February 25, 2022
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. For a full electoral calendar and interactive map, click here.
The Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, India. Punjab’s state election is a major test for the opposition Congress Party, as Punjab is one of the few states where it currently holds power. Photo credit: Wikimedia/Utpal Nag (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Ongoing Asia/Pacific Elections
India, State Elections in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand: February/March 2022 (due)
Five Indian states are due to hold elections in early 2022. These elections will be a key test for the national parties – and PM Narendra Modi – ahead of national elections in 2024. In the last national elections, in 2019, Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won a “thumping victory, securing a second term in office in an increasingly polarized political climate. The main opposition social democratic Congress Party – India’s oldest party – has done well some subsequent state elections.
First up for this round of state polls: Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, will hold elections in seven stages from February 10 to March 7. The BJP currently dominates the state legislature, and the Chief Minister is controversial Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath.
Punjab will also vote on February 20. The state government is currently led by Congress Party. Manipur – currently led by BJP – votes on February 28 and March 5.
Gujarat (Modi’s home state) is due to vote later this year, and a handful of other states go to the polls in 2023.
Kavita Chowdhury, The Diplomat (February 24, 2022): The BJP Has the Edge in the Electoral Race in Uttar Pradesh – However, its principal challenger, the Samajwadi Party, could still stage an upset.
Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar, New York Times (February 20, 2022): India’s Congress Party Faces a Test of Survival as Punjab Votes: A defeat here, one of the few states where the once-dominant party still retains power, would be a major blow.
Sheikh Saaliq, AP (February 20, 2022): Farmer anger will test Modi as India’s ‘grain bowl’ votes
Upcoming Asia/Pacific Elections
South Korea Presidential Election: March 9, 2022
South Korea holds its presidential election on March 9, 2021. Recently, the conservative opposition People Power Party won special mayoral elections in Seoul and Busan by a landslide, just a year after President Moon Jae-in’s center-left Democratic Party swept the legislature. Moreover, Moon’s approval rating is tanking.
Four candidates will contest the March presidential election. The frontrunners are retired civil rights lawyer and former Gyeonggi Province (the most populous province that includes Seoul) governor Lee Jae-myung from the Democratic Party and former prosecutor general Yoon Suk-yeol from the People Power Party. Yoon is leading pre-election polls. Ahn Cheol-soo and Sim Sang-jeung, both from small parties, are also running. The campaign has generally been nasty and neither major candidate is particularly popular with voters or with his respective party – both won their primaries narrowly.
South Korea is a key United States ally, and the South Korean public broadly supports the alliance. However, Moon has pursued diplomatic and economic engagement with North Korea and moved closer to China.
Steven Borowiec, Nikkei Asia (February 22, 2022): Innovate or die: Korea Inc. faces harsh choice as election looms
Ramon Pacheco Pardo and Saeme Kim, The Hill (February 20, 2022): South Korea’s presidential election won’t change its foreign policy
Malaysia, Early State Elections in Johor: March 12, 2022 and Early General Elections: Expected
Malaysia will likely call early general elections once the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Meanwhile, several of Malaysia’s states are due to hold elections in the next year. In Malaysia’s federal system, state governments have significant powers to make laws for their own states, and the Borneo states of Sarawak and Sabah have even more power than the 11 peninsular Malaysian states.
Melaka (or Malacca – located on the Strait of Malacca, a key strategic choke point) held snap elections on November 20, which delivered a victory for the ruling coalition. In addition, Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, subsequently held state elections very shortly after the federal government lifts the COVID-19 state of emergency, and Sabah, the other Borneo state, also held polls.
Next up: Johor, which borders Singapore, will hold snap elections on March 12, 2022 after the state’s chief minister dissolved the state legislature (elections were originally due in 2023).
The country’s politics have been turbulent since the historic defeat of UMNO – which had ruled since 1957 – in the 2018 elections. UMNO is back in power but hanging on by a thread as Ismail Sabri Yaakob, from UMNO, became prime minister in August 2021, following protests and general chaos. He replaced Muhyiddin Yassin, who was only in office for 17 months (the shortest-ever tenure of a Malaysian prime minister). More
Ram Anand, Straits Times (February 23, 2022): Johor polls campaigning dry run for Malaysia’s next general election: Experts
K. Parkaran, Free Malaysia Today (February 20, 2022): Johor polls set to be a general election bellwether
Timor-Leste Presidential Election: March 19, 2022
Timor-Leste (also called East Timor) will hold a presidential election in March 2022. Since winning independence from Indonesia in a referendum 20 years ago, Timor-Leste has become a democracy rated Free by Freedom House, although some challenges remain.
The current president, Francisco Guterres, called Lú-Olo, was elected in 2017.
European Council (February 22, 2022): Timor-Leste: The European Union deploys an Election Observation Mission
Philippines General Elections (Presidential, Legislative, and Local): May 9, 2022
Philippines holds general elections on May 9, 2022. In 2016, populist firebrand Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency, claiming to be an outsider. He has governed with an iron fist. Although he is banned from seeking a second term, critics fear that he will seek to consolidate illiberalism in the form of a handpicked successor. His daughter, Sara Duterte, will run for vice president as the running mate of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son of the notorious late former dictator.
Meanwhile, a broad coalition of opposition figures have formed 1Sambayan (One Nation) in the hopes of defeating Duterte’s allies with a united front. Boxing star Manny Pacquiao, a former Duterte ally, had been discussed as a possible presidential candidate for 1Sambayan, but the alliance ultimately decided to endorse current vice president Leni Robredo, who is not actually politically aligned with Duterte (in the Philippines, the president and vice president are elected separately, and Robredo ran in the last election on the Liberal Party ticket in opposition to Duterte).
While the Philippines lacks significant hard power, it is located in a geopolitically crucial area. The country has been a key U.S. ally since World War II, but Duterte has flirted with moves to bring the Philippines closer to China and away from the United States during his tenure in office. However, the country has ultimately kept the defense pact with the U.S. in tact.
Paterno R. Esmaquel II, Rappler (February 25, 2022): Top Jesuits, Ateneo theologians endorse Robredo, Pangilinan
Cliff Venzon, Nikkei Asia (February 25, 2022): Marcos return looms large as Philippines remembers ‘People Power’
Jim Gomez and Joeal Calupitan, AP (February 24, 2022): 50 years apart: Philippine activist fights dictator then son
Nepal Local Elections: May 13, 2022, followed by General Elections
Several sets of elections could take place in Nepal within the next year. Local elections have been set for May 13.
Nepal’s politics remain turbulent following the 1996-2006 civil war waged by Maoists. Nepal had planned to hold snap elections for the lower house in November 2021, following a protracted political crisis, but now the snap elections have been cancelled, and the current thinking is that the parliamentary elections will take place when they are due in 2023. For background: in December 2020, Nepal’s prime minister decided to dissolve parliament and call for new elections. However, on February 23, the Supreme Court overturned the decision, cancelling the snap elections. The government subsequently lost a confidence vote, sparking snap polls. However, the courts reversed the decision.
Nepal sits in the strategically-important Himalayas, and is a focus of competition between India and China. Although former prime minister KP Sharma Oli brought Nepal closer to China, his replacement, Sher Bahadur Deuba, who assumed office in July 2021, is seen as favoring closer ties to India. More
Aditi Adhikari, Nepali Times (February 26, 2022): Can Nepal elections change its male-stream politics?
Zoya Hussain, India Times (February 21, 2022): Explained: Why There’s A Political Tension In Nepal Over The Millennium Challenge Corporation
Australia Parliamentary Elections: May 2022 (due – snap elections possible)
Australia’s federal parliamentary elections are due May 21, 2022, but snap elections could happen. Meanwhile, several states hold elections in 2021. In the last general elections, in 2019, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Liberal Party won in a surprise result, after trailing in pre-election polls. More
Joshua Mcdonald, The Diplomat (February 23, 2022): Australia-China Relations Again in Focus Ahead of Australian Election
Damien Cave, New York Times (February 22, 2022): An Old Problem Suddenly Dominates Australia’s Election: ‘Dark Money’
Eric Meijer, Nikkei Asia (February 21, 2022): Australia reopens to world as election sparring heats up
Graeme Dobell, Australian Strategic Policy Institute (February 21, 2022): Oz election 2022: Covid, climate and China
Asia/Pacific Elections Coming Up in 2022 and 2023
India, State Elections in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand: February/March 2022 (due)
South Korea Presidential Election: March 9, 2022
Malaysia, Early State Elections in Johor: March 12, 2022
Timor-Leste Presidential Election: March 19, 2022
Australia, South Australia State Election: March 19, 2022
Nepal General Elections: Spring 2022 (expected – due by March 2023, but early elections likely)
Philippines Presidential, Legislative, and Local Elections: May 9, 2022
Nepal Local Elections: May 13, 2022
Australia Parliamentary Elections: May 2022 (due – snap elections possible)
Papua New Guinea Parliamentary and Local Elections: June 25-July 8, 2022
Cambodia Local Elections: June 5, 2022
Japan House of Councillors Elections: July 25, 2022 (half of upper house at stake)
