ELECTION RESULTS (December 1993-March 1994)
Antigua: In parliamentary elections on March 8, the ruling Antigua Labour Party won 11 of 17 seats in the lower chamber, the House of Representatives. The United Progressive Party took five seats, and the remaining seat was won by the Barbuda People’s Movement.
Colombia: Presidential and legislative elections were scheduled to take place on March 13, and results will be reported in our next issue.
Costa Rica: In a close presidential race on February 6, José María Figueres of the National Liberation Party defeated ruling party candidate Miguel Angel Rodriguez of the Social Christian Unity Party with 51 percent of the vote. Rodríguez finished with 48 percent. Six other minor-party candidates participated in the elections but posed little challenge to the two top contenders.
El Salvador: Presidential and legislative elections were scheduled to take place on March 20, and results will be reported in our next issue.
Guinea-Bissau: Presidential elections were scheduled to take place on March 27, and results will be reported in our next issue.
Kazakhstan: On March 7, supporters of President Nursultan Nazarbayev won a landslide victory in the nation’s first post-Soviet parliamentary elections, taking nearly three-quarters of the seats in the new 177-member legislature. Opposition candidates managed to secure only 23 seats. Official figures showed Nazarbayev’s own Union of People’s Unity of Kazakhstan (SNEK) and pro-Nazarbayev independent candidates finishing with 30 and 60 seats, respectively. Forty-two additional seats were filled by candidates [End Page 154] handpicked by the president. Eleven seats went to the official Federal Trade Unions; winners of the remaining 11 seats have yet to be determined. Foreign observers have widely criticized the election proceedings, citing media harassment, arbitrary disqualifications, and official favoritism.
Moldova: Preliminary results indicate that the Agrarian Democratic Party, which is opposed to unification with Romania and favors joining the Commonwealth of Independent States, won 55 of 104 seats in Moldova’s first multiparty parliamentary elections on February 27. It appears that the pro-Russian Socialist/Interfront bloc will secure about 30 seats, with the remainder going to pro-Romanian parties.
Russia: See the table summarizing the results of Russia’s December 12 parliamentary elections on p. 6 above.
Serbia: In parliamentary elections on December 19, Serbian president Slobodan Milošević’s Socialist Party of Serbia fell just short of a majority, winning 123 of 250 seats. It will have to contend in parliament with four diverse opposition parties—the Serbian Democratic Alliance (DEPOS), the Serbian Radical Party, the Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party of Serbia—that together garnered 120 seats. The Party for Democratic Activity, an Albanian party that backs Milošević, and the Democratic Community of Vojvodina Hungarians won two and five seats, respectively.
Tunisia: Presidential and parliamentary elections were scheduled for the week of March 12-19, and results will be reported in our next issue.
Ukraine: Parliamentary elections were scheduled to take place on March 27, and results will be reported in our next issue.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS (April 1994-March 1995)
Belarus: presidential, spring 1994*; parliamentary, late 1994*
Brazil: presidential/legislative, 3 October 1994
Dominican Republic: presidential/legislative, 16 May 1994
Ecuador: legislative, 1 May 1994
Hungary: parliamentary, 8 May 1994 [End Page 155]
Liberia: presidential/legislative, 7 September 1994
Malawi: presidential/legislative, 17 May 1994
Mexico: presidential, 21 August 1994
Mozambique: presidential/parliamentary, October 1994*
Panama: presidential/legislative, 8 May 1994
South Africa: parliamentary, 26-28 April 1994
Sri Lanka: parliamentary, March 1995*
Ukraine: presidential, 26 June 1994
Uruguay: presidential/legislative, 27 November 1994
* tentative
Election Watch provides reports of recently decided and upcoming elections in developing nations and the postcommunist world. Elections in nondemocratic nations are included when they exhibit a significant element of genuine competition or, in the case of upcoming elections, when they represent an important test of progress toward democracy. Most of the data for Election Watch are provided by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (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, contact: IFES, 1620 1 Street, NW, Suite 611, Washington, DC 20006; (202) 828-8507. [End Page 156]