Brazilian elections
The elections took place in Brazil on October 7th. Residents of the country voted for a new president, as well as new governors and parliamentarians.
According to preliminary data, Jair Bolsonaru received about 46,1% of the vote, and Fernando Jaddad – 29,2%.
The second round of presidential elections will take place on October 28.
The elections took place amidst a scandalous situation – 134 people were detained in Brazil for violating election protocol– 4 candidates are accused of violating a law against political propaganda on the voting day. At the same time, Bolsonaru has gone on the record criticizing the countries famous electronic voting machines.
The Kavanaugh case
Despite democratic opposition, Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice. The Senate voted 50-48 to approve Donald Trump’s nominee. This Monday, the president will hold a ceremony for Kavanaugh at the White House.
While still a candidate for the position, Kavanaugh was accused by three women of “sexual assault.” According to them, they were present at parties where a drunk Kavanagh took advantage of them while they were intoxicated. Kavanagh has rejected the charges.
After the approval of his appointment, feminist organizations and liberals organized large demonstrations.
It is extremely important that as a member of the supreme court, Kavanaugh will be able to influence of the possibility of the president’s impeachment. For Trump, Kavanaugh`s post was a question of political survival. This is the primary reason for the liberals continued opposition.
The Romanian referendum`s failure
This week, Romania held a referendum on banning same-sex marriages. In May of 2016, a group of the civil activists from “The Coalition for Family” made a proposal to the Romanian parliament on the adoption of an amendment to the Constitution which forbids same-sex marriages. More than three million signatures were collected in support of the amendment. The authors of the initiative want the Constitution to explicitly state that ‘marriage is between a man and a woman”.
However, problems are now arising due to low voter turnout (a little bit more than 20%). According to Romanian legislation, a referendum is realized only if 30% of eligible voters participate.