Election Watch

Election Results

(January–March 2013)

Armenia: In the February 18 presidential election, incumbent Serzh Sarkisian of the Republican Party of Armenia defeated former foreign minister Raffi Hovanisian of the Heritage Party, 59 to 37 percent. Despite noting “a lack of impartiality of the public administration, misuse of administrative resources, and cases of pressure on voters,” an OSCE observer mission issued a largely positive preliminary statement, reporting that the “election was generally well-administered and was characterized by a respect for fundamental freedoms.” Hovanisian, however, called the election rigged, sparking protests that attracted thousands. After filing a number of complaints with the Central Electoral Commission, he pledged to launch a hunger strike to pressure Sarkisian to resign.

Barbados: In February 21 elections for the 30-seat House of Assembly, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart’s Democratic Labour Party won 51 percent of the vote and 16 seats. The Barbados Labour Party won 48 percent and the remaining 14 seats.

Czech Republic: Following a constitutional amendment last year, the presidency was determined by direct elections for the first time. In a runoff election held on January 25–26, former prime minister Miloš Zeman of the Party of Civic Rights defeated Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg of the recently formed TOP 09 party (Tradition, Responsibility, and Prosperity) with 55 percent of the vote. In the first round, held on January 11–12, Zeman had earned 24 percent of the vote; Schwarzenberg, 23 percent; independent candidate and former prime minister Jan Fischer, 16 percent; and Czech Social Democratic Party candidate Jiří Dienstbier, 16 percent. Five other candidates split the remaining 21 percent.

Djibouti: In elections held February 22 for the 65-seat National Assembly, President Ismail Omar Guelleh’s Union for the Presidential Majority (UPM) won 61 percent of the vote and 43 seats. The Union for National Salvation (USN), a recently formed bloc of opposition parties that had boycotted the 2008 National Assembly elections and the 2011 presidential election, won 36 percent of the vote and 21 seats. The Center for Unified Democrats, a recently formed party, won 3 percent of the vote and 1 seat. When preliminary results were announced early the morning after the election, a spokesperson for the USN charged that the UPM had rigged the elections and called for demonstrations. The arrest of several opposition leaders charged with inciting violence sparked further demonstrations in the capital and clashes between protesters and police.

Ecuador: In the February 17 presidential election, incumbent Rafael Correa of the Alianza País (AP) won with 57 percent of the vote. Guillermo Lasso of the CREO Movement won 23 percent, and former president Lucio Gutiérrez of the January 21 Patriotic Society Party (PSP) won 7 percent. No other candidate won more than 4 percent. In elections held the same day for the 137-member National Assembly, the AP won 52 percent and 91 seats, while CREO won 11 percent and 12 seats. The Social Christian Party won 9 percent; the PSP, 6 percent; and the Multinational Union of the Left, 5 percent. Each won 6 seats. Smaller parties split the remaining 16 seats.

Ghana: In December 7 parliamentary elections, the National Democratic Party of John Dramani Mahama, who was elected president in a concurrent election (covered in the January 2013 issue of the Journal of Democracy), won 148 seats, and the New Patriotic Party won 123. Independents won 3 seats, and the People’s National Convention won 1.

Jordan: Elections held on January 23 for the 150-seat House of Representatives were governed by a new electoral law allotting 27 seats to national closed party lists and 108 seats to winners of district elections, with an additional 15 seats set aside for women. For the 27 seats determined by party lists, the Islamic Centrist Party won 3 seats, and the Homeland and Stronger Jordan parties won 2 seats each. Twenty other parties won single seats. Following the elections, members of the House clustered into political blocs. The two largest blocs—Homeland and the Democratic Assembly for Reform—comprised 27 and 24 members, respectively. The Future bloc included 18 members and the Free Promise bloc attracted 17 (including six of the House...