ACE Electoral News

ACE Electoral News

Slovakia: SMER-SD Won the General Elections But Might Not be Able to Form the New Government RSI (Radio Slovakia International, 2010)

Prime Minister Robert Fico’s SMER-SD party won the general election on Saturday with 34.79 percent of the votes; nonetheless, despite being asked by the Slovak President to form the new government he might not be able to do it, as its current coalition partners - the Slovak National Party (SNS) and the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (LS-HZDS) - failed to receive enough votes to back it up.

Slovakia turns to centre-right (EurActiv, 2010)

Slovakia is likely to form a centre-right government after elections held on 12 June were narrowly won by the ruling centre-left SMER-SD party, which stands no chance of forming a coalition. A similar development was seen in the Czech Republic two weeks ago. EurActiv Slovakia contributed to this article.

Poland: Presidential candidates warm up for TV debates (thenews.pl, 2010)

With less than two weeks before the presidential elections on June 20, Polish broadcaster TVP has invited all the running candidates to take part in televised debates: officially, all the candidates are willing to take part.

Sri Lanka to test run a hybrid election system soon, The Asian Tribune (2010)

This article reports on Sri Lanka's decision to change its election system. The new Delimitation Commission is planning to change the boundary delimitations, and at the same time to introduce new seats in the Parliament. Furthermore, Sri Lanka will try a mixed system for the first time.

Kaczynski narrows gap in race for Polish president (Reuters Canada, 2010)

Poland's Jaroslaw Kaczynski, vying to succeed his twin brother as president after his death in a plane crash, has seen his support rise sharply and now trails his main rival by just two percentage points, a poll showed on Saturday.

Separatist party wins most seats in Belgium election, Radio Free Europe (2010)

This article comments the results of the latest elections in Belgium. The Dutch-speaking separatist party won the majority of the seats in the parliament (27 out of 150). This party is well-known for its controversial positions about a possible dissolution of Belgium.

Poland: Komorowski last minute participant in TV debate (thenews.pl, 2010)

Bronislaw Komorowski took a last minute decision to take part in the presidential debate on TVP public television, Sunday night, making it a four-way battle between himself and candidates of the other three parliamentary parties.

Polish presidential candidates favour stronger cooperation with Russia (The Voice of Russia, 2010)

All main Polish presidential candidates came out for boosting cooperation with Russia during televised debates on Sunday.

Belgian king to start coalition consultations, Reuters (2010)

This article reports on the coalition talks in Belgium. The elections split the Belgian electorate in half: 27 seats to the Dutch-speaking separatist party and 26 seats to the French-speaking Socialist Party. For the time being, it is not very clear which one will form the coalition government.

Kaczynski closes to within two percent behind Komorowski (thenews.pl, 2010)

In another indication of gathering moment for Jaroslaw Kaczynski in the June 20 presidential elections, the Law and Justice candidate is just two percentage points behind Bronislaw Komorowski, according to the latest opinion poll.

Poland: Seven days to go till presidential election (thenews.pl, 2010)

With campaign days running out, candidates in the presidential elections on June 20 have been packing in meetings and media appearances, in the last weekend before polling day.

Komorowski Still Ahead in Polish Presidential Race (Angus Reid, 2010)

Bronislaw Komorowski remains the frontrunner in Poland’s presidential race, according to a poll by GfK Polonia published in Rzeczpospolita. 47 per cent of respondents would vote for the Civic Platform (PO) candidate and former defence minister in this month’s election.

Poland: Reactions to presidential debate, Thenews.pl (2010)

Reactions to Sunday’s presidential debate, broadcast on Poland’s public broadcaster, TVP, suggest the confrontation did not constitute a breakthough for any of the candidates.

Hungary municipality reform seen from 2014 -Fidesz (Interactive Investor, 2010)

A comprehensive reform of Hungary's inefficient local government sector requires lots of preparation and changes could only be introduced from 2014, the ruling Fidesz party's candidate for Budapest mayor said.

Zimbabwe: ZESN trains 300 poll observers, The Zimbabwean (2010)

The Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN) has trained 300 observers to monitor political financing ahead of next year’s planned harmonised polls.

Hopes Nauru electors will choose workable government in Saturday poll, Radio New Zealand International (2010)

The people of Nauru will go to the polls for the second time in the past eight weeks. Last week, the caretaker President Marcus Stephen called for new elections because the parliament could not overcome the political impasse after the April elections.

Belgium will not fall apart because of separatist success, The Guardian (2010)

This article discusses the success of the New Flemish Alliance in the June 13 elections in Belgium. The results of the elections draw attention to the social tensions over the economic crisis, rather than true nationalist feelings.

Irish voters want election this year, Reuters (2010)

This article reports on the latest opinion poll in Ireland. The poll revealed that the majority of Irish voters would like to have an election in 2010 (and not wait until 2012). The ruling party lost support of most of the electorate, unlike the Labour Party (for the first time in first position).

Ireland: Gilmore seeks to build 'election fund', The Irish Times (2010)

Eamon Gilmore, leader of the Labour Party, set up a fund-raising campaign for the party's electoral campaign. After the recent opinion poll, the Labour Party is very confident for the upcoming elections in 2012.

Fine Gael still on top in Irish politics, Angus Reid Global Monitor (2010)

This article presents the results of the latest opinion polls in Ireland. Fine Gael, the main opposition party, gained most of the support from the electorate (30%).