Orban, in power for 16 years and widely seen as Moscow’s closest ally within the European Union, has framed Ukraine as a source of instability while positioning his government as a guarantor of peace and security.

Analysts say the approach seeks to shift focus away from domestic economic concerns that have boosted support for opposition leader Peter Magyar.“The campaign’s rhetoric is deliberately binary peace versus war portraying Ukraine as a risk and the incumbent Hungarian government as seeking stability,” Csilla Fedinec, a historian at ELTE University’s Center for Social Sciences, said.

Tensions between Hungary and Ukraine have escalated in recent months, including disputes over a Russian oil pipeline supplying landlocked Hungary. Budapest has accused Kyiv of delaying its reopening, while Ukraine says the infrastructure was damaged by Russian air strikes in January.

Hungary has also delayed approval of a 90-billion-euro European Union loan package for Ukraine and opposed additional sanctions on Russia, underscoring divisions within the bloc over support for Kyiv.Analysts and cybersecurity experts say disinformation has featured prominently in the campaign.

Pro-government media outlets circulated AI-generated images exaggerating the scale of valuables seized from Ukrainian bank employees detained briefly by Hungarian authorities.

Social media posts featuring such content recorded high engagement, with signs of coordinated activity including accounts lacking identifiable information.Separately, fabricated images depicting vandalism of a Hungarian memorial in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region circulated online, prompting hostile reactions despite later being identified as artificial.

Experts say such incidents reflect broader patterns of election-related disinformation.Ferenc Fresz, former head of Hungary’s Cyber Defense Service, said there is ongoing evidence of attempts to influence voters through coordinated messaging, including deepfakes presented as news content.

He said narratives attributed to Russian-linked actors often align with pro-government messaging, reinforcing their impact.Hungarian officials, including Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, have rejected claims of Russian interference as unfounded.Orban has also sought to portray his main rival as aligned with foreign interests, including Ukraine and the European Union.

At a rally in Budapest, he framed the election as a choice between his leadership and that of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.Shortly after, images circulated of individuals displaying a Ukrainian flag at an opposition event, which were later linked to affiliates of Orban’s own party, prompting accusations of staged political tactics.

Opposition leader Magyar dismissed the incident as a “false flag operation.”AI-manipulated imagery has also been used to target Magyar directly, including altered visuals suggesting his support for Ukraine.

Billboards critical of Zelensky have appeared across Hungary over the past year, sometimes alongside depictions of opposition figures.Despite contested claims and fabricated content, analysts say the campaign resonates with segments of the electorate concerned about being drawn into the Ukraine war.

Political scientist Eszter Kovats of the University of Vienna said such messaging taps into broader anxieties amplified by discussions across Europe on rearmament and conscription.

She said the ruling party’s strategy appeals to voters’ desire for stability, presenting continuity as a safer option in an increasingly uncertain geopolitical environment.

The 69-year-old secured the presidency following a parliamentary vote broadcast live from Naypyitaw, where lawmakers aligned with the army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party and constitutionally mandated military appointees ensured a decisive outcome.

His elevation follows elections held in December and January that delivered a sweeping victory to the military-backed party, polls widely criticized by Western governments and opposition groups as lacking credibility and designed to entrench military rule under a civilian façade.

Min Aung Hlaing, who has led Myanmar’s armed forces since 2011, recently oversaw a leadership reshuffle within the military, appointing loyalist Ye Win Oo as commander-in-chief after being nominated for the presidency earlier this week. Analysts view the transition as a calculated move to retain influence over both civilian and military institutions while seeking greater international legitimacy.

The general seized power in the February 2021 coup, detaining Suu Kyi and other senior leaders, an event that triggered mass protests and evolved into an entrenched civil war involving pro-democracy forces and ethnic armed groups.

Despite the formal political transition, fighting continues across multiple regions. This week, anti-junta factions, including elements linked to Suu Kyi’s political movement and ethnic militias, announced the formation of a broader alliance aimed at dismantling military rule and establishing a federal democratic system.

Analysts say the consolidation of power under Min Aung Hlaing could lead to intensified military operations against resistance forces, while also prompting regional actors to reassess diplomatic engagement with Myanmar’s leadership amid ongoing instability and economic strain.

World leaders, including former U.S. President Donald Trump, perceive Erdoğan’s crumbling strongman image

Nearly two million Turks have gathered in Istanbul to protest President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s decision to arrest his main political rival, Ekrem İmamoğlu, on what critics call fabricated corruption and terrorism charges. The move has ignited widespread outrage across Turkey, with demonstrators denouncing Erdoğan’s authoritarian grip on power and calling for his immediate resignation.

