Election Watch

ELECTION RESULTS

(September–December 2011)

Argentina: In the October 23 presidential election, incumbent Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was reelected with 54 percent of the vote. Hermes Binner of the Socialist Party won 17 percent of the vote, and Ricardo Alfonsín of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) won 11 percent. Following concurrent elections for 128 of 257 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, Kirchner’s party, the Front for Victory, had 135 seats; UCR had 42 seats; Federal Peronism had 27 seats; the Broad Progessive Front had 17 seats; the Republican Proposal had 10 seats; and the Civic Coalition had 7 seats. Other parties had the remaining 19 seats.

Bahrain: On September 24, parliamentary by-elections for the 40-seat Council of Representatives were held to replace eighteen Shia lawmakers from the Islamic National Accord Society (a Shia opposition group known as al-Wifaq), who had resigned over the crackdown on antigovernment protesters. Most opposition members boycotted. Turnout was 17 percent, and protesters clashed with police on the eve of the election.

Bulgaria: In the October 30 presidential runoff, Rosen Plevneliev of the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria won with 53 percent of the vote, defeating Ivaylo Kalfin of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). In the first round on October 23, Plevneliev won 40 percent; Kalfin won 29 percent; and Meglena Kuneva, who ran as an independent, won 14 percent. No other candidate won more than 4 percent. Incumbent Georgi Parvanov, originally elected as a BSP candidate, had served the maximum two terms.

Cameroon: In the October 9 presidential election, incumbent Paul Biya (who has been in power since 1982) won with 78 percent of the vote, defeating longtime opposition leader John Fru Ndi of the Social Democratic Front, who won 11 percent. A constitutional amendment eliminating term limits had been passed in 2008. Opposition members alleged fraud and voter intimidation on the part of the ruling party.

Côte d’Ivoire: Parliamentary elections were held on December 11; results will be reported in a future issue.

Croatia: Parliamentary elections were held on December 4; results will be reported in a future issue.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Presidential and legislative elections were held on November 28; results will be reported in a future issue.

Egypt: Parliamentary elections for the lower house were scheduled to be held in three rounds on November 28, December 14, and January 3; results will be reported in a future issue.

The Gambia: In the November 24 presidential election, incumbent Yahya Jammeh of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction won with 72 percent of the vote. Opposition candidate Ousainou Darboe of the United Democratic Party won 17 percent, and Hamat Bah of the opposition United Front coalition won 11 percent. Jammeh has been in power since 1994. ECOWAS complained about “an unacceptable level of control of the electronic media by the party in power . . . and an opposition and electorate cowed by repression and intimidation.”

Guatemala: In the November 6 presidential runoff, former general Otto Pérez Molina of the Patriotic Party (PP) won 54 percent of the vote, defeating Manuel Baldizón of the Renewed Democratic Liberty party (Lider). In the first round on September 11, Molina won 36 percent, Baldizón won 23 percent, and Eduardo Suger of the Commitment, Renovation, and Order party (CREO) won 17 percent. The constitution limited incumbent Álvaro Colom to one term. Molina is the first former military leader to be president since democracy was restored in 1986. In concurrent elections for the 158-seat Congress, the PP won 27 percent and 56 seats; Colom’s National Unity of Hope, allied with the Grand National Alliance, won 23 percent and 48 seats; the Union of Nationalist Change won 9.5 percent and 14 seats; Lider won 9 percent and 14 seats; and CREO won 8.7 percent and 12 seats. Other parties won the remaining 14 seats.

Guyana: In November 28 elections for the 65-seat National Assembly, the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won 49 percent of the vote and 32 seats. The opposition coalition Partnership for National Unity (APNU) won 41 percent and 26 seats, and...