- Election Watch
ELECTION RESULTS (March 1990—June 1990)
Algeria: The fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front swept to victory in municipal and regional elections on June 12, winning 53 percent of the vote and handing a decisive defeat to the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN), which received 34 percent of the vote. Two centrist parties, the Front of Socialist Forces and the Populist Movement for Democracy, boycotted the elections to protest expected government fraud. A third, the Rally for Culture and Democracy, won 8 percent of the vote. The FLN has ruled the country since independence in 1962.
Bulgaria: In elections for the Grand National Assembly, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (as the reformed Communist Party is now known) won a surprising 48 percent of the vote. The main opposition group, the Union of Democratic Forces, trailed with 34 percent of the vote and charged the government with fraud and intimidation. International observers noted that "fear is still a factor" in Bulgaria but declared the elections generally free and fair.
Burma/Myanmar: Despite the military's arrest and intimidation of opposition leaders, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won an estimated two-thirds of the vote in the first multiparty elections in the country in 30 years. The NLD appears to have taken more than 350 of the 575 seats in the National Assembly in the May 27 balloting. The vote was seen as a repudiation of the reigning military regime and its National Unity Party. The government has not announced how or when the new assembly will take power.
Colombia: In March 11 elections to the bicameral Congress, the ruling [End Page 132] Liberal Party won a majority of the seats in both houses. In balloting held May 27, Liberal Party candidate Crsar Gaviria Trujillo was elected president with 48 percent of the vote, followed by Alvaro Gómez of the Movement for National Salvation with 25 percent, Antonio Navarro of the (now disarmed) M-19 guerrilla movement with 12 percent, and Rodrigo Lloreda of the Social Conservative Party with 11 percent. After a campaign during which three presidential candidates were assassinated, the election itself was peaceful.
Czechoslovakia: Civic Forum, the movement led by President Václav Havel, and its Slovak counterpart, Public Against Violence, won 46 percent of the vote and 169 of the 300 seats in the two houses of the new federal legislature in elections held June 9-10. The Communist Party finished a distant second with 48 seats, and was followed by an alliance of three Christian Democratic parties with 40 seats.
Dominica: The Dominica Freedom Party of Prime Minister Eugenia Charles won 11 of 21 seats in May 28 parliamentary elections, giving Charles a third consecutive five-year term. The United Workers' Party and the Dominica Labor Party won 6 and 4 seats, respectively.
Dominican Republic: Joaquín Balaguer of the Social Christian Reformist Party defeated Juan Bosch of the Dominican Liberation Party by a margin of 35.7 to 34.4 percent in presidential balloting on May 16. Bosch had alleged fraud in the election, but a recount by the Central Election Board confirmed Balaguer's victory. The results of many legislative elections were also challenged and are still being finalized.
Ecuador: Elections for Ecuador's unicameral National Chamber of Representatives were held June 17. Results will be reported in our next issue.
German Democratic Republic: In historic parliamentary elections on March 18, the conservative Alliance for Germany—which is composed of the Christian Democratic Union, the German Social Union, and Democratic Awakening—won 48.1 percent of the vote and 193 of the 400 seats in the People's Chamber. The Social Democratic Party won 87 seats, the Party of Democratic Socialism (formerly the Communist Party) 65 seats, and the League of Free Democrats 21 seats. Alliance '90, which included New Forum and Democracy Now, won 12 seats.
Hungary: Hungarian voters gave the nationalist Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) a sizable victory in balloting on March 25 and April 8. The MDF garnered 43 percent of the vote and 165 of 386 contested parliamentary seats, while its coalition partners, the Smallholders' Party [End Page 133] and the Christian Democratic People's Party, won 43 and 21...