The arrest of İmamoğlu, who served as Istanbul’s mayor and was seen as Erdoğan’s strongest challenger in upcoming elections, has fueled speculation that the Turkish president is attempting to eliminate political competition ahead of a crucial vote. Protesters have taken to the streets chanting, “Enough is enough!” and “Turkey will not be silenced!” as security forces struggle to contain the surging crowds.

Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a Middle East expert, has been vocal about the situation. “Turks are not stupid; they see through Erdoğan’s cynicism and comment on its ironies,” Rubin stated. “Erdoğan accuses İmamoğlu of corruption, but Erdoğan not only has pending corruption cases dating to his own tenure as mayor, but he has since accumulated billions of dollars in unexplained wealth. He accuses İmamoğlu of supporting terror, but Turkish journalists photographed Erdoğan’s intelligence service transporting weaponry to an Al Qaeda affiliate in Turkey.”

The controversy deepened when Erdoğan’s government reportedly annulled İmamoğlu’s university degree, a requirement for presidential candidates. Rubin pointed out the hypocrisy in this move, noting, “Not only was Erdoğan’s own degree fraudulent, but the grounds for dismissing İmamoğlu’s degree were the illegitimacy of the university he attended in occupied northern Cyprus. As with its universities, so too is it with its entire regime.”

The international community is closely watching the unfolding crisis, with speculation growing about how world leaders, including former U.S. President Donald Trump, perceive Erdoğan’s crumbling strongman image. “Trump sees himself as a winner and despises losers,” Rubin said. “Whereas he may once have seen Erdoğan as a strongman, it is now clear that the would-be sultan wears no clothes. Trump and his team are correct: Turkey is important, but Turkey and Erdoğan are not synonymous. Simply put, Trump should dump Erdoğan.”

The massive protests, among the largest in Turkey’s modern history, highlight a growing sense of urgency among citizens determined to reclaim their democracy. The Turkish military and law enforcement agencies now face a crucial test of allegiance. “Turkey’s elite soldiers swear allegiance to the state and the people of Turkey, not one man who holds the constitution and rule of law with disdain,” Rubin emphasized.

With tensions reaching a boiling point, many analysts fear that Turkey is approaching a breaking point. Some protesters argue that peaceful demonstrations may not be enough to bring about real change in a system they see as rigged in Erdoğan’s favor.

Rubin did not mince words when outlining what may be necessary for political transformation: “The Turkish protestors now fight for the soul of their nation. Every protestor on the streets of Istanbul is as consequential for the future of modern Turkey as was Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Protests might matter in democracies; however, Turkey is not a democracy. To succeed, they must march on Turkey’s palaces and prisons. If Erdoğan does not helicopter to the airport and flee the country, they should detain him, pending trial, even if passions are such that those who reach him first might simply hang him and release political prisoners, ranging from İmamoğlu to detained Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş and philanthropist Osman Kavala.”

Rubin also hinted at the possibility of internal betrayal within Erdoğan’s own ranks. “Erdoğan, like Bashar al-Assad in Syria, may be tempted to hang on. While the United States will never say directly, the White House likely would not look askance at regional states that would offer reward to any Erdoğan bodyguard who turns their guns on the would-be despot to arrest him or, if he resists, to kill him.”

The coming days will be critical for Turkey’s political future. Will the protests succeed in toppling Erdoğan’s rule, or will the regime resort to even harsher crackdowns to suppress dissent? What is clear, however, is that Turkey is at an inflection point. As Rubin put it, “The age of Erdoğan must end. Turks can either take the next step, or they will have no one but themselves to blame for Turkey’s descent into dictatorship, state failure, and eventual civil war.”

There are signs that some in politics are tiring of Netanyahu’s dominance. In 2021, he was ousted by an unlikely coalition that united left-wing, far-right and Arab political parties keen to block him from power.  

Israel’s fifth election in less than four years opens on Tuesday, pitting familiar rivals against each other. None is more familiar than former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is aiming to capitalise on the current political upheaval and return to power. 

Brasilia (AFP) — Far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva traded jabs and insults as they squared off Sunday in their first-ever head-to-head debate, two weeks from Brazil’s presidential runoff election.

According to sources, Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani, supported by the PJD, has failed to win a seat in parliament.

The Moroccan Interior Minister Abdel-Wafi Laftit said at press conference that the election results obtained 97 seats out of 395 after 96 percent of the votes were scrutinized. Because of this, Muslim Brotherhood which acquired power after the so-called Arab Spring of 2011, received a heavy blow and steep decline from 125 seats in the outgoing parliament to just 12 seats in the new legislature.

The Istiqlal Party (center-right) came in third place with 78 seats. Both parties were in opposition during the previous legislature.

Minister also added that the southern regions of the Kingdom were distinguished by recording an encouraging participation rate, as this percentage reached 58.30 percent in the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region, 63.76 percent in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region and 66.94 percent in the Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra region.

For the first time in the history of Morocco parliamentary, local, and regional elections are held on the same day.

That’s why the military president in Iran will strengthen the ideology of exporting Iran’s revolution by IRGC’s regional activity.

“I am not a colonel, I am a lawyer. I never have thought military, I never have done military,” said President Rouhani during the competition of Iran’s presidential election in June 2013 to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a military candidate in a television debate.

After Iran’s revolution in 1979, the presence of the militants in political positions has always been under question. So far, Iran has not had a military president in office, but many military veterans have been in political positions such as ministry and member of parliament.  This is while Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of Iran’s revolution clearly banned militants from political activities including candidacy in elections.

Iran’s presidential elections are scheduled to be held on June 18, 2021. As yet, some military personnel especially members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have expressed their willingness to run the election, and the competition to choose a final candidate is processing in military think tanks. However, they do not see a powerful civilian candidate as a contender.

The military president theory in Iran was strengthened by propaganda for the leader of the foreign wing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [G. Qassem Soleimani]. Some analysts believed he is the next president of Iran, but after his assassination by the Trump administration other names came up.

In the process, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf the speaker of Iran’s parliament and a former IRGC commander has already started his election campaign informally. Another man is Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan who is a former air force General of IRGC and former defense minister. Dehghan that is currently serving as defense advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has declared his nomination to run the presidency. Also, Saeed Mohammad that was the commander of Khatam Al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters (KAA), the engineering firm of the IRGC, resigned a few days ago and has started his election campaign. Rostam Ghasemi as the economic deputy of Quds Force and the former oil minister of Iran is another military candidate.  

Moreover, the former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaei, who has been a presidential candidate three times in 2005, 2009, and 2013 is now ready to run. Rezaei as a militant with economist gesture has taken out his military uniform several years ago. Also, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani, who served as the commander of the IRGC navy with the rank of rear admiral on 1985-1987 is another man that some media in Iran names as nominate. Moreover, the former speaker of parliament Ali Larijani who also has a background in the IRGC is a possible nominate for the presidency, but he has not declared his nomination so far.  

On another side, the civilian possible candidates are an Iranian conservative politician Saeed Jalili, Ebrahim Raisi as Chief Justice of Iran, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad, and Ali Motahari as a reformist and former member of a parliament.

Ahmadinezhad disqualified four years ago for the presidential election. Also, the qualification of Motahary rejected in the recent parliament election. Many analysts say that Ahmadinezhad and Motahari will be disqualified again by the Guardian Council of Iran. According to the Iran constitution, all candidates of presidential or parliamentary elections in Iran have to be qualified by the Guardian Council.

“The meaning of the military president is that we have not a civilian at the level of the presidency in the country, and this is not in the interest of the country,” said Ali Motahari the civilian candidate of the next Iran’s presidential election to Khabar Online News Agency. “The concentration of powers of military, political, economic and media in a person often leads to tyranny and corruption.”

Analysts say the main competition is between militant candidates, but Saeed Jalili and Ebrahim Raisis are close politicians to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei; therefore, they have a chance to be chosen as the final candidate from Principlists of Iran. Another possible candidate is Javad Zarif, the foreign minister of Iran. Although he rejects any nomination willingness, many reformists and moderates in Iran support him. However, he sent recently a positive signal for the run to the presidency in an interview with an Iranian Newspaper. If he can revive JCPOA, Zarif will be a choice with a high chance for the presidency. Otherwise, a hardliner candidate becomes the president.

In fact, a military president from Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could weaken reviving the nuclear deal. He also could increase the tensions between the two sides because the U.S designated IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization during the Trump era. And so far Biden has not withdrawn the IRGC from the list of designated terrorist groups. That’s why the military president in Iran will strengthen the ideology of exporting Iran’s revolution by IRGC’s regional activity.

But the intellectual difference is in the political space of Iran. “A president from members of IRGC can solve the problems strongly. The members of IRGC are different from militants, they ran the war and saved Iran from defeat,” said Mohsen Rafighdoust, the Minister of Revolutionary Guards in early Iran’s revolution. But Behzad Nabavi an Iranian reformist politician said to ILNA News Agency, “If a military figure from a military force resigns apparently from his position and be a candidate, it means the rule of that military force over the destiny of the nation and country. It is a coup thorough peacefully.”

