Election Watch

Issue Date April 2012
Volume 23
Issue 2
Page Numbers 169-173
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ELECTION RESULTS (December 2011-March 2012)

Côte d’Ivoire: In December 11 elections for the 253-seat National Assembly, President Alassane Ouattara’s Rally of Republicans party won 125 seats. The Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire-African Democratic Rally won 76 seats; the Union for Democracy and Peace in Côte d’Ivoire won 9 seats; and the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace won 4 seats. Independent candidates won 35 seats. Former president Laurent Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front boycotted the election.

Croatia: In December 4 elections for the 151-seat Parliament, the Kukuriku Coalition—which includes the Social Democratic Party, led by Zoran Milanoviæ—won 40 percent of the vote and an absolute majority of 81 seats, and Milanoviæ became prime minister. Outgoing prime minister Jadranka Kosor’s long-ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won 24 percent and 47 seats. The Croatian Labourists-Labour Party won 5 percent and 6 seats, and the Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja won 3 percent and 6 seats. Other parties won the remaining 11 seats.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: In the November 28 presidential election, the official results stated that incumbent Joseph Kabila defeated opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi by 49 to 32 percent, but Tshisekedi also declared himself president. Vital Kamerhe of the opposition Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC) won 8 percent. According to preliminary results for concurrent legislative elections for the 500-seat National Assembly, Kabila’s People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) won 62 seats. The Unified Lumumbist Party won 19 seats. In total, the PPRD and its allies had 341 seats. Tshisekedi’s Union for Democracy and Social Progress won 41 seats. The opposition Movement [End Page 169] for the Liberation of Congo won 22 seats, and the UNC won 17 seats. Independent candidates won 16 seats. A number of small parties won one to three seats. The international community criticized the election as lacking credibility, and the EU Election Observation Mission noted the “lack of transparency and irregularities in the collection, compilation, and publication of results.” EU High Representative Catherine Ashton noted “reports of serious deficiencies.”

Egypt: Parliamentary elections for the 498 directly elected seats in the People’s Assembly were held in three rounds on November 28, December 14, and January 3. Following the elections, the Democratic Alliance for Egypt (led by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party) had 235 seats; the Islamist Bloc (led by the Salafist al-Nour party) had 127 seats; the New Wafd Party (nationalist/liberal) had 38 seats; the Egyptian Bloc (a liberal alliance of three parties: the Egyptian Social Democratic party, the Free Egyptians Party, and Tagam-mu—though the alliance later dissolved) had 34 seats; the Al-Wasat party (which is moderate Islamist) had 10 seats; the liberal Reform and Development Party had 9 seats; and the Revolution Continues Alliance (made up of a number of leftist groups) had 7 seats. Various small parties and independent candidates had 38 seats.

El Salvador: Legislative elections were held on March 11; results will be reported in a future issue.

The Gambia: Legislative elections were scheduled to be held on March 29; results will be reported in a future issue.

Iran: On March 2, legislative elections were held for the 290-seat Islamic Consultative Assembly. Most reformists or figures identified with the Green Movement were not allowed to run. Most analysts said that candidates supportive of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei won a large majority over supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Jamaica: In December 29 parliamentary elections for the 63-seat House of Representatives, the opposition People’s National Party won 53 percent of the vote and 42 seats. Portia Simpson-Miller became prime minister. The governing Jamaica Labor Party won 47 percent and 21 seats.

Kazakhstan: In January 15 parliamentary elections for the 98 elected seats in the 107-seat Majilis, President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s ruling People’s Democratic Party “Nur Otan” won 81 percent and 83 seats; the Democratic Party of Kazakhstan “Ak Zhol” won 7.5 percent and 8 seats; and the Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan won 7 percent and 7 seats. Nazarbayev has been in power since 1991. [End Page 170]

Russia: According to the official results of the March 4 presidential election, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who had stepped down from the presidency in 2008 after reaching the consecutive two-term limit set by the constitution, won with 64 percent of the vote. Gennadi Zyuganov of the Communist Party won 17 percent; independent candidate Mikhail Prokhorov won 8 percent; Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party won 6 percent; and Sergei Mironov of A Just Russia won 4 percent. Liberal candidate Grigory Yavlinsky had been disqualified from running. Opposition parties alleged fraud, and on the day after the balloting, thousands protested in Moscow. After the December 4 parliamentary elections, there had been four protests in Moscow that drew tens of thousands. The OSCE observer mission noted that “the conditions for the campaign were clearly skewed in favour of one candidate” and that “overly restrictive candidate registration requirements limited genuine competition.” The OSCE also said that “observers assessed voting positively overall; however, the process deteriorated during the count due to procedural irregularities.”

Senegal: In the February 26 presidential election, incumbent Abdoulaye Wade of the Senegalese Democratic Party won 34.8 percent of the vote. Macky Sall of the Alliance for the Republic-Yakaar finished second with 26.5 percent. Moustapha Niasse of the United to Boost Senegal coalition (which includes his Alliance of Forces for Progress party) won 13 percent, and Idrissa Seck of the Rewmi party won 8 percent. All three opposition candidates had at one point been Wade’s allies but had since fallen out with him. Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between Wade and Sall was scheduled for March 25; results will be reported in a future issue.

