Upcoming Elections
Ukraine Snap Parliamentary – July 21, 2019 (following presidential elections earlier this year)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Actor and comedian Volodymyr Zelensky beat incumbent Petro Poroshenko in the March presidential election. Zelensky dissolved the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) and called for snap elections (parliamentary elections were originally supposed to take place in October this year). In addition to entrenched corruption and economic difficulties, Ukraine remains at war with Russian-backed separatists in the east. Policy debate largely centers on Russia, which has been ramping up aggression.
Zelensky is new to politics, so his Servant of the People party does not currently have any seats in the Rada, but will be running candidates in the parliamentary polls with a hope of securing a majority. Poroshenko’s bloc won the most seats in the 2014 parliamentary elections, judged by observers to be competitive and credible, but because elections could not take place in Crimea and parts of Donbas, only 423 out of 450 seats were filled. The pro-Russian Opposition Bloc only won 29 seats, and support for pro-Moscow politicians has declined in the face of Russian aggression.
RFE/RL: “Ukrainian Constitutional Court OKs Parliament’s Dissolution, Early Poll”
Associated Press: “President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued the order on the day after his inauguration last month to dissolve the parliament. Opposition to him in the current parliament is strong and Zelenskiy did not want to wait several months to try and gain more supporters in the legislature.”
Steven Pifer, Atlantic Council’s Ukraine Alert: “The outcome of the parliamentary elections matters. Zelenskyy needs a majority coalition that will support his agenda and approve a prime minister and cabinet with which he can work.”
Andrew Langley, Bloomberg/Washington Post: “Legacy of Ukrainian Revolution Rides on Election Year”
RFE/RL: “Ukrainian Investigative Journalist Who Asked ‘Inconvenient Questions’ Dies After Attack”
Russia Local and Gubernatorial – September 8, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Federation
Russian elections are neither free nor fair, and viable genuine opposition candidates are frequently barred from running. Opposition politicians, civil society activists, and citizens who protest are routinely harassed and arrested. Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party has a stranglehold on Russia’s politics. Putin won last year’s stage-managed presidential election against a cast of absurd characters after credible opponents were banned from the contest.
However, in last year’s regional elections, United Russia lost four out of the 22 governorships up for election. Even though the winners came from “Potemkin opposition” parties that do not genuinely oppose Putin, the fact that United Russia failed to make a clean sweep could signify a decline in Putin’s popularity. The 16 governorships up for election this year include St. Petersburg, where Putin got his political start, and the strategic Arctic port of Murmansk.
Atle Staalesen, The Barents Observer: “A ladies’ man intends to cement power in Murmansk: Andrey Chibis has hired a host of young women that are to help him win the upcoming governor’s elections in Murmansk.”
Frida Ghitis, Politico: “Is Putin Losing the Trust of Russians? He’s facing embarrassing failures at home and abroad, and the Russian public is pushing back.”
The Economist: “With the president in his last constitutionally permitted term, the spectre of a post-Putin era looms. Hoping to manage the generational shift, Mr Putin has sought fresh cadres to replace ageing loyalists.”
Belarus Parliamentary – November 17, 2019 and Presidential – October 2020
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic (in name; in fact a dictatorship)
Belarus – sometimes called “Europe’s last dictatorship” – has choreographed elections and minimal space for political dissent, with periodic violent crackdowns on opposition. The opposition has boycotted a series of recent elections, but did contest the 2016 parliamentary polls, winning two seats, despite the elections being widely judged as neither free nor fair. The upcoming elections are taking place in the context of Russia pushing for closer integration with Belarus within the framework of a “Union State” – perhaps as a precursor to an attempt to annex Belarus.
Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, Human Rights House Foundation, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights: Letter to the UN Human Rights Council: “There are fears that upcoming Parliamentary and Presidential elections in Belarus will be a pretext for a spike in human rights violations against human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, online activists and others, as has happened systematically during electoral periods in the past.”
