Upcoming Elections
Algeria Presidential – July 4, 2019 (cancelled)
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Algerian politics are dominated by Le Pouvoir, a small group of elite from the military and the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) party. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, aged 82 and unable to walk or talk, was going to run for a fifth term in the election originally scheduled for April, but tens of thousands of Algerians protestedfor two months, and Bouteflika resigned. The election was moved to July 4, but then the Constitutional Council cancelled the vote and has not set a new date. Protests continue. Protesters are demanding assurances that any new elections will be free and fair.
France24: “Algerians took to the streets of the capital, Algiers, Friday in a 19th consecutive weekly demonstration calling for genuine regime change amid tightening security by the country’s powerful military and law enforcement establishment.”
Jame McAuley, Washington Post: “The Revolution of Smiles has already altered the political landscape of Algeria in ways that were unthinkable when the grass-roots movement began. “
DW: “Algeria arrests prominent independence war veteran. Algerian authorities have detained an iconic veteran of the country’s war of independence with France, accusing him of insulting the army. Lakhdar Bouregaa’s arrest caused an outcry, prompting demands for his release.”
Israel Snap Parliamentary – September 17, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy
Israel – nicknamed the “startup nation” – is a vibrant democracy. In September, Israelis head to the polls again in an unprecedented do-over of parliamentary elections after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s center-right Likud was unable to form a coalition following April’s elections. While parties friendly to Netanyahu won more seats than those friendly to Netanyahu’s main rival, former IDF chief Benny Gantz, coalition talks collapsed over the issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox into the military. One of Likud’s coalition partners, Avgidor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu, supported conscription – and refused to budge – while religious parties adamantly opposed it, highlighting growing tensions between secular and religious Israelis. Netanyahu dissolved the Knesset and called for new elections rather than giving Gantz the chance to try to form a government. Additionally, Netanyahu faces corruption charges. The elections are happening in the middle of U.S. President Donald Trump’s quixotic attempt to seal the “deal of the century” between Israelis and Palestinians.
Mark Weiss, Jerusalem Post: “In the first significant development in the campaign for the September election, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman declared that his party intends to promote a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White, in order to exclude the ultra-Orthodox parties. Prior to the mid-June announcement, Liberman had stressed the importance of a right-wing coalition, despite the fact that his rift with Netanyahu appears permanent.”
Raoul Wootliff, Times of Israel: “Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein on Sunday renewed his call to cancel national elections in September, warning that failure to do so could result in Israelis going to the polls for a third time in less than a year.”
Gil Hoffman, Jerusalem Post: “But why did Netanyahu go on this week’s election elimination escapade, in which he sent Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to find legal procedures and political partners to cancel the dispersal of the parliament and build a new coalition? THE ANSWERS to that question are more complicated, and there are many.”
Afghanistan Presidential – September 28, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Islamic Republic
Afghanistan held long-delayed parliamentary elections in October 2018, marred by violence and administrative problems. In order to fix problems from the legislative elections, the presidential election has been delayed twice. President Ashraf Ghani’s term ended on May 22, 2019, but he has remained in office, despite calls for a caretaker government, infuriating some. Ghani became president in 2014 in a power sharing deal with his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, following a flawed election. Presidential campaign is gearing up right in the middle of peacenegotiations between the United States and the Taliban.
Reuters: “Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 19 people in an attack on a government office on Saturday night, officials said, in the latest episode of violence in Afghanistan as peace talks continue to end the war. Election workers were registering voters ahead of presidential elections in September at an office in the Maroof district of the southern Kandahar province when fighters of the hard-line Islamist group launched an attack using four Humvee vehicles, officials said. Eight election workers were killed, they said.”
Fatima Faizi, Rod Nordland and Thomas Gibbons-Neff, New York Times: “A complex Taliban attack including a car-bombing and militant assault killed at least 40 people in Kabul on Monday, badly damaging a private war museum, an adjoining television station and a primary school, hurting dozens of children, officials said.”
MENAFN: “United Nations (UN) Special Representative for Afghanistan Yamamoto has said that both peace process, and upcoming presidential elections remained top priorities for the UN, according to a statement on Sunday [June 30].
Tunisia Parliamentary – October 6, 2019 and Presidential – November 17, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Tunisia began transitioning to democracy in 2011, amid the Arab Spring protests, and this year, the country will hold the third national elections since the fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Ennadha, which presents itself as a moderate, pro-democracy Islamist party but holds some retrograde views, won the first post-Ben Ali elections, but in the 2014 parliamentary elections, the secularist Nidaa Tounes won the most seats. In 2018, Tunisia held long-delayed municipal elections, which saw independent candidates win the most seats, followed by Ennadha. President Beji Caid Essebsi of Nidaa Tounes, who became Tunisia’s first democratically-elected president in 2014, has said he will not seek a second term this year, even though the constitution allows it, saying it was time to “open the door to the youth” (Essebsi is 92). Prime Minister Youssef Chahed broke off from Nidaa Tounes to form Tahya Tounes, another secularist party, and it looks to be a close contest between the fractious secularist parties and Ennadha (Machrouu Tounes, another secularist party, broke from Nidaa Tounes in 2016 and currently has 25 seats in parliament).
Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor: “Intel: How terror attacks, sick president could impact Tunisia’s upcoming elections”
The North Africa Post: “The leader of Tunisia’s LGBT community, Shams, has announced plans to run for November presidential elections, first time ever a gay [candidate] enters a presidential race in the North African country and in the whole Arab world where being homosexual is outlawed.”
Libya Ongoing Crisis
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: In Transition
Libya remains in a civil war. The international community wants Libya to hold presidential or parliamentary elections this year. Unclear when the elections will actually happen.
Abdulkader Assad, Libya Observer: “UN envoy: Libya’s status quo isn’t good environment for elections”
Heather Murdock, VOA: “For both sides, this not a just a battle for one city, it is a fight for the heart and future of Libya. If western forces win, Libya can remain divided and return to slowly making efforts to reunite through diplomacy and elections. If eastern forces win, it could usher in a new era for Libyan strongmen.”
Past Elections
Turkey, Istanbul Mayoral Re-Run, June 23, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free (downgraded from Party Free in 2018) – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Turkey held local elections on March 31, but invalidated the results of the Istanbul mayoral election after Ekrem Imamoglu from the opposition Republican Party (CHP) won by a small margin. They re-ran the election on June 23 after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) alleged fraud. The move did not pay off – Imamoglu defeated AKP’s Binali Yildirim once again, by an even bigger margin. The election took place in the context of Turkey’s slide into authoritarianism.
Ayla Jean Yackley, The New Yorker: “The triumphant new face of Turkey’s resurgent political opposition”
Orhan Kemal Cengiz, Al-Monitor: “Opposition aims to curb Erdogan’s powers after election rout”
Orhan Coskun, Reuters: “Former allies of Turkey’s Erdogan plan rival party after Istanbul defeat”
Sebnem Gumuscu, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage: “In Turkey, the latest elections had over 80 percent voter turnout…..Elections are hardly free or fair in Turkey. So why do voters keep turning up in high numbers?”
Middle East This Week – July 2, 2019
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Last Updated: July 11, 2019 by 21votes
July 2, 2019
Each day, 21votes gathers election and political news from a different region of the world. We explore the greater Middle East and North Africa on Tuesdays. Click the map pins.
Algeria Presidential – July 4, 2019 (cancelled)
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Algerian politics are dominated by Le Pouvoir, a small group of elite from the military and the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) party. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, aged 82 and unable to walk or talk, was going to run for a fifth term in the election originally scheduled for April, but tens of thousands of Algerians protestedfor two months, and Bouteflika resigned. The election was moved to July 4, but then the Constitutional Council cancelled the vote and has not set a new date. Protests continue. Protesters are demanding assurances that any new elections will be free and fair.
France24: “Algerians took to the streets of the capital, Algiers, Friday in a 19th consecutive weekly demonstration calling for genuine regime change amid tightening security by the country’s powerful military and law enforcement establishment.”
Jame McAuley, Washington Post: “The Revolution of Smiles has already altered the political landscape of Algeria in ways that were unthinkable when the grass-roots movement began. “
DW: “Algeria arrests prominent independence war veteran. Algerian authorities have detained an iconic veteran of the country’s war of independence with France, accusing him of insulting the army. Lakhdar Bouregaa’s arrest caused an outcry, prompting demands for his release.”
Israel Snap Parliamentary – September 17, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy
Israel – nicknamed the “startup nation” – is a vibrant democracy. In September, Israelis head to the polls again in an unprecedented do-over of parliamentary elections after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s center-right Likud was unable to form a coalition following April’s elections. While parties friendly to Netanyahu won more seats than those friendly to Netanyahu’s main rival, former IDF chief Benny Gantz, coalition talks collapsed over the issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox into the military. One of Likud’s coalition partners, Avgidor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu, supported conscription – and refused to budge – while religious parties adamantly opposed it, highlighting growing tensions between secular and religious Israelis. Netanyahu dissolved the Knesset and called for new elections rather than giving Gantz the chance to try to form a government. Additionally, Netanyahu faces corruption charges. The elections are happening in the middle of U.S. President Donald Trump’s quixotic attempt to seal the “deal of the century” between Israelis and Palestinians.
Mark Weiss, Jerusalem Post: “In the first significant development in the campaign for the September election, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman declared that his party intends to promote a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White, in order to exclude the ultra-Orthodox parties. Prior to the mid-June announcement, Liberman had stressed the importance of a right-wing coalition, despite the fact that his rift with Netanyahu appears permanent.”
Raoul Wootliff, Times of Israel: “Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein on Sunday renewed his call to cancel national elections in September, warning that failure to do so could result in Israelis going to the polls for a third time in less than a year.”
Gil Hoffman, Jerusalem Post: “But why did Netanyahu go on this week’s election elimination escapade, in which he sent Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to find legal procedures and political partners to cancel the dispersal of the parliament and build a new coalition? THE ANSWERS to that question are more complicated, and there are many.”
Afghanistan Presidential – September 28, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Islamic Republic
Afghanistan held long-delayed parliamentary elections in October 2018, marred by violence and administrative problems. In order to fix problems from the legislative elections, the presidential election has been delayed twice. President Ashraf Ghani’s term ended on May 22, 2019, but he has remained in office, despite calls for a caretaker government, infuriating some. Ghani became president in 2014 in a power sharing deal with his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, following a flawed election. Presidential campaign is gearing up right in the middle of peacenegotiations between the United States and the Taliban.
Reuters: “Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 19 people in an attack on a government office on Saturday night, officials said, in the latest episode of violence in Afghanistan as peace talks continue to end the war. Election workers were registering voters ahead of presidential elections in September at an office in the Maroof district of the southern Kandahar province when fighters of the hard-line Islamist group launched an attack using four Humvee vehicles, officials said. Eight election workers were killed, they said.”
Fatima Faizi, Rod Nordland and Thomas Gibbons-Neff, New York Times: “A complex Taliban attack including a car-bombing and militant assault killed at least 40 people in Kabul on Monday, badly damaging a private war museum, an adjoining television station and a primary school, hurting dozens of children, officials said.”
MENAFN: “United Nations (UN) Special Representative for Afghanistan Yamamoto has said that both peace process, and upcoming presidential elections remained top priorities for the UN, according to a statement on Sunday [June 30].
Tunisia Parliamentary – October 6, 2019 and Presidential – November 17, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Tunisia began transitioning to democracy in 2011, amid the Arab Spring protests, and this year, the country will hold the third national elections since the fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Ennadha, which presents itself as a moderate, pro-democracy Islamist party but holds some retrograde views, won the first post-Ben Ali elections, but in the 2014 parliamentary elections, the secularist Nidaa Tounes won the most seats. In 2018, Tunisia held long-delayed municipal elections, which saw independent candidates win the most seats, followed by Ennadha. President Beji Caid Essebsi of Nidaa Tounes, who became Tunisia’s first democratically-elected president in 2014, has said he will not seek a second term this year, even though the constitution allows it, saying it was time to “open the door to the youth” (Essebsi is 92). Prime Minister Youssef Chahed broke off from Nidaa Tounes to form Tahya Tounes, another secularist party, and it looks to be a close contest between the fractious secularist parties and Ennadha (Machrouu Tounes, another secularist party, broke from Nidaa Tounes in 2016 and currently has 25 seats in parliament).
Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor: “Intel: How terror attacks, sick president could impact Tunisia’s upcoming elections”
The North Africa Post: “The leader of Tunisia’s LGBT community, Shams, has announced plans to run for November presidential elections, first time ever a gay [candidate] enters a presidential race in the North African country and in the whole Arab world where being homosexual is outlawed.”
Libya Ongoing Crisis
Freedom House Rating: Not Free Government Type: In Transition
Libya remains in a civil war. The international community wants Libya to hold presidential or parliamentary elections this year. Unclear when the elections will actually happen.
Abdulkader Assad, Libya Observer: “UN envoy: Libya’s status quo isn’t good environment for elections”
Heather Murdock, VOA: “For both sides, this not a just a battle for one city, it is a fight for the heart and future of Libya. If western forces win, Libya can remain divided and return to slowly making efforts to reunite through diplomacy and elections. If eastern forces win, it could usher in a new era for Libyan strongmen.”
Turkey, Istanbul Mayoral Re-Run, June 23, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free (downgraded from Party Free in 2018) – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Turkey held local elections on March 31, but invalidated the results of the Istanbul mayoral election after Ekrem Imamoglu from the opposition Republican Party (CHP) won by a small margin. They re-ran the election on June 23 after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) alleged fraud. The move did not pay off – Imamoglu defeated AKP’s Binali Yildirim once again, by an even bigger margin. The election took place in the context of Turkey’s slide into authoritarianism.
Ayla Jean Yackley, The New Yorker: “The triumphant new face of Turkey’s resurgent political opposition”
Orhan Kemal Cengiz, Al-Monitor: “Opposition aims to curb Erdogan’s powers after election rout”
Orhan Coskun, Reuters: “Former allies of Turkey’s Erdogan plan rival party after Istanbul defeat”
Sebnem Gumuscu, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage: “In Turkey, the latest elections had over 80 percent voter turnout…..Elections are hardly free or fair in Turkey. So why do voters keep turning up in high numbers?”
Upcoming Elections
Algeria Presidential – July 4, 2019 (cancelled)
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Algerian politics are dominated by Le Pouvoir, a small group of elite from the military and the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) party. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, aged 82 and unable to walk or talk, was going to run for a fifth term in the election originally scheduled for April, but tens of thousands of Algerians protestedfor two months, and Bouteflika resigned. The election was moved to July 4, but then the Constitutional Council cancelled the vote and has not set a new date. Protests continue. Protesters are demanding assurances that any new elections will be free and fair.
France24: “Algerians took to the streets of the capital, Algiers, Friday in a 19th consecutive weekly demonstration calling for genuine regime change amid tightening security by the country’s powerful military and law enforcement establishment.”
Jame McAuley, Washington Post: “The Revolution of Smiles has already altered the political landscape of Algeria in ways that were unthinkable when the grass-roots movement began. “
DW: “Algeria arrests prominent independence war veteran. Algerian authorities have detained an iconic veteran of the country’s war of independence with France, accusing him of insulting the army. Lakhdar Bouregaa’s arrest caused an outcry, prompting demands for his release.”
Israel Snap Parliamentary – September 17, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy
Israel – nicknamed the “startup nation” – is a vibrant democracy. In September, Israelis head to the polls again in an unprecedented do-over of parliamentary elections after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s center-right Likud was unable to form a coalition following April’s elections. While parties friendly to Netanyahu won more seats than those friendly to Netanyahu’s main rival, former IDF chief Benny Gantz, coalition talks collapsed over the issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox into the military. One of Likud’s coalition partners, Avgidor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu, supported conscription – and refused to budge – while religious parties adamantly opposed it, highlighting growing tensions between secular and religious Israelis. Netanyahu dissolved the Knesset and called for new elections rather than giving Gantz the chance to try to form a government. Additionally, Netanyahu faces corruption charges. The elections are happening in the middle of U.S. President Donald Trump’s quixotic attempt to seal the “deal of the century” between Israelis and Palestinians.
Mark Weiss, Jerusalem Post: “In the first significant development in the campaign for the September election, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman declared that his party intends to promote a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White, in order to exclude the ultra-Orthodox parties. Prior to the mid-June announcement, Liberman had stressed the importance of a right-wing coalition, despite the fact that his rift with Netanyahu appears permanent.”
Raoul Wootliff, Times of Israel: “Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein on Sunday renewed his call to cancel national elections in September, warning that failure to do so could result in Israelis going to the polls for a third time in less than a year.”
Gil Hoffman, Jerusalem Post: “But why did Netanyahu go on this week’s election elimination escapade, in which he sent Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to find legal procedures and political partners to cancel the dispersal of the parliament and build a new coalition? THE ANSWERS to that question are more complicated, and there are many.”
Afghanistan Presidential – September 28, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: Presidential Islamic Republic
Afghanistan held long-delayed parliamentary elections in October 2018, marred by violence and administrative problems. In order to fix problems from the legislative elections, the presidential election has been delayed twice. President Ashraf Ghani’s term ended on May 22, 2019, but he has remained in office, despite calls for a caretaker government, infuriating some. Ghani became president in 2014 in a power sharing deal with his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, following a flawed election. Presidential campaign is gearing up right in the middle of peacenegotiations between the United States and the Taliban.
