A regular feature that looks at the results and ramifications of recent elections around the globe
Netherlands
In elections on 9 June –the fourth since 2002 –the centre-right Liberal Party polled 20 percent of the vote, securing 31 seats in the 150- seat lower house of parliament, one more than its nearest rival, the centre-left Labour Party. Attempts to form a Liberal/Labour coalition failed because Liberal leader Mark Rutte refused to dilute promises to halve the budget deficit by cutting the health service, education, welfare and social security. A minority axis between the Liberals and the previously governing centre-right Christian Democrats, who finished a disappointing fourth in the polls, would rely on support from the anti-Islam Freedom Party, headed by Geert Wilders. His party more than doubled its showing at the election to 15 percent and will wield considerable influence, even if Wilders does not secure a place in the cabinet. Despite the swing to the right, the economy rather than immigration dominated both the campaign and the post-election bargaining among the parties.
Australia
In a federal election held on 21 August, neither the ruling Labor Party nor the opposition Liberal-National coalition won enough seats to form a majority government. The Welsh-born Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, called a snap election shortly after coming to office in June following her victory over Kevin Rudd in a controversial leadership challenge. She had hoped that the initial approval she had enjoyed on becoming Australia’s first female premier and the government’s successful handling of the economy would ensure a Labor victory. But damaging leaks relating to the ousting of Rudd, coupled with a backlash against unpopular Labor state governments in Queensland and New South Wales, saw her party slip in the polls. Tony Abbott, the leader of the Liberal Party, tried to use Labor’s infighting to his advantage by portraying his opposition coalition as a stable alternative to a divided government. His campaign focused heavily on border protection and immigration, and he promised to control government spending. The balance of power was held by three independent, rural-based MPs, two of whom – after more than two weeks of political deadlock – decided to back the Labour Party, handing the country it’s first minority government since the Second World War. Voting is compulsory for Australia’s 14 million registered voters.
Colombia
Unable to vote for outgoing President Alvaro Uribe – barred from standing for a third term following a ruling by the constitutional court – Colombians overwhelmingly plumped for Uribe’s defence minister, Juan Manuel Santos, in the run-off presidential elections on 20 June. Santos pledged to continue his predecessor’s tough security policies which, whilst effectively reducing violence from both leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries, had resulted in strained relations with neighbouring Venezuela and Ecuador. His promise to pursue a more “diplomatic” foreign policy had one early success; President Hugo Chavéz visited Colombia on 10 August, a little over two weeks after he had severed ties with the country, following accusations by Uribe that Venezuela was harbouring members of Colombia’s main rebel movements.
Somaliland
Ahmed Mohamed Mahamoud Silanyo was sworn in as President of Somaliland on 27 July. Voters went to the polls a month earlier on 26 June, the date of the territory’s 50th anniversary of independence from Britain. The elections had been due to take place in 2008 but a protracted dispute over voter registration led to their delay. The conduct of poll, which was peaceful despite Somali Islamist groups’ threats to disrupt it, was praised by international observers. Silanyo won 50 percent of the vote, defeating the incumbent, Dahir Riyale Kahin, to become the country’s fourth president since it unilaterally proclaimed its independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991. Unlike southern Somalia, Somaliland has been able to create a viable system of governance, consisting of a lower house of elected representatives and an upper house incorporating the elders of tribal clans. Hopes are high in Hargeisa that the smooth transfer of power will strengthen Somaliland’s case for international recognition.
Guinea
More than three million Guineans, around 77 percent of the registered electorate, turned out to vote in the country’s first fully free ballot since it gained independence from France 52 years ago. No less than 24 candidates stood in presidential elections on 27 June, which did not produce an outright winner. Cellou Dalein Diallo, who won almost 40 percent of the vote, was then set to face Alpha Condé, his nearest rival with 20 percent, in a second round run-off, subsequently postponed to 19 September. Diallo previously served as prime minister under long-time dictator General Lansana Conté, whose death in 2008 sparked a military coup. The leader of the military junta, General Sékouba Konaté, won praise for agreeing to hold the elections and for not standing for office himself. International observers applauded the spirit of the June election, which emphasised national unity rather than regional and ethnic divisions, although some allegations of ballot-stuffing and other voting irregularities were made.
Poland
A presidential election, originally set for autumn this year, was brought forward following the death of President Lech Kaczynski, and 95 others, in a plane crash in Smolensk, Russia, in April. On 4 July, Kaczynski’s identical twin brother Jaroslaw, a divisive former prime minister who until a few months ago was one of the country’s most unpopular politicians, only narrowly lost the run-off vote to the acting President, Bronislaw Komorowski. A pro-EU, moderate member of the ruling free-market Civic Platform Party, Komorowski said he would work closely with sitting Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
