Ethiopia
In October, an early election in Ethiopia saw the appointment of Dr Mulatu Teshome Wirtu as President, via acclamation by the Ethiopian parliament. Mulatu Teshome, the current Ethiopian Ambassador to Turkey, will stand as President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for the next six years. He replaces Girma Wolde-Giorgis who stood as President for 12 years. After taking his oath of office, the new President said that he felt “honoured to be the fourth President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia” and vowed to fulfil “the country’s development strategies”.
Azerbaijan
In Azerbaijan’s October presidential elections, incumbent Ilham Aliyev of the centre-right New Azerbaijan Party enjoyed a landslide victory with 84.6 per cent of the vote. Camil Hasanli came a distant second with 5.53 per cent and Iqbal Agazade came third with 2.4 per cent. Voter turnout was 75.2 per cent. The elections were criticised by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), following widespread allegations of electoral fraud. OSCE spokespeople identified political arrests, voter intimidation and unfair media coverage as just a few of the issues that affected the credibility of the election. Ballot box stuffing was also recorded at more than 30 locations. The Central Election Commission smartphone application also announced results in favour of incumbent Aliyev a day before the voting took place, leading to allegations that his victory was predetermined. Aliyev himself was so confident that he would secure a victory that he did not run a campaign.
Georgia
Georgian voters went to the polls in October for the presidential elections, which resulted – for the first time in Georgian history – in a president being replaced through the ballot box, as opposed to a revolt. According to the constitution, incumbent Mikheil Saakashvili was forbidden to run for a third term in office. Giorgi Margvelashvili emerged as a clear winner with 62 per cent of the vote. Margvelashvili belongs to current Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream party, and previously stood as Minister of Education and Science in Georgia. He replaces President Saakashvili from the centre-right United National Movement. Saakashvili’s controversial presidency prompted parliament to pass constitutional reforms to move towards a more parliamentary system, which will go into effect when Margvelashvili takes office. David Bakradze of the United National Movement received 21.7 per cent of the vote, while Nino Burjanadze finished third in the election with 10.18 per cent. Turnout for the election was 46.9 per cent. A week after the presidential elections had taken place, outgoing Prime Minister Ivanishvili announced that Irakli Garibashvili would take his place as Prime Minister of Georgia.
Luxembourg
In October, early parliamentary elections were held in Luxembourg following the withdrawal of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) from the ruling coalition. The decision to withdraw followed allegations of wiretapping by the secret services, which saw Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, Europe’s longest-serving leader, resign. In the parliamentary elections, the centre-right Christian Social People’s Party (CSPP) won 33.7 per cent of the vote, securing 23 of the 60 seats available; the centre-left LSAP won 20.3 per cent and 13 seats, the centre-right Democratic Party 18.2 per cent and 13 seats; and the centre-left Greens came in fourth place with 10.1 per cent and six seats. Other parties included the centre-right Alternative Democratic Reform Party with three seats, the left-wing party called simply ‘Left’ with two seats, and the Pirate Party which failed to take any seats. A total of 218,453 Luxembourgers took part in voting, representing 85 per cent of registered voters. In October, Grand Duke Henri asked Xavier Bettel of the Democratic Party to form a government. The new coalition will be made up of the Democratic Party, the LSAP and the Greens.
Maldives
The second round of voting to elect the President of the Maldives was finally held in November, following months of uncertainty. Abdulla Yameen, the half-brother of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and leader of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), secured the majority of votes with 51.39 per cent. Despite gaining the most votes in the first round of elections, former President Mohamed Nasheed came second with 48.61 per cent. In total, 91.41 per cent of registered Maldivians cast their ballots.
Tajikistan
The November presidential elections saw the re-election of President Emomali Rahmon of the People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDP) in a landslide victory. The PDP secured more than three million votes, representing just over 83 per cent of the total votes cast. The authoritarian leader has been in office for more than 20 years and will now serve a further seven-year term. To date, the EU and the USA have not recognised a single election in Tajikistan as being free and fair. Ismoil Talbakov of the Communist Party came a distant second, winning just short of five per cent of votes cast. The Agrarian Party leader Tolibbak Bukhoriev came in at third place with 4.5 per cent of the vote. Organization for Security and Co-operation staff said that the elections lacked “genuine choice and meaningful pluralism”. Human rights activist Oinihol Bobonazarova of the Union of Reformist Forces was considered to be the main opposition candidate in this election, but she was banned from running for bureaucratic reasons. Voter turnout was 86.6 per cent.
