Upcoming Elections
Bangladesh Parliamentary By-Election in Rangpur-3 – October 5, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Population: Bangladesh – 159.5 million; Rangpur-3 – 441,671 voters
Bangladesh held general elections to the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) in December 2018. The Rangpur-3 by-election is happening due to the death of Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who was Bangladesh’s military dictator during most of the 1980s. Ershad was ousted in 1990 by massive protests led by Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia, bitter rivals head the country’s two dominant political parties, the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The AL and the BNP have alternated in power since the 1990s, but the AL has been in power since 2009 and is currently dominant and increasingly authoritarian. The BNP boycotted the 2014 elections, and Freedom House notes: “Hasina’s AL overwhelmingly won the December 2018 polls, taking 288 of the 300 directly elected seats. Election day and the campaign that preceded it were marked by political violence in which at least 17 people were killed, as well as legal and extralegal harassment of government opponents.”
Ershad formed Jatiya Party (JP) in 1986 and it currently holds 26 seats in parliament. Although it had previously been in talks to join the governing coalition with the AL, JP decided to be in opposition, making Ershad the official leader of the opposition. JP is strong in Rangpur, which is Bangladesh’s third-largest city, located in the north of the country.
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, New Age (Bangladesh): “EC finalises nominations in Rangpur-3 by-election: Two nomination papers of aspirant candidates were cancelled and seven others declared valid after scrutiny by the returning officer for by-poll in Rangpur-3 parliamentary constituency at his office in Rangpur on Wednesday.”
Mehedi Al Amin, Dhaka Tribune: “The by-election to the Rangpur 3 constituency, which fell vacant following the death of HM Ershad, will be held on October 5. Jatiya Party (JaPa) has nominated Rahgir Al Mahi alias Saad Ershad, eldest son of JaPa founding chairman late HM Ershad and party co-chairman Raushan Ershad, to contest the upcoming by-polls for Rangpur 3 constituency.”
Abu Jakir, The Independent (Bangladesh): “The Awami League (AL) is likely to leave the Rangpur-3 constituency for its electoral ally, the Jatiya Party (JP), which is now the main opposition in Parliament.”
Tapos Kanti Das and Moloy Saha, New Age (Bangladesh): “No major political party of the country will organise any programme to mark the International Day of Democracy to be observed worldwide today while the opposition parties said that the country now lacked democratic rule, an allegation denied by ruling Awami League.”
New Zealand Local – October 12, 2019 and Parliamentary – by November 21, 2020 (likely to be earlier)
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy under a Constitutional Monarchy (a Commonwealth realm)
Population: 4.5 million
New Zealand’s two main parties are the center-left Labour Party and center-right National Party. National won the most votes and seats in the 2017 elections, but not enough to form a government. Labour formed a coalition with New Zealand First, a populist party that has worked with both Labour and National in the past, backed by a confidence and supply agreement with the Green Party (Labour and New Zealand First combined have the same number of seats as National – 55). Labour leader Jacinda Ardern – a former DJ who is on the left wing of the party – became Prime Minister and is currently the world’s youngest female government.
Local elections in New Zealand have had low turnout for decades, but the local polls could serve as an interesting barometer ahead of next year’s parliamentary polls – which are due by November 2020 but could be called earlier – for which parties have already started campaigning.
Abbie O’Brien, SBS News (Australia): “Meet the first Muslims running for office in Christchurch, six months on from the attacks”
Nick Perry, AP: “New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was facing a difficult test of her leadership Wednesday after her party president resigned over the party’s handling of a sexual assault complaint.”
India, Haryana State and Maharashtra State Assemblies – October 2019 or November 2019 and Jharkhand State Assembly – November 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Republic
Population: India – 1.3 billion; Maharashtra -112 million; Haryana – 25 million; Jharkhand – 32 million
India has 29 states and seven union territories. Indian states are big – Maharashtra, whose capital is Mumbai, has 112 million people, Haryana 25 million, and Jharkhand 32 million. Coalitions headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) currently control all three state legislatures. The BJP won a massive victory in elections to the Lok Sabha, India’s national parliament, earlier this year, giving it a second term in power as the majority party able to govern without coalition partners, in an increasingly polarized political climate. The main opposition social democratic Congress Party – India’s oldest party – did well in a series of state elections late last year but is reeling from the whiplash of defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. The state elections are happening in the context of a renewed push from Modi to institute “one nation, one election” – a proposal to hold state elections at the same time as elections to the Lok Sabha. Critics say the plan is a ploy to centralize power.
In a surprise geopolitical development, on August 5, 2019, the Modi government made a unilateral decision to strip the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir of its autonomy. The region, which is majority Muslim, is claimed by both India and Pakistan and has sparked three wars. For seventy years, the Indian-controlled part – established as the state of Jammu and Kashmir – enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, but Modi announced that the state would be downgraded into two union territories, effectively centralizing control. The area remains on virtual lockdown. Some have been critical of the decision, which Modi defends.
Kumar Shakti Shekhar, Times of India: “6 reasons why Maharashtra, Haryana assembly elections are unique”
Prabhash K Dutta, India Today: “To stop Modi juggernaut, Congress has fresh chance in 3 assembly polls: The Congress has found it difficult to stop Modi wave that swept it out of power in 2014 reducing the grand-old-party to lowest number in the Lok Sabha.”
Kanchan Chandra, Foreign Affairs: “The Roots of Hindu Nationalism’s Triumph in India – What the BJP Learned From the Congress Party.”
Hong Kong District Councils – November 24, 2019 and Legislative Council – September 2020
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Special Administrative Region within China
Population: 7.2 million
A series of massive protests – with as many as 2 million people in the streets on at least one occasion – has been taking place in Hong Kong since the beginning of the summer. The proximate cause was a controversial extradition bill, but even though the bill has been put on hold, protesters persist, calling for more democracy and free elections.
Hong Kong’s politicians fall into two broad camps: pro-democracy and pro-Beijing (sometimes called pro-establishment). Within these camps, parties and independent candidates have diverse ideologies, ranging from free market to social democracy. The District Councils oversee local public works and community activities, and the Legislative Council (Legco) is Hong Kong’s legislature. Following the 2015 District Council elections, the pro-Beijing camp controls all 18 councils, but the pro-democracy and localist camps currently hold 124 out of 458 seats. In the Legco, the pro-Beijing camp holds 43 seats out of 70, while the pro-democracy camp holds 24. The protest movement could boost the pro-democracy camp.
Mike Cherney, Wall Street Journal: “Hong Kong Protesters’ New Target: City’s Vaunted Subway System: Protesters accuse operator MTR of aligning with the authorities—and have made it a target of their anger.”
Jennifer Creery, Hong Kong Free Press: “Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Ventus Lau has won an election petition to challenge a decision which barred him from running in a by-election last March. A court said on Friday that Lau was deprived of the chance to respond to the ban on his candidacy.”
Jeannette Ng, Foreign Policy: “Chinese Propaganda Paints Hong Kong as a Spoiled Brat: The mainland’s new nationalism comes with a heavy dose of old patriarchy.”
George Will, Washington Post: “Now, however, thanks to the ongoing drama in Hong Kong’s streets, it is possible to hope that the West has passed ‘peak China’ — the apogee of blinkered admiration for a nation in which approximately 19 percent of the human race is saddled with one of the world’s most sinister regimes.”
Sri Lanka Presidential – December 7, 2019 and Parliamentary – February 2020
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Presidential Republic
Population: 22.6 million
Sri Lanka is still feeling the aftershocks of a series of terrorist attacks over Easter 2019 and a 2018 political crisis in which President Maithripala Sirisena tried to dissolve parliament and remove Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe from office and replace him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was president from 2005 to 2015. Ultimately, Wickremesinghe was reinstated, but the crisis has deep roots and tensions remain high in Sri Lankan politics.
The two major parties are Sirisena’s center-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Wickremesinghe’s center-right United National Party. Rajapaksa left the SLPF in 2018 and now leads the populist Sri Lanka People’s Front/Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). In the last presidential elections, Rajapaksa surprisingly lost to Sirisena, who embarked on a reform program to reverse many of the autocratic powers Rajapaksa had built up. Sirisena is eligible to run for a second term and could run again. His potential challengers include Wickremesinghe and one of Rajapaksa’s siblings (Rajapaksa is not eligible to run for president again due to term limits adopted during Sirisena’s presidency). Rajapaksa’s SLPP did well in local elections last year. Sri Lanka’s democracy sits on the precipice, and the upcoming elections could well determine whether it strengthens or deteriorates.
Shihar Aneez, Reuters: “Sri Lanka’s top court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa to dismiss corruption charges against him, in a possible blow to the frontrunnner’s candidacy.”
Stella Soon, CNBC: “Sri Lanka’s economy has shown ‘resilience’ after the Easter Sunday bombings”
Taiwan Presidential and Legislative – January 11, 2020
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Population: 23.5 million
Taiwan has a robust democracy. The two main parties are President Tsai Ing-Wen’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT). The KMT, founded by Sun Yat-Sen, favors closer ties to the mainland, which it ruled from 1925 to 1948. The DPP, established in 1986 during Taiwan’s transition to democracy, supports Taiwan’s independence. Relations with China are a dominant theme in Taiwan’s political debate. Tsai won the DPP presidential primary. Beijing’s choice, Han Kuo-yu, the populist firebrand mayor of Kaohsiung, a major port city in the south, won the KMT primary. His opponent, Foxconn founder Terry Guo, Taiwan’s richest man, is mulling an independent bid in the general election.
The DPP currently controls the Legislative Yuan. Last year’s local elections swept the KMT back into many local offices that they had lost during the 2014 local elections – with some interference from China. China is expected to attempt to influence the upcoming elections as well.
Lawrence Chung, South China Morning Post: “Foxconn’s Terry Gou quits Kuomintang, paving way for Taiwan presidency bid as an independent”
Miaojung Lin and Samson Ellis, Bloomberg: “Aides to Foxconn founder Terry Gou visited Taiwan’s top election agency about the paperwork needed to wage an independent campaign for president, in the latest sign the billionaire is inching toward a run.”
Cindy Wang and Miaojung Lin, Bloomberg: “Taiwan’s President Rises From the Ashes With a Hand From Hong Kong”
Davina Tham, Taipei Times: “Democracy advocates, among them Hong Kong singer-activist Denise Ho (何韻詩) and exiled Chinese dissident Yang Jianli (楊建利), yesterday attended the Oslo Freedom Forum in Taipei to encourage more people to support movements against authoritarian regimes.”
Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News: “The first U.S.-Taiwan consultations on democratic governance began on Thursday (Sept. 12) at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), signaling further cooperation between the two countries.”
Burma Parliamentary – Expected late 2020
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Burma, also called Myanmar, seemed to be moving toward democracy following the country’s first credible, relatively free elections in 2015, which swept Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) to power following decades of military dictatorship. Once held up by the global community as a paragon of moral authority for giving up her own freedom in the fight for democracy, Suu Kyi’s tenure as the country’s de facto leader has disappointed many. Burma still has hundreds of political prisoners, including many who were arrested after the NLD came to power. Ethnic conflicts continue between the dominant Burmans, who comprise roughly 60 percent of the population, and different minority groups. The crisis in Rakhine or Arakan State with the Muslim Rohingya, which some have called a genocide, has created 700,000 refugees in neighboring Bangladesh and 128,000 internally displaced people. During by-elections in 2018, the NLD won seven out of 13 seats, but lost five out of six in non-Burman areas.
Bridget Welsh, The Straits Times: “A new arena awaits as Myanmar warms up for 2020 polls: The parties, voters and issues have undergone major changes since the last elections even if Aung San Suu Kyi remains the anchor of her party’s campaign”
Nanda, Frontier Myanmar: “A champion of democracy returns to his motherland: Nearly 30 years after becoming head of a government-in-exile formed at a jungle base on the border with Thailand, Dr Sein Win has returned to Myanmar.”
Singapore General – April 2021 (snap possible)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Population: 6 million
People’s Action Party (PAP), co-founded by Lee Kuan Yew Singapore’s first prime minister, has been in power since 1959. While elections aren’t rigged in the classic sense (no stuffed ballot boxes), they take place in a context that effectively prevents the opposition from actually taking power, and the opposition has not historically run to actually win – their pitch to voters has been promises to provide a check on the PAP.
The government uses a variety of tactics – including libel lawsuits, influence over the media, and laws that restrict political speech – to hamstring the opposition, while arguing that Singaporeans support PAP because it has governed competently. The 2015 elections gave PAP 83 out of the 89 elected seats in parliament. The next elections are due in 2021, but Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (Lee Kuan Yew’s son) has hinted that he would call early elections.
Jewel Stolarchuk, The Independent (Singapore): “Dr Bilveer Singh, an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Political Science, has asserted that he believes Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong ‘will be facing the most organised Opposition in a long time’ given the election preparation efforts of the various opposition parties in Singapore. Mr Bilveer, who recently published a book entitled in his new book ‘Is the People’s Action Party Here to Stay,’ pointed out that the three most notable opposition parties in Singapore – the Workers’ Party (WP), the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and the new Progress Singapore Party (PSP) – have mobilised their troops and have been working the ground.”
Zaihan Mohamed Yusof, Straits Times: “The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) will roll out its revamped website next Wednesday (Sept 18) in anticipation of the upcoming general election.”
Adrian Lim, Straits Times: “Opposition veteran Wong Wee Nam, who contested the 1997 General Election, died on Saturday (Sept 7) after battling Parkinson’s disease for several years. He was 72. Dr Wong was a prominent advocate and observer of Singapore’s opposition politics, with close ties to the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).”
Past Elections
Tuvalu Parliamentary – September 9, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy under a Constitutional Monarchy (a Commonwealth realm)
Population: 11,000
Tuvalu does not have political parties, but parties are allowed should someone wish to form one. Earlier this year, former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd proposed giving citizens of Tuvalu and other Pacific island nations Australian citizenship in exchange for control over their fishing zones and other natural resources. Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga categorically opposed the idea.
Jonathan Barrett and Colin Packham, Reuters: “Tuvalu election puts Taiwan ties in play: The freshly elected lawmakers of the tiny Pacific country of Tuvalu are set to choose a prime minister against a backdrop of China’s efforts to erode the region’s traditional support for Taiwan.”
Solomon Islands General – April 3, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy under a Constitutional Monarchy; a Commonwealth Realm
Population: 660,000
The country holds regular elections, but irregularities are common. Political parties are weak and based more on personality than ideology, and allegiances shift frequently.
Graeme Smith, Lowy Institute’s The Interpreter: “Taiwan’s relations with Solomon Islands started by chance, and now hang on chance. Within the next few weeks, the island nation will decide on whether to switch recognition from Taiwan to China, depending on the wishes of a few undecided MPs.”
Editorial Board, Nikkei Asian Review: “China’s Pacific island advances are not just Taiwan’s problem”
Cambodia General – July 29, 2018
Freedom House Rating: Not Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
Population: 16.4 million
Although Cambodia has held elections in the past that had some element of competition, the 2018 election – neither free nor fair – signified the closing of Cambodia’s political space. The main pro-democracy opposition, Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), was dissolved and banned from fielding candidates, and its leader, Sam Rainsy, was sent into exile, so its supporters boycotted the polls, resulting in the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) taking 58 out of 62 seats in parliament, and allowing Prime Minister Hun Sen to consolidate even more power while extending his three decades in power. The election has been described as the “death of democracy” in Cambodia. Since then, Cambodia has worked to suppress all critical voices, including journalists, civil society, and the opposition. The United States sanctioned Cambodia’s top officials in response.
Radio Free Asia: “U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet hit out on Monday at Cambodian authorities’ harassment of members of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party, pointing to the questioning by police of over 100 party activists, and detention of over 20, since the beginning of the year.”
Radio Free Asia: “A court in Cambodia on Friday charged acting president of the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Sam Rainsy with ‘insulting the King,’ a day after he gave an interview in which he called King Norodom Sihamoni a ‘puppet’ of Prime Minister Hun Sen.”
David Hutt, The Diplomat: “Will Sam Rainsy’s Promised Cambodia Return Bring People Power Or Something Else? Despite the opposition figure’s optimistic assessment, the outlook following his possible return to Cambodia remains unclear.”
Malaysia General – May 9, 2018
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
Population: 31.8 million
In last year’s parliamentary elections, Mahathir Mohamed led his Pakatan Haratan (Alliance of Hope) party to a surprise victory over the Barisan Nasional coalition and its primary member, United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which had been in power since Malaysia’s 1957 independence. In 1976, the government abolished local elections and instituted the practice of appointing the members of the country’s 146 local councils. Malaysia is currently debating whether to hold local elections.
Updated September 14, 2019
Shannon Teoh, Straits Times: “Malaysia’s two biggest Malay Muslim parties inked a political cooperation pact on Saturday (Sept 14) that they hope will spur the majority community to unite against perceived threats from the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government. Over 10,000 party faithful, most dressed in white, packed the Putra World Trade Centre to witness the chiefs of former rivals Umno and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) sign a ‘National Cooperation’ charter outlining the terms of their pact, which has shown success in several by-elections as an informal arrangement over the past year.”
Reuters: “Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy has seen a string of racial flare-ups over the past year and a half, as Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s nascent government grapples with an increasingly unhappy majority that fears it is losing its special privileges. The union between former ruling party UMNO, which was ousted by Mahathir’s coalition in a general election last year, and Islamist party PAS, promises that political power will return to the ethnic Malay-Muslims should they win in the next polls due in 3 years.”
Yudith Ho and Philip Heijmans, Bloomberg: “A pact between Malaysia’s biggest opposition parties is set to pose a key challenge to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s multiracial coalition that has sought to win support from the Malay Muslim majority.”
BBC: “Malaysia’s queen has briefly returned to Twitter to express disappointment at police arresting people for allegedly insulting her on social media.”
Asia This Week – September 13, 2019
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Last Updated: October 30, 2019 by 21votes
September 13, 2019
Each day, 21votes gathers election news, analysis, and opinions from a different region of the world. We explore Asia and the Pacific on Fridays. Click the map pins.
Bangladesh Parliamentary By-Election in Rangpur-3 – October 5, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Population: Bangladesh – 159.5 million; Rangpur-3 – 441,671 voters
Bangladesh held general elections to the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) in December 2018. The Rangpur-3 by-election is happening due to the death of Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who was Bangladesh’s military dictator during most of the 1980s. Ershad was ousted in 1990 by massive protests led by Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia, bitter rivals head the country’s two dominant political parties, the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The AL and the BNP have alternated in power since the 1990s, but the AL has been in power since 2009 and is currently dominant and increasingly authoritarian. The BNP boycotted the 2014 elections, and Freedom House notes: “Hasina’s AL overwhelmingly won the December 2018 polls, taking 288 of the 300 directly elected seats. Election day and the campaign that preceded it were marked by political violence in which at least 17 people were killed, as well as legal and extralegal harassment of government opponents.”
Ershad formed Jatiya Party (JP) in 1986 and it currently holds 26 seats in parliament. Although it had previously been in talks to join the governing coalition with the AL, JP decided to be in opposition, making Ershad the official leader of the opposition. JP is strong in Rangpur, which is Bangladesh’s third-largest city, located in the north of the country.
New Zealand Local – October 12, 2019 and Parliamentary – by November 21, 2020 (likely to be earlier)
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy under a Constitutional Monarchy (a Commonwealth realm)
Population: 4.5 million
New Zealand’s two main parties are the center-left Labour Party and center-right National Party. National won the most votes and seats in the 2017 elections, but not enough to form a government. Labour formed a coalition with New Zealand First, a populist party that has worked with both Labour and National in the past, backed by a confidence and supply agreement with the Green Party (Labour and New Zealand First combined have the same number of seats as National – 55). Labour leader Jacinda Ardern – a former DJ who is on the left wing of the party – became Prime Minister and is currently the world’s youngest female government.
Local elections in New Zealand have had low turnout for decades, but the local polls could serve as an interesting barometer ahead of next year’s parliamentary polls – which are due by November 2020 but could be called earlier – for which parties have already started campaigning.
India, Haryana State and Maharashtra State Assemblies – October 2019 or November 2019 and Jharkhand State Assembly – November 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Republic
Population: India – 1.3 billion; Maharashtra -112 million; Haryana – 25 million; Jharkhand – 32 million
India has 29 states and seven union territories. Indian states are big – Maharashtra, whose capital is Mumbai, has 112 million people, Haryana 25 million, and Jharkhand 32 million. Coalitions headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) currently control all three state legislatures. The BJP won a massive victory in elections to the Lok Sabha, India’s national parliament, earlier this year, giving it a second term in power as the majority party able to govern without coalition partners, in an increasingly polarized political climate. The main opposition social democratic Congress Party – India’s oldest party – did well in a series of state elections late last year but is reeling from the whiplash of defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. The state elections are happening in the context of a renewed push from Modi to institute “one nation, one election” – a proposal to hold state elections at the same time as elections to the Lok Sabha. Critics say the plan is a ploy to centralize power.
In a surprise geopolitical development, on August 5, 2019, the Modi government made a unilateral decision to strip the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir of its autonomy. The region, which is majority Muslim, is claimed by both India and Pakistan and has sparked three wars. For seventy years, the Indian-controlled part – established as the state of Jammu and Kashmir – enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, but Modi announced that the state would be downgraded into two union territories, effectively centralizing control. The area remains on virtual lockdown. Some have been critical of the decision, which Modi defends.
Hong Kong District Councils – November 24, 2019 and Legislative Council – September 2020
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Special Administrative Region within China
Population: 7.2 million
A series of massive protests – with as many as 2 million people in the streets on at least one occasion – has been taking place in Hong Kong since the beginning of the summer. The proximate cause was a controversial extradition bill, but even though the bill has been put on hold, protesters persist, calling for more democracy and free elections.
Hong Kong’s politicians fall into two broad camps: pro-democracy and pro-Beijing (sometimes called pro-establishment). Within these camps, parties and independent candidates have diverse ideologies, ranging from free market to social democracy. The District Councils oversee local public works and community activities, and the Legislative Council (Legco) is Hong Kong’s legislature. Following the 2015 District Council elections, the pro-Beijing camp controls all 18 councils, but the pro-democracy and localist camps currently hold 124 out of 458 seats. In the Legco, the pro-Beijing camp holds 43 seats out of 70, while the pro-democracy camp holds 24. The protest movement could boost the pro-democracy camp.
Taiwan Presidential and Legislative – January 11, 2020
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Population: 23.5 million
Taiwan has a robust democracy. The two main parties are President Tsai Ing-Wen’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT). The KMT, founded by Sun Yat-Sen, favors closer ties to the mainland, which it ruled from 1925 to 1948. The DPP, established in 1986 during Taiwan’s transition to democracy, supports Taiwan’s independence. Relations with China are a dominant theme in Taiwan’s political debate. Tsai won the DPP presidential primary. Beijing’s choice, Han Kuo-yu, the populist firebrand mayor of Kaohsiung, a major port city in the south, won the KMT primary. His opponent, Foxconn founder Terry Guo, Taiwan’s richest man, is mulling an independent bid in the general election.
The DPP currently controls the Legislative Yuan. Last year’s local elections swept the KMT back into many local offices that they had lost during the 2014 local elections – with some interference from China. China is expected to attempt to influence the upcoming elections as well.
Burma Parliamentary – Expected late 2020
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Burma, also called Myanmar, seemed to be moving toward democracy following the country’s first credible, relatively free elections in 2015, which swept Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) to power following decades of military dictatorship. Once held up by the global community as a paragon of moral authority for giving up her own freedom in the fight for democracy, Suu Kyi’s tenure as the country’s de facto leader has disappointed many. Burma still has hundreds of political prisoners, including many who were arrested after the NLD came to power. Ethnic conflicts continue between the dominant Burmans, who comprise roughly 60 percent of the population, and different minority groups. The crisis in Rakhine or Arakan State with the Muslim Rohingya, which some have called a genocide, has created 700,000 refugees in neighboring Bangladesh and 128,000 internally displaced people. During by-elections in 2018, the NLD won seven out of 13 seats, but lost five out of six in non-Burman areas.
Singapore General – April 2021 (snap possible)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Population: 6 million
People’s Action Party (PAP), co-founded by Lee Kuan Yew Singapore’s first prime minister, has been in power since 1959. While elections aren’t rigged in the classic sense (no stuffed ballot boxes), they take place in a context that effectively prevents the opposition from actually taking power, and the opposition has not historically run to actually win – their pitch to voters has been promises to provide a check on the PAP.
The government uses a variety of tactics – including libel lawsuits, influence over the media, and laws that restrict political speech – to hamstring the opposition, while arguing that Singaporeans support PAP because it has governed competently. The 2015 elections gave PAP 83 out of the 89 elected seats in parliament. The next elections are due in 2021, but Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (Lee Kuan Yew’s son) has hinted that he would call early elections.
Tuvalu Parliamentary – September 9, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy under a Constitutional Monarchy (a Commonwealth realm)
Population: 11,000
Tuvalu does not have political parties, but parties are allowed should someone wish to form one. Earlier this year, former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd proposed giving citizens of Tuvalu and other Pacific island nations Australian citizenship in exchange for control over their fishing zones and other natural resources. Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga categorically opposed the idea.
Solomon Islands General - April 3, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy under a Constitutional Monarchy; a Commonwealth Realm
Population: 660,000
The country holds regular elections, but irregularities are common. Political parties are weak and based more on personality than ideology, and allegiances shift frequently.
Cambodia General – July 29, 2018
Freedom House Rating: Not Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
Population: 16.4 million
Although Cambodia has held elections in the past that had some element of competition, the 2018 election – neither free nor fair – signified the closing of Cambodia’s political space. The main pro-democracy opposition, Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), was dissolved and banned from fielding candidates, and its leader, Sam Rainsy, was sent into exile, so its supporters boycotted the polls, resulting in the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) taking 58 out of 62 seats in parliament, and allowing Prime Minister Hun Sen to consolidate even more power while extending his three decades in power. The election has been described as the “death of democracy” in Cambodia. Since then, Cambodia has worked to suppress all critical voices, including journalists, civil society, and the opposition. The United States sanctioned Cambodia’s top officials in response.
Malaysia General – May 9, 2018
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
Population: 31.8 million
In last year’s parliamentary elections, Mahathir Mohamed led his Pakatan Haratan (Alliance of Hope) party to a surprise victory over the Barisan Nasional coalition and its primary member, United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which had been in power since Malaysia’s 1957 independence. In 1976, the government abolished local elections and instituted the practice of appointing the members of the country’s 146 local councils. Malaysia is currently debating whether to hold local elections.
Sri Lanka Presidential – December 7, 2019 and Parliamentary – February 2020
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Presidential Republic
Population: 22.6 million
Sri Lanka is still feeling the aftershocks of a series of terrorist attacks over Easter 2019 and a 2018 political crisis in which President Maithripala Sirisena tried to dissolve parliament and remove Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe from office and replace him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was president from 2005 to 2015. Ultimately, Wickremesinghe was reinstated, but the crisis has deep roots and tensions remain high in Sri Lankan politics.
The two major parties are Sirisena’s center-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Wickremesinghe’s center-right United National Party. Rajapaksa left the SLPF in 2018 and now leads the populist Sri Lanka People’s Front/Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). In the last presidential elections, Rajapaksa surprisingly lost to Sirisena, who embarked on a reform program to reverse many of the autocratic powers Rajapaksa had built up. Sirisena is eligible to run for a second term and could run again. His potential challengers include Wickremesinghe and one of Rajapaksa’s siblings (Rajapaksa is not eligible to run for president again due to term limits adopted during Sirisena’s presidency). Rajapaksa’s SLPP did well in local elections last year. Sri Lanka’s democracy sits on the precipice, and the upcoming elections could well determine whether it strengthens or deteriorates.
Upcoming Elections
Bangladesh Parliamentary By-Election in Rangpur-3 – October 5, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Population: Bangladesh – 159.5 million; Rangpur-3 – 441,671 voters
Bangladesh held general elections to the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) in December 2018. The Rangpur-3 by-election is happening due to the death of Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who was Bangladesh’s military dictator during most of the 1980s. Ershad was ousted in 1990 by massive protests led by Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia, bitter rivals head the country’s two dominant political parties, the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The AL and the BNP have alternated in power since the 1990s, but the AL has been in power since 2009 and is currently dominant and increasingly authoritarian. The BNP boycotted the 2014 elections, and Freedom House notes: “Hasina’s AL overwhelmingly won the December 2018 polls, taking 288 of the 300 directly elected seats. Election day and the campaign that preceded it were marked by political violence in which at least 17 people were killed, as well as legal and extralegal harassment of government opponents.”
Ershad formed Jatiya Party (JP) in 1986 and it currently holds 26 seats in parliament. Although it had previously been in talks to join the governing coalition with the AL, JP decided to be in opposition, making Ershad the official leader of the opposition. JP is strong in Rangpur, which is Bangladesh’s third-largest city, located in the north of the country.
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, New Age (Bangladesh): “EC finalises nominations in Rangpur-3 by-election: Two nomination papers of aspirant candidates were cancelled and seven others declared valid after scrutiny by the returning officer for by-poll in Rangpur-3 parliamentary constituency at his office in Rangpur on Wednesday.”
Mehedi Al Amin, Dhaka Tribune: “The by-election to the Rangpur 3 constituency, which fell vacant following the death of HM Ershad, will be held on October 5. Jatiya Party (JaPa) has nominated Rahgir Al Mahi alias Saad Ershad, eldest son of JaPa founding chairman late HM Ershad and party co-chairman Raushan Ershad, to contest the upcoming by-polls for Rangpur 3 constituency.”
Abu Jakir, The Independent (Bangladesh): “The Awami League (AL) is likely to leave the Rangpur-3 constituency for its electoral ally, the Jatiya Party (JP), which is now the main opposition in Parliament.”
Tapos Kanti Das and Moloy Saha, New Age (Bangladesh): “No major political party of the country will organise any programme to mark the International Day of Democracy to be observed worldwide today while the opposition parties said that the country now lacked democratic rule, an allegation denied by ruling Awami League.”
New Zealand Local – October 12, 2019 and Parliamentary – by November 21, 2020 (likely to be earlier)
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy under a Constitutional Monarchy (a Commonwealth realm)
Population: 4.5 million
New Zealand’s two main parties are the center-left Labour Party and center-right National Party. National won the most votes and seats in the 2017 elections, but not enough to form a government. Labour formed a coalition with New Zealand First, a populist party that has worked with both Labour and National in the past, backed by a confidence and supply agreement with the Green Party (Labour and New Zealand First combined have the same number of seats as National – 55). Labour leader Jacinda Ardern – a former DJ who is on the left wing of the party – became Prime Minister and is currently the world’s youngest female government.
Local elections in New Zealand have had low turnout for decades, but the local polls could serve as an interesting barometer ahead of next year’s parliamentary polls – which are due by November 2020 but could be called earlier – for which parties have already started campaigning.
Abbie O’Brien, SBS News (Australia): “Meet the first Muslims running for office in Christchurch, six months on from the attacks”
Nick Perry, AP: “New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was facing a difficult test of her leadership Wednesday after her party president resigned over the party’s handling of a sexual assault complaint.”
India, Haryana State and Maharashtra State Assemblies – October 2019 or November 2019 and Jharkhand State Assembly – November 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Republic
Population: India – 1.3 billion; Maharashtra -112 million; Haryana – 25 million; Jharkhand – 32 million
India has 29 states and seven union territories. Indian states are big – Maharashtra, whose capital is Mumbai, has 112 million people, Haryana 25 million, and Jharkhand 32 million. Coalitions headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) currently control all three state legislatures. The BJP won a massive victory in elections to the Lok Sabha, India’s national parliament, earlier this year, giving it a second term in power as the majority party able to govern without coalition partners, in an increasingly polarized political climate. The main opposition social democratic Congress Party – India’s oldest party – did well in a series of state elections late last year but is reeling from the whiplash of defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. The state elections are happening in the context of a renewed push from Modi to institute “one nation, one election” – a proposal to hold state elections at the same time as elections to the Lok Sabha. Critics say the plan is a ploy to centralize power.
In a surprise geopolitical development, on August 5, 2019, the Modi government made a unilateral decision to strip the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir of its autonomy. The region, which is majority Muslim, is claimed by both India and Pakistan and has sparked three wars. For seventy years, the Indian-controlled part – established as the state of Jammu and Kashmir – enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, but Modi announced that the state would be downgraded into two union territories, effectively centralizing control. The area remains on virtual lockdown. Some have been critical of the decision, which Modi defends.
Kumar Shakti Shekhar, Times of India: “6 reasons why Maharashtra, Haryana assembly elections are unique”
Prabhash K Dutta, India Today: “To stop Modi juggernaut, Congress has fresh chance in 3 assembly polls: The Congress has found it difficult to stop Modi wave that swept it out of power in 2014 reducing the grand-old-party to lowest number in the Lok Sabha.”
Kanchan Chandra, Foreign Affairs: “The Roots of Hindu Nationalism’s Triumph in India – What the BJP Learned From the Congress Party.”
Hong Kong District Councils – November 24, 2019 and Legislative Council – September 2020
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Special Administrative Region within China
Population: 7.2 million
A series of massive protests – with as many as 2 million people in the streets on at least one occasion – has been taking place in Hong Kong since the beginning of the summer. The proximate cause was a controversial extradition bill, but even though the bill has been put on hold, protesters persist, calling for more democracy and free elections.
Hong Kong’s politicians fall into two broad camps: pro-democracy and pro-Beijing (sometimes called pro-establishment). Within these camps, parties and independent candidates have diverse ideologies, ranging from free market to social democracy. The District Councils oversee local public works and community activities, and the Legislative Council (Legco) is Hong Kong’s legislature. Following the 2015 District Council elections, the pro-Beijing camp controls all 18 councils, but the pro-democracy and localist camps currently hold 124 out of 458 seats. In the Legco, the pro-Beijing camp holds 43 seats out of 70, while the pro-democracy camp holds 24. The protest movement could boost the pro-democracy camp.
Mike Cherney, Wall Street Journal: “Hong Kong Protesters’ New Target: City’s Vaunted Subway System: Protesters accuse operator MTR of aligning with the authorities—and have made it a target of their anger.”
Jennifer Creery, Hong Kong Free Press: “Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Ventus Lau has won an election petition to challenge a decision which barred him from running in a by-election last March. A court said on Friday that Lau was deprived of the chance to respond to the ban on his candidacy.”
Jeannette Ng, Foreign Policy: “Chinese Propaganda Paints Hong Kong as a Spoiled Brat: The mainland’s new nationalism comes with a heavy dose of old patriarchy.”
George Will, Washington Post: “Now, however, thanks to the ongoing drama in Hong Kong’s streets, it is possible to hope that the West has passed ‘peak China’ — the apogee of blinkered admiration for a nation in which approximately 19 percent of the human race is saddled with one of the world’s most sinister regimes.”
Sri Lanka Presidential – December 7, 2019 and Parliamentary – February 2020
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Presidential Republic
Population: 22.6 million
Sri Lanka is still feeling the aftershocks of a series of terrorist attacks over Easter 2019 and a 2018 political crisis in which President Maithripala Sirisena tried to dissolve parliament and remove Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe from office and replace him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was president from 2005 to 2015. Ultimately, Wickremesinghe was reinstated, but the crisis has deep roots and tensions remain high in Sri Lankan politics.
The two major parties are Sirisena’s center-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Wickremesinghe’s center-right United National Party. Rajapaksa left the SLPF in 2018 and now leads the populist Sri Lanka People’s Front/Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). In the last presidential elections, Rajapaksa surprisingly lost to Sirisena, who embarked on a reform program to reverse many of the autocratic powers Rajapaksa had built up. Sirisena is eligible to run for a second term and could run again. His potential challengers include Wickremesinghe and one of Rajapaksa’s siblings (Rajapaksa is not eligible to run for president again due to term limits adopted during Sirisena’s presidency). Rajapaksa’s SLPP did well in local elections last year. Sri Lanka’s democracy sits on the precipice, and the upcoming elections could well determine whether it strengthens or deteriorates.
Shihar Aneez, Reuters: “Sri Lanka’s top court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa to dismiss corruption charges against him, in a possible blow to the frontrunnner’s candidacy.”
Stella Soon, CNBC: “Sri Lanka’s economy has shown ‘resilience’ after the Easter Sunday bombings”
Taiwan Presidential and Legislative – January 11, 2020
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Population: 23.5 million
Taiwan has a robust democracy. The two main parties are President Tsai Ing-Wen’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT). The KMT, founded by Sun Yat-Sen, favors closer ties to the mainland, which it ruled from 1925 to 1948. The DPP, established in 1986 during Taiwan’s transition to democracy, supports Taiwan’s independence. Relations with China are a dominant theme in Taiwan’s political debate. Tsai won the DPP presidential primary. Beijing’s choice, Han Kuo-yu, the populist firebrand mayor of Kaohsiung, a major port city in the south, won the KMT primary. His opponent, Foxconn founder Terry Guo, Taiwan’s richest man, is mulling an independent bid in the general election.
The DPP currently controls the Legislative Yuan. Last year’s local elections swept the KMT back into many local offices that they had lost during the 2014 local elections – with some interference from China. China is expected to attempt to influence the upcoming elections as well.
Lawrence Chung, South China Morning Post: “Foxconn’s Terry Gou quits Kuomintang, paving way for Taiwan presidency bid as an independent”
Miaojung Lin and Samson Ellis, Bloomberg: “Aides to Foxconn founder Terry Gou visited Taiwan’s top election agency about the paperwork needed to wage an independent campaign for president, in the latest sign the billionaire is inching toward a run.”
Cindy Wang and Miaojung Lin, Bloomberg: “Taiwan’s President Rises From the Ashes With a Hand From Hong Kong”
Davina Tham, Taipei Times: “Democracy advocates, among them Hong Kong singer-activist Denise Ho (何韻詩) and exiled Chinese dissident Yang Jianli (楊建利), yesterday attended the Oslo Freedom Forum in Taipei to encourage more people to support movements against authoritarian regimes.”
Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News: “The first U.S.-Taiwan consultations on democratic governance began on Thursday (Sept. 12) at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), signaling further cooperation between the two countries.”
Burma Parliamentary – Expected late 2020
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Burma, also called Myanmar, seemed to be moving toward democracy following the country’s first credible, relatively free elections in 2015, which swept Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) to power following decades of military dictatorship. Once held up by the global community as a paragon of moral authority for giving up her own freedom in the fight for democracy, Suu Kyi’s tenure as the country’s de facto leader has disappointed many. Burma still has hundreds of political prisoners, including many who were arrested after the NLD came to power. Ethnic conflicts continue between the dominant Burmans, who comprise roughly 60 percent of the population, and different minority groups. The crisis in Rakhine or Arakan State with the Muslim Rohingya, which some have called a genocide, has created 700,000 refugees in neighboring Bangladesh and 128,000 internally displaced people. During by-elections in 2018, the NLD won seven out of 13 seats, but lost five out of six in non-Burman areas.
Bridget Welsh, The Straits Times: “A new arena awaits as Myanmar warms up for 2020 polls: The parties, voters and issues have undergone major changes since the last elections even if Aung San Suu Kyi remains the anchor of her party’s campaign”
Nanda, Frontier Myanmar: “A champion of democracy returns to his motherland: Nearly 30 years after becoming head of a government-in-exile formed at a jungle base on the border with Thailand, Dr Sein Win has returned to Myanmar.”
Singapore General – April 2021 (snap possible)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Population: 6 million
People’s Action Party (PAP), co-founded by Lee Kuan Yew Singapore’s first prime minister, has been in power since 1959. While elections aren’t rigged in the classic sense (no stuffed ballot boxes), they take place in a context that effectively prevents the opposition from actually taking power, and the opposition has not historically run to actually win – their pitch to voters has been promises to provide a check on the PAP.
The government uses a variety of tactics – including libel lawsuits, influence over the media, and laws that restrict political speech – to hamstring the opposition, while arguing that Singaporeans support PAP because it has governed competently. The 2015 elections gave PAP 83 out of the 89 elected seats in parliament. The next elections are due in 2021, but Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (Lee Kuan Yew’s son) has hinted that he would call early elections.
Jewel Stolarchuk, The Independent (Singapore): “Dr Bilveer Singh, an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Political Science, has asserted that he believes Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong ‘will be facing the most organised Opposition in a long time’ given the election preparation efforts of the various opposition parties in Singapore. Mr Bilveer, who recently published a book entitled in his new book ‘Is the People’s Action Party Here to Stay,’ pointed out that the three most notable opposition parties in Singapore – the Workers’ Party (WP), the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and the new Progress Singapore Party (PSP) – have mobilised their troops and have been working the ground.”
Zaihan Mohamed Yusof, Straits Times: “The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) will roll out its revamped website next Wednesday (Sept 18) in anticipation of the upcoming general election.”
Adrian Lim, Straits Times: “Opposition veteran Wong Wee Nam, who contested the 1997 General Election, died on Saturday (Sept 7) after battling Parkinson’s disease for several years. He was 72. Dr Wong was a prominent advocate and observer of Singapore’s opposition politics, with close ties to the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).”
Past Elections
Tuvalu Parliamentary – September 9, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy under a Constitutional Monarchy (a Commonwealth realm)
Population: 11,000
Tuvalu does not have political parties, but parties are allowed should someone wish to form one. Earlier this year, former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd proposed giving citizens of Tuvalu and other Pacific island nations Australian citizenship in exchange for control over their fishing zones and other natural resources. Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga categorically opposed the idea.
Jonathan Barrett and Colin Packham, Reuters: “Tuvalu election puts Taiwan ties in play: The freshly elected lawmakers of the tiny Pacific country of Tuvalu are set to choose a prime minister against a backdrop of China’s efforts to erode the region’s traditional support for Taiwan.”
Solomon Islands General – April 3, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy under a Constitutional Monarchy; a Commonwealth Realm
Population: 660,000
The country holds regular elections, but irregularities are common. Political parties are weak and based more on personality than ideology, and allegiances shift frequently.
Graeme Smith, Lowy Institute’s The Interpreter: “Taiwan’s relations with Solomon Islands started by chance, and now hang on chance. Within the next few weeks, the island nation will decide on whether to switch recognition from Taiwan to China, depending on the wishes of a few undecided MPs.”
Editorial Board, Nikkei Asian Review: “China’s Pacific island advances are not just Taiwan’s problem”
Cambodia General – July 29, 2018
Freedom House Rating: Not Free
Government Type: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
Population: 16.4 million
Although Cambodia has held elections in the past that had some element of competition, the 2018 election – neither free nor fair – signified the closing of Cambodia’s political space. The main pro-democracy opposition, Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), was dissolved and banned from fielding candidates, and its leader, Sam Rainsy, was sent into exile, so its supporters boycotted the polls, resulting in the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) taking 58 out of 62 seats in parliament, and allowing Prime Minister Hun Sen to consolidate even more power while extending his three decades in power. The election has been described as the “death of democracy” in Cambodia. Since then, Cambodia has worked to suppress all critical voices, including journalists, civil society, and the opposition. The United States sanctioned Cambodia’s top officials in response.
Radio Free Asia: “U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet hit out on Monday at Cambodian authorities’ harassment of members of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party, pointing to the questioning by police of over 100 party activists, and detention of over 20, since the beginning of the year.”
Radio Free Asia: “A court in Cambodia on Friday charged acting president of the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Sam Rainsy with ‘insulting the King,’ a day after he gave an interview in which he called King Norodom Sihamoni a ‘puppet’ of Prime Minister Hun Sen.”
David Hutt, The Diplomat: “Will Sam Rainsy’s Promised Cambodia Return Bring People Power Or Something Else? Despite the opposition figure’s optimistic assessment, the outlook following his possible return to Cambodia remains unclear.”
Malaysia General – May 9, 2018
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free
Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
Population: 31.8 million
In last year’s parliamentary elections, Mahathir Mohamed led his Pakatan Haratan (Alliance of Hope) party to a surprise victory over the Barisan Nasional coalition and its primary member, United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which had been in power since Malaysia’s 1957 independence. In 1976, the government abolished local elections and instituted the practice of appointing the members of the country’s 146 local councils. Malaysia is currently debating whether to hold local elections.
Updated September 14, 2019
Shannon Teoh, Straits Times: “Malaysia’s two biggest Malay Muslim parties inked a political cooperation pact on Saturday (Sept 14) that they hope will spur the majority community to unite against perceived threats from the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government. Over 10,000 party faithful, most dressed in white, packed the Putra World Trade Centre to witness the chiefs of former rivals Umno and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) sign a ‘National Cooperation’ charter outlining the terms of their pact, which has shown success in several by-elections as an informal arrangement over the past year.”
Reuters: “Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy has seen a string of racial flare-ups over the past year and a half, as Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s nascent government grapples with an increasingly unhappy majority that fears it is losing its special privileges. The union between former ruling party UMNO, which was ousted by Mahathir’s coalition in a general election last year, and Islamist party PAS, promises that political power will return to the ethnic Malay-Muslims should they win in the next polls due in 3 years.”
Yudith Ho and Philip Heijmans, Bloomberg: “A pact between Malaysia’s biggest opposition parties is set to pose a key challenge to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s multiracial coalition that has sought to win support from the Malay Muslim majority.”
BBC: “Malaysia’s queen has briefly returned to Twitter to express disappointment at police arresting people for allegedly insulting her on social media.”
Sri Lanka presidential candidate and would-be strongman Gotabaya Rajapaksa on a 2014 visit to Brazil, during his tenure as defense minister. Photo credit: Wikimedia/Jorge Cardoso – Ministério da Defesa (CC BY 2.0)
21votes does not necessarily endorse all of the views in all of the linked articles or publications. More on our approach here.
The Year Ahead: Asia
Japan, provincial elections throughout the year; India, Maharashtra and Haryana states (October); New Zealand local (October 12); Hong Kong local (November 24); Marshall Islands legislative (November); India Jharkhand State (November); Kiribati legislative (December); Sri Lanka presidential (December 7); Nepal by-elections (December 30); Taiwan presidential and legislative (January 11); Kiribati presidential (March); Maldives local (April); South Korea parliamentary (April 15); Niue parliamentary (May); Philippines village and youth council (May 11); Mongolia parliamentary (June)
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Category: This Week Tags: Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tuvalu