Upcoming Elections
Thailand Parliamentary – March 24, 2019
Tim Newton in The Thaiger: “The day that shook Thai politics”
AFP: “Thai election commission moves to dissolve party linked to princess: The scuttling of Ubolratana’s candidacy and potential moves to dissolve the Thai Raksa Chart party are a blow to the political machine of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra”
The Independent: “Princess Ubolratana: Thai royal ‘sad’ about election fallout that could see party disbanded ‘I am sad that my honest intentions to work for the country and all Thais have resulted in a problem that should not arise in this day and age’“
Allen Hicken and Joel Selway in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog: “Wait — what’s going on in Thailand? Here’s the background.”
Maldives Parliamentary – April 9, 2019
Daily Mail: ”A Maldivian court Thursday announced it was summoning former strongman leader Abdulla Yameen to a preliminary hearing into allegations that he embezzled millions of dollars while in office.”
Financial Times: “But while China has portrayed its Maldivian projects as an example of how its Belt and Road Initiative can drive development in smaller countries, the new government in Male is taking a darker view. It claims that Mr Yameen’s administration saddled the country with vast debts — owed principally to China — through inflated investment contracts which involved personal gain for corrupt Maldivian officials.”
Indonesia General – April 14, 2019
Indonesian novelist Eka Kurniawan in the New York Times: “Indonesia’s Next Election Is in April. The Islamists Have Already Won.”
India Parliamentary – April/May 2019
Harish C Menon in Quartz: “Depicting India’s 2019 elections as a Modi-Rahul battle is an oversimplification”
Brahma Chellaney in the Nikkei Asian Review: Awkward hole in India’s election debate — foreign policy: Politicians on the stump ignore China and other key issues new government will face”
Economist: “Indian opposition parties have often charged their rivals in power with massaging official data. But since the landslide victory of Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014, critics claim, the practice has become commonplace.”
Japan Local – April 2019 and Upper House – July 2019 and Various Prefectures’ Gubernatorial – Throughout 2019 (snap lower house possible)
The Japan Times: “Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and opposition heavyweight Katsuya Okada argued emotionally in the Diet on Tuesday over Abe’s recent remark that Japan was going through a “nightmare” before his Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in 2012.”
Murdoch University professor Rikki Kersten in East Asia Forum: “If the April poll goes well for the LDP, Abe could be tempted to go for a double dissolution if external events provide him with an opportunity. In 2017 Abe went to the people a year early for lower house elections to capitalise on two contextual opportunities: opposition disarray and an existential threat to Japan in the form of several North Korean ballistic missile firings. Abe romped home in the election.’
Philippines Midterm Legislative and Local – May 13, 2019
Natashya Gutierrez and David Gilbert in Vice: “President Rodrigo Duterte hasn’t been shy in attacking renowned journalist Maria Ressa and her website, Rappler. But it was still a startling escalation when government agents and lawyers from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested her Wednesday on cyber libel charges that Amnesty International has called ‘brazenly trumped-up.’”
BBC: “Award-winning Philippine journalist Maria Ressa has been freed on bail, a day after her arrest on charges of ‘cyber-libel’ drew international condemnation.”
NPR: “Journalist’s Arrest In Philippines Sparks Demonstrations, Fears Of Wider Crackdown”
Economist: “Mr Duterte has declared journalists ‘spies’ and ‘sons of bitches’ and once implied that most of the 185 journalists killed in the Philippines over the past 30 years deserved to die.”
Nick Aspinwall at the Lowy Institute’s blog the Interpreter: “In the Philippines, activists increasingly face a ‘living hell’”
Duterte came to power in 2016 on a populist platform, and since then, he has embarked on a brutal war on drugs that has resulted in more than 12,000 extrajudicial killings and the harassment and detention of journalists, critics, and the political opposition, including a sitting senator.
Hong Kong Local – December 2019 and Legislative – 2020
South China Morning Post: “Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has told her critics not to expect any room for compromise when it comes to the city’s ‘one country, two systems’ governing formula and threats to long-term stability.”
