Upcoming Elections
Hong Kong Local – November 24, 2019
Violet Law and Alice Fung, Associated Press: “Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong gathered Tuesday night to mark 30 years since China’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, underscoring continuing concern for Chinese human rights in the semi-autonomous territory, even as its own civil liberties are under threat.”
Ryan Krull, The Atlantic: “In City of Protest, [Antony] Dapiran notes that as Beijing further rigs legal systems and limits meaningful elections, street protests will more and more become Hong Kongers’ only viable way to make their feelings known. Eventually, as in 1989, Beijing will again have to make a choice.”
Umbrella Movement leader Ray Wong Toi-yuen, New York Times: “The Death of Hong Kong as We Know It? The Chinese government keeps repressing. The people keep resisting.”
Alissa Greenberg, Pacific Standard: “Hong Kong artist Perry Dino is chronicling his city’s struggle for democracy:Thirty years ago, Perry Dino stayed home from the Tiananmen Square protests. Now, he’s capturing Hong Kong’s demonstrations against the mainland in a series of unique and powerful paintings.”
NBC: “Hong Kong mulling bill to allow extradition to mainland China”
Human Rights Watch: “The Hong Kong government should withdraw proposed revisions to two laws concerning extradition, Human Rights Watch said today in a joint letter to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam. The letter was co-signed by 68 nongovernmental organizations that work on a broad range of human rights and social issues in Hong Kong and mainland China.”
Lee Wang-yam and Lu Xi, Radio Free Asia: “Thousands of lawyers clad in black took to the streets of Hong Kong Thursday in protest at plans to allow the rendition of alleged criminal suspects to mainland China.”
Sum Lok-kei, South China Morning Post: “Five opposition lawmaekers who occupied the chamber of Hong Kong’s legislature on Thursday to protest against the government’s extradition bill were forcibly removed after almost six hours of drama.”
Jeffie Lam, South China Morning Post: “Why massive turnout at march against Hong Kong’s controversial extradition bill could mean game over for leader Carrie Lam despite concessions”
Sri Lanka Presidential – Between November 15, 2019 and December 7, 2019
Alasdair Pal and Devjyot Ghoshal, Reuters: “Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said on Friday that he had not decided on seeking another term in an election that is due by year-end.”
Taiwan Presidential – January 11, 2020 (KMT primaries July 5-10, 2019)
Katherin Hille, Financial Times: “As half a dozen politicians gear up to run in the most unpredictable presidential race in recent memory, fierce infighting in Taiwan’s two main parties over who will stand has only added to these anxieties.”
Lawrence Chung, South China Morning Post: “Kaoshiung mayor Han Kuo-yu enters Taiwan’s presidential race. Politician won a landslide victory in November’s local elections and is regarded as Beijing’s preferred candidate for the island’s top post. Former businessman, who attracted the support of 150,000 people at a rally last weekend, already ahead of incumbent Tsai Ing-wen in polls.”
Chris Horton, New York Times: “The rally last weekend was a prelude to Mr. Han’s announcement on Wednesday that he was running for president of Taiwan, jolting the race with a populist candidate who wants friendlier ties with China — a sharp contrast to the incumbent, Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects China’s claim that Taiwan is part of its territory.”
Nick Aspinwall, The Diplomat: “Han has no perfect populist parallel – he pointedly eschews Trumpian vitriolic name-calling, for instance, and in a country whose major parties do not operate on the left-right spectrum, he’s hardly a right-wing scion – but he is Taiwan’s own populist, blazing a path through Taiwan’s foundation of democratic norms as a puzzled yet enraptured populace gazes at the aftermath.”
Shelley Shan, Taipei Times: “A majority of TV news channels gave sizable coverage to the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate, Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), during the nine-in-one elections in November last year, a study by the National Communications Commission showed yesterday.”
Lawrence Chung, South China Morning Post: “Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen vowed on Tuesday to safeguard democracy and freedom in Taiwan as activists held a memorial rally in Taipei to mark the 30th anniversary of the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in mainland China.”
