence in 1964 from Britain Commonwealth. The news about her death invoked international reactions. Her persona soon became an inspiration. In April 2018, a consortium of 45 international journalists published The Daphne Project, a collaboration between 18 news organisations including the locally syndicated newspaper Times of Malta as well as The New York Times and The Guardian to complete her investigative work. In 2018 the Europea...

  Photo source: United States Institute of Peace By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe UpFront There have been anti-government protests going on regular basis in Iraq, but in October 2019, massive protests took place, which were the largest seen since the U.S invasion in 2003. People took to the streets of Baghdad and in the south, to express their anger against endemic corruption, high unemployment, dire public services, and foreign interference. People had begun to chant, ‘We want a nation.’ The protestors also believed that Iran was meddling in their internal affairs, as Iran's influence in its political sphere has grown steadily since 2003: Iraq has had close links to its Shia politicians who are part of the ruling elite. Adel Mahdi, then prime minister, had eventually resigned, but protestors wanted to break down the entire political establishment. A government committee found one hundred forty-nine civilians died during the first wave of protests, mostly as a result of bullet wounds...