2024 has seen a flurry of elections worldwide, and no corner of the world has not seen an election six months into this unprecedented year of democracy. In January elections were seen across Asia, Oceania, and Europe, with notable polls taking place in Tuvalu, Taiwan, and Bangladesh. In Tuvalu, the Falepili Union overshadowed the elections, which had seen the governments of Tuvalu and Australia agree to, which would see up to 280 citizens per year given a pathway to move to Australia over climate change-based concerns. This highlights the major concerns and worries held by the Tuvaluan Government and citizens as rising seas become an increasingly larger concern in the twenty-first century.
In Taiwan, the legislative election saw the Kuomintang gain the most seats in the Legislative Yuan, gaining a single-seat lead over the Democratic Progressive Party, which won the presidential election. Following the election, the People’s Republic of China lodged complaints to the United States and Japan for congratulating the Taiwanese president-elect Lai Ching-te. This in turn saw the People’s Republic of China launch a military exercise around the territories of Taiwan, sparking concern for confirmation.
In February, elections took place across various nations including El Salvador, Indonesia, and Belarus. In El Salvador, Nayib Bukele won reelection with over eighty-four percent, which had sparked concerns about voting irregularities. Despite these irregularities, Bukele’s party, Nuevas Ideas lost two seats in this election, this however did not lessen the absolute control the party has over the nation, seeing the party retaining fifty-four of sixty seats in the Legislative Assembly.
In Belarus, the parliamentary election saw a major shake-up of seats within the House of Representatives, with the Belaya Rus Party, which is new to the House of Representatives, taking fifty-one seats, just short of a majority, with the independents losing forty-nine seats from the previous election in 2019. In Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto won with fifty-eight percent of the vote, with the previous ruling party the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle only getting sixteen percent of the vote.
March saw a surprising result of the Irish Constitutional Referendum, which saw both referendums on the changing of wording within the constitution being rejected, both surrounding the wording on family and women’s care. The referendum was largely expected to pass, however, the rejection by the Irish electorate has made many politicians in the Irish Republic reconsider their proposed changes.
Just down on the European Atlantic coast, the Portuguese held a legislative election that saw the AD-Democratic Alliance win the closest legislative election in Portuguese history, winning 80 seats compared to the Socialist Party which lost 42 seats, winning just 78 seats. During elections, the AD warned voters of possible confusion on the ballot with the National Democratic Alternative, ADN. Despite these warnings of potential confusion, the ADN did not win any seats.
Following months of political turmoil which saw the Senegalese presidential election postponed by incumbent president Macky Sall and again delayed by the National Assembly, the election was finally held on the 24th of March 2024, a month later than was previously expected. Bassirou Diomaye Faye of the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF) won the election with 54 percent of the vote compared to the incumbent party Alliance for the Republic winning 35 percent of the vote.
April saw the Kuwaiti General Election take place with the independents retaining their majority of the National Assembly. One female was elected, with minor parties gaining seats including the Popular Action Bloc and the newly formed Kuwait Democratic Forum joining the National Assembly. The Solomon Islands General Election also saw new parties take shape into the Solomon Islands Parliament. The Ownership, Unity, and Responsibility Party - OUR took the most seats winning 15 seats out of 50. OUR was established in 2010, however following difficulties relaunched itself in 2019 and formed a government for the first time in 2024 winning 24 percent of the vote.
In Togo, the Union for the Republic clinched a super majority status in the nation again winning 108 seats of the 113 seats of the National Assembly. Alongside the parliamentary elections, regional elections were held for the first time, which were also won widely by the Union for the Republic party.
In May the Panamanian General Election took place, which saw the Realizing Goals party win the presidential election with Jose Raul Mulino becoming the new Panamanian President with 34 percent of the vote. Despite his win, the Vice President's seat remains vacant as Mulino did not have a running mate and has remained vacant since the time of writing. The North Macedonian parliamentary election saw the Your Macedonia party win with 44 percent of the vote and 58 seats, just shy of a majority of 61 seats of the Assembly.
Towards the end of May, the South African General Election was held with a wide span of challenges presented to the African National Congress, including Jacob Zuma, a former president forming the uMkhonto weSizwe party. Despite these challenges, the ANC won only 159 seats and had to form a national unity government with the Democratic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party, and the Patriotic Alliance. This upset is historic in South Africa as the ANC has held a parliamentary majority since 1994.
June saw the conclusion of the world’s largest democratic election with the Indian General Election concluding on the 1st of June. Similar to South Africa, the ruling National Democratic Alliance saw a fall in support and loss of seats, losing 58 seats. Despite this Narendra Modi retained his control over India and was elected to a third term as Prime Minister, a first since Indira Gandhi ended her third term as Prime Minister in 1977. From the largest democratic election to one of the smallest, the San Marino General Election saw the Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party retain its seats within the Grand and General Council, including gaining a seat.
In perhaps one of the strangest electoral stories of the year so far, the Mongolian Parliamentary Election saw the seats double from 68 to 126 seats, which saw the ruling Mongolian People’s Party retain its majority. Where the story becomes strange is a member of the Democratic Party was beaten to death and the perpetrator was an agitator for 1st election district candidate, Gursediin Saikhanbayar. Despite this revelation, the MPP withdrew Saikhanbayar as a candidate, but the General Election Commission declared this would not be possible due to Saikhanbayar already being registered, issued an identity card, and on the ballot. In the face of these issues, Saikhanbayar announced he would continue the election and eventually would lose his seat.
We congratulate participants, campaigners, and citizens around the world who have done their electoral duties to partake in elections during the first half of 2024. As we look into the second half of the year, the British, French, Jordanian, Uruguayan, American, and South Sudanese elections are of particular interest at this time. We also want to make note of the Francescan New Cartier by-election in August, which as of the time of writing is expected to be between Isturusian Prime Minister Luis Marcel and Isturusian Imperial Advisor Thomas Bainbridge for the New Cartier seat of the newly formed Sovereign Council of Francesca.
Note: All information has been sourced from national electoral agencies, international and national news agencies and other local agencies and observers.
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