Displaying items by tag: Election

President Daniel Ortega has gripped Nicaragua’s election on 7 November by arresting all competition, controlling electoral authorities, and reinventing himself as a business-friendly devout Catholic. The US is working with international partners to prepare new sanctions to be levied if he wins the election that Washington denounces as a sham. It has also begun a review of Nicaragua’s participation in a Central American free trade agreement and has halted support for any ‘trade capacity building’ activities seen as benefiting Ortega’s government. Nearly half of Nicaraguans live below the poverty line, and an additional 90,000 individuals fell into poverty as a result of the pandemic. Nicaragua is one of the most corrupt countries globally - a costly, painful legacy of misrule by Ortega’s dictatorship. He stole, wasted and misused state resources, which were destined to combat poverty and used for national development, resulting in immense economic costs. See

On 26 September voters elected the Bundestag's parliamentary seats. The dominant political parties - SPD, CDU and CSU - finished only ten seats apart. Angela Merkel’s departure has opened up a large void. Many older MPs have been replaced by people in their thirties or even twenties. This rejuvenation will bring many openings for renewal and innovation in the current technological and global transformation, but will also pose potential risks that need prayer. Will Germany manage to keep its leadership in Europe, or will France supplant it? What can the EU expect from the new Chancellor and coalition on climate change, trade, and technology? How do the elected candidates see Europe’s place in the world? What will the results mean for Germany’s relationships with France, the USA, Russia, or China?

Peru's presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori reacted at a press conference in Lima, the day after an election run-off. The right-wing candidate, who is running for president for the third time, alleges there have been ‘signs of fraud’ in the run-off election. With 97.3% of the votes counted her left-wing rival, Pedro Castillo, pulled past her in the vote count with a lead of less than 0.5% points. In a news conference, Ms Fujimori alleged that there had been a strategy by Peru Libre, Mr Castillo’s party, to distort and delay the results which reflect the popular will. Ms Fujimori is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, who is serving a 25-year-jail sentence for corruption and human rights abuses. She said if elected she will pardon her father, a deeply divisive figure - praised for his fight against Shining Path guerrillas but denounced for abuses including forced sterilisations of indigenous women.

Ahead of the March elections, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is repeating promises he made nine years ago to control crime rates in Arab towns and villages. A recent firefight broke out on 1 February, when the police tried to stop men from shooting at a house. The Arab gang started shooting at the police with automatic weapons. When it was over, two young people were dead. One was suspected of firing at the house, but the other, Ahmed Hijazi, was a nursing student who happened to be in the vicinity but was not involved in the incident. The next day, thousands from local Arab towns and villages took to the street to protest Hijazi’s death and the police's inability to rein in crime in Arab society. Over the weekend, thousands more marched against escalating crime rates. Netanyahu has spent the last few weeks visiting Arab towns and villages and holding Zoom meetings with Arab mayors to discuss crime and violence in their towns.

Myanmar's military took power on 1 February. Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party are now under arrest. The coup ends a democratic experiment in a country where generals usually rule. In 2017 Suu Kyi shocked the West by defending the generals’ ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the Rohingya Muslims. But as her star faded in the West, it became brighter at home where the Rohingya are considered invaders. Riding on her popularity, her party won last November's election, intensifying tensions between the civilian government and the army. The generals only won 7% of the vote and cried election fraud, threatening to suspend the constitution if their claims were not investigated. This coup reverses the generals' declining influence in one fell swoop. The new leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, will remain in charge until 2022. Meanwhile, the economy will be crippled by fresh international sanctions, and Myanmar will become the pariah it was a decade ago. There have been widespread civilian protests against the coup, and the military have responded by shutting down Facebook ‘for the sake of stability’.

Electors from each state meet on 14 December to nominate the next president formally, but Trump wants to overturn the result, and challenges the Pennsylvania result. His legal team claims voters in Democrat-leaning areas were given more opportunities to correct mistakes on their postal ballots than elsewhere, and over 680,000 postal ballots were counted without proper oversight from poll watchers. They lost the case but then took it to a federal appeals court where it was also rejected. The judge said, ‘Calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and proof. We have neither here.’ The team intends taking the case to the Supreme Court. The government's top lawyer, William Barr, said, ‘We have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election.’ Challenges are dropped or settled in most other states as 14 December looms.

Donald Trump had previously said if the presidential election were close, he would accuse his opponents of voter fraud and trying to steal victory. Before all votes are counted he has done just that, claiming to have won, and launched a supreme court challenge, baselessly alleging fraud. At the time of writing, Biden is in the lead, but by the slenderest of margins. On 5 November, Trump tweeted, ‘I hereby claim victory’ - despite trailing at the time by 214 votes to 253. Pray for acceptance to replace the anger in people wanting to win more than they want to be right. With the nation on edge, the final result may not be known for days. Pray for peace on the streets.

What a tumultuous time in which we are living with the most significant election for America in our lifetimes happening a few days from today on November 3. The outcome will affect not only the USA but the whole world. 

We have collated a few resources and prayer points to guide you as you intercede for our country at this crucial moment in our history.

Election Prayer Guides and Resources

Watch Dave Kubal’s video ‘Interceding for our National Elections’ from the National Prayer Assembly.

Find lots of Resources and Election Prayer Guides at: https://ifapray.org/

Read Dave Kubal’s article written for IPC Connections last month: ‘America Needs Your Intercession’

Use Steve Hall’s ‘United Prayer over America’ – calling down the supremacy of Christ on a nation in crisis.

Song with Prayer Points

In case you would find this video helpful that colleagues associated with the National Prayer Assembly (Terry and Barbi Franklin, worship leaders, and Eric Teitelman, videographer) and I have developed, it is yours to use to mobilize your church, prayer group, or prayer network to pray for America. Several general prayer concerns are attached to the video at the end as well. 

As one ministry leader put it, we are "staring into the abyss" if unprincipled Leftist-Marxists who have been already trashing our cities with rioting were to win the presidency and other public offices also. Let's continue to pray and do so with all our hearts for the Lord's intervention and mercy to be upon the USA once again!

Watch this beautifully captured video of a sung prayer for America - for the Healing of our Land - followed by some prayer pointers as we pray for America in the run-up to the 2020 Presidential elections:

Hand in Hand we Declare - Jesus is Lord!

As one we stand... Amen!

7 Prayer Pointers for the Elections

Please Pray: 

1. That we Americans will humbly repent of our many sins before God. (2 Chron. 7:14)
   
2. That forces of evil seeking to divide us and overthrow our nation will be bound. (Matt. 18:18-19)
   
3. That corruption in political leaders will be further revealed and covered truthfully by the mainstream media and tech companies.
   
4. For the many Christians running for office and serving in government to be strengthened in grace and truth.
   
5. That all will be moved to vote for life and Judeo-Christian values in our November 3 election.
   
6. for the election of leaders who will govern in fear of God, truth, and hating covetousness.
   
7. That America will be delivered and enabled to fulfill its God-given destiny and calling for the future.

Thank you for "standing in the gap" for America.

John Robb – Chairman
International Prayer Connect

We feel the Lord’s jealousy over the United States of America and its Godly destiny.

We know the results of their upcoming national elections will carry reverberations on a global scale. We want to stand in prayer with our family in America for His will to unfold this November.

We invite you to join us on Tuesday, November 3rd at 5:00AM PT (Vancouver) as we gather to align with all that is being declared over America from the gates of Heaven at this hour.

More at: https://watchmen.org/upcoming/2020/11/3/standing-with-america

A record number of Christians (108) are standing for election in the Egyptian elections being held between 24 October and 8 November. These Christians are on the four party lists, contesting 284 seats allocated to political parties in the parliament. There have been continuous positive messages from President Sisi to protect Egypt’s Christian community, one of the oldest and largest Christian communities in the region. In previous elections, Christian candidates were barred from running or forced to withdraw due to threats of violence. Attacks and pressure on Copts continue in rural areas, but this positive development is very welcome.