Slovakia: According to preliminary results of the March 10 elections for the 150-seat National Council, former prime minister Robert Fico’s Direction-Social Democracy party (Smer) won 44 percent of the vote and an absolute majority of 83 seats. The Christian Democratic Movement won 9 percent and 16 seats; the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities party won 9 percent and 16 seats; Most-Híd won 7 percent and 13 seats; Prime Minister Iveta Radièová’s Slovak Democratic and Christian Union-Democratic Party (SDKU-DS) won only 6 percent and 11 seats; and the Freedom and Solidarity party won 6 percent and 11 seats. The SDKU-DS-led coalition fell in October following a no-confidence vote.

Slovenia: In December 4 elections for the 90-seat National Assembly, Ljubljana mayor Zoran Jankoviæ’s Positive Slovenia party won 29 percent of the vote and 28 seats. Former prime minister Janez Janša’s Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) won 26 percent and 26 seats; and Prime [End Page 171] Minister Borut Pahor’s Social Democrats won 11 percent and 10 seats. Gregor Virant’s Civic List won 8 percent and 8 seats; the Democratic Party of Pensioners (DeSUS) won 7 percent and 6 seats; the Slovenian People’s Party (SLS) won 7 percent and 6 seats; and the New Slovenia-Christian People’s Party (NSi) won 5 percent and 4 seats. The Hungarian and Italian minorities get one seat each. The SDS, Gregor Virant’s Civic List, DeSUS, SLS, and NSi formed a governing coalition, and Janša became prime minister. The Assembly had been dissolved in October following a no-confidence vote.

Taiwan: In the January 14 presidential election, incumbent Ma Yingjeou of the ruling Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), was reelected with 51.6 percent of the vote. Tsai Ing-wen of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won 45.6 percent, and James Soong of the People First Party (PFP) won 2.8 percent. In concurrent parliamentary elections for the 113-seat Legislative Yuan, the KMT won 45 percent and 64 seats; the DPP won 35 percent and 40 seats; the Taiwan Solidarity Union won 9 percent and 3 seats; the PFP won 6 percent and 3 seats; the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union, a KMT ally, won 2 seats; and an independent won the remaining seat.

Timor-Leste: The presidential election was scheduled for March 17; results will be reported in a future issue.

Yemen: As part of an internationally brokered peace agreement, President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down, and it was agreed that his vice-president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi would succeed him. This was submitted to a popular vote on February 21. The ballot did not include a “no” option. The Supreme Commission for Election and Referendum said that the voter turnout was 65 percent.

UPCOMING ELECTIONS (April 2012-March 2013)

Armenia: parliamentary, 6 May 2012; presidential, February 2013

Albania: parliamentary, March 2013

Belarus: parliamentary, by September 2012

Bhutan: parliamentary, by March 2013

Burkina Faso: parliamentary, May 2012

Burma: parliamentary by-elections, 1 April 2012

Cameroon: parliamentary, July 2012 [End Page 172]

Congo, Republic of: legislative, June 2012

Dominican Republic: presidential, 20 May 2012

Ecuador: presidential/legislative, 17 February 2013

Egypt: presidential, 23 May 2012

Equatorial Guinea: parliamentary, May 2012

Georgia: parliamentary, October 2012

Ghana: presidential/legislative, 7 December 2012

Guinea-Bissau: parliamentary, November 2012

Hong Kong: legislative, September 2012

Kenya: presidential/parliamentary, March 2013

Lesotho: parliamentary, May 2012

Libya: presidential/legislative, June 2012

Lithuania: parliamentary, October 2012

Madagascar: presidential/parliamentary, May 2012

Mali: presidential, 29 April 2012; parliamentary, July 2012

Mexico: presidential/legislative, 1 July 2012

Mongolia: parliamentary, June 2012

Montenegro: presidential/parliamentary, March 2013

Papua New Guinea: parliamentary, June 2012

Romania: parliamentary, November 2012

Senegal: parliamentary, 17 June 2012

Serbia: parliamentary, May 2012; presidential, by December 2012

Sierra Leone: presidential/legislative, 17 November 2012

Slovenia: presidential, 8 October 2012

South Korea: parliamentary, April 2012; presidential, December 2012

Timor-Leste: parliamentary, June 2012

Togo: parliamentary, October 2012

Ukraine: parliamentary, 28 October 2012

Vanuatu: parliamentary, 30 October 2012

Venezuela: presidential, 7 October 2012

Election Watch provides reports of recently decided and upcoming elections in developing nations and the postcommunist world. Some of the data for Election Watch come from IFES, a private, nonprofit education and research foundation that assists in monitoring, supporting, and strengthening the mechanics of the electoral process worldwide. For additional information, visit www.ifes.org. [End Page 173]