Taipei Times: “Taiwan has the highest level of press freedom in East Asia, even though China seeks to influence its media narratives, according to the US government-funded Freedom House.”
Past Elections
Australia Federal – May 18, 2019
Christopher Knaus, The Guardian: “Liberal party also beat Labor on Facebook in 2019 Australian federal election. Liberal videos on Facebook watched three times as much as Labor’s”
India Parliamentary – April/May 2019
Sangeeta Tanwar, Quartz: “Indian political parties spent $8 billion on this year’s elections—nearly half was by the BJP”
NDTV: “Of the 36 political parties, whose representatives were elected to the 17th Lok Sabha, 15 got fewer votes than NOTA. Many of these parties contested only a handful of seats. Introduced in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the none of the above (NOTA) option, which indicates disapproval of all the candidates in a constituency, accounted for 1.06 per cent of the total votes polled in this general elections.”
Ajay Verghese, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage: “Is India becoming a ‘Hindu state’?”
Indonesia Presidential, Parliamentary, Regional – April 17, 2019
David Pierson, Los Angeles Times: “Here’s why Indonesia remains on edge six weeks after elections were held”
Amy Chew, South China Morning Post: “Koran teachers linked to the campaign of defeated Indonesianpresidential challenger Prabowo Subianto instructed teenagers to take part in last month’s deadly riots in Jakarta, according to the country’s National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham). Eight people were killed and hundreds more wounded in the riots on May 21-22, which were triggered by the re-election of incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who triumphed over rival Prabowo after securing 55.5 per cent of the vote.”
Joshua Kurlantzick, Council on Foreign Relations’ Asia Unbound: “The sizable Jokowi win is being presented, at least in some media coverage, as evidence, in an era of populist strongman making gains globally—after all, populist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi just led his party to a crushing victory in India’s national elections—that Indonesian voters had somehow rejected strongman politics for a man more committed to democratic pluralism, and to pragmatic fixes for the country’s major needs….Yet Jokowi’s first term hardly suggests that, in his second term, he is likely to steer Indonesia back toward a pluralist path.”
Thailand Parliamentary – March 24, 2019
Paritta Wangkiat and Shibani Mahtani, Washington Post: “Thai parliament extends term of junta chief Prayuth, voted prime minister after inconclusive elections”
DW: “The vote keeps Prayuth Chan-ocha in power, five years after he ousted an elected government in a military coup. The opposition complained of voting irregularities in the March 24 elections.”
Asia This Week – June 7, 2019
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Last Updated: June 19, 2019 by 21votes
June 7, 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.
Sri Lanka Presidential - Between November 15, 2019 and December 7, 2019
Alasdair Pal and Devjyot Ghoshal, Reuters: “Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said on Friday that he had not decided on seeking another term in an election that is due by year-end.
Hong Kong Local - November 24, 2019
Violet Law and Alice Fung, Associated Press: “Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong gathered Tuesday night to mark 30 years since China’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, underscoring continuing concern for Chinese human rights in the semi-autonomous territory, even as its own civil liberties are under threat.”
Ryan Krull, The Atlantic: “In City of Protest, [Antony] Dapiran notes that as Beijing further rigs legal systems and limits meaningful elections, street protests will more and more become Hong Kongers’ only viable way to make their feelings known. Eventually, as in 1989, Beijing will again have to make a choice.”
Umbrella Movement leader Ray Wong Toi-yuen, New York Times: “The Death of Hong Kong as We Know It? The Chinese government keeps repressing. The people keep resisting.”
Alissa Greenberg, Pacific Standard: “Hong Kong artist Perry Dino is chronicling his city’s struggle for democracy:Thirty years ago, Perry Dino stayed home from the Tiananmen Square protests. Now, he’s capturing Hong Kong’s demonstrations against the mainland in a series of unique and powerful paintings.”
NBC: “Hong Kong mulling bill to allow extradition to mainland China”
Human Rights Watch: “The Hong Kong government should withdraw proposed revisions to two laws concerning extradition, Human Rights Watch said today in a joint letter to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam. The letter was co-signed by 68 nongovernmental organizations that work on a broad range of human rights and social issues in Hong Kong and mainland China.”