Mohammad Javad Mousavizadeh is a journalist and analyst in international affairs and foreign policy. He has written many articles for digital publications around the world such as Khabar Online News Agency, Foreign Policy News, The Levant News, Eastern Herald, Modern Diplomacy, and South Front.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect Milli Chronicle’s point-of-view.

Khamenei can engineer elections and practically shape the institutions of power…

In the structure of any democratic system, there is an institution to oversee the implementation of the constitution. The main task of this institution is to preserve and protect the principles of that constitution.

After the anti-monarchist revolution in 1979 in Iran, the drafters of the new constitution proposed the Guardian Council as the institution tasked with protecting the constitution.

The Guardian Council began its activities on July 16, 1989. Among its actual duties was to direct and engineer the bills passed by parliament, political forces, and institutions within the system, and to eliminate the opposition.

In the early post-revolution elections, the founder of the Islamic Republic, Khomeini used the Guardian Council as a tool to completely remove most of his serious opposition, the Marxist left, the People’s Mojahedin Organization, and the National Religious movement (liberals), from the political scene. But the decision-makers of the clerical state were not satisfied and gradually decided to completely filter-out their opposition and unify their own forces. This was done to close all the existing gaps and to create the current theocracy.

The Guardian Council totally changed after Khomeini’s death in June 1989 and during the leadership of his successor Ali Khamenei. After his appointment as supreme leader, Khamenei knew he had to control the elected members of the various governing bodies including the parliament, various councils, and the Assembly of Experts more effectively than his predecessor. Khamenei’s full control of the Guardian Council was a means for him to gradually select and appoint the members of elective institutions such as the parliament and even the government.

The Guardian Council has 12 members, six senior clerical members, who are directly appointed by Khamenei, and six jurists, nominated by the head of the judiciary, who is appointed by the Supreme Leader (Khamenei). Finally, the parliament, whose members must be certified and confirmed by the same jurists, vote for the Council members.

In fact, the architects of the Islamic Republic’s system devised a circle in which the undisputed decision-maker is none other than Khamenei. Through this circle, Khamenei can engineer elections and practically shape the institutions of power according to his desires.

The Guardian Council serves Ali Khamenei in many ways. The council’s oversight role over a parliament whose members all pass the Guardian Council’s filtering has effectively become a control tool in the hands of the Supreme Leader. With this tool, Khamenei can stop any bills being passed that would limit his powers or that of any institutions of power under his command.

Over the last two decades, the council has gradually evolved into an institution and a means of guarding the supreme power of the Supreme Leader.

Next year, a sham presidential election is scheduled to take place in an atmosphere of public revulsion and discontent.

As early as now, Khamenei, through the Guardian Council intends to announce his candidate for the presidency. The appointment of Ahmad Khatami, known for his hardline and controversial speeches against Khamenei’s opponents to the Guardian Council, serves to strengthen Khamenei’s front in this regard.

Ahmad Khatami, 62, who is now one of the youngest members of the Guardian Council, was the first extremist and unknown cleric to gradually enter politics in the ‘90s with Khamenei’s volition and entered the Assembly of Experts in 1997 from the Kerman constituency. He has now become one of Khamenei’s most trusted clerics. Ahmad Khatami’s joining of the Guardian Council gives the regime’s Supreme Leader more leeway to pull his preferred candidate out of the ballot box.

The outlook for the upcoming Presidential election in Iran will be far worse than the situation of the engineered parliamentary elections held on February 21, 2020.

To warm up his February 21 show, Khamenei, in addition to manipulating the electoral lists, also hid news of the coronavirus outbreak until the day before elections. But his desire for a high turnout was shunned when most Iranians boycotted the elections.

After all, it’s not everyday in India that one gets to hear of a person accused of being a terrorist getting a ticket to  the General Elections.

A lot of my liberal, ‘moderate’ Hindu and ‘atheist but culturally Hindu’ friends may not like what I am to say. But I have to say it and do so with the utmost humility and in hopes that you will understand.

The BJP has fielded terror accused ‘Sadhvi’ Pragya Thakur from Bhopal. The party received in 2014, and continues to recieve, massive support from your community.

Without any malice, I would like to tell you that I’ve come across several BJP supporters who who have criticised Muslims for allegedly not condemning violence perpetrated in the name of Islam. ‘Moderate’ Muslims were condemned for allegedly not being vocal. The clergy was slammed and their centres – the madrassas – were called terror factories. The words terrorist, Pakistani, extremist, Islamist, radical, fundamentalist and Muslim were used liberally, interchangeably.