Grigory Ioffe, Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor: “Belarus: Standing out From the Post-Soviet Crowd”
Uzbekistan Parliamentary – December 19, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic (highly authoritarian)
Elections in Uzbekistan are neither free nor fair, and political opposition is not able to operate in the country. Longtime dictator Islam Karimov, who oversaw the world’s worst massacre of protesters since Tiananmen and tortured dissidents (even boiling some of them to death), died in 2016. His successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has showed some openness to reform, such as a move to end forced labor during the cotton harvest and the release of some – not all – political prisoners, but the country remains a consolidated autocracy. The Oliy Majlis, Uzbekistan’s bicameral parliament, has historically been passive, although Mirziyoyev has called for the body to take a more active role. However, the political space does not exist for legislators to hold the executive branch accountable, and none of the parties in the Oliy Majlis are genuinely opposition.
Edward Lemon, Foreign Policy Research Institute: “Uzbekistan is undergoing a remarkable transformation….But what we are seeing in Uzbekistan is not democratization. Rather, it is ‘authoritarian upgrading.’ Authoritarian upgrading entails selectively adopting economic and political reforms to placate the population’s demands for democratization, while existing elites capture most of the benefits of the country’s embrace of globalization and marketization.”
Al-Jazeera: “Uzbekistan reforms: Activists demand more changes: Most Uzbeks back president Mirziyoyev’s reform process but they complain about difficulties such as finding jobs.”
Georgia Parliamentary – October 2020
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Georgia holds competitive but imperfect elections. The eccentric oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili runs the show from behind the scenes, despite holding no official office. Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream coalition came to power during the 2012 parliamentary elections, ousting former president Mikheil Saakasvili’s pro-European, pro-NATO United National Movement. Ivanishvili’s candidate, Salome Zurabishvili, won last year’s disputed presidential election. Georgian Dream did well in by-elections in May, but their brutal response to protests could harm the coalition ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections.
Meduza: “Protest in Tbilisi: How a Russian lawmaker’s perceived arrogance provoked violent clashes outside Georgia’s Parliament building”
Civil.ge: “Police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrators as tensions mounted in front of the Parliament of Georgia. The confrontation started when protesters tried to push through the police cordon late on June 20.”
Past Elections
Kazakhstan Snap Presidential – June 9, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Longtime strongman Nursultan Nazerbayev, who ruled Kazakhstan since independence in 1991, surprised everyone by stepping down and calling a snap presidential election. Unsurprisingly, his chosen successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, won in a tightly-managed election. In the days surrounding the election, over 1,000 people were arrested for peacefully protesting. No real opposition exists within Kazakhstan, but some think that the seeds of a civic awakening are being planted.
Erica Marat, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage: “Kazakhstan’s police are cracking down on protesters — as political activism keeps rising. It’s a conflict familiar in post-Soviet nations: Democratic expectations meet unreformed police forces.”
Paul Stronski interview, World Politics Review: “Protests Against Kazakhstan’s ‘Stage-Managed’ Election Test Tokayev’s Legitimacy”
Kate Mallinson, Chatham House: “Kazakhstan’s Government Can No Longer Avoid a Conversation With Its People”
Moldova Parliamentary – February 24, 2019 (local elections to be held October 20, 2019)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Inconclusive elections in February led to several months of deadlock. The Socialists won 31 percent of the vote; the pro-Europe center-right ACUM (a new opposition coalition not previously in parliament) won 26 percent, and the pro-oligarchy Democratic Party of Vladimir Plahotniuc won 23 percent. Earlier this month, just before the deadline for forming a government, a surprise coalition between ACUM and the Socialists emerged, with Sandu as Prime Minister and Socialist leader Zinaida Greceanîi as Speaker of the Parliament. The parties remarkably put aside crucial differences on foreign policy and geopolitical orientation in order to remove an oligarch from power. The Democratic Party initially refused to cede power, triggering a constitutional crisis, but finally did step aside. However, the coalition remains fragile.
DW: “Moldovan oligarch’s party makes way for pro-Europe, pro-Russia coalition. Moldova’s Democratic Party, headed by a powerful oligarch, has ceded power to an unlikely coalition of pro-Russian and pro-European forces. It’s an alliance even the new prime minister called unnatural.”
Dave Lawler, Axios: “The party’s leader, oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, fled the country. He’s been accused of presiding over corruption and democratic backsliding.”
Daniel McLaughlin, Irish Times: “Moldova’s new prime minister, Maia Sandu, has vowed to cleanse its corrupt institutions and reinstate the rule of law after her pro-EU bloc and a Russian-backed party joined forces to oust the country’s richest oligarch and his allies.”
Stanislav Secrieru and Paul Ivan, EU Observer: “What’s going on in Moldova – and what next?”
Cristina Gherasimov, Chatham House: “Can Moldova’s New Coalition Stick Together?”
Parliament passed a law saying that local elections, which were due by June (as the terms of the current mayors and local councilors ended on June 14), would be held October 20, 2019.
Eurasia This Week – June 20, 2019
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Last Updated: June 27, 2019 by 21votes
June 20, 2019
Each day, 21votes gathers election and political news from a different region of the world. We explore Eurasia on Thursdays. Click the map pins.
Ukraine Snap Parliamentary - July 21, 2019 (following presidential elections earlier this year)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Actor and comedian Volodymyr Zelensky beat incumbent Petro Poroshenko in the March presidential election. Zelensky dissolved the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) and called for snap elections (parliamentary elections were originally supposed to take place in October this year). In addition to entrenched corruption and economic difficulties, Ukraine remains at war with Russian-backed separatists in the east. Policy debate largely centers on Russia, which has been ramping up aggression.
Zelensky is new to politics, so his Servant of the People party does not currently have any seats in the Rada, but will be running candidates in the parliamentary polls with a hope of securing a majority. Poroshenko’s bloc won the most seats in the 2014 parliamentary elections, judged by observers to be competitive and credible, but because elections could not take place in Crimea and parts of Donbas, only 423 out of 450 seats were filled. The pro-Russian Opposition Bloc only won 29 seats, and support for pro-Moscow politicians has declined in the face of Russian aggression.
RFE/RL: “Ukrainian Constitutional Court OKs Parliament’s Dissolution, Early Poll”
Associated Press: “President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued the order on the day after his inauguration last month to dissolve the parliament. Opposition to him in the current parliament is strong and Zelenskiy did not want to wait several months to try and gain more supporters in the legislature.”
Steven Pifer, Atlantic Council’s Ukraine Alert: “The outcome of the parliamentary elections matters. Zelenskyy needs a majority coalition that will support his agenda and approve a prime minister and cabinet with which he can work.”
Andrew Langley, Bloomberg/Washington Post: “Legacy of Ukrainian Revolution Rides on Election Year”
RFE/RL: “Ukrainian Investigative Journalist Who Asked ‘Inconvenient Questions’ Dies After Attack”
Russia Local and Gubernatorial - September 8, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Federation
Russian elections are neither free nor fair, and viable genuine opposition candidates are frequently barred from running. Opposition politicians, civil society activists, and citizens who protest are routinely harassed and arrested. Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party has a stranglehold on Russia’s politics. Putin won last year’s stage-managed presidential election against a cast of absurd characters after credible opponents were banned from the contest.
However, in last year’s regional elections, United Russia lost four out of the 22 governorships up for election. Even though the winners came from “Potemkin opposition” parties that do not genuinely oppose Putin, the fact that United Russia failed to make a clean sweep could signify a decline in Putin’s popularity. The 16 governorships up for election this year include St. Petersburg, where Putin got his political start, and the strategic Arctic port of Murmansk.
Atle Staalesen, The Barents Observer: “A ladies’ man intends to cement power in Murmansk: Andrey Chibis has hired a host of young women that are to help him win the upcoming governor’s elections in Murmansk.”
Frida Ghitis, Politico: “Is Putin Losing the Trust of Russians? He’s facing embarrassing failures at home and abroad, and the Russian public is pushing back.”
The Economist: “With the president in his last constitutionally permitted term, the spectre of a post-Putin era looms. Hoping to manage the generational shift, Mr Putin has sought fresh cadres to replace ageing loyalists.”
Belarus Parliamentary - November 17, 2019 and Presidential - October 2020
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic (in name; in fact a dictatorship)
Belarus – sometimes called “Europe’s last dictatorship” – has choreographed elections and minimal space for political dissent, with periodic violent crackdowns on opposition. The opposition has boycotted a series of recent elections, but did contest the 2016 parliamentary polls, winning two seats, despite the elections being widely judged as neither free nor fair. The upcoming elections are taking place in the context of Russia pushing for closer integration with Belarus within the framework of a “Union State” – perhaps as a precursor to an attempt to annex Belarus.
Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, Human Rights House Foundation, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights: Letter to the UN Human Rights Council: “There are fears that upcoming Parliamentary and Presidential elections in Belarus will be a pretext for a spike in human rights violations against human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, online activists and others, as has happened systematically during electoral periods in the past.”
Grigory Ioffe, Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor: “Belarus: Standing out From the Post-Soviet Crowd”
Uzbekistan Parliamentary - December 19, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic (highly authoritarian)
Elections in Uzbekistan are neither free nor fair, and political opposition is not able to operate in the country. Longtime dictator Islam Karimov, who oversaw the world’s worst massacre of protesters since Tiananmen and tortured dissidents (even boiling some of them to death), died in 2016. His successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has showed some openness to reform, such as a move to end forced labor during the cotton harvest and the release of some – not all – political prisoners, but the country remains a consolidated autocracy. The Oliy Majlis, Uzbekistan’s bicameral parliament, has historically been passive, although Mirziyoyev has called for the body to take a more active role. However, the political space does not exist for legislators to hold the executive branch accountable, and none of the parties in the Oliy Majlis are genuinely opposition.
Edward Lemon, Foreign Policy Research Institute: “Uzbekistan is undergoing a remarkable transformation….But what we are seeing in Uzbekistan is not democratization. Rather, it is ‘authoritarian upgrading.’ Authoritarian upgrading entails selectively adopting economic and political reforms to placate the population’s demands for democratization, while existing elites capture most of the benefits of the country’s embrace of globalization and marketization.”
Al-Jazeera: “Uzbekistan reforms: Activists demand more changes: Most Uzbeks back president Mirziyoyev’s reform process but they complain about difficulties such as finding jobs.”
Georgia Parliamentary - October 2020
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Georgia holds competitive but imperfect elections. The eccentric oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili runs the show from behind the scenes, despite holding no official office. Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream coalition came to power during the 2012 parliamentary elections, ousting former president Mikheil Saakasvili’s pro-European, pro-NATO United National Movement. Ivanishvili’s candidate, Salome Zurabishvili, won last year’s disputed presidential election. Georgian Dream did well in by-elections in May, but their brutal response to protests could harm the coalition ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections.
Meduza: “Protest in Tbilisi: How a Russian lawmaker’s perceived arrogance provoked violent clashes outside Georgia’s Parliament building”
Civil.ge: “Police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrators as tensions mounted in front of the Parliament of Georgia. The confrontation started when protesters tried to push through the police cordon late on June 20.”
Kazakhstan Snap Presidential - June 9, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Longtime strongman Nursultan Nazerbayev, who ruled Kazakhstan since independence in 1991, surprised everyone by stepping down and calling a snap presidential election. Unsurprisingly, his chosen successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, won in a tightly-managed election. In the days surrounding the election, over 1,000 people were arrested for peacefully protesting. No real opposition exists within Kazakhstan, but some think that the seeds of a civic awakening are being planted.
Erica Marat, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage: “Kazakhstan’s police are cracking down on protesters — as political activism keeps rising. It’s a conflict familiar in post-Soviet nations: Democratic expectations meet unreformed police forces.”
