ELECTION RESULTS (December 1992-March 1993)
Cyprus: Glafcos Clerides of Democratic Rally outpolled incumbent George Vassiliou, an independent backed by the Progressive Party of the Working People, by less than 2,000 votes to win the presidency on February 7. Clerides, who had lost to Vassiliou by a similarly narrow margin in 1988, captured 50.28 percent to his rival’s 49.72 percent.
Djibouti: In legislative elections held on 18 December 1992, Popular Rally for Progress, the ruling party headed by President Hassan Gouled Aptidon, won 74.6 percent of the vote and all 65 seats in the country’s unicameral National Assembly, defeating the Party for Reviving Democracy, its only challenger.
Ghana: The National Democratic Congress (NDC) carried 189 of 200 seats in parliamentary elections held on 29 December 1992. Allied parties won nine more seats, and independent candidates won the final two seats in the country’s unicameral legislature. Opposition parties boycotted the vote in response to disputed presidential balloting on November 3, when NDC leader Jerry Rawlings won the presidency.
Kenya: On 29 December 1992, presidential elections returned Daniel arap Moi of the Kenya African National Union (KANU) to his fourth term in office. Moi won 36.4 percent of the vote against 26 percent for Kenneth Matiba of the Forum for Restoration of Democracy-Asilf (FORD-A), 19.5 percent for Mwai Kibaki of the Democratic Party (DP), and 17.5 percent for Oginga Odinga of the Forum for Restoration of Democracy-Kenya (FORD-K). In parliamentary elections, KANU won 95 seats, FORD-A and FORD-K each claimed 31, and the DP won 23. Three smaller parties each won a seat. Five more seats awarded to KANU are being contested, and the constitution entitles Moi to appoint the remaining 12 members of the 200-seat National Assembly. Though there were credible opposition charges of fraud, the holding of multiparty elections was widely viewed as a hopeful step toward democracy. On January 27, however, Moi suspended the parliament just one day after its opening session.
Lesotho: Parliamentary elections were scheduled for March 27, and results will be reported in our next issue.
Lithuania: Former communist Algirdas Brazauskas of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) defeated Stasys Lozoraitis, who was supported by a coalition of parties from the center and the right, to win Lithuania’s presidency on February 14. Brazauskas totaled 60 percent of the vote to Lozoraitis’s 38.3 percent. Elections last fall had given the DLP a legislative majority.
Madagascar: Democratic challenger Albert Zafy defeated longtime military ruler Didier Ratsiraka in runoff elections on February 16 to win Madagascar’s presidency, polling 66.6 percent to Ratsiraka’s 33.4 percent. Zafy had bested Ratsiraka and five other candidates in first-round voting held on 23 December 1992, but failed to secure a majority.
Niger: On February 14, parliamentary elections gave the National Movement for Social Development (MNSD, the former government party) 29 seats, the Democratic and Social Convention party (CDS) 22 seats, the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism 13 seats, and the Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and Progress 11 seats in the country’s 83-seat National Assembly. Five other parties divided the remaining 8 places. On February 27, Tandja Mamadou, leader of MNSD and a former army colonel who had served in Niger’s military regime, won 34.2 percent in first-round presidential voting; Mahamane Ousmane of CDS finished second with 26.6 percent. A runoff election was scheduled for March 20, and results will be reported in our next issue.
Senegal: Presidential elections held on February 21 returned incumbent Abdou Diouf of the Socialist Party to his third term in office. Diouf defeated Abdoulaye Wade of the Senegalese Democratic Party, his main challenger, receiving 58.4 percent of the vote to Wade’s 32 percent, Opposition charges of vote-rigging in many departments held up the announcement of a winner for several weeks.
South Korea: Kim Young Sam of the ruling Democratic Liberal Party (DLP) gathered 41.4 percent of the vote on 18 December 1992 to win South Korea’s presidency. Democratic Party candidate Kim Dae Jung ran second with 33.4 percent, and industrialist Chung Ju Yung finished third with 16.1 percent.
Taiwan: In parliamentary elections held on 19 December 1992, the ruling Kuomintang party won 96 of 161 seats in the unicameral Legislative Yuan. Its main opposition, the Democratic Progressive Party, claimed an unexpectedly high total of 50 seats, the Chinese Social Democratic Party earned one seat, and independent candidates gained the remaining 14 spots. The result prompted Premier Hau Pei-tsun and his cabinet to resign on January 30.
Yugoslavia: On 20 December 1992, elections were held by rump Yugoslavia and its constituent republics of Serbia and Montenegro. In nationwide balloting for the Federal Assembly’s 138-seat Chamber of Citizens, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) won 47 seats, the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) won 34 seats, the Democratic Movement of Serbia (DEPOS) won 20 seats, and the Democratic Party of Socialists won 17 seats. Six other parties shared the remaining 20 places. In Serbia, incumbent Slobodan Milošević of SPS won 56.3 percent of the presidential vote, defeating then-Yugoslavian prime minister Milan Panic, who attracted 34 percent, and five lesser-known candidates. SPS won 101 seats in elections to Serbia’s 250-seat Chamber of Citizens, followed by SRS with 73 seats and DEPOS with 49 seats. Six other parties divided the remaining 27 places. In Montenegro, Momir Bulatović won 42.8 percent of the presidential vote; Branko Kostić finished second with 23.8 percent. In a runoff election on January 10, Bulatović polled 63.3 percent to Kostic’s 36.7 percent to become Montenegro’s president. In elections to the 85-seat Montenegrin parliament, the Democratic Party of Socialists won 46 seats and its ally, the National Party, won 14. The Liberal Alliance party won 13 seats, and two smaller parties divided the remaining 12 seats. Western observers characterized both campaigning and voting throughout Yugoslavia as marked by flaws and irregularities.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS (April 1993-March 1994)
Armenia: presidential/parliamentary, fall 1993
Bolivia: presidential/legislative, 6 June 1993
Burundi: presidential, May 1993; legislative, June 1993*
Cambodia: legislative, May 1993*
Central African Republic: presidential/legislative, 18 April 1993
Chile: presidential, 11 December 1993
Gabon: presidential, December 1993*
Iran: presidential, 11 June 1993
Latvia: parliamentary, May 1993*
Mongolia: presidential, June 1993*
Morocco: legislative, 30 April 1993
Mozambique: presidential/legislative, October 1993*
Nigeria: presidential, 12 June 1993
Paraguay: presidential, 9 May 1993
Rwanda: presidential/legislative, 1 December 1993*
Senegal: legislative, May 1993
Solomon Islands: parliamentary, 26 May 1993
Venezuela: presidential, December 1993*
Yemen: parliamentary, 27 April 1993
* 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 137]