Akhilesh terms EVMs threat to democracy, bats for ballot papers
Lucknow, May 29: Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday questioned the fairness of the electronic voting machines (EVMs), terming them the "biggest threat to democracy".
Addressing the media here, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister referred to the snags in EVMs in the Kairana parliamentary and Noorpur assembly bypolls on Monday and said that after this, people were in no mood to trust the machines.
Reiterating his demand of use of ballot papers in all future elections, Akhilesh Yadav also demanded a repoll in every place where EVMs were used for voting in the Monday's bypoll. He also exhorted all political parties to come together and raise a united voice against the EVMs and seek all future voting through the traditional mechanism of ballot papers.
Akhilesh Yadav also expressed suspicion that the EVMs were tampered and manipulated under a "nefarious design" to defeat opposition candidates.
Slamming the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, he claimed that people were feeling cheated at their "hollow promises". Their work so far in one year has been dismaying, the SP chief said while pointing out several issues like pending arrears of cane growers and farmer distress.
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New Zealand MP performs traditional dance in Parliament, rips up copy of contentious bill
Wellington: New Zealand’s youngest Member of Parliament Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke has once again grabbed the headlines after a video of her staging the traditional Maori dance and ripping up a copy of a contentious bill during a House session went viral on social media.
A viral footage of the vote on the Treaty Principles Bill shows the 22-year-old Te Pati Maori MP interrupting the session by tearing apart a copy of the controversial bill before performing a haka. She is then joined by the people in the public gallery, prompting Speaker Gerry Brownlee to briefly suspend the House.
The ACT New Zealand party, a junior partner in the centre-right coalition government unveiled the Treaty Principles Bill last week. It proposes changes to some principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The bill has sparked strong opposition from many Maori groups.
The Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840 between the British Crown and more than 500 Maori chiefs, established the framework for governance between the two parties. It remains a foundational document in New Zealand, with its clauses continuing to influence legislation and policy to this day.
The bill is being seen as undermining the rights of the country’s indigenous people by many Maori and their supporters. Notably, Maoris make up around 20% of New Zealand’s 5.3 million population.
As the proposed bill passed its first reading, hundreds of demonstrators embarked on a nine-day march, or hikoi, from New Zealand's north to the national capital of Wellington to voice their opposition.
New Zealand’s youngest MP Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke made it to the headlines once again as she tore apart the copy of the Treaty Principles Bill and performed the traditional group dance Haka in the Parliament. This video is now going viral across the world. #HakaDance… pic.twitter.com/PU5XBA9CQu
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