ELECTION WATCH
(June-September 2004)
Indonesia: In a July 5 presidential election, retired general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of the Democratic Party received 33 percent of the vote, while incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle received 26 percent. Golkar candidate General H. Wiranto received 22 percent and Amien Rais of the National Mandate Party, 15 percent. Yudhoyono and Megawati advanced to a runoff scheduled for September 20; results will be reported in a future issue.
Kazakhstan: Parliamentary elections were scheduled for September 19; results will be reported in a future issue.
Lithuania: In a June 27 second-round presidential election, former president and independent candidate Valdas Adamkus won with 52 percent, defeating Kazimira Danute Prunskiene of New Democracy and Farmers’ Union. In the first round, held on June 13, Adamkus received 31 percent; Prunskiene, 21 percent; independent Petras Austrevicius, 19 percent; Vilija Blinkeviciute of the New Union Party, 16 percent; and Deslovas Jursenas of the Social Democratic Party, 12 percent. The elections were called as a result of the April 2004 impeachment on corruption charges of Rolandas Paksas, who beat Adamkus in the presidential election of January 2003. Parliamentary elections were scheduled for September 19; results will be reported in a future issue.
Mongolia:Voters dealt the formerly communist Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) a stunning blow in June 27 elections, reducing its number of seats in the 76-seat State Great Hural from 72 to 36. The opposition Motherland-Democracy Coalition (MDC) enjoyed a massive increase from 4 to 34 seats. One seat went to the Republican Party and 3 to independent candidates. The remaining 2 seats were still being disputed when this issue went to press in mid-September. With no [End Page 180] party reaching the required 39-seat majority, MPRP and MDC agreed to form a coalition government.
Philippines: Results released six weeks after the May 10 presidential elections showed that incumbent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, representing the multiparty alliance Coalition for Truth and Experience for Tomorrow (K-4), won with 40 percent of the vote. The most prominent of her four opponents, Fernando Poe, Jr., of the Coalition of United Filipinos (KNP), received 36.5 percent. Turnout was 74 percent; and an astounding 65 percent of Filipinos living abroad took advantage of the new regulations permitting absentee voting. In concurrent legislative elections, K-4 candidates won 7 of the 12 contested Senate seats; the KNP won the remaining 5. The K-4 also won control over the 214-seat House of Representatives, though the coalition has since dissolved in a series of squabbles over key legislative positions. Groups nominally loyal to the administration, though often hostile to each other, retain a majority. For more information on these elections, see the article by Steven Rogers on pp. 111-25 of this issue; for excerpts from Macapagal-Arroyo’s inaugural address, see pp. 183-84 below.
Serbia: Pro-Western reformist Boris Tadić of the Democratic Party won the June 13 second-round presidential election with 54 percent of the vote, beating nationalist Serbian Radical Party candidate Tomislav Nikolić, who received 46 percent. In the first round, Nikolić had outpolled Tadić (30 versus 28 percent), while independent Bogojub Karić received 18 percent and Dragan Maršićanin of the Democratic Party of Serbia received 13 percent. Turnout was less than 50 percent in both rounds. For excerpts from Tadić’s inaugural speech, see p. 186 below.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS
(October 2004-September 2005)
Afghanistan: presidential, 9 October 2004; legislative, summer 2005
Albania: legislative, June 2005
Belarus: parliamentary, 17 October 2004
Bosnia and Herzegovina: parliamentary, November 2004
Botswana: legislative, October 2004
Bulgaria: parliamentary, June 2005
Central African Republic: presidential, September 2005
Czech Republic: parliamentary (senate), November 2004
Ethiopia: parliamentary, May 2005 [End Page 181]
Ghana: presidential and parliamentary, December 2004
Iraq: parliamentary, January 2005
Kyrgyzstan: parliamentary, 27 February 2005
Maldives: parliamentary, November 2004
Mauritius: parliamentary, September 2005
Mozambique: presidential and parliamentary, 3 December 2004
Namibia: presidential and parliamentary, 15-16 November 2004
Niger: presidential and parliamentary, October 2004
Poland: parliamentary, September 2005
Romania: presidential and parliamentary, 28 November 2004
Senegal: presidential, 7 February 2005
Serbia and Montenegro: parliamentary, December 2004
Singapore: presidential, August 2005
Slovenia: parliamentary, October 2004
Sudan: legislative, December 2004
Suriname: presidential and legislative, May 2005
Taiwan: parliamentary, 11 December 2004
Thailand: parliamentary, March 2005
Tunisia: presidential and parliamentary, 24 October 2004
Ukraine: presidential, 31 October 2004
Uruguay: presidential and legislative, 31 October 2004
Uzbekistan: parliamentary, December 2004
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. Some of the data for Election Watch come from 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, visit www.ifes.org.