Election Watch
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Election Results (December 2009–March 2010)
Bolivia: In the December 6 presidential election, incumbent Evo Morales of the Movement to Socialism (MAS) was reelected with 64 percent of the vote. Manfred Reyes Villa of the Progress Plan for Bolivia–National Convergence (PPB-CN) won 26 percent. In concurrent legislative elections for the 130-seat Chamber of Deputies, the MAS won 64 percent and 88 seats; the PPB-CN won 26 percent and 37 seats; the National Unity Front won 6 percent and 3 seats; and the Social Alliance won 2 percent and 2 seats.
Chile: In the January 17 presidential runoff, the candidate of the Coalition for Change (CC), Sebastián Piñera of the center-right National Renewal party, defeated the candidate of the Coalition of Parties for Democracy (CPD), Eduardo Frei of the Christian Democratic Party, winning 52 percent of the vote. In the first round on December 13, Piñera won 44 percent of the vote, Frei won 30 percent, and independent Marco Enríquez-Ominami won 20 percent. In concurrent legislative elections for the 120-seat Chamber of Deputies, the CPD won 44 percent and 57 seats, the CC won 43 percent and 58 seats, the Clean Chile–Vote Happy coalition won 5 percent and 3 seats, and independent candidates won the remaining 2 seats.
Colombia: Legislative elections were scheduled for March 14; results will be reported in a future issue.
Costa Rica: In the February 7 presidential election, former vice-president Laura Chinchilla of the ruling National Liberation Party (PLN) of President Oscar Arias was elected with 47 percent of the vote, surpassing the 40 percent threshold needed to avoid a second round. Ottón Solís of [End Page 173] the opposition Citizens' Action Party (PAC) won 25 percent, and Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement Party (PML) won 21 percent. In concurrent elections for the 57-seat Legislative Assembly, the PLN won 37 percent and 23 seats, the PAC won 18 percent and 12 seats, and the PML won 14 percent and 9 seats. The Accessibility Without Exclusion Party won 9 percent and 4 seats, and the Social Christian Unity Party won 8 percent and 6 seats. Other parties won the remaining 3 seats.
Croatia: In the January 10 presidential runoff, Ivo Josipović of the Social Democratic Party defeated Zagreb mayor Milan Bandić (independent) with 60 percent of the vote. In the first round on December 27, Josipović won 32 percent, Bandiæ won 15 percent, Andrija Hebrang of the governing Croatian Democratic Union won 12 percent, independent Nadan Vidošević won 11 percent, and Vesna Pusić of the Croatian National Party of outgoing president Stjepan Mesić won 7 percent.
Dominica: In December 18 parliamentary elections for the 21 elected seats in the House of Assembly, the ruling Dominica Labour Party won 61 percent of the vote and 18 seats, and the United Workers' Party won 35 percent and 3 seats.
Honduras: In November 29 elections for the 128-seat National Congress, the National Party, whose candidate Porfirio Lobo won the concurrent presidential election, won 71 seats, while the Liberal Party won 45 seats. The Christian Democratic Party won 5 seats, the Democratic Unification Party won 4 seats, and the Innovation and Unity Social Democratic Party won 3 seats.
Iraq: Parliamentary elections were held on March 7; results will be reported in a future issue.
Sri Lanka: In the January 26 presidential election, incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse of the United People's Freedom Alliance was reelected with 58 percent of the vote, while opposition leader General Sarath Fonseka of the New Democratic Front won 40 percent. General Fonseka was arrested on February 8 for "military offenses." Election observers from the Commonwealth expressed concerns about the amount of violence during the campaign as well as misuse of public resources and state media in favor of the incumbent.
Tajikistan: Preliminary results for the parliamentary elections on February 28 for the 63-seat Assembly of Representatives showed that President Imomali Rakhmon's People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan won 72 percent of the vote. The opposition Islamic Rebirth Party won 8 percent, and the progovernment Communist Party won 7 percent. The OSCE said [End Page 174...
