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Elections

Stories related to democracy and electoral processes. 

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News
Centrist pro-European D66 party set to win election in The Netherlands

Centrist pro-European D66 party set to win election in The Netherlands

The Netherlands is set to elect its youngest ever prime minister after the far-right party of Geert Wilders was projected to suffer losses in an election he brought about by bringing down the government. Rob Jetten, the 38-year-old leader of the pro-European centrist D66 party, is on course to claim the top job with most votes counted. His party is projected to win 27 of the 150 seats in the country's lower house of parliament, beating Mr Wilder's Freedom Party on 25, according to an exit poll by Ipsos. It comes just two years after he led his party to victory in the last election, winning 37 seats, although his coalition partners refused to endorse him as prime minister. Mr Jetten will also need to rely on a coalition himself, with 76 seats needed for a majority. At least four parties will be required for him to get there.
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Opinion
Armenia Power Struggle Intensifies Before Elections

Armenia Power Struggle Intensifies Before Elections

Tensions are mounting in Armenia ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections, with the nation’s future hanging in the balance. Despite the excitement surrounding the Trump-brokered Washington Declaration in August, it is unclear whether it can overcome the lingering division that set in after defeat by Azerbaijan in the 44-day war. Recent surveys have shown a slight majority against the proposed TRIPP.

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Editor's choice
Analysis
Analysis: When hunting down civil society, don’t shoot yourself in the foot

Analysis: When hunting down civil society, don’t shoot yourself in the foot

In recent weeks, Alexander Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus has ordered the mass closure of NGOs, calling them “bandits and foreign agents”. One year to the day since the disputed 9 August 2020 presidential elections, for commonspace.eu, Maryia Ditchkowska looks at some of the organisations targeted, why it is unlikely to seriously impact support for the pro-democractic movement, and what has prompted this particular crackdown.
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News
Mirziyoev nominated for second term as president of Uzbekistan ahead of October elections

Mirziyoev nominated for second term as president of Uzbekistan ahead of October elections

Uzbekistan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party announced on 7 August it was nominating Shavkat Mirziyoev for a second term as president in the forthcoming October elections. Since coming to power in 2016 Mirziyoev has launched an ambitious reform agenda and has sought to end Uzbekistan's international isolation.
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News
Resounding victory for pro-European party in Moldova

Resounding victory for pro-European party in Moldova

Moldovan President Maya Sandu's PAS party won a resounding victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections on a platform of fighting corruption and carrying out reforms. After the counting of 99.63% of ballots, only three political forces will be represented in the new chamber, the data showed. PAS had 52.60% of the vote, while its main rival, Igor Dodon's Socialists and Communists bloc, had 27.32%.
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News
Russia mulls the Armenian elections results

Russia mulls the Armenian elections results

The Russian media has taken a lot of interest in Sunday's parliamentary elections in Armenia. They echoed the Kremlin's position of advocating stability and discouraging street protests. But the newspaper Kommersant says many in Moscow were taken by surprise by the result.
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News
Ethiopians have voted in elections they hope will increase democratic governance

Ethiopians have voted in elections they hope will increase democratic governance

Many eligible Ethiopian voters headed to polls yesterday (21 June) to participate in the country’s first multi-party elections in 16 years. The elections are the incumbent prime minister Abiy Ahmed first democratic test. Elections in several constituencies, many of them in the Amhara and Oromia regions, are postponed until 6 September due to electoral irregularities. The dates for elections in the Tigray region are not yet scheduled. 
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Opinion
Opinion: An election with many surprises

Opinion: An election with many surprises

Armenia's parliamentary elections were properly conducted with only minor violations. But Nikol Pashinyan's landslide victory was somewhat surprising says Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed for commonspace.eu Pashinyan's victory means Armenia will continue implementing all written and oral agreements reached with Russia and Azerbaijan after the end of the 2020 Karabakh war, he adds.
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Live blog
Live blog: Armenia Votes, 20 June 2021

Live blog: Armenia Votes, 20 June 2021

Nikol Pashinyan's Civic Contract Party has won a landslide victory in Armenia's parliamentary election. Pashinyan once more confounded his political rivals securing 53.92% of the votes cast. Read assessments of the election results and opinions by commentators and experts in the region and beyond on this live blog. [The live blog has now been closed]