Lee Wang-yam and Lu Xi, Radio Free Asia: “Thousands of lawyers clad in black took to the streets of Hong Kong Thursday in protest at plans to allow the rendition of alleged criminal suspects to mainland China.”
Sum Lok-kei, South China Morning Post: “Five opposition lawmakers who occupied the chamber of Hong Kong’s legislature on Thursday to protest against the government’s extradition bill were forcibly removed after almost six hours of drama.”
Jeffie Lam, South China Morning Post: “Why massive turnout at march against Hong Kong’s controversial extradition bill could mean game over for leader Carrie Lam despite concessions”
Taiwan Presidential - January 11, 2020 (KMT primaries July 5-10, 2019)
Katherin Hille, Financial Times: “As half a dozen politicians gear up to run in the most unpredictable presidential race in recent memory, fierce infighting in Taiwan’s two main parties over who will stand has only added to these anxieties.”
Lawrence Chung, South China Morning Post: “Kaoshiung mayor Han Kuo-yu enters Taiwan’s presidential race. Politician won a landslide victory in November’s local elections and is regarded as Beijing’s preferred candidate for the island’s top post. Former businessman, who attracted the support of 150,000 people at a rally last weekend, already ahead of incumbent Tsai Ing-wen in polls.”
Chris Horton, New York Times: “The rally last weekend was a prelude to Mr. Han’s announcement on Wednesday that he was running for president of Taiwan, jolting the race with a populist candidate who wants friendlier ties with China — a sharp contrast to the incumbent, Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects China’s claim that Taiwan is part of its territory.”
Nick Aspinwall, The Diplomat: “Han has no perfect populist parallel – he pointedly eschews Trumpian vitriolic name-calling, for instance, and in a country whose major parties do not operate on the left-right spectrum, he’s hardly a right-wing scion – but he is Taiwan’s own populist, blazing a path through Taiwan’s foundation of democratic norms as a puzzled yet enraptured populace gazes at the aftermath.”
Shelley Shan, Taipei Times: “A majority of TV news channels gave sizable coverage to the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate, Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), during the nine-in-one elections in November last year, a study by the National Communications Commission showed yesterday.”
Lawrence Chung, South China Morning Post: “Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen vowed on Tuesday to safeguard democracy and freedom in Taiwan as activists held a memorial rally in Taipei to mark the 30th anniversary of the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in mainland China.”
Taipei Times: “Taiwan has the highest level of press freedom in East Asia, even though China seeks to influence its media narratives, according to the US government-funded Freedom House.”
Australia Federal - May 18, 2019
Christopher Knaus, The Guardian: “Liberal party also beat Labor on Facebook in 2019 Australian federal election. Liberal videos on Facebook watched three times as much as Labor’s”
India Parliamentary - April/May 2019
Sangeeta Tanwar, Quartz: “Indian political parties spent $8 billion on this year’s elections—nearly half was by the BJP”
NDTV: “Of the 36 political parties, whose representatives were elected to the 17th Lok Sabha, 15 got fewer votes than NOTA. Many of these parties contested only a handful of seats. Introduced in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the none of the above (NOTA) option, which indicates disapproval of all the candidates in a constituency, accounted for 1.06 per cent of the total votes polled in this general elections.”
Ajay Verghese, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage: “Is India becoming a ‘Hindu state’?”
Indonesia Presidential, Parliamentary, Regional - April 17, 2019
David Pierson, Los Angeles Times: “Here’s why Indonesia remains on edge six weeks after elections were held”
Amy Chew, South China Morning Post: “Koran teachers linked to the campaign of defeated Indonesianpresidential challenger Prabowo Subianto instructed teenagers to take part in last month’s deadly riots in Jakarta, according to the country’s National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham). Eight people were killed and hundreds more wounded in the riots on May 21-22, which were triggered by the re-election of incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who triumphed over rival Prabowo after securing 55.5 per cent of the vote.”
