ELECTION RESULTS (June 1991-September 1991)
Argentina: The ruling Peronist party of President Carlos Menem made a strong showing in the first two rounds of legislative and gubernatorial elections held on August 24 and September 8. The third and final round of elections will be held on October 27, and official results will be reported in our next issue.
Hong Kong: Early results indicate that prodemocracy candidates won a landslide victory on September 15 in the first direct elections in this British colony, which will revert to Chinese rule in 1997. Liberal advocates of democracy took 16 of the 18 seats at stake, while pro-Beijing candidates did not win any seats on the 60-seat Legislative Council. Tightly restricted occupational groups elect an additional 21 members, and the rest are appointed by the government. The low turnout of only 39.2 percent of the colony’s 1.9 million registered voters disappointed the supporters of the movement for greater democracy.
India: In the final results of the parliamentary elections held in May and June, the Congress (I) Party won 226 of the 543 seats in the House of the People and formed a minority government under Prime Minister Narasimh Rao. Other major winners were the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 117 seats; the centrist Janata Dal with 56 seats; and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-Marxist) with 35 seats. Of the remaining seats, 73 were won by smaller parties and independents, and 36 seats are vacant.
Kiribati: Former vice-president Teatao Teannaki of the National Progressive Party was elected president on July 3. He becomes only the second head of government since independence from Britain in 1979. [End Page 132] Teannaki received 10,123 votes, with his closest rival, independent MP Roniti Teiwaka, receiving 9,162. The other two candidates split the remaining 2,575 votes.
Mauritius: Elections to the National Parliament were held 15 September 1991. Results will be reported in our next issue.
Mexico: In midterm elections on August 18, candidates of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) were declared the winners of all 6 governorships, but opposition parties contested the validity of the results in both San Luis Potosí and Guanajuato. In the latter, the PRI candidate stepped down before taking office and the local congress appointed an interim governor from the right-of-center National Action Party (PAN) until new elections can be held. The PRI also won 31 of 32 seats in the Senate, with the PAN gaining its first Senate seat ever. In elections for the 500-seat lower house, which are partly based upon a proportional allotment system, the PRI won 61 percent of the vote and 320 seats, the PAN 18 percent and 89 seats, and the left-of-center Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) 8 percent and 41 seats. Sixty-five percent of the 36 million eligible voters participated in the first election under the new electoral law.
Singapore: Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong’s ruling People’s Action Party won 77 of 81 parliamentary seats in the general elections on August 31-September 1 by obtaining 61 percent of the valid ballots cast. Opposition parties took 4 of the 40 seats they contested, with the Singapore Democratic Party winning 3 and the Workers’ Party 1.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS (October 1991-September 1992)
Angola: presidential/legislative, fall 1992*
Bahamas: parliamentary, June 1992*
Bulgaria: parliamentary, 13 October 1991*
Burkina Faso: presidential, December 1991*
Comoros: legislative, November-December 1991*
Ecuador: presidential, May 1992*
Fiji: parliamentary, July 1992* [End Page 133]
Gambia: presidential, 1 September 1992
Guyana: presidential/legislative, 9 December 1991*
Liberia: presidential, 15 October 1991 (likely to be postponed)
Mali: presidential/legislative, December 1991*
Malta: parliamentary, 1 May 1992*
Papua New Guinea: parliamentary, 1 June 1992
Philippines: presidential/legislative, 1 May 1992
Poland: parliamentary, 27 October 1991*
St. Lucia: parliamentary, 1 April 1992
Trinidad and Tobago: parliamentary, March 1992*
Turkey: parliamentary, 20 October 1991
Vanuatu: parliamentary, by December 1991*
Zaire: presidential, December 1991*
Zambia: presidential/parliamentary, 31 October-1 November 1991
* tentative
Election Watch provides reports of recently decided and upcoming elections in developing nations and the communist world. Elections in nondemocratic nations are included when they exhibit a significant element of genuine competition or, in the case of upcoming elections, when they represent an important test of progress toward democracy. This information is current as we go to press; however, election dates are often moved due .to changing circumstances. The data in Election Watch are provided by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), a private, nonprofit education and research foundation that assists in monitoring, supporting, and strengthening the mechanics of the electoral process worldwide. For additional information, contact: IFES, 1620 1 Street, N.W., Suite 611, Washington, DC 20006; (202) 828-8507 [End Page 134]