ACE Electoral News

ACE Electoral News

Czechs Choose Budget Cuts Amid European Debt Crisis (Bloomberg Businessweek, 2010)

The Czech Civic Democratic Party and others that pledged to cut spending won the most votes in parliamentary elections as Czechs chose budget restraint amid the European debt crisis

Czech centre-right parties start coalition talks (Reuters, 2010)

Czech centre-right parties began talks on forming an austerity-minded coalition government on Sunday after their surprisingly decisive election victory over leftists who advocated higher welfare spending.

Centre-right Czech parties seek alliance (The Independent, 2010)

Three centre-right parties, led by the Civic Democrats under their new leader Petr Necas, won 118 seats in the 200-seat lower house in Saturday's parliamentary vote, defying expectations of a tight result.

Economic Concerns Push Voters Towards Center-Right Government (The Spiegel, 2010)

Disappointment in traditional politics was evident in the Czech elections this weekend, with the two biggest parties seeing a massive slump in votes. The country is now on course for a center-right coalition, with two newly formed parties likely to be part of any coalition government.

Elections turnout second lowest since fall of communism (Prague Daily Monitor, 2010)

Turnout in the general election that ended Saturday was 62.6 percent, which is 2 percent less than in 2006 and the second lowest figure since the Communist regime's fall in end-1989, according to the data the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) published on www.volby.cz server.

German papers view Czech elections as "political earthquake" (Prague Daily Monitor, 2010)

The Czech Republic has never before experienced such a "political earthquake," the German conservative daily Die Welt writes on its server, assessing the results of the May 28-29 Czech general election.

New parties 're-write' Czech political map (EurActiv, 2010)

A coalition of three centre-right parties is set to form a government in the Czech Republic despite the Social Democrats having come first in general elections held on Saturday (29 May). Two of the parties are new political players, EurActiv Czech Republic reports.

Solomon Islands: First women's party launch, Solomon Star (2010)

This article reports on the institution of the first women party in the Solomon Islands’ history. The party's goal is to promote the advancement of women in politics. According to the leader of this party, Delma Nori, the absence of women in the parliament is a clear sign that gender equality is still far.

Kosovo Serbs vote in unauthorised elections (SETimes, 2010)

Serbs in northern Kosovo headed to the polls Sunday (May 30th) in local elections organised by Serbia. Albanians in the southern part of Mitrovica vowed to protest voting in the northern half of their city and in Novo Brdo. Reportedly, Serbs displaced in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kraljevo, Kragujevac and Nis are also eligible to vote.

Turkey's Constitutional Court to rule on CHP appeal (SETimes, 2010)

The Constitutional Court will decide on Thursday (June 3rd) whether to accept the Republic People's Party (CHP) appeal of the new constitutional reform package.

Social Democrats Keep Upper Hand in Lithuania (Agnus Reid, 2010)

The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania remains ahead of its rivals in the Baltic nation, according to a poll by Vilmorus. 26.8 per cent of decided coters would support the opposition party in the next legislative election, up 1.1 points since March.

OSCE hosts forum on women's participation in political life in Ukraine (OSCE, 2010)

A forum on promoting the participation and representation of women in the political life of Ukraine was organized today by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.

Draft election code, developed with OSCE support, presented in Ukraine's Parliament (OSCE, 2010)

A draft unified Election Code, developed with the support of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU), was presented in the Parliament today by the Parliamentary Committee on State Building and Local Self-government.

President election: Guinea's interim leader denies supporting any candidate, Afrique en ligne (2010)

This article discusses the announcement from interim leader General Sekouba Konate he will maintain a role as arbitrator during the upcoming presidential elections and will not declare support for any of the 24 candidates.

UN briefly extends Cote d'Ivoire peacekeeper mandate, Daily Nation (2010)

This article discusses the Security Council's extension of the UN Peacekeepers' mandate in the country to facilitate the long delayed elections. The elections were part of the 2003 peace agreement that ended the civil war.

Candidates ready for presidential election in Poland (Ria Novosti, 2010)

Poland's National Electoral Commission is to publish the official list of candidates for the June 20 presidential election on Monday. The usually predictable procedure took a turn for the dramatic this year for two reasons: the death of President Lech Kaczynski in a plane crash in early April, and the decision of his twin brother, Jaroslaw, to run for presidency.

Ghana: More Women Must Participate In Assembly Elections - Chigabatia, Graphic Ghana (2010)

This article discusses statements from Agnes Asangalisah Chigabatia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) encouraging more political participation by women.

Jordan:Election panel holds 1st meeting, The Jordan Times (2010)

This article discusses instructions from Prime Minister Samir Rifai for the upcoming parliamentary elections. At the first meeting of the parliamentary elections higher steering committee Rifai said that all measures should be taken to ensure that they are free and fair.

Côte d'Ivoire: Ivory Coast President Says Country Moving Toward Elections, VOA (2010)

This article discusses the long delayed elections in the Côte d'Ivoire and challenges for voter registration.

Election 2010: Poland Decides (Krakow Post, 2010)

In Poland, 2010 was always going to be an election year, as President Lech Kaczyński was limping towards the end of his five-year term. Then there was the air crash in Smolensk, which killed the president alongside nearly a hundred others, including the entire top brass of the armed forces, and the election was brought forward from October to 20 June.