By Martin Mölder (University of Tartu) The new year in Estonian politics began with a political shock that came as a surprise to all and as a relief to many. Even though the 2019 parliamentary elections were won by the Reform Party, it did not get a chance to form a government back then. The [...]
By Mihail Chiru (University of Oxford) The elections held this weekend produced the lowest turnout in Romania’s history: 33.3% and a number of outcomes which were not predicted by the opinion polls. This was supposed to be an election which would swiftly confirm the rule of the National Liberal Party (PNL, member of EPP) and [...]
By Joseph Alexander Smith (Independent researcher and former political candidate) Georgia’s fractious parliamentary elections will be hailed as a milestone by some, but they also reveal a deeply troubled society that is struggling to stay on the narrow path of peaceful democratic transition. Preliminary results are in Preliminary results in Georgia’s parliamentary elections give the [...]
By Rokas Stabingis (Independent Scholar) The voter turnout seems not to be affected by the COVID-19 In the face of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lithuania has elected its new parliament Seimas of 141 MPs. The voter turnout in the I round on 11 of October was 47 %, i.e insignificantly lower than [...]
By Nemanja Batrićević (University of Montenegro) On 30th of August 2020, Montenegro held its fifth and the most polarizing election since the Referendum in May of 2006. With pre-election polling data showing the predominant Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) at the ‘historical minimum’ (ranging from 35% to 40%), the opposition, organized around three ideologically congruent [...]
By Liljana Pecova Ilieska (IMPETUS: Center for Internet, Development and Good Governance) In North Macedonia parliamentary elections took place between 13th and 15th July: voting of the Covid-19 patients and those in self-isolation starting on Monday, the sick, weak and convicted people voted on Tuesday, while Wednesday, for all other citizens, 15th of April was [...]
By Antonio Karlović (University of Zagreb) The governing center-right HDZ, led by incumbent PM Andrej Plenković, achieved a landslide victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Croatia which will enable them to almost single-handedly form a stable government. A rush to the polls While most countries were postponing or even canceling elections because of the COVID-19 [...]
By Irena Djordjević (Universities of Aveiro and Beira Interior) On Sunday night, 21st of June, there was no unexpected news: Ruling center-right Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) party won the parliamentary, provincial and local elections in Serbia. What should be surprising is that in “parliamentary democracy with competitive multiparty elections” such as Serbia according to Freedom [...]
By Kaltrina Beqiri (Independent scholar, graduated at the University of Prishtina) The Pandemic of Covid-19 changed a lot for a lot of people around the world, for Kosovo it changed its government! The wind of change which was felt after the last elections in October 2019, did not last long. On 3rd February 2020, roughly [...]
By Mary Brennan (University College Dublin) Ireland has a bicameral parliamentary system, with the lower house of parliament, Dáil Eireann comprising of 160 TDs (Teachta Dála or members of parliament) including that of the normally non-voting Ceann Comhairle (Chair of Dail / similar to the position of Speaker in the UK parliament), thereby the formation [...]