Election Results (March–June 2012)

Armenia: In May 6 parliamentary elections for the 131-seat National Assembly, President Serge Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) won 53 percent of the vote and 69 seats, and the Prosperous Armenia party, led by Gagik Tsarukian, won 28 percent and 37 seats. The opposition Armenian National Congress, led by former president Levon Ter-Petrosian, won 5 percent and 7 seats. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation party, led by Vahan Hovhannisian, won 4.6 percent and 6 seats; the Rule of Law party (OEK), led by Artur Baghdasarian, won 4.6 percent and 6 seats; and the Heritage Party, led by former Foreign Minister Raffi Hovannisian, won 3.8 percent and 5 seats. An independent candidate won the remaining seat. The HHK and the OEK formed a ruling coalition.

Belize: In March 7 elections for the 31-seat House of Representatives, Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s United Democratic Party (UDP) won 50 percent of the vote and 17 seats. The opposition People’s United Party (PUP) won 48 percent and 14 seats. No other party won more than one percent.

Burma: In April 1 parliamentary by-elections for 46 vacant seats, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) contested elections for the first time since 1990. Six of the contested seats were in the upper house (the National Assembly, which has a total of 168 directly elected seats), and 40 were in the lower house (the People’s Assembly, which has a total of 330 directly elected seats). The NLD won 4 seats in the National Assembly and 37 seats in the People’s Assembly. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, led by president Thein Sein, won one seat in the National Assembly. The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party also won one seat. Three seats in the People’s Assembly remain unfilled.

Dominican Republic: In the May 20 presidential election, Danilo Medina of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) won 51 percent of the vote, while former president Hipólito Mejía of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) won 47 percent. Four other candidates won less than 2 percent each. Incumbent Leonel Fernández of the PLD was constitutionally barred from running for a third consecutive term.

Egypt: In the May 23–24 first round of the presidential election, Mohamed Morsi (chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party) won 25 percent of the vote, and Ahmed Shafiq (former commander in the Egyptian Air Force who was briefly prime minister in early 2011) won 24 percent. Hamdeen Sabahi (leader of the Dignity Party and a former member of parliament who was an opposition leader during the Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak eras) won 21 percent; Abdel Moneim Abul Futuh (formerly of the Muslim Brotherhood) won 17 percent; and Amr Moussa (former foreign minister and secretary-general of the Arab League) won 11 percent. Eight other candidates won one percent or less. As no candidate received a majority of the votes cast, a runoff between Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq was scheduled for June 16–17; results will be reported in a future issue.

El Salvador: In March 11 elections for the 84-seat Legislative Assembly, the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), led by former president Alfredo Cristiani, won 40 percent of the vote and 33 seats, and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) of President Mauricio Funes won 37 percent of the vote and 31 seats. The Grand Alliance for National Unity won 10 percent and 11 seats. The National Coalition party (previously known as the National Conciliation Party) won 7 percent and 7 seats. The Party of Hope (the successor to the disbanded Christian Democratic Party) and the Democratic Change party won one seat each.

Lesotho: In May 26 parliamentary elections for the 120-seat National Assembly, incumbent prime minister Pakalitha Mosisili’s newly created Democratic Congress won 40 percent of the vote and 48 seats, failing to win an absolute majority. The All Basotho Convention (ABC), led by Thomas Thabane, won 25 percent and 30 seats; and the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), led by Mothejoa Metsing after Mosisili split from the party in 2011, won 22...