ELECTION RESULTS (March 1992-June 1992)
Albania: Official results from the 22 March 1992 elections to the 140-member People’s Assembly gave the opposition Democratic Party 62.1 percent of the vote and 92 seats. The Socialist Party, which ruled for decades as the Communist Party of Labor, received only 25.7 percent and 38 seats, losing the parliamentary majority that it had won in the first multiparty elections a year ago. The Social Democratic Party won 4.4 percent and claimed 7 seats; the Unity Party of Human Rights won 2.9 percent and 2 seats; and the Republican Party took 3.1 percent and 1 seat. Ninety percent of the 2 million eligible voters turned out for the balloting. On April 9 the People’s Assembly elected Sali Berisha of the Democratic Party the first noncommunist president since World War II.
Azerbaijan: Preliminary results from presidential elections on 7 June 1992 indicate that Popular Front leader Abdulfaz Elchibey won with over 60 percent of the vote.
Bahamas: Parliamentary elections were scheduled to be held in June 1992. Results will be reported in our next issue.
Burkina Faso: Legislative elections were held on 24 May 1992. Results will be reported in our next issue.
Congo: Elections to the lower house of the legislature were scheduled for 21 June 1992. Results will be reported in our next issue.
Czech and Slovak Federative Republic: Early returns from the 5-6 June 1992 elections gave the pro-free market Civic Democratic Party of Václav Klaus 83 seats in the 300-seat Federal Assembly. Vladimir [End Page 154] Meciar’s Movement for a Democratic Slovakia gained 57 seats, followed by the former Czech and Slovak communist parties, with 34 and 23 seats respectively. Presidential elections by the parliament are scheduled for 3 July 1992. Final results will be reported in our next issue.
Ecuador: Legislative elections to the 77-seat National Congress were held on 17 May 1992. According to unofficial results, the Social Christian Party (PSC) won 21 seats; the Ecuadoran Roldoist Party (PRE) claimed 13; the Republican Unity Party (PUR) took 12 seats; outgoing president Rodrigo Borja’s Democratic Left Party (ID) won 7; and the remaining seats were divided among 9 smaller parties. In presidential balloting on the same date, two conservative candidates, Sixto Durán Ballén of the PUR and Jaime Nebot Saadi of the PSC, won 33.2 percent and 25.4 percent of the vote respectively. They will face each other in a runoff on July 5. Final results will be reported in our next issue.
Fiji: In parliamentary elections on 28 May 1992, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s Soqusoqu Ni Vakavulewa Ni Taukei (SVT) won 30 seats in the 70-seat House of Representatives; the National Federation Party (NFP) won 14; the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) took 13; the General Voters’ Party (GVP) garnered 5; the Fiji Nationalist United Front (FNUF) won 3; and other parties and independents won 5.
Gambia: President Dawda Jawara of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was reelected with 58.5 percent of the vote in balloting on 29 April 1992. In elections to the 50-seat House of Representatives on the same day, the PPP won 25 of the 36 seats determined by direct election. The National Convention Party (NCP) won 6 seats; the Gambia People’s Party (GPP) claimed 2; and independents won 3.
Indonesia: President Suharto’s Golkar Party led with 67 percent of the vote in early returns from parliamentary elections on 9 June 1992. Final results will be reported in our next issue.
Mali: Two rounds of legislative elections, held on 23 February and 8 March 1992 and plagued by low turnouts, were needed to select the National Assembly. Unofficial results indicate that most seats were won by the Alliance for Democracy in Mali (Adema). Presidential elections were held on 12 April 1992, and after no candidate gained a majority in the first round, opposition leader Alpha Oumar Konaré won a runoff election on April 28 over Tieoulé Mamadou Konaté with 69.1 percent of the vote. The turnout was low again, at 20.9 percent.
Mongolia: Parliamentary elections were scheduled for 29 June 1992. Results will be reported in our next issue. [End Page 155]
Papua New Guinea: Parliamentary elections were scheduled to be held 7-27 June 1992. Results will be reported in our next issue.
Philippines: Preliminary results from presidential elections on 11 May 1992 indicate that Fidel Ramos will win with about 25 percent of the vote. Official results of the presidential and legislative contests will be reported in our next issue.
St. Lucia: In parliamentary elections on 27 April 1992, Prime Minister John Compton’s United Workers’ Party (UWP) won 11 of the 17 seats at stake. The St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) won the remaining 6.
South Korea: In elections on 24 March 1992, the ruling Democratic Liberal Party (DLP) lost its majority in the 299-member National Assembly, winning only 149 seats. The Democratic Party, led by Kim Dae Jung, won 97 seats; the two-month-old Unification National Party took 31 seats; the Party for New Political Reform won 1 seat; and independent candidates won 21 seats. Some 70 percent of the 29 million eligible voters turned out for the election.
Thailand: Elections to the lower chamber of the National Assembly were held on 22 March 1992. Of the 360 seats, Samakkhi Tham (Union of Righteousness) won 79; Chart Thai (Thai Nation) won 74; Pak Kuam Vuang Mai (New Aspiration Party) won 72; Pak Prachathipat (Democrat Party) took 44; Palang Dharma (Righteous Force) won 41; Pak Kit Sangkhom (Social Action Party) claimed 31; Prachakorn Thai (Thai Citizens) won 7; Ekkaparb (Solidarity) won 6; Rashadorn (Citizen) won 4; and Muan Chon (Mass) and Puangchon Chao Thai (Thai Mass) each won 1. On the same day, the National Peacekeeping Council appointed all 270 members of the Senate. Popular protests forced the resignation on May 24 of Prime Minister Suchinda Kraprayoon. On June 10 the King appointed to the post former prime minister Anand Panyarachun, who announced that his first priority would be to organize new elections.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS (July 1992-June 1993)
Angola: presidential/legislative, 29-30 September 1992*
Burundi: presidential/legislative, March 1993*
Congo: senatorial, 12 July 1992; presidential, 17 July 1992*
Cyprus: parliamentary, May 1993* [End Page 156]
Georgia: parliamentary, 11 October 1992
Ghana: presidential, 3 November 1992; parliamentary, 8 December 1992*
Guinea: presidential/legislative, November-December 1992*
Guinea-Bissau: presidential/legislative, November-December 1992*
Guyana: presidential/legislative, 16 December 1992
Kuwait: parliamentary, October 1992
Mongolia: presidential, June 1993*
Niger: presidential, November-December 1992*
Nigeria: legislative, 4 July 1992; presidential, 5 December 1992*
Papua New Guinea: presidential, 5 December 1992
Romania: presidential/parliamentary, 27 September 1992*
Senegal: presidential, February 1993; legislative, May 1993*
Sierra Leone: presidential, November 1992*
Solomon Islands: parliamentary, 1 February 1993
South Korea: presidential, December 1992
Taiwan: legislative, December 1992
* tentative
Election Watch provides reports of recently decided and upcoming elections in postcommunist and developing countries. 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. This information is current as we go to press; however, election dates are often moved due to changing circumstances. The data in 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, N.W., Suite 611, Washington, DC 20006; (202) 828-8507. [End Page 157]