Whenever the Muslim community condemned a terror attack, it was never enough. The community was expected (and told) to be louder. When the clergy said that violence has no place in Islam and killing an innocent was akin to destroying humanity, they continued to be looked at with suspicion. I remember well that it was around two years ago that important Muslim clerics had converged to unequivocally condemn ISIS. A ‘journalist’, instead of asking pertinent questions, accused them of being obscurantist and claimed that saying ‘inshallah’ or ‘mashallah’ was the reason behind the community’s backwardness.

I agree that we, like you, are not perfect. I know that we, collectively, like you, are no paragon of virtue. But we are trying to be better people. We will get there. Soon. insha’Allah. Mashallah.

But having said that, things are different today. After all, it’s not everyday in India that one gets to hear of a person accused of being a terrorist getting a ticket to contest the General Elections, that too from the single largest party which gave the country a ‘Hindu nationalist’ Prime Minister. This is new for me. And it breaks my heart.

So I say this to you: Please stop this from happening. Please do something and get this ‘Hindu nationalist’ Prime Minister to withdraw her candidature. That is, if you have the time, inclination, and of course, the courage.

And more importantly, please don’t expect us to live by some false standards which you have set for us. Get your (shit together and) house in order first. Because in this post-Pragya Hindu Politics era, any kind of pontification from you comes across as sheer hypocrisy.

Article taken from Syed Mohammed’s Facebook post.

Syed Mohammed is a Principal Correspondent at The Hindu daily.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Milli Chronicle’s point-of-view.

Voting will be held in a single phase in Telangana and Rajasthan on December 7, and Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram on November 28, Rawat said, adding that Chhattisgarh will vote in two phases on November 12 and November 20. The BJP and the Congress will face head on in Madhya Pradesh (230 seats), Rajasthan (200) and Chhattisgarh (90), where the saffron is in power while in Telangana (119) the TRS is seeking a second term. In Mizoram (40) the Congress is the ruling party. The BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh for three consecutive terms while in Rajasthan power alternates between the two parties every election.

The Model Code of Conduct comes into force with immediate effect in four states while in Telangana it was in force from the date of dissolution of the Assembly last month. Notification for the first phase will be issued on October 16 and the last date for nominations would be October 23. Scrutiny will take place next day and the last date for the withdrawal of the nominations will be October 26. The notification for the elections in the rest of the 72 constituencies in the second phase would be issued on October 26, while the last day for nominations would be November 2. Scrutiny will be done on November 3 and the last date for the withdrawal of the nominations will be November 5. The tenure of the Chhattisgarh Assembly comes to an end on January 5, 2019.

In Telangana and Rajasthan, which will go to the polls in a single phase on December 7, the notification will be issued on November 12 and the last date for filing nominations will be November 19. Scrutiny will take place on November 20 while the last date for withdrawal of nominations will be November 22. The term of the Rajasthan Assembly expires on January 20, 2019. Telangana Chief Minister and TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the House last month — nearly nine months before its term was to end.

The TRS is ahead of all parties with regard to election preparedness by announcing 105 candidates out of the total 119 seats in Telangana. The announcement of the candidates for the rest of the 14 constituencies will happen very soon, according to party sources. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has already launched electioneering in the state. In Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram, the notification will be issued on November 2 while the last date for nominations would be November 9. Scrutiny will be done on November 12 and last date of withdrawal will be November 14. While the term of the Assembly in Madhya Pradesh expires on January 7, the tenure 40-member Assembly in Mizoram expires on December 15.

In Chhattisgarh, where the Commission decided to go for two phases in view of the Maoist problem, voting will be held in the most affected areas of the 18 constituencies in the southern part on November 12 and in the remaining 72 seats, voting will take place on November 20. Asked about the criticism over rescheduling the time of the press conference from 12.30 pm to 3 pm and that it was done under pressure from Prime Minister to accommodate his election rally in Ajmer in Rajasthan, Rawat said there was no pressure from anywhere.

“There would not have been a delay of two-three hours but for the problem relating to electoral rolls in Telangana,” he said and added parties were free to complain to the Commission if somebody got a concession. “It is the duty of the Commission to satisfy all the stakeholders. We will hold free, fair and credible elections which is our commitment and compulsion,” he said. He said the existing electoral rolls in the all the states have been revised with reference to January 1, 2018 as the qualifying date. The CEC said the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) will be used in the current round of elections for which arrangements have been made to ensure their adequate number.