January 26, 2024

A weekly review of key news and analysis of elections in Asia and the Indo-Pacific, usually posted on Fridays and occasionally updated throughout the week.

Tuvalu’s parliament building. Photo credit: Wikimedia/lirneasia (CC BY 2.0)

Upcoming Asia/Pacific Elections

Tuvalu General Elections: January 26, 2024

Shaun Turton, Nikkei Asia (January 26, 2024): Tuvalu votes as election spotlights climate migration, Taiwan ties

AP (January 25, 2024): Voting begins in tiny Tuvalu in election that reverberates from China to Australia

Rurika Imahashi, The Diplomat (January 25, 2025): Tuvalu’s Taiwan ties under pressure as election looms

Indonesia General Elections: February 14, 2024

The Diplomat (January 25, 2024): The Maritime Implications of Indonesia’s Presidential Election: Maritime affairs have not been a major campaign issue, but the three candidates’ policies could have far-reaching implications on Indonesian security.

Nikkei Asia (January 23, 2024): Indonesian election highlights young voters’ employment concerns: Jokowi’s successor faces reform challenge to create middle-class jobs

Reuters (January 20, 2024): Indonesia’s Prabowo strengthens lead in election polls

Cambodia Senate Elections (indirect): February 25, 2024

Katrin Travouillon, East Asia Forum (January 23, 2024): Democracy remains a waiting game under Cambodia’s Hun Manet

South Korea Legislative Elections: April 10, 2024

Michelle Ye Hee Lee, Washington Post (January 25, 2024): S. Korean lawmaker struck in head, weeks after opposition leader’s stabbing

Kelly Ng, BBC (January 25, 2024): South Korea: First lady’s Dior bag shakes country’s leadership

Ju-min Park, Reuters (January 24, 2024): ‘Dior bag scandal’ lands South Korea’s Yoon, ruling party in disarray ahead of election

Kim Tong-hyung, The Diplomat (January 24, 2024): North Korea Appears to Demolish ‘Reunification Arch’ as Kim Jong Un Turns Against Ties With South

India Parliamentary Elections: May 2024

Helen Regan and Rhea Mogul, CNN (January 22, 2024): Modi hails a new ‘divine India’ as he inaugurates controversial Hindu temple ahead of nationwide elections

Sri Lanka Presidential Election: September/October 2024 (due)

Neil DeVotta, East Asia Forum (January 25, 2024): Electoral uncertainty casts a shadow over Sri Lanka’s progress

Past Asia/Pacific Elections

Nepal National Assembly (upper house) Elections: January 25, 2024

PTI (January 26, 2024): Nepal’s ruling alliance wins 18 of 19 seats in National Assembly polls: With the results of the NA election, the CPN-Maoist Centre will be the largest party with 18 seats in the 59-seat National Assembly

Taiwan Presidential and Legislative Elections: January 13, 2024

Naiyu Kuo and Jennifer Staats, United States Institute of Peace (January 24, 2024): Taiwan’s Democracy Prevailed Despite China’s Election Interference

Bhutan Parliamentary Election Runoffs: January 9, 2024

Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy, Observer Research Foundation (January 22, 2024): Bhutan elections: What is at stake for India?

Bangladesh Parliamentary Elections: January 7, 2024

Mubashar Hasan, The Diplomat (January 26, 2024): Instability Looms Over Post-Election Bangladesh

Syful Islam, Nikkei Asia (January 26, 2024): ‘India Out’ campaign heats up in Bangladesh after lopsided election

Crisis24 (January 23, 2024): Bangladesh: Political gatherings likely to continue nationwide through at least early February following recent general elections

Alexander B. Gray, The National Interest (January 22, 2024): The U.S. Should Remain Engaged in Bangladesh

Prothom Alo (January 19, 2024): Bangladesh’s elections weren’t free and fair, US repeats