Reuters: “Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 19 people in an attack on a government office on Saturday night, officials said, in the latest episode of violence in Afghanistan as peace talks continue to end the war. Election workers were registering voters ahead of presidential elections in September at an office in the Maroof district of the southern Kandahar province when fighters of the hard-line Islamist group launched an attack using four Humvee vehicles, officials said. Eight election workers were killed, they said.”
Fatima Faizi, Rod Nordland and Thomas Gibbons-Neff, New York Times: “A complex Taliban attack including a car-bombing and militant assault killed at least 40 people in Kabul on Monday, badly damaging a private war museum, an adjoining television station and a primary school, hurting dozens of children, officials said.”
MENAFN: “United Nations (UN) Special Representative for Afghanistan Yamamoto has said that both peace process, and upcoming presidential elections remained top priorities for the UN, according to a statement on Sunday [June 30].
Tunisia Parliamentary – October 6, 2019 and Presidential – November 17, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Tunisia began transitioning to democracy in 2011, amid the Arab Spring protests, and this year, the country will hold the third national elections since the fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Ennadha, which presents itself as a moderate, pro-democracy Islamist party but holds some retrograde views, won the first post-Ben Ali elections, but in the 2014 parliamentary elections, the secularist Nidaa Tounes won the most seats. In 2018, Tunisia held long-delayed municipal elections, which saw independent candidates win the most seats, followed by Ennadha. President Beji Caid Essebsi of Nidaa Tounes, who became Tunisia’s first democratically-elected president in 2014, has said he will not seek a second term this year, even though the constitution allows it, saying it was time to “open the door to the youth” (Essebsi is 92). Prime Minister Youssef Chahed broke off from Nidaa Tounes to form Tahya Tounes, another secularist party, and it looks to be a close contest between the fractious secularist parties and Ennadha (Machrouu Tounes, another secularist party, broke from Nidaa Tounes in 2016 and currently has 25 seats in parliament).
Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor: “Intel: How terror attacks, sick president could impact Tunisia’s upcoming elections”
The North Africa Post: “The leader of Tunisia’s LGBT community, Shams, has announced plans to run for November presidential elections, first time ever a gay [candidate] enters a presidential race in the North African country and in the whole Arab world where being homosexual is outlawed.”
Libya Ongoing Crisis
Freedom House Rating: Not Free – Government Type: In Transition
Libya remains in a civil war. The international community wants Libya to hold presidential or parliamentary elections this year. Unclear when the elections will actually happen.
Abdulkader Assad, Libya Observer: “UN envoy: Libya’s status quo isn’t good environment for elections”
Heather Murdock, VOA: “For both sides, this not a just a battle for one city, it is a fight for the heart and future of Libya. If western forces win, Libya can remain divided and return to slowly making efforts to reunite through diplomacy and elections. If eastern forces win, it could usher in a new era for Libyan strongmen.”
Past Elections
Turkey, Istanbul Mayoral Re-Run, June 23, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Not Free (downgraded from Party Free in 2018) – Government Type: Presidential Republic
Turkey held local elections on March 31, but invalidated the results of the Istanbul mayoral election after Ekrem Imamoglu from the opposition Republican Party (CHP) won by a small margin. They re-ran the election on June 23 after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) alleged fraud. The move did not pay off – Imamoglu defeated AKP’s Binali Yildirim once again, by an even bigger margin. The election took place in the context of Turkey’s slide into authoritarianism.
Ayla Jean Yackley, The New Yorker: “The triumphant new face of Turkey’s resurgent political opposition”
Orhan Kemal Cengiz, Al-Monitor: “Opposition aims to curb Erdogan’s powers after election rout”
Orhan Coskun, Reuters: “Former allies of Turkey’s Erdogan plan rival party after Istanbul defeat”
Sebnem Gumuscu, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage: “In Turkey, the latest elections had over 80 percent voter turnout…..Elections are hardly free or fair in Turkey. So why do voters keep turning up in high numbers?”
The Year Ahead: Middle East
Egypt local (due the first half of 2019 – delays likely); Libya (international community wants presidential or legislative elections by June – delays highly likely); Algeria presidential (July 4 – cancelled); Israel snap parliamentary (September 17); Afghanistan presidential (September 28); Tunisia parliamentary and presidential (October 6 and November 17); Iraq provincial (November 16); Iran parliamentary (February 2020); Palestinian Authority legislative (elections overdue – new government says they aim to hold elections but no date set)
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: Afghanistan, Algeria, Israel, Libya, Tunisia, Turkey