Vanuatu Presidential Election: July 2022 (due – indirect election, largely ceremonial role)
Australia, Tasmania State Elections: By Mid-2022
Nauru Parliamentary Elections: August 2022 (due)
Japan, Gubernatorial Election in Okinawa: September 2022 (due)
New Zealand Local Elections: October 2022 (due)
Fiji Parliamentary Elections: November 2022 (due)
Taiwan Local Elections: November 26, 2022
India, State Elections in Himachal Pradesh: November 2022 (due)
Australia, South Australia Local Elections; November 11, 2022
Australia, Victoria State Elections: November 26, 2022
India, State Elections in Gujarat: December 2022 (due)
India, State Elections in Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland: February 2023 (due)
Thailand General Elections: By March 23, 2023 (earlier elections possible)
Australia, New South Wales State Elections: March 25, 2023
Micronesia Parliamentary Elections: March 2023
Malaysia General Elections and State Elections: May 2023 (due – general elections likely to be called earlier)
India, State Elections in Karnataka: May 2023 (due)
Cambodia Parliamentary Elections: July 30, 2023 (due)
Burma Parliamentary Elections: By August 2023 (proposed – tentative, post-coup)
Maldives Presidential Election: September 2023 (due)
Tuvalu General Elections: September 2023 (due)
Singapore Presidential Election: September 2023 (expected – largely ceremonial role)
New Zealand General Elections: October 2023 (expected – due by January 2024)
Bhutan Parliamentary Elections: October 2023 (due)
India, State Elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Mizoram: November 2023 (due)
Bangladesh Parliamentary Elections: December 2023 (due)
India, State Elections in Rajasthan and Telangana: December 2023 (due)
21votes does not necessarily agree with all of the opinions expressed in the linked articles; rather, our goal is to curate a wide range of voices. Furthermore, none of the individuals or organizations referenced have reviewed 21votes’ content. That is to say, their inclusion should not be taken to imply that they endorse us in any way. More on our approach here.
Asia This Week: February 25, 2022
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Last Updated: March 9, 2022 by 21votes
February 25, 2022
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. For a full electoral calendar and interactive map, click here.
Ongoing Asia/Pacific Elections
India, State Elections in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand: February/March 2022 (due)
Five Indian states are due to hold elections in early 2022. These elections will be a key test for the national parties – and PM Narendra Modi – ahead of national elections in 2024. In the last national elections, in 2019, Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won a “thumping victory, securing a second term in office in an increasingly polarized political climate. The main opposition social democratic Congress Party – India’s oldest party – has done well some subsequent state elections.
First up for this round of state polls: Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, will hold elections in seven stages from February 10 to March 7. The BJP currently dominates the state legislature, and the Chief Minister is controversial Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath.
Punjab will also vote on February 20. The state government is currently led by Congress Party. Manipur – currently led by BJP – votes on February 28 and March 5.
Gujarat (Modi’s home state) is due to vote later this year, and a handful of other states go to the polls in 2023.
Kavita Chowdhury, The Diplomat (February 24, 2022): The BJP Has the Edge in the Electoral Race in Uttar Pradesh – However, its principal challenger, the Samajwadi Party, could still stage an upset.
Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar, New York Times (February 20, 2022): India’s Congress Party Faces a Test of Survival as Punjab Votes: A defeat here, one of the few states where the once-dominant party still retains power, would be a major blow.
Sheikh Saaliq, AP (February 20, 2022): Farmer anger will test Modi as India’s ‘grain bowl’ votes
Upcoming Asia/Pacific Elections
South Korea Presidential Election: March 9, 2022
South Korea holds its presidential election on March 9, 2021. Recently, the conservative opposition People Power Party won special mayoral elections in Seoul and Busan by a landslide, just a year after President Moon Jae-in’s center-left Democratic Party swept the legislature. Moreover, Moon’s approval rating is tanking.
Four candidates will contest the March presidential election. The frontrunners are retired civil rights lawyer and former Gyeonggi Province (the most populous province that includes Seoul) governor Lee Jae-myung from the Democratic Party and former prosecutor general Yoon Suk-yeol from the People Power Party. Yoon is leading pre-election polls. Ahn Cheol-soo and Sim Sang-jeung, both from small parties, are also running. The campaign has generally been nasty and neither major candidate is particularly popular with voters or with his respective party – both won their primaries narrowly.
South Korea is a key United States ally, and the South Korean public broadly supports the alliance. However, Moon has pursued diplomatic and economic engagement with North Korea and moved closer to China.
Steven Borowiec, Nikkei Asia (February 22, 2022): Innovate or die: Korea Inc. faces harsh choice as election looms
Ramon Pacheco Pardo and Saeme Kim, The Hill (February 20, 2022): South Korea’s presidential election won’t change its foreign policy
Malaysia, Early State Elections in Johor: March 12, 2022 and Early General Elections: Expected
Malaysia will likely call early general elections once the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Meanwhile, several of Malaysia’s states are due to hold elections in the next year. In Malaysia’s federal system, state governments have significant powers to make laws for their own states, and the Borneo states of Sarawak and Sabah have even more power than the 11 peninsular Malaysian states.
Melaka (or Malacca – located on the Strait of Malacca, a key strategic choke point) held snap elections on November 20, which delivered a victory for the ruling coalition. In addition, Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, subsequently held state elections very shortly after the federal government lifts the COVID-19 state of emergency, and Sabah, the other Borneo state, also held polls.
Next up: Johor, which borders Singapore, will hold snap elections on March 12, 2022 after the state’s chief minister dissolved the state legislature (elections were originally due in 2023).
The country’s politics have been turbulent since the historic defeat of UMNO – which had ruled since 1957 – in the 2018 elections. UMNO is back in power but hanging on by a thread as Ismail Sabri Yaakob, from UMNO, became prime minister in August 2021, following protests and general chaos. He replaced Muhyiddin Yassin, who was only in office for 17 months (the shortest-ever tenure of a Malaysian prime minister). More
Ram Anand, Straits Times (February 23, 2022): Johor polls campaigning dry run for Malaysia’s next general election: Experts
K. Parkaran, Free Malaysia Today (February 20, 2022): Johor polls set to be a general election bellwether
Timor-Leste Presidential Election: March 19, 2022
Timor-Leste (also called East Timor) will hold a presidential election in March 2022. Since winning independence from Indonesia in a referendum 20 years ago, Timor-Leste has become a democracy rated Free by Freedom House, although some challenges remain.
The current president, Francisco Guterres, called Lú-Olo, was elected in 2017.
European Council (February 22, 2022): Timor-Leste: The European Union deploys an Election Observation Mission
Philippines General Elections (Presidential, Legislative, and Local): May 9, 2022
Philippines holds general elections on May 9, 2022. In 2016, populist firebrand Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency, claiming to be an outsider. He has governed with an iron fist. Although he is banned from seeking a second term, critics fear that he will seek to consolidate illiberalism in the form of a handpicked successor. His daughter, Sara Duterte, will run for vice president as the running mate of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son of the notorious late former dictator.
Meanwhile, a broad coalition of opposition figures have formed 1Sambayan (One Nation) in the hopes of defeating Duterte’s allies with a united front. Boxing star Manny Pacquiao, a former Duterte ally, had been discussed as a possible presidential candidate for 1Sambayan, but the alliance ultimately decided to endorse current vice president Leni Robredo, who is not actually politically aligned with Duterte (in the Philippines, the president and vice president are elected separately, and Robredo ran in the last election on the Liberal Party ticket in opposition to Duterte).
While the Philippines lacks significant hard power, it is located in a geopolitically crucial area. The country has been a key U.S. ally since World War II, but Duterte has flirted with moves to bring the Philippines closer to China and away from the United States during his tenure in office. However, the country has ultimately kept the defense pact with the U.S. in tact.
Paterno R. Esmaquel II, Rappler (February 25, 2022): Top Jesuits, Ateneo theologians endorse Robredo, Pangilinan
Cliff Venzon, Nikkei Asia (February 25, 2022): Marcos return looms large as Philippines remembers ‘People Power’
Jim Gomez and Joeal Calupitan, AP (February 24, 2022): 50 years apart: Philippine activist fights dictator then son
Nepal Local Elections: May 13, 2022, followed by General Elections
Several sets of elections could take place in Nepal within the next year. Local elections have been set for May 13.
Nepal’s politics remain turbulent following the 1996-2006 civil war waged by Maoists. Nepal had planned to hold snap elections for the lower house in November 2021, following a protracted political crisis, but now the snap elections have been cancelled, and the current thinking is that the parliamentary elections will take place when they are due in 2023. For background: in December 2020, Nepal’s prime minister decided to dissolve parliament and call for new elections. However, on February 23, the Supreme Court overturned the decision, cancelling the snap elections. The government subsequently lost a confidence vote, sparking snap polls. However, the courts reversed the decision.
Nepal sits in the strategically-important Himalayas, and is a focus of competition between India and China. Although former prime minister KP Sharma Oli brought Nepal closer to China, his replacement, Sher Bahadur Deuba, who assumed office in July 2021, is seen as favoring closer ties to India. More
Aditi Adhikari, Nepali Times (February 26, 2022): Can Nepal elections change its male-stream politics?
Zoya Hussain, India Times (February 21, 2022): Explained: Why There’s A Political Tension In Nepal Over The Millennium Challenge Corporation
Australia Parliamentary Elections: May 2022 (due – snap elections possible)
Australia’s federal parliamentary elections are due May 21, 2022, but snap elections could happen. Meanwhile, several states hold elections in 2021. In the last general elections, in 2019, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Liberal Party won in a surprise result, after trailing in pre-election polls. More
Joshua Mcdonald, The Diplomat (February 23, 2022): Australia-China Relations Again in Focus Ahead of Australian Election
Damien Cave, New York Times (February 22, 2022): An Old Problem Suddenly Dominates Australia’s Election: ‘Dark Money’
Eric Meijer, Nikkei Asia (February 21, 2022): Australia reopens to world as election sparring heats up
Graeme Dobell, Australian Strategic Policy Institute (February 21, 2022): Oz election 2022: Covid, climate and China
Asia/Pacific Elections Coming Up in 2022 and 2023
India, State Elections in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand: February/March 2022 (due)
South Korea Presidential Election: March 9, 2022
Malaysia, Early State Elections in Johor: March 12, 2022
Timor-Leste Presidential Election: March 19, 2022
Australia, South Australia State Election: March 19, 2022
Nepal General Elections: Spring 2022 (expected – due by March 2023, but early elections likely)
Philippines Presidential, Legislative, and Local Elections: May 9, 2022
Nepal Local Elections: May 13, 2022
Australia Parliamentary Elections: May 2022 (due – snap elections possible)
Papua New Guinea Parliamentary and Local Elections: June 25-July 8, 2022
Cambodia Local Elections: June 5, 2022
Japan House of Councillors Elections: July 25, 2022 (half of upper house at stake)
Vanuatu Presidential Election: July 2022 (due – indirect election, largely ceremonial role)
Australia, Tasmania State Elections: By Mid-2022
Nauru Parliamentary Elections: August 2022 (due)
Japan, Gubernatorial Election in Okinawa: September 2022 (due)
New Zealand Local Elections: October 2022 (due)
Fiji Parliamentary Elections: November 2022 (due)
Taiwan Local Elections: November 26, 2022
India, State Elections in Himachal Pradesh: November 2022 (due)
Australia, South Australia Local Elections; November 11, 2022
Australia, Victoria State Elections: November 26, 2022
India, State Elections in Gujarat: December 2022 (due)
India, State Elections in Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland: February 2023 (due)
Thailand General Elections: By March 23, 2023 (earlier elections possible)
Australia, New South Wales State Elections: March 25, 2023
Micronesia Parliamentary Elections: March 2023
Malaysia General Elections and State Elections: May 2023 (due – general elections likely to be called earlier)
India, State Elections in Karnataka: May 2023 (due)
Cambodia Parliamentary Elections: July 30, 2023 (due)
Burma Parliamentary Elections: By August 2023 (proposed – tentative, post-coup)
Maldives Presidential Election: September 2023 (due)
Tuvalu General Elections: September 2023 (due)
Singapore Presidential Election: September 2023 (expected – largely ceremonial role)
New Zealand General Elections: October 2023 (expected – due by January 2024)
Bhutan Parliamentary Elections: October 2023 (due)
India, State Elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Mizoram: November 2023 (due)
Bangladesh Parliamentary Elections: December 2023 (due)
India, State Elections in Rajasthan and Telangana: December 2023 (due)
21votes does not necessarily agree with all of the opinions expressed in the linked articles; rather, our goal is to curate a wide range of voices. Furthermore, none of the individuals or organizations referenced have reviewed 21votes’ content. That is to say, their inclusion should not be taken to imply that they endorse us in any way. More on our approach here.
Category: This Week Tags: Australia, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, Timor-Leste