A DEMOCRATIC WORLD

SPAIN/font>

Spain voted the Socialist Party to a second successive triumph on March 9. Prime Minister Joseacute; Luis Rodriacute;guez Zapatero fell seven seats short of an absolute majority in the 350-member House. However, his party won 16 seats more than its traditional rival, the conservative People8217;s Party.

What next:

Zapatero faces the tricky task of forming a coalition and then fixing the country8217;s economy. At 4.3 per cent, inflation is a concern, so are unemployment and terrorism. In 2004, 191 people were killed in train bombings in Madrid just before the elections; this year, a former Socialist town councillor, Isaiacute;as Carrasco, was shot dead two days prior to the polls.

ZIMBABWE

On March 29, Zimbabweans will vote to elect a new president, senate, assembly and local councils. A win will see Robert Mugabe enter his 33rd year as head of state of the increasingly beleaguered country. But he faces stiff challenge from his former finance minister Simba Makoni who has fallen out with him.

SERBIA

The Serbian government collapsed less than a month after Kosovo8217;s ethnic Albanian majority unilaterally proclaimed its independence from Serbia on February 17. The Serbian government has now adopted a proposal to dismiss parliament and hold early general elections on May 11.

ARMENIA

Very similar to Russia. On February 19, Armenia saw another controversial election which President Robert Kocharyan allegedly rigged in favour of his candidate, prime minister Serzh Sarksyan.

What next:

The new leader will have to deal with Armenia8217;s unfriendly neighbours Azerbaijan and Turkey, in a region that is emerging as an important transit route for oil exports from the Caspian Sea to world markets. The country has territorial disputes with Azerbaijan and icy relations with Turkey because Ankara refuses to recognise as genocide the killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey during World War I.

IRAN

About 4,500 candidates nationwide were in the fray for 290 seats as Iran went to the polls on March 14. Iran8217;s constitutional watchdog barred more than 1,700 candidates8212;mainly reformists8212;from running on vague charges of not being sufficiently loyal to Islam.

What next:

The Ahmedinijad government has been accused of fuelling inflation and making Iran look like a rogue country. But with hard-liners expected to maintain their control of the legislature, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad8217;s nuclear policy and hostile attitude towards the