Burma Parliamentary – 2020
Reuters: “New political groups are emerging to contest Myanmar’s next election in 2020, aiming to challenge the hegemony of national civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she has been weakened by escalating ethnic conflicts and slowing economic growth.”
Past Elections
Bangladesh Parliamentary – December 30, 2019
Deutsche Welle: “Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina hints at last term as prime minister”
Cambodia – July 29, 2018
Kimkong Heng from University of Queensland and Veasna Var from UNSW Canberra in East Asia Forum: “Cambodia is drifting towards autocracy with a clear trend. An unprecedented crackdown on independent media, civil society and the country’s major opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), hardly suggest otherwise.”
The European Union is considering eliminating preferential trade agreements for Cambodia over problems with the 2018 elections and the general slide toward authoritarianism. Cambodia’s garment industry exports $4 billion worth of merchandise to the EU each year, so such a move would cause severe economic damage.
Asia This Week – February 15, 2019
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Last Updated: August 27, 2019 by 21votes
February 15, 2019
Each day, 21votes gathers election and political news from a different region of the world. We explore Asia and the Pacific on Fridays. Click the map pins.
Thailand Parliamentary - March 24, 2019
Tim Newton in The Thaiger: “The day that shook Thai politics”
AFP: “Thai election commission moves to dissolve party linked to princess: The scuttling of Ubolratana’s candidacy and potential moves to dissolve the Thai Raksa Chart party are a blow to the political machine of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra”
The Independent: “Princess Ubolratana: Thai royal ‘sad’ about election fallout that could see party disbanded ‘I am sad that my honest intentions to work for the country and all Thais have resulted in a problem that should not arise in this day and age’“
Allen Hicken and Joel Selway in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog: “Wait — what’s going on in Thailand? Here’s the background.”
Maldives Parliamentary - April 9, 2019
Daily Mail: ”A Maldivian court Thursday announced it was summoning former strongman leader Abdulla Yameen to a preliminary hearing into allegations that he embezzled millions of dollars while in office.”
Financial Times: “But while China has portrayed its Maldivian projects as an example of how its Belt and Road Initiative can drive development in smaller countries, the new government in Male is taking a darker view. It claims that Mr Yameen’s administration saddled the country with vast debts — owed principally to China — through inflated investment contracts which involved personal gain for corrupt Maldivian officials.”
Indonesia General - April 14, 2019
Indonesian novelist Eka Kurniawan in the New York Times: “Indonesia’s Next Election Is in April. The Islamists Have Already Won.”
India Parliamentary - April/May 2019
Harish C Menon in Quartz: “Depicting India’s 2019 elections as a Modi-Rahul battle is an oversimplification”
Brahma Chellaney in the Nikkei Asian Review: Awkward hole in India’s election debate — foreign policy: Politicians on the stump ignore China and other key issues new government will face”
https://twitter.com/bidhs/status/1095905929478823936
Economist: “Indian opposition parties have often charged their rivals in power with massaging official data. But since the landslide victory of Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014, critics claim, the practice has become commonplace.”
Japan Local - April 2019 and Upper House - July 2019 and Various Prefectures’ Gubernatorial - Throughout 2019 (snap lower house possible)
The Japan Times: “Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and opposition heavyweight Katsuya Okada argued emotionally in the Diet on Tuesday over Abe’s recent remark that Japan was going through a “nightmare” before his Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in 2012.”
Murdoch University professor Rikki Kersten in East Asia Forum: “If the April poll goes well for the LDP, Abe could be tempted to go for a double dissolution if external events provide him with an opportunity. In 2017 Abe went to the people a year early for lower house elections to capitalise on two contextual opportunities: opposition disarray and an existential threat to Japan in the form of several North Korean ballistic missile firings. Abe romped home in the election.’
Philippines Midterm Legislative and Local - May 13, 2019
Natashya Gutierrez and David Gilbert in Vice: “President Rodrigo Duterte hasn’t been shy in attacking renowned journalist Maria Ressa and her website, Rappler. But it was still a startling escalation when government agents and lawyers from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested her Wednesday on cyber libel charges that Amnesty International has called ‘brazenly trumped-up.’”
BBC: “Award-winning Philippine journalist Maria Ressa has been freed on bail, a day after her arrest on charges of ‘cyber-libel’ drew international condemnation.”
NPR: “Journalist’s Arrest In Philippines Sparks Demonstrations, Fears Of Wider Crackdown”
Economist: “Mr Duterte has declared journalists ‘spies’ and ‘sons of bitches’ and once implied that most of the 185 journalists killed in the Philippines over the past 30 years deserved to die.”
Nick Aspinwall at the Lowy Institute’s blog the Interpreter: “In the Philippines, activists increasingly face a ‘living hell’”
Duterte came to power in 2016 on a populist platform, and since then, he has embarked on a brutal war on drugs that has resulted in more than 12,000 extrajudicial killings and the harassment and detention of journalists, critics, and the political opposition, including a sitting senator.
Hong Kong Local - December 2019 and Legislative - 2020
South China Morning Post: “Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has told her critics not to expect any room for compromise when it comes to the city’s ‘one country, two systems’ governing formula and threats to long-term stability.”
Burma Parliamentary - 2020
Reuters: “New political groups are emerging to contest Myanmar’s next election in 2020, aiming to challenge the hegemony of national civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she has been weakened by escalating ethnic conflicts and slowing economic growth.”
Bangladesh Parliamentary - December 30, 2019
Deutsche Welle: “Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina hints at last term as prime minister”
Cambodia - July 29, 2018
Kimkong Heng from University of Queensland and Veasna Var from UNSW Canberra in East Asia Forum: “Cambodia is drifting towards autocracy with a clear trend. An unprecedented crackdown on independent media, civil society and the country’s major opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), hardly suggest otherwise.”
The European Union is considering eliminating preferential trade agreements for Cambodia over problems with the 2018 elections and the general slide toward authoritarianism. Cambodia’s garment industry exports $4 billion worth of merchandise to the EU each year, so such a move would cause severe economic damage.
Upcoming Elections
Thailand Parliamentary – March 24, 2019
Tim Newton in The Thaiger: “The day that shook Thai politics”
AFP: “Thai election commission moves to dissolve party linked to princess: The scuttling of Ubolratana’s candidacy and potential moves to dissolve the Thai Raksa Chart party are a blow to the political machine of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra”
The Independent: “Princess Ubolratana: Thai royal ‘sad’ about election fallout that could see party disbanded ‘I am sad that my honest intentions to work for the country and all Thais have resulted in a problem that should not arise in this day and age’“
Allen Hicken and Joel Selway in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog: “Wait — what’s going on in Thailand? Here’s the background.”
Maldives Parliamentary – April 9, 2019
Daily Mail: ”A Maldivian court Thursday announced it was summoning former strongman leader Abdulla Yameen to a preliminary hearing into allegations that he embezzled millions of dollars while in office.”
Financial Times: “But while China has portrayed its Maldivian projects as an example of how its Belt and Road Initiative can drive development in smaller countries, the new government in Male is taking a darker view. It claims that Mr Yameen’s administration saddled the country with vast debts — owed principally to China — through inflated investment contracts which involved personal gain for corrupt Maldivian officials.”
Indonesia General – April 14, 2019
Indonesian novelist Eka Kurniawan in the New York Times: “Indonesia’s Next Election Is in April. The Islamists Have Already Won.”
India Parliamentary – April/May 2019
Harish C Menon in Quartz: “Depicting India’s 2019 elections as a Modi-Rahul battle is an oversimplification”
Brahma Chellaney in the Nikkei Asian Review: Awkward hole in India’s election debate — foreign policy: Politicians on the stump ignore China and other key issues new government will face”
Economist: “Indian opposition parties have often charged their rivals in power with massaging official data. But since the landslide victory of Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014, critics claim, the practice has become commonplace.”
Japan Local – April 2019 and Upper House – July 2019 and Various Prefectures’ Gubernatorial – Throughout 2019 (snap lower house possible)
The Japan Times: “Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and opposition heavyweight Katsuya Okada argued emotionally in the Diet on Tuesday over Abe’s recent remark that Japan was going through a “nightmare” before his Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in 2012.”
Murdoch University professor Rikki Kersten in East Asia Forum: “If the April poll goes well for the LDP, Abe could be tempted to go for a double dissolution if external events provide him with an opportunity. In 2017 Abe went to the people a year early for lower house elections to capitalise on two contextual opportunities: opposition disarray and an existential threat to Japan in the form of several North Korean ballistic missile firings. Abe romped home in the election.’
Philippines Midterm Legislative and Local – May 13, 2019
Natashya Gutierrez and David Gilbert in Vice: “President Rodrigo Duterte hasn’t been shy in attacking renowned journalist Maria Ressa and her website, Rappler. But it was still a startling escalation when government agents and lawyers from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested her Wednesday on cyber libel charges that Amnesty International has called ‘brazenly trumped-up.’”
BBC: “Award-winning Philippine journalist Maria Ressa has been freed on bail, a day after her arrest on charges of ‘cyber-libel’ drew international condemnation.”
NPR: “Journalist’s Arrest In Philippines Sparks Demonstrations, Fears Of Wider Crackdown”
Economist: “Mr Duterte has declared journalists ‘spies’ and ‘sons of bitches’ and once implied that most of the 185 journalists killed in the Philippines over the past 30 years deserved to die.”
Nick Aspinwall at the Lowy Institute’s blog the Interpreter: “In the Philippines, activists increasingly face a ‘living hell’”
Duterte came to power in 2016 on a populist platform, and since then, he has embarked on a brutal war on drugs that has resulted in more than 12,000 extrajudicial killings and the harassment and detention of journalists, critics, and the political opposition, including a sitting senator.
Hong Kong Local – December 2019 and Legislative – 2020
South China Morning Post: “Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has told her critics not to expect any room for compromise when it comes to the city’s ‘one country, two systems’ governing formula and threats to long-term stability.”
Burma Parliamentary – 2020
Reuters: “New political groups are emerging to contest Myanmar’s next election in 2020, aiming to challenge the hegemony of national civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she has been weakened by escalating ethnic conflicts and slowing economic growth.”
Past Elections
Bangladesh Parliamentary – December 30, 2019
Deutsche Welle: “Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina hints at last term as prime minister”
Cambodia – July 29, 2018
Kimkong Heng from University of Queensland and Veasna Var from UNSW Canberra in East Asia Forum: “Cambodia is drifting towards autocracy with a clear trend. An unprecedented crackdown on independent media, civil society and the country’s major opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), hardly suggest otherwise.”
The European Union is considering eliminating preferential trade agreements for Cambodia over problems with the 2018 elections and the general slide toward authoritarianism. Cambodia’s garment industry exports $4 billion worth of merchandise to the EU each year, so such a move would cause severe economic damage.
The Year Ahead: Asia
Japan, provincial elections throughout the year; Solomon Islands general (February); Micronesia congressional (March 5); Australia, New South Wales state (March 23); Thailand parliamentary (March 24); Tuvalu legislative (March 31); India, general and Andhra Pradesh and Odisha states (April/May); Solomon Islands legislative (April 3); Japan local (April 7); Maldives parliamentary (April 9); Indonesia general (April 17); Philippines midterms – legislative and local (May 13); Australia parliamentary (on or before May 18); Tonga local (June); Japan legislative – half of upper house (July); Nauru legislative (July); India, Maharashtra state (September); New Zealand local (October 12); Hong Kong local (November); Marshall Islands legislative (November); Kiribati legislative (December)
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Category: This Week Tags: Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Maldives, Philippines, Thailand