International Elections and Leaders: November 2020 Briefing
By: Clayton Besaw
Tags: Data, Leaders, Elections

The REIGN Dataset (Rulers, Elections, and Irregular Governance) covers political conditions in every country each and every month. We update the data set monthly to reflect the most recent political events, such as coups, world elections, and changes in political leadership. We also provide monthly election coverage and track leadership changes in a series of updates called International Elections and Leaders.

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

International Elections

Nine key elections for the chief executive took place in the month of October.

Bolivia — Presidential (October 18)

Luis Arce of the MAS party won the presidency with 55% of the vote.

Arce was able to avoid a run-off election even with MAS’s association with controversial former leader Evo Morales. Far-right and right-wing candidates performed poorly following the excess abuse of interim governance.

Arce will be sworn in on November 8.

Chile — Referendum (October 25)

Chilean voters approved an effort to write a new constitution after 78% of voters approved of the measure.

The new constitution will be written through a constitutional convention whose members will be determined through a popular vote in April 2021.

Guinea — Presidential (October 18)

Incumbent president Alpha Conde officially won re-election after receiving 59% of the vote.

However, the vote is contested by the opposition. Opposition candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo previously declared himself winner before the official count was released. A legal challenge has also now been mounted by Diallo.

Guinea is experiencing election related violence and clashes between rival political supporters during this time period.

New Zealand — Legislative (October 17)

Incumbent prime minister Jacinda Ardern won re-election after her Labour party won 49% of the vote and gained 18 seats.

Ardern’s electoral win gave Labour its biggest victory in 50 years and allowed her to form an outright majority following the vote.

Seychelles — Presidential (October 22–24)

Opposition candidate Wavel Ramkalawan defeated incumbent Danny Faure after receiving 54% of the vote.

Ramkalawan assumed office on October 26.

Ramkalawan won after running for the presidency in five previous elections. Now he will seek to address domestic economic issues and inequality in the island nation.

Tajikistan — Presidential (October 11)

Incumbent president Emomali Rahmon won re-election after receiving 92% of the vote.

Rahmon has been leader of Tajikistan since its post-Soviet government began operating in 1992. In essence, Rahmon is a dictator with total control over state security forces and governmental institutions.

Rahmon had been cracking down on opposition politicians in the run up to the poll as the state sought to guarantee him a seventh term.

Tanzania — Presidential (October 28)

Incumbent president John Magufuli won re-election after receiving 84% of the vote.

As with Guinea, the election has been contested by the opposition who allege abuse and fraud.

Magufuli has responded by instituting a country-wide crackdown on opposition parties while also arresting his electoral rival Tundu Lissu and prominent opposition leader Freeman Mbowe.

Georgia — Legislative (October 31)

While final results are not yet known, exit poll projections suggest that the ruling Georgian Dream party is likely to win enough seats to form a majority.

Opposition parties have contested the election and have mounted sustained protests against the results.

Ivory Coast — Presidential (October 31)

Incumbent president Alassane Ouattara has claimed victory after the country’s election commission announced a vote-share of 94% for Outtara.

Opposition parties have contested the validity of the election for months now and supporters boycotted the election as a result.

Ouattara’s decision to run is controversial as the constitution limits any individual to two-terms. However, Ouattara and his team argued that his term limit was reset by new constitutional changes and is eligible for a third term in office.

The results have been met with election related violence and broad civil unrest.

New Leaders

Five new individuals took power as a chief executive in the month of October.

Alexander De Croo (Centre-right) — Belgium

De Croo has become Prime Minister of Belgium after two years of interim governance and failure to build a governing coalition.

De Croo’s four party coalition includes liberals, socialists, greens and Christian democrats in what has been termed the “Vivaldi Coalition”

The new government’s first tasks will be related to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn.

Alessandro Cardelli and Mirko Dolcini (Centrist and Independent) — San Marino

San Marino experienced its bi-annual changing of the Captain’s Regent on October 1. San Marino is governed by a diarchy of two executives, usually belonging to different parties.

The Captain’s Regent changes twice a year. Once in April and once in October. Each Captain’s Regent gets a six month term as a result.

Sadyr Japarov (Populist) — Kyrgyzstan

Following the resignation of the incumbent government following mass protests and civil unrest, newly freed opposition politician Sadyr Japarov has been appointed as prime minister and interim president by the country’s legislature.

Japarov has promised to step down by the end of the year, as constitutionally mandated for an interim president and will seek to hold a constitutional council for reforming the country’s constitutional form of government.

Wavel Ramkalawan (Liberal/centre) — Seychelles

As discussed earlier, opposition candidate Ramkalawan won his first presidential election after five previous campaigns.

Elections in November

Five elections to determine the chief executive and one constitutional referendum are set to take place in the month of November.

Belize will hold a parliamentary election on November 11. Burkina Faso will hold a presidential election and constitutional referendum on November 22. Myanmar will hold a parliamentary election on November 8. Palau held a presidential election on November 3. The United States held a presidential election on November 3.

Finally, Algeria held a constitutional referendum on November 1.