Paul Stronski interview, World Politics Review: “Protests Against Kazakhstan’s ‘Stage-Managed’ Election Test Tokayev’s Legitimacy”
Kate Mallinson, Chatham House: “Kazakhstan’s Government Can No Longer Avoid a Conversation With Its People”
Moldova Parliamentary - February 24, 2019 (local elections to be held October 20, 2019)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Inconclusive elections in February led to several months of deadlock. The Socialists won 31 percent of the vote; the pro-Europe center-right ACUM (a new opposition coalition not previously in parliament) won 26 percent, and the pro-oligarchy Democratic Party of Vladimir Plahotniuc won 23 percent. Earlier this month, just before the deadline for forming a government, a surprise coalition between ACUM and the Socialists emerged, with Sandu as Prime Minister and Socialist leader Zinaida Greceanîi as Speaker of the Parliament. The parties remarkably put aside crucial differences on foreign policy and geopolitical orientation in order to remove an oligarch from power. The Democratic Party initially refused to cede power, triggering a constitutional crisis, but finally did step aside. However, the coalition remains fragile.
DW: “Moldovan oligarch’s party makes way for pro-Europe, pro-Russia coalition. Moldova’s Democratic Party, headed by a powerful oligarch, has ceded power to an unlikely coalition of pro-Russian and pro-European forces. It’s an alliance even the new prime minister called unnatural.”
Dave Lawler, Axios: “The party’s leader, oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, fled the country. He’s been accused of presiding over corruption and democratic backsliding.”
Daniel McLaughlin, Irish Times: “Moldova’s new prime minister, Maia Sandu, has vowed to cleanse its corrupt institutions and reinstate the rule of law after her pro-EU bloc and a Russian-backed party joined forces to oust the country’s richest oligarch and his allies.”
https://twitter.com/IRIglobal/status/1141359716997697538
Stanislav Secrieru and Paul Ivan, EU Observer: “What’s going on in Moldova – and what next?”
Cristina Gherasimov, Chatham House: “Can Moldova’s New Coalition Stick Together?”
Parliament passed a law saying that local elections, which were due by June (as the terms of the current mayors and local councilors ended on June 14), would be held October 20, 2019.
Upcoming Elections
Ukraine Snap Parliamentary – July 21, 2019 (following presidential elections earlier this year)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Actor and comedian Volodymyr Zelensky beat incumbent Petro Poroshenko in the March presidential election. Zelensky dissolved the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) and called for snap elections (parliamentary elections were originally supposed to take place in October this year). In addition to entrenched corruption and economic difficulties, Ukraine remains at war with Russian-backed separatists in the east. Policy debate largely centers on Russia, which has been ramping up aggression.
Zelensky is new to politics, so his Servant of the People party does not currently have any seats in the Rada, but will be running candidates in the parliamentary polls with a hope of securing a majority. Poroshenko’s bloc won the most seats in the 2014 parliamentary elections, judged by observers to be competitive and credible, but because elections could not take place in Crimea and parts of Donbas, only 423 out of 450 seats were filled. The pro-Russian Opposition Bloc only won 29 seats, and support for pro-Moscow politicians has declined in the face of Russian aggression.
RFE/RL: “Ukrainian Constitutional Court OKs Parliament’s Dissolution, Early Poll”
Associated Press: “President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued the order on the day after his inauguration last month to dissolve the parliament. Opposition to him in the current parliament is strong and Zelenskiy did not want to wait several months to try and gain more supporters in the legislature.”
Steven Pifer, Atlantic Council’s Ukraine Alert: “The outcome of the parliamentary elections matters. Zelenskyy needs a majority coalition that will support his agenda and approve a prime minister and cabinet with which he can work.”
