Members of the Lithuanian parliament are being sworn in today following elections in October. Ingrida Unikaitė-Jakuntavičienė presents an analysis of the election result, which saw the Lithuanian Peasant and Greens Union make surprising gains to become the country’s largest party. She writes that addressing high levels of emigration among young Lithuanians will be one of the main aims for […]
After more than 10 months of deadlock, Mariano Rajoy was finally successful in winning enough support to continue as Spain’s Prime Minister on 29 October after a large number of MPs from the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) agreed to abstain from voting on the formation of the next government. But as Javier Astudillo and Marta Romero write, with […]
We are now in the final month of campaigning ahead of Italy’s constitutional referendum on 4 December. Presenting a case for a No vote, Valentino Larcinese argues that the proposed reform would remove much needed checks and balances on executive power in Italy, while the method used by the government to try and enact the reform is also worthy […]
Although plunged immediately into a constitutional crisis that brought it into conflict with the European Commission, one year after its decisive parliamentary election victory Poland’s right-wing ruling party retains widespread support, in spite of coming again under fire over appointments to state-run companies and the abortion issue. Aleks Szczerbiak argues that the government’s fate will ultimately depend upon its […]
Italy’s constitutional referendum, scheduled for 4 December, has been billed as a vote of confidence in the country’s Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi. James Dennison and Jonas Bergan Draege illustrate, however, the more voters are invited to link the proposed reforms to Renzi, the less likely they are to support them. They suggest that with support for the reforms falling […]
Bulgaria will hold presidential elections on 6 November, with a second round runoff scheduled for 13 November. Dimitar Bechev previews the contest, writing that the candidate supported by the country’s largest party, GERB, could face a tougher contest than originally anticipated.
Presidential elections in Bulgaria are supposed to be a rather dull affair. Many expected the candidate handpicked by Prime […]
Iceland held elections on 29 October which were called after the country’s government was caught up in the Panama Papers scandal earlier this year. Benjamin Leruth assesses the results, noting that the Pirate Party, who had at one stage led the polling, failed to live up to expectations by finishing with the third highest vote share. Nevertheless, the election […]
Moldova is due to hold presidential elections on 30 October. Alexandru Damian examines what the implications of the election may be for Romania, which has previously expressed support for the current Moldovan government. He suggests that with the government’s preferred candidate facing a challenge to make the second round of the contest, supporting Maia Sandu from the Action and […]
Montenegro votes in parliamentary elections on Sunday 16 October. Mirko Bošković outlines the main topics of the campaign, recent controversies regarding party funding, and possible future scenarios for Montenegro following the election. Montenegro’s invitation to join NATO, which is yet to be ratified by the country’s parliament and could cause a geopolitical stir should it not happen, has overshadowed all other issues in […]
With his friendly, moderate appearance, the right-wing populist Norbert Hofer has come within a whisker of the Austrian presidency. In December a second rerun of the election will determine whether he can lead the Freedom Party (FPÖ) into power. Fabio Wolkenstein looks at the extraordinarily wide range of executive powers available to the Austrian president, including the right to dismiss […]
The Netherlands is due to hold parliamentary elections in March 2017. In the leadup to the vote we will be publishing a number of articles on the parties and the campaign. In the first article in the series, Hans Vollaard writes on the Dutch party system and why efforts to form the next government are likely to be extremely […]
The leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), Pedro Sánchez, resigned on 1 October. Paul Kennedy assesses what lies next for the party, which has experienced a prolonged period of decline since it last won power in the 2008 Spanish general election.
The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), which has spent more time in office than any other political […]
On 2 October, Hungary held a referendum on whether it would accept proposed EU quotas for the resettlement of refugees. Around 98 per cent of voters who participated in the referendum rejected the quotas, but the turnout fell below the 50 per cent threshold required for referendums to be valid. Abel Bojar suggests the result constitutes one of the […]
On 4 December, Italy will hold a referendum on constitutional reform that has come to be viewed as a vote of confidence in Matteo Renzi’s government. Fabio Bordignon writes that Italy now has two very different paths in front of it: a Yes vote will potentially lead to a more presidential form of politics, while a No vote could […]
Italy will hold a referendum on constitutional reform before the end of the year, with the country’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi, indicating that he will resign if the referendum fails. Gianfranco Pasquino and Andrea Capussela provide a comprehensive assessment of the proposed reforms, arguing that they would be unlikely to meaningfully improve Italian governance and could reduce levels of […]
On 25 September, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s eastern and Serb-dominated entity, held a referendum on whether to keep a holiday marking its founding, in open defiance of decisions by the Bosnian Constitutional Court. As the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina prepares for elections on 2 October, Jasmin Mujanović reflects on the failing state of the country’s democracy. He argues that, cornered […]
Italy’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi, has stated that he will resign if he loses a referendum on constitutional reform scheduled to take place before the end of the year. Lorenzo Codogno writes that although the referendum will have major implications for the Italian government and the next general election, concerns about the wider impact on Italy’s political and financial […]
Several French parties, including France’s largest centre-right party, Les Républicains, will select their candidate for the 2017 French presidential election in a primary to be held in November. With the official campaign set to kick-off on 21 September, Marta Lorimer discusses the main contenders and their programmes ahead of the vote.
As France’s presidential election approaches, the main French parties […]
Russia is due to hold parliamentary elections on 18 September. To coincide with the elections, we will be running a number of articles on Russian politics and society. In this contribution, Evgeny Gontmakher writes on why Russian citizens still continue to show strong support for the current government despite a faltering economy. He notes that part of the explanation […]
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A very Bulgarian drama: What Rumen Radev’s presidential election victory means for Bulgarian politics
A very Bulgarian drama: What Rumen Radev’s presidential election victory means for Bulgarian politics
Rumen Radev, the candidate backed by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, won Bulgaria’s presidential election on 13 November. Dimitar Bechev assesses what the result means for the country, stating that while Radev has been described as a pro-Russian candidate, the more important implications will be for Boyko Borisov and the Bulgarian government. Borisov has tendered the resignation of his cabinet […]