Election Watch

ELECTION RESULTS

(July–September 2018)

Cambodia: In July 29 elections for the 125-seat National Assembly, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) won 114 seats, up from 68. The opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by the Supreme Court of Cambodia in November 2017, and CNRP leader Kem Sokha was arrested, leaving the CPP with no significant challengers. The CNRP leaders, many of whom are in exile abroad, called for a boycott of the elections, prompting the government to announce that anyone who failed to vote would be considered a traitor. While turnout was 82 percent, a record 8.4 percent of the ballots cast were invalid, compared to 1.6 percent in 2013. Invalid ballots outnumbered the votes received by any party other than the CPP. The United National Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC) won 6 seats and the League for Democracy Party (LDP) won 5. Human Rights Watch and other international observers have condemned the elections as unfree.

Maldives: The presidential election was scheduled to be held September 23. Results will be reported in a future issue.

Mali: In a first-round presidential election on July 29, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Rally for Mali (RPM) won 41 percent of the vote, Soumaïla Cissé of the Union for the Republic and Democracy (URD) won 17 percent, independent Aliou Boubacar Diallo won 8 percent, and Cheick Modibo Diarra won 7 percent. In the second-round poll held on August 12, Keïta was reelected with 67 percent of the vote. Turnout for the second round, which was marred by violence, was reported at 34 percent.

Mauritania: The second round of legislative elections was scheduled for September 15. Results will be reported in a future issue.

Mexico: In the July 1 presidential election, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) won with 53 percent of the vote. Ricardo Anaya of the National Action Party (PAN), received 22 percent of the vote, and José Antonio Meade of incumbent president Enrique Peña Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) received 16 percent. Elections for the 500-seat Chamber of Deputies and the 128-seat Senate were also held on July 1. In the Chamber, MORENA won a majority with 254 seats and its allies in the Together We Will Make History coalition, the Labor Party (PT) and the Social Encounter Party (PES), won 29 and 30 seats, respectively, giving MORENA’s coalition a majority. The PAN won 79 seats; the PRI, 47; the Citizens’ Movement (MC), 28; the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), 20; and the Mexican Ecologist Green Party (PVEM), 11. In the Senate, MORENA won 59 seats, while its allies the PT and the PES won 6 and 5 seats, respectively, together comprising a majority. The PAN won 24; the PRI, 14; the PRD, 6; the MC, 7; and the PVEM, 5. For more on Mexico’s election, see the article by Kenneth Greene and Mariano Sánchez-Talanquer on pp. 31–42 above.

Pakistan: In July 25 elections for the 342-seat National Assembly, the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI), led by Imran Khan, won 32 percent of the vote and 151 seats. The Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) of jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif won 24 percent and 81 seats; the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) won 13 percent and 54 seats; and the Muttahida Majilis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance won 4 percent and 15 seats. Smaller parties won the remaining seats. Imran Khan was elected prime minister by a coalition of his PTI and seven small parties. Pakistani and international observers, including EU monitors, questioned the fairness of the election. About 180 people were reported killed in election-related violence.

Rwanda: In September 2 elections for the 53 popularly elected seats in the House of Deputies, President Paul Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) won 40 seats. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) won 5 seats, the Liberal Party (PL) won 4, the Social Party Imberakuri won 2, and the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda (PDVR) won 2. This was the first...