Joshua Kurlantzick, Council on Foreign Relations’ Asia Unbound: “The sizable Jokowi win is being presented, at least in some media coverage, as evidence, in an era of populist strongman making gains globally—after all, populist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi just led his party to a crushing victory in India’s national elections—that Indonesian voters had somehow rejected strongman politics for a man more committed to democratic pluralism, and to pragmatic fixes for the country’s major needs….Yet Jokowi’s first term hardly suggests that, in his second term, he is likely to steer Indonesia back toward a pluralist path.”
Thailand Parliamentary - March 24, 2019
Paritta Wangkiat and Shibani Mahtani, Washington Post: “Thai parliament extends term of junta chief Prayuth, voted prime minister after inconclusive elections”
DW: “The vote keeps Prayuth Chan-ocha in power, five years after he ousted an elected government in a military coup. The opposition complained of voting irregularities in the March 24 elections.”
Upcoming Elections
Hong Kong Local – November 24, 2019
Violet Law and Alice Fung, Associated Press: “Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong gathered Tuesday night to mark 30 years since China’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, underscoring continuing concern for Chinese human rights in the semi-autonomous territory, even as its own civil liberties are under threat.”
Ryan Krull, The Atlantic: “In City of Protest, [Antony] Dapiran notes that as Beijing further rigs legal systems and limits meaningful elections, street protests will more and more become Hong Kongers’ only viable way to make their feelings known. Eventually, as in 1989, Beijing will again have to make a choice.”
Umbrella Movement leader Ray Wong Toi-yuen, New York Times: “The Death of Hong Kong as We Know It? The Chinese government keeps repressing. The people keep resisting.”
Alissa Greenberg, Pacific Standard: “Hong Kong artist Perry Dino is chronicling his city’s struggle for democracy:Thirty years ago, Perry Dino stayed home from the Tiananmen Square protests. Now, he’s capturing Hong Kong’s demonstrations against the mainland in a series of unique and powerful paintings.”
NBC: “Hong Kong mulling bill to allow extradition to mainland China”
Human Rights Watch: “The Hong Kong government should withdraw proposed revisions to two laws concerning extradition, Human Rights Watch said today in a joint letter to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam. The letter was co-signed by 68 nongovernmental organizations that work on a broad range of human rights and social issues in Hong Kong and mainland China.”
Lee Wang-yam and Lu Xi, Radio Free Asia: “Thousands of lawyers clad in black took to the streets of Hong Kong Thursday in protest at plans to allow the rendition of alleged criminal suspects to mainland China.”
Sum Lok-kei, South China Morning Post: “Five opposition lawmaekers who occupied the chamber of Hong Kong’s legislature on Thursday to protest against the government’s extradition bill were forcibly removed after almost six hours of drama.”
Jeffie Lam, South China Morning Post: “Why massive turnout at march against Hong Kong’s controversial extradition bill could mean game over for leader Carrie Lam despite concessions”
Sri Lanka Presidential – Between November 15, 2019 and December 7, 2019
Alasdair Pal and Devjyot Ghoshal, Reuters: “Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said on Friday that he had not decided on seeking another term in an election that is due by year-end.”
Taiwan Presidential – January 11, 2020 (KMT primaries July 5-10, 2019)
Katherin Hille, Financial Times: “As half a dozen politicians gear up to run in the most unpredictable presidential race in recent memory, fierce infighting in Taiwan’s two main parties over who will stand has only added to these anxieties.”
Lawrence Chung, South China Morning Post: “Kaoshiung mayor Han Kuo-yu enters Taiwan’s presidential race. Politician won a landslide victory in November’s local elections and is regarded as Beijing’s preferred candidate for the island’s top post. Former businessman, who attracted the support of 150,000 people at a rally last weekend, already ahead of incumbent Tsai Ing-wen in polls.”
Chris Horton, New York Times: “The rally last weekend was a prelude to Mr. Han’s announcement on Wednesday that he was running for president of Taiwan, jolting the race with a populist candidate who wants friendlier ties with China — a sharp contrast to the incumbent, Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects China’s claim that Taiwan is part of its territory.”
Nick Aspinwall, The Diplomat: “Han has no perfect populist parallel – he pointedly eschews Trumpian vitriolic name-calling, for instance, and in a country whose major parties do not operate on the left-right spectrum, he’s hardly a right-wing scion – but he is Taiwan’s own populist, blazing a path through Taiwan’s foundation of democratic norms as a puzzled yet enraptured populace gazes at the aftermath.”
Shelley Shan, Taipei Times: “A majority of TV news channels gave sizable coverage to the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate, Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), during the nine-in-one elections in November last year, a study by the National Communications Commission showed yesterday.”
Lawrence Chung, South China Morning Post: “Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen vowed on Tuesday to safeguard democracy and freedom in Taiwan as activists held a memorial rally in Taipei to mark the 30th anniversary of the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in mainland China.”
Taipei Times: “Taiwan has the highest level of press freedom in East Asia, even though China seeks to influence its media narratives, according to the US government-funded Freedom House.”
Past Elections
Australia Federal – May 18, 2019
Christopher Knaus, The Guardian: “Liberal party also beat Labor on Facebook in 2019 Australian federal election. Liberal videos on Facebook watched three times as much as Labor’s”
India Parliamentary – April/May 2019
Sangeeta Tanwar, Quartz: “Indian political parties spent $8 billion on this year’s elections—nearly half was by the BJP”
NDTV: “Of the 36 political parties, whose representatives were elected to the 17th Lok Sabha, 15 got fewer votes than NOTA. Many of these parties contested only a handful of seats. Introduced in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the none of the above (NOTA) option, which indicates disapproval of all the candidates in a constituency, accounted for 1.06 per cent of the total votes polled in this general elections.”
Ajay Verghese, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage: “Is India becoming a ‘Hindu state’?”
Indonesia Presidential, Parliamentary, Regional – April 17, 2019
David Pierson, Los Angeles Times: “Here’s why Indonesia remains on edge six weeks after elections were held”
Amy Chew, South China Morning Post: “Koran teachers linked to the campaign of defeated Indonesianpresidential challenger Prabowo Subianto instructed teenagers to take part in last month’s deadly riots in Jakarta, according to the country’s National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham). Eight people were killed and hundreds more wounded in the riots on May 21-22, which were triggered by the re-election of incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who triumphed over rival Prabowo after securing 55.5 per cent of the vote.”
Joshua Kurlantzick, Council on Foreign Relations’ Asia Unbound: “The sizable Jokowi win is being presented, at least in some media coverage, as evidence, in an era of populist strongman making gains globally—after all, populist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi just led his party to a crushing victory in India’s national elections—that Indonesian voters had somehow rejected strongman politics for a man more committed to democratic pluralism, and to pragmatic fixes for the country’s major needs….Yet Jokowi’s first term hardly suggests that, in his second term, he is likely to steer Indonesia back toward a pluralist path.”
Thailand Parliamentary – March 24, 2019
Paritta Wangkiat and Shibani Mahtani, Washington Post: “Thai parliament extends term of junta chief Prayuth, voted prime minister after inconclusive elections”
DW: “The vote keeps Prayuth Chan-ocha in power, five years after he ousted an elected government in a military coup. The opposition complained of voting irregularities in the March 24 elections.”
The Year Ahead: Asia
Japan, provincial elections throughout the year; Bangladesh fifth and final phase of district council elections (June 18); Japan legislative – half of upper house (July – snap lower house elections possible); Nauru legislative (July); Papua New Guinea local (July 20-25); India, Maharashtra state (September); Tuvalu parliamentary (September); New Zealand local (October 12); Hong Kong local (November); Marshall Islands legislative (November); Kiribati legislative (December); Sri Lanka presidential (December 7); Taiwan presidential and legislative (January 11); Kiribati presidential (March); South Korea parliamentary (April 15); Niue parliamentary (May); Mongolia parliamentary (June).
Demonstration for democracy in Hong Kong, 2014. Photo credit: Flickr/Quinn Dombrowski
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Category: This Week Tags: Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand