2024 was the biggest election year in human history as half the world’s population voted to decide for their political and economic landscape. Voters in 60 countries sent decisive messages to the world leaders. From UK to the US, India to Ireland and Russia to Romania, voters stepped out to do their civic duty. Elections were disputed in Mozambique, Georgia and Bangladesh and some created angry protests like in Algeria and Indonesia, where people experienced their voices hasn’t been recognized.
Countries Where Incumbents Lost
United States
In one of the most significant elections in 2024, Democrats lost to Republicans in the United States presidential elections. Donald Trump is set to return to the Oval Office. Additionally, it was the third consecutive presidential election in the United States when the incumbent party lost.
United Kingdom
In Britain, political power swung to the left, with Conservatives receiving the drubbing. Led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Labour Party won an overwhelming parliamentary majority, bringing 14 years of Tory rule to an end.
South Korea
In the National Assembly people gave a majority to the opposition Democratic Party which was seen as a check on the ruling People Power Party. The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) win with a majority of the 300 seats in the National Assembly, with 175 of seats to the ruling People Power Party’s (PPP) 108 seats.
Where Ruling Parties Returned
Russia
President Vladimir Putin won a record post-Soviet landslide in Russia’s election, cementing his already tight grip on power in a victory he said showed Moscow had been right to stand up to the West and send its troops into Ukraine. The former KGB lieutenant colonel who first rose to power in 1999, made it clear that the result should send a message to the West that its leaders will have to reckon with an emboldened Russia, whether in war or peace, for many more years to come.
India
India witnessed the largest election in history, with a multi-stage polling process featuring over 1 million voting stations, from remote corners of the Himalayas to far-flung forests deep in Nagaland. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party won a third term, but their majority shrunk and were forced into a coalition government.
Japan
In the national election, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling coalition lost its parliamentary majority. Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), ruled Japan for all of its post-war history, and junior coalition partner Komeito took 215 seats in the lower house of parliament. That was down from the 279 seats and marked the coalition’s worst election results since it lost power in 2009.
France
French President Emmanuel Macron’s key decision to hold the snap elections in the summer backfired. His centrist Ensemble alliance lost ground to both the left-wing New Popular Front and the right-wing National Rally.
Histories Created
Histories were created in countries such as Mexico, Namibia and North Macedonia, where for the first time, voters elected women leaders to guide the countries.
Mexico
A climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum won to become the Mexico’s first female president, inheriting the project of her mentor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador whose popularity. Additionally, Sheinbaum won the presidency with between 58.3 % and 60.7 % of the vote, the highest vote percentage in Mexico’s democratic history.
Namibia
Namibia elected its first female President, with Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah declared the winner of 2024. Nandi-Ndaitwah, the present Vice President of the Southern African country, won with 57 % of the vote. However, she will take oath next year in March.
Allegations Of Unfair Practices
Bangladesh
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won the fourth consecutive term in January. Country’s main opposition party boycotted the elections amid allegations of crackdowns on political dissent. However, Hasina gave the resignation and flee the country in August following hundreds of people were killed in her iron-fisted crackdown on demonstrations that started as protests against job quotas.
Pakistan
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan was kept in custody, his supporters arrested in the run-up to February’s election. Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was barred from the polls, which resulted in party candidates contesting polls as independents. PTI out-performed those from Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party (PML-N), winning 101 parliamentary seats. PML-N has received the support of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to form a coalition government.
The election results in the year 2024 was quite interesting with the ruling parties returning in some countries while incumbents losing in other countries. Let’s see what new political twist 2025 holds ?
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