Iran
Iran’s June elections were seen by some as a missed opportunity for democracy, with only ‘regime-friendly’ candidates allowed to run in the race. The eight contenders were handpicked by the Guardian Council from a pool of 680 registered candidates, in direct violation of the Islamic Republic’s constitution. As such, the election became a contest between two wings of the clerical oligarchy – the conservatives and the moderates. Two days before the vote candidate Mohammad Reza Aref withdrew from the race in order to unite the reformist vote in favour of Hassan Rouhani of the Combatant Clergy Association (CCA). The result saw Rouhani take 50.7 per cent of the fi nal vote, the minimum fi gure required to settle the election in its first round, while Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf of the right-wing Islamic Society of Engineers (ISE) trailed behind with 16.6 per cent, followed by Saeed Jalili with 11.4 per cent, Mohsen Rezai 10.6 per cent and Ali Akbar Velayati 6.2 per cent. Voter turnout was 72.2 per cent, around 10 per cent lower than the previous election.
Venezuela
Chávez’s protégé Nicolás Maduro won a narrow victory over Henrique Capriles Radonski in April’s presidential elections, gaining 50.8 per cent of the vote to the opposition’s 49 per cent. Representing the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the largest left-wing party in the western hemisphere, Maduro has promised to deepen Chávez’s “21st-century socialism”. Capriles of the centre-right Justice First Movement (PJ) demanded a recount of all votes saying that his team had found thousands of irregularities during voting. A full audit of the results is underway, although the 54 per cent of votes checked immediately following the election showed no discrepancies. Venezuela’s Attorney General recorded several cases of violence since the conclusion of the election, with at least seven people dead, 60 injured and more than 200 detained. Maduro has named his cabinet, with Nelson Merentes as Finance Minister, Miguel Rodríguez Torres as Interior Minister, Elías Jaua as Foreign Minister and Diego Molero as Defence Minister. Voter turnout was 79.69 per cent.
Pakistan
Former Prime Minister Nawaz ‘Lion of the Punjab’ Sharif won 122 seats for the centre-right Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) in the May general elections, beating the centre-left Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). The PPP won 31 seats, led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and the centrally aligned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won only 26 seats, despite being led by popular cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan. The result was nonetheless a victory for the PTI which had previously only ever won a single seat in parliament. Around 600,000 security personnel were installed at polling stations to protect voters, but by the end of election day, the death toll had surpassed 150, with many others injured following a string of bombings and shootings by the Taliban. More than 100 complaints of rigging and irregularities further marred the event, with recounts ordered in nine constituencies.
Bulgaria
Months of mass protests and allegations of fraud surrounded the May elections, which resulted in a hung parliament with no party winning a majority. Protests erupted in early February due to surging energy prices, forcing Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) and leader Boyko Borisov to resign from office, and bringing scheduled elections forward by two months. Allegations of fraud and political manipulation arose when 350,000 unregistered ballots were found in a printing house owned by a local GERB politician on the eve of the election. While centre-right GERB remained the largest party, taking 97 of the 240 seats (30.5 per cent of the vote), it fell 23 seats short of a majority. The centre-left Bulgarian Socialist Party, led by Sergei Stanishev, won 26.6 per cent of the vote, while centrist party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DSP) won 11.3 per cent of the vote. Plamen Oresharski, who is free of party affiliations, was named Prime Minister in May after GERB failed to form a coalition with any other party, putting an end to months of political impasse. Voter turnout was at the lowest on record at 51.3 per cent.
Japan
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe celebrated his party’s landslide victory in parliamentary elections in July. The conservative Liberal Democrats, however, fell short of winning the two-thirds majority required to revise the constitution and voter turnout was low at 52 per cent, suggesting some popular disinterest. Abe, known as an outspoken nationalist, is expected to become an agent of change within the country and bring a stability that Japan’s leadership has lacked in recent years. ‘Abenomics’, an intrepid plan conceived by the Prime Minister to stimulate the country’s economy (see pages 30-35), has contributed greatly to the Liberal Democrat’s popularity, although the party’s other ambitions, such as plans to rewrite the constitution and replace Japan’s self-defence forces with a full-grown military, have caused some apprehension.
Cayman Islands
Alden McLaughlin has been appointed premier of the Cayman Islands, following the May parliamentary elections in which the People’s Progressive Movement (PPM) took 36.1 per cent of the vote, winning nine of the 18 seats. The United Democratic Party (UDP) came second with 27.8 per cent (three seats), followed by the Coalition for Cayman with 18.6 per cent (three seats), independents took 11.9 per cent (two seats), and the People’s National Alliance took 5.7 per cent (one seat). George Town, the capital of the country and McLaughlin’s home constituency, witnessed the most competitive election in its history with 21 candidates vying for six seats and positions separated by as few as 15 votes. The new cabinet was sworn in at the end of May with McLaughlin as Home Affairs minister and Marco Archer as Finance Minister. Voter turnout was 79.8 per cent.
Malaysia
May general elections ensured the continuation of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s 56-year unbroken rule in Malaysia. BN won 47.4 per cent of the vote and 133 out of 222 seats, which are allocated on the constituency level, while the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition won 50.9 per cent of the vote, but only 89 seats. The conservative BN, historically known as the National Front, has nevertheless fallen short of the two-thirds majority required to pass amendments to the Federal Constitution. Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the opposition, has demanded that the elections commission look into ‘irregularities’ surrounding the campaign. BN is dominated by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysia’s biggest party, which is led by Prime Minister Najib Razak, while PR, or People’s Pact, is a coalition of just three parties: the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Democratic Action Party (DAP) and People’s Justice Party (PKR). Overall PR has slightly increased its representation in parliament while BN has endured the worst result since 1969. Voter turnout was at a record high of 84.8 per cent.
Iceland
The April parliamentary elections were won by Iceland’s two centre-right opposition parties, the Independence Party (IP) and Progressive Party (PP), which took 51 per cent of the vote between them and won 19 seats each in the 63-seat Althingi parliament. The parties, which had governed Iceland for decades prior to the 2008 economic crash, have since re-established their former coalition and have promised to rebuild the economy through tax-cuts and debt-relief. Both parties are Eurosceptic and it is expected that discussions about Iceland joining the EU will come to a halt under the new leadership. Altogether, 15 parties contested the election, with the Social Democratic Alliance (SDA) winning nine seats (12.85 per cent of the vote), Left-Green Movement (LGM) seven seats (10.87 per cent), Bright Future six seats (8.25 per cent) and quirkily named Pirate Party of Iceland three seats (5.1 per cent). Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson of the PP was named Prime Minister while Bjarni Benediktsson of the IP became minister of finance and economics.
Italy
In April Giorgio Napolitano became the first Italian President to be re-elected to serve a second term after party leaders failed to agree on his successor. The widely respected 87-year-old former communist had been planning to retire this year, but was convinced to stay for “the higher interests of the country”, with cross-party backing that included Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom Party. Napolitano effortlessly gained the majority needed with 738 votes and smashed the political stalemate that Italy had endured since the February elections, which failed to produce an outright majority. The re-election was met with standing ovation from most MPs while protestors, spurred on by Five Star Movement’s Beppe Grillo, have claimed that the event is a sign of Italy’s political stagnation and back-room politics.
In brief
Montenegro
Incumbent President Filip Vujanovi´c of the centre-left Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (DPS) took 51.2 per cent of the vote and the presidency, while opponent Miodrag Leki´c took 48.8 per cent. Voter turnout was 63.9 per cent.
Paraguay
The right-wing Colorado Party returned to power with leader Horacio Cartes winning 45.8 per cent of the vote. Efraín Alegre of the Paraguay Alegre alliance took 36.94 per cent. The elections were described as calm, orderly and exemplary by international observers. Voter turnout was 68.57 per cent.
Bangladesh
Abdul Hamid, speaker of the National Assembly, was elected President in April following the death of President Mohammed Zillur Rahman.
Nauru
Unruly behaviour on the part of MPs led to the dissolution of Nauru’s parliament earlier this year. The resulting election saw Fisheries Minister Baron Waqa sworn in as President, while Charmaine Scotty became Home Affairs Minister and the second woman in the country’s history to be elected to parliament.
Bhutan
A landslide victory saw Bhutan’s main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), take power from the ruling Peace and Prosperity Party (DPT) in the country’s second ever general elections.
Togo
Elections finally took place in July following months of protests and postponements, with the Union for the Republic party winning a landslide victory.
