Election Results (December 1998–March 1999)
Benin: Legislative elections were scheduled for March 30. Results will be reported in a future issue.
Central African Republic: In parliamentary elections held on November 22 and December 13, an opposition coalition comprising the Union of Forces for Peace and Development and the Union of Forces for Renewal won 55 of the 109 seats in the newly expanded National Assembly, one more than the coalition led by President Ange-Félix Patassé’s Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People. The defection of an opposition legislator to the presidential coalition plunged the country into a protracted political crisis.
El Salvador: According to preliminary results of presidential balloting held on March 7, Francisco Flores of the National Republican Alliance (ARENA) won 52 percent of the vote, defeating Facundo Guardado of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front-Social Christian Union, who won 28.9 percent. Voter turnout was below 40 percent.
Equatorial Guinea: Elections for the unicameral 80-seat House of People’s Representatives took place on March 7. Final results will be published in a future issue.
Estonia: According to preliminary results of elections for the uni-cameral 101-seat Riigikogu held on March 7, a proreform opposition alliance comprising the Reform Party, the Moderates, and the Fatherland Union won a total of 53 seats. The Center Party secured the most seats of any single party with 28; the Coalition Party and the Rural People’s Party each won 7 seats, and the United People’s Party won 6. Voter turnout was 55.8 percent.
Grenada: In January 18 elections to the 15-seat House of Represen-tatives, Keith Mitchell’s ruling New National Party captured all the seats, shutting out the National Democratic Congress and the Grenada United Labour Party, which had held 5 and 2 seats, respectively, in the previous parliament. The election, declared “free and fair” by OAS observers, drew a turnout of 56.7 percent.
Guinea: In presidential balloting held on December 14, incumbent Lansana Conte (who had seized power in a 1984 coup and first won election in 1993) was reelected with 56.1 percent of the vote. Mamadou Boye Ba of the Union for Progress and Renewal won 24.6 percent, and Alpha Condé of the Rally of the Guinean People came in third with 16.6 percent. Members of the opposition called the election’s validity into question. Two days after the election, Condé was arrested and later charged with conspiring to overthrow the government.
Kazakhstan: Incumbent Nursultan Nazarbayev of the Party of People’s Unity of Kazakhstan swept the January 10 presidential election, winning 79.8 percent of the vote. Serikbolsyn Abdildin of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan came in a distant second with 11.7 percent, while independent candidate Gany Kasymov came in third with 4.6 percent. Voter turnout was high at 87 percent, but international observers questioned the fairness of the election.
Nigeria: Former military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won 62.8 percent of votes in the February 27 presidential election, defeating Olu Falae, the joint candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the All People’s Party (APP), who won 37.2 percent. According to preliminary results of February 20 elections to the 360-seat House of Representatives, the PDP won 208 seats, the APP, 69 seats, and the AD, 76. In concurrent balloting for the 109-seat Senate, the PDP appeared to have won 60 seats, the APP, 24, and the AD, 20. Domestic and international observers voiced serious concerns about the conduct of the election.
Togo: Parliamentary elections were scheduled for March 21. Results will be reported in a future issue.
Upcoming Elections (April 1999–March 2000)
Algeria: presidential, 15 April 1999
Argentina: presidential/legislative, October 1999
Armenia: parliamentary, 30 May 1999
Botswana: parliamentary, October 1999
Chile: presidential, 12 December 1999
Djibouti: presidential, May 1999
Dominican Republic: presidential, 16 May 2000
El Salvador: legislative, March 2000
Fiji: parliamentary, 24 April 1999
Guatemala: presidential/legislative, November 1999
Indonesia: parliamentary, 7 June 1999
Malawi: presidential/parliamentary, 25 May 1999
Mozambique: presidential/parliamentary, October 1999
Nepal: parliamentary, 3 May 1999
Panama: presidential/legislative, 2 May 1999
Papua New Guinea: parliamentary, July 2000
Peru: presidential/legislative, April 2000
Senegal: presidential, February 2000
South Africa: parliamentary, 2 June 1999
Turkey: parliamentary, 18 April 1999
Turkmenistan: parliamentary, December 1999
Ukraine: presidential, 31 October 1999
Uruguay: presidential/ legislative, 31 October 1999
Uzbekistan: parliamentary, December 1999
Zimbabwe: parliamentary, March 2000
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. Much of the data for Election Watch is provided by the International Foundation for Election 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, 1101 15th Street, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 828-8507; www.ifes.org.