Election Watch

Election Results

(March-June 2002)

Algeria: Elections to the 389-seat National People's Assembly were held on May 30. The long-ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) won an absolute majority, with 199 seats, while its recent coalition partner, the National Democratic Rally, won only 47 seats, down from 155 in the previous body. The El-Islah movement and the Movement for Society and Peace—moderate Islamic parties—won 43 and 38 seats, respectively. Two key opposition parties boycotted the elections in protest of possible electoral fraud. The elections had the lowest turnout in Algeria's four decades of independence, with fewer than half of registered voters taking part.

Bahamas: Elections to the 40-seat House of Assembly, held on May 2, saw the fortunes of the two major parties completely reversed. The governing Free National Movement dropped from 35 seats to 8, while the Progressive Liberal Party increased from 5 members to 28. Independent candidates took the remaining 4 seats.

Bolivia: Presidential and legislative elections were scheduled for June 30. Results will be reported in a future issue.

Burkina Faso: Elections to the 111-seat Assembly of People's Deputies were held on May 5, with a record 30 political parties competing. Preliminary results gave the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress 57 seats, down from 101. The two major opposition groups, the Alliance for Democracy and Federation-African Democratic Rally and the Party for Democracy and Progress, secured 17 and 10 seats, respectively. The remaining 27 seats were split by nine smaller parties. The elections were acknowledged by the opposition and international observers to be much freer and fairer than in the past.

Cameroon: Legislative elections were scheduled for June 23. Results will be reported in a future issue.

Chad: In April 21 elections to the 155-seat National Assembly, President Idriss Déby's Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) won 112 seats, the Rally for Democracy and Progress received 10, the Front of Action Forces for the Republic finished with 9, and other opposition parties won the remainder. In 65 districts, candidates belonging to or allied with the MPS ran unopposed.

Colombia:In March 10 legislative elections, the major parties lost huge numbers of seats to independents. In the 161-member Chamber of Representatives, the Liberal Party (PL) received 54 seats, the Social Conservative Party (PSC) received 21 seats, and the rest went to smaller parties and independents. In the 102-seat Senate, the PL won 28 seats, while the PSC won 13. Many newly elected independents were backed by independent presidential candidate Alvaro Uribe. In the first round of presidential balloting on May 26, Uribe received 53 percent of the vote, thereby avoiding a runoff. His nearest competitor, Horacio Serpa of the PL, garnered 31.7 percent.

Comoros: On April 14, Azali Assoumani won 75 percent of the vote in a disputed presidential election from which his two main opponents, Said Ali Kemal and Mahamoud Mradabi, had withdrawn in protest at the last minute. Assoumani, who seized power in a 1999 coup, had stepped down in January to campaign. After the original election commission was dissolved, a new electoral body confirmed Assoumani as the winner on May 9.

Congo-Brazzaville: In March 10 presidential balloting, incumbent president Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the United Democratic Forces (FDU) received 89 percent of the votes, defeating six minor candidates. Sassou-Nguesso's main opponent, former prime minister Andre Milongo, withdrew two days before the election in protest of electoral irregularities. Two rounds of legislative balloting were also held, on May 26 and June 23, respectively. Results will be reported in a future issue.

Costa Rica: In a presidential election runoff held on April 7, Abel Pacheco of the Social Christian Unity Party defeated Rolando Monge of the National Liberation Party, 58 percent to 42 percent.

Czech Republic: Parliamentary elections were scheduled for June 14-15. Results will be reported in a future issue.

Dominican Republic: In May 16 elections to the bicameral National Congress, President Hipólito Mejía's Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) maintained its...