Election Watch

Issue Date July 1993
Volume 4
Issue 3
Page Numbers 130-33
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ELECTION RESULTS (March 1993-June 1993)

Bolivia: Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada of the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR) won a plurality of 36 percent in voting for the presidency on June 6, defeating former military ruler General Hugo Bánzer Suárez of the Nationalist Democratic Action party, who won 21 percent, and several other candidates. Though Sánchez de Lozada failed to win the majority necessary for direct election, Bánzer instructed his delegates in Congress, which was elected at the same time and will formally choose the next president on August 6, to vote for the MNR leader. Complete results will be reported in our next issue.

Burundi: On June 1, challenger Melchior Ndadaye of the Burundi Democratic Front defeated incumbent Pierre Buyoya of the Unity for National Progress party to win Burundi’s first multiparty presidential election since independence in 1962. Ndadaye won 65 percent of the vote against 32 percent for his main rival, who had seized power in a 1987 military coup. Legislative elections were scheduled for June 29, and results will be reported in our next issue.

Cambodia: General elections were held during May 23-28 to elect a constituent assembly, which will write the country’s new constitution while serving as a transitional government. According to incomplete results, the royalist United National Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC), led by Prince Norodom Ranariddh, won 45 percent of the vote and 58 of the assembly’s 120 seats, while the Cambodian People’s Party, the current ruling party led by Hun Sen, received 38 percent and 51 seats. The Khmer Rouge boycotted the voting. [End Page 130]

Congo: Legislative elections held on May 22-23 produced disputed results. Official figures gave President Pascal Lissouba’s Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS) and its allies 64 seats in the 125-member National Assembly and opposition parties 49 seats, leaving 12 seats to be decided in runoff elections on June 5. The opposition contested these results, and boycotted the second round of voting.

Djibouti: On May 7, incumbent Hassan Gouled Aptidon of the Popular Rally for Progress won 61 percent of the vote to retain Djibouti’s presidency. Aptidon easily defeated Mohamed Jama Elabe of the Party for Reviving Democracy, who won 22 percent, and Aden Robel Awale of the National Democratic Party, who gained 12 percent.

Iran: Presidential elections were scheduled for June 11, and results will be reported in our next issue.

Jamaica: Prime Minister P.J. Patterson’s ruling People’s National Party won 52 of 60 seats in Jamaica’s House of Representatives in elections on March 30, while the Jamaican Labour Party, led by former prime minister Edward Seaga, won just eight seats, six less than in 1989. There were some reports of violence, mismanagement, and ballot-box theft.

Latvia: Elections on June 5-6 gave the eclectic but right-of-center Latvia’s Way party a plurality of 36 seats in the country’s 100-seat unicameral legislature, the Saeima. The more conservative National Independence Movement of Latvia, the driving force behind national independence, won 15 seats; the leftist Concord for Latvia gained 13 seats; and the Latvian Farmer’s Union secured 12 seats.

Lesotho: On March 27, seven years of military rule ended with parliamentary elections. The leftist Basotholand Congress Party, led by Ntsu Mothehle, won all 65 seats in the country’s parliament, shutting out their main rival and one-time ruling party, the Basotho National Party (BNP). The BNP subsequently complained that the election was tainted by fraud and mismanagement, but international observers called the contest free and fair.

Madagascar: Parliamentary elections were scheduled for June 16, and results will be reported in our next issue.

Mongolia: Incumbent Punsalmaagiyn Ochirbat, who had left the formerly communist Mongolian People’s Evolutionary Party (MPEP) to join the Mongolian National Democratic Party, outpolled Lodongiyn Tudev of the MPEP by 58 to 38 percent on June 6 to win the country’s first-ever direct presidential election. [End Page 131]

Morocco: Legislative elections were scheduled for June 25, and results will be reported in our next issue.

Niger: Mahamane Ousmane of the Democratic and Social Convention party won 54 percent of the votes cast in runoff elections on March 27 to win Niger’s presidency. Ousmane defeated Tandja Mamadou, a former army colonel in Niger’s military regime and candidate of the National Movement for Social Development, who won 46 percent.

Nigeria: Presidential elections were scheduled for June 12, and results will be reported in our next issue.

Paraguay: On May 10, Juan Carlos Wasmosy of the ruling Colorado Party became the first civilian to win a multiparty, direct election for president, defeating Domingo Laíno of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA) and Guillermo Caballero Vargas of National Encounter (EN). Wasmosy won 40 percent of the vote to Laíno’s 32 percent and Caballero Vargas’s 27 percent. Legislative elections held the same day gave the Colorados 19 seats in the 45-member Senate and 36 seats in the 80-seat Chamber of Deputies; the PLRA won 17 seats in the Senate and 33 in the Chamber, and the EN won 9 seats in the Senate and 10 in the Chamber. Monitors described the contest as free and fair.

Senegal: In parliamentary elections held on May 9, the Socialist Party (PS) of President Abdou Diouf won 84 of the 120 seats in Senegal’s unicameral National Assembly. The Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) won 27 seats, and four other parties divided the remaining 9 seats. Observers said the election met minimal standards of legitimacy, but the PDS protested partisan exploitation of the electoral code by the PS.

Solomon Islands: In parliamentary elections on May 26, candidates of prime minister Solomon Mamaloni’s ruling National Unity coalition won 21 of 47 seats. Candidates of the National Coalition, the loose opposition grouping led by the National Action Party of the Solomon Islands, the People’s Alliance Party, and the United Party, claimed the other 26 seats. The new government was to be formed by the winner of a June 18 election in parliament for prime minister.

Yemen: On April 25, President Ali Abdullah Salih’s General People’s Congress (GPC) won a plurality of 121 seats in Yemen’s 301-member House of Representatives. The Islamic-fundamentalist Islah Party won 62 seats, and the Yemeni Socialist Party won 59 seats. Smaller parties won 13 places, and independent candidates gained the remaining 45 seats. Subsequently, the GPC formed a grand coalition with Islah and the Socialists. One seat remains open. [End Page 132]

UPCOMING ELECTIONS (July 1993-June 1994)

Antigua: parliamentary, March 1994*

Argentina: legislative, 3 October 1993

Central African Republic: presidential/legislative, 17 October 1993*

Chile: presidential, 11 December 1993

El Salvador: presidential/legislative, March 1994

Gabon: presidential, December 1993

Honduras: presidential, 27 November 1993

Mozambique: presidential/parliamentary, October 1993*

Poland: parliamentary, 12 September 1993

Rwanda: presidential/legislative, 1 December 1993*

South Africa: parliamentary, 27 April 1994*

Tunisia: presidential/legislative, March 1994

Venezuela: presidential, 5 December 1993

* tentative [End Page 133]

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 133]