The Election Period Update

So we're now ten days in to the election period. Many of you have asked if the pace and insanity of campaigning has continued at the rate that it started. Thankfully, I can report that it has not and that things have calmed down a bit. Despite my co-workers warnings that the noise would continue endlessly for the entire month, there are not loud rallies outside my office every day (in fact, there haven't been any since the first day). That said, cars and trucks with loudspeakers and the occasional convoy does go by, disrupting work or dinner for a few moments at a time.

There does still some to be a greater fervor about the air than a typical non-election period day, however. Political stickers and posters adorn many cars and nearly every house and shop, sometimes despite the owners' preferences.

This past Saturday I attended a training to be a local election monitor for the Committee for Free and Fair Elections (COMFREL). The training detailed many of the irregularities that we should expect to see - campaigning on election day, military officials in uniform at polling stations, etc. Reports of violence are somewhat rare and down significantly from previous elections, but this may be solely because the ruling party's positions are so consolidated that it's not necessary to use force. That's all I have time for now, but more updates soon!