Andrew Langley, Bloomberg/Washington Post: “Legacy of Ukrainian Revolution Rides on Election Year”
RFE/RL: “Ukrainian Investigative Journalist Who Asked ‘Inconvenient Questions’ Dies After Attack”
Russia Local and Gubernatorial – September 8, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Federation
Russian elections are neither free nor fair, and viable genuine opposition candidates are frequently barred from running. Opposition politicians, civil society activists, and citizens who protest are routinely harassed and arrested. Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party has a stranglehold on Russia’s politics. Putin won last year’s stage-managed presidential election against a cast of absurd characters after credible opponents were banned from the contest.
However, in last year’s regional elections, United Russia lost four out of the 22 governorships up for election. Even though the winners came from “Potemkin opposition” parties that do not genuinely oppose Putin, the fact that United Russia failed to make a clean sweep could signify a decline in Putin’s popularity. The 16 governorships up for election this year include St. Petersburg, where Putin got his political start, and the strategic Arctic port of Murmansk.
Atle Staalesen, The Barents Observer: “A ladies’ man intends to cement power in Murmansk: Andrey Chibis has hired a host of young women that are to help him win the upcoming governor’s elections in Murmansk.”
Frida Ghitis, Politico: “Is Putin Losing the Trust of Russians? He’s facing embarrassing failures at home and abroad, and the Russian public is pushing back.”
The Economist: “With the president in his last constitutionally permitted term, the spectre of a post-Putin era looms. Hoping to manage the generational shift, Mr Putin has sought fresh cadres to replace ageing loyalists.”
Belarus Parliamentary – November 17, 2019 and Presidential – October 2020
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic (in name; in fact a dictatorship)
Belarus – sometimes called “Europe’s last dictatorship” – has choreographed elections and minimal space for political dissent, with periodic violent crackdowns on opposition. The opposition has boycotted a series of recent elections, but did contest the 2016 parliamentary polls, winning two seats, despite the elections being widely judged as neither free nor fair. The upcoming elections are taking place in the context of Russia pushing for closer integration with Belarus within the framework of a “Union State” – perhaps as a precursor to an attempt to annex Belarus.
Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, Human Rights House Foundation, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights: Letter to the UN Human Rights Council: “There are fears that upcoming Parliamentary and Presidential elections in Belarus will be a pretext for a spike in human rights violations against human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, online activists and others, as has happened systematically during electoral periods in the past.”
Grigory Ioffe, Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor: “Belarus: Standing out From the Post-Soviet Crowd”
Uzbekistan Parliamentary – December 19, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic (highly authoritarian)
Elections in Uzbekistan are neither free nor fair, and political opposition is not able to operate in the country. Longtime dictator Islam Karimov, who oversaw the world’s worst massacre of protesters since Tiananmen and tortured dissidents (even boiling some of them to death), died in 2016. His successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has showed some openness to reform, such as a move to end forced labor during the cotton harvest and the release of some – not all – political prisoners, but the country remains a consolidated autocracy. The Oliy Majlis, Uzbekistan’s bicameral parliament, has historically been passive, although Mirziyoyev has called for the body to take a more active role. However, the political space does not exist for legislators to hold the executive branch accountable, and none of the parties in the Oliy Majlis are genuinely opposition.
Edward Lemon, Foreign Policy Research Institute: “Uzbekistan is undergoing a remarkable transformation….But what we are seeing in Uzbekistan is not democratization. Rather, it is ‘authoritarian upgrading.’ Authoritarian upgrading entails selectively adopting economic and political reforms to placate the population’s demands for democratization, while existing elites capture most of the benefits of the country’s embrace of globalization and marketization.”
Al-Jazeera: “Uzbekistan reforms: Activists demand more changes: Most Uzbeks back president Mirziyoyev’s reform process but they complain about difficulties such as finding jobs.”
Georgia Parliamentary – October 2020
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Georgia holds competitive but imperfect elections. The eccentric oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili runs the show from behind the scenes, despite holding no official office. Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream coalition came to power during the 2012 parliamentary elections, ousting former president Mikheil Saakasvili’s pro-European, pro-NATO United National Movement. Ivanishvili’s candidate, Salome Zurabishvili, won last year’s disputed presidential election. Georgian Dream did well in by-elections in May, but their brutal response to protests could harm the coalition ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections.
Meduza: “Protest in Tbilisi: How a Russian lawmaker’s perceived arrogance provoked violent clashes outside Georgia’s Parliament building”
Civil.ge: “Police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrators as tensions mounted in front of the Parliament of Georgia. The confrontation started when protesters tried to push through the police cordon late on June 20.”
Past Elections
Kazakhstan Snap Presidential – June 9, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Longtime strongman Nursultan Nazerbayev, who ruled Kazakhstan since independence in 1991, surprised everyone by stepping down and calling a snap presidential election. Unsurprisingly, his chosen successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, won in a tightly-managed election. In the days surrounding the election, over 1,000 people were arrested for peacefully protesting. No real opposition exists within Kazakhstan, but some think that the seeds of a civic awakening are being planted.
Erica Marat, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage: “Kazakhstan’s police are cracking down on protesters — as political activism keeps rising. It’s a conflict familiar in post-Soviet nations: Democratic expectations meet unreformed police forces.”
Paul Stronski interview, World Politics Review: “Protests Against Kazakhstan’s ‘Stage-Managed’ Election Test Tokayev’s Legitimacy”
Kate Mallinson, Chatham House: “Kazakhstan’s Government Can No Longer Avoid a Conversation With Its People”
Moldova Parliamentary – February 24, 2019 (local elections to be held October 20, 2019)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Inconclusive elections in February led to several months of deadlock. The Socialists won 31 percent of the vote; the pro-Europe center-right ACUM (a new opposition coalition not previously in parliament) won 26 percent, and the pro-oligarchy Democratic Party of Vladimir Plahotniuc won 23 percent. Earlier this month, just before the deadline for forming a government, a surprise coalition between ACUM and the Socialists emerged, with Sandu as Prime Minister and Socialist leader Zinaida Greceanîi as Speaker of the Parliament. The parties remarkably put aside crucial differences on foreign policy and geopolitical orientation in order to remove an oligarch from power. The Democratic Party initially refused to cede power, triggering a constitutional crisis, but finally did step aside. However, the coalition remains fragile.
DW: “Moldovan oligarch’s party makes way for pro-Europe, pro-Russia coalition. Moldova’s Democratic Party, headed by a powerful oligarch, has ceded power to an unlikely coalition of pro-Russian and pro-European forces. It’s an alliance even the new prime minister called unnatural.”
Dave Lawler, Axios: “The party’s leader, oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, fled the country. He’s been accused of presiding over corruption and democratic backsliding.”
Daniel McLaughlin, Irish Times: “Moldova’s new prime minister, Maia Sandu, has vowed to cleanse its corrupt institutions and reinstate the rule of law after her pro-EU bloc and a Russian-backed party joined forces to oust the country’s richest oligarch and his allies.”
Stanislav Secrieru and Paul Ivan, EU Observer: “What’s going on in Moldova – and what next?”
Cristina Gherasimov, Chatham House: “Can Moldova’s New Coalition Stick Together?”
Parliament passed a law saying that local elections, which were due by June (as the terms of the current mayors and local councilors ended on June 14), would be held October 20, 2019.
The Year Ahead: Eurasia
On deck: Ukraine snap parliamentary (July 21); Kazakhstan local (September); Russia local (September 8); Ukraine local (October); Moldova local (October 20); Belarus parliamentary (November 17); Uzbekistan parliamentary (December 19); Azerbaijan local (December 27); Tajikistan parliamentary (March)
Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Zelensky debate ahead of Ukraine’s presidential election earlier this year. Zelensky beat Poroshenko, but now their political blocs face off in parliamentary elections.
Photo credit: Wikimedia/The Presidential Administration of Ukraine
21votes does not necessarily endorse all of the views in all of the linked articles or publications. More on our approach here.
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Category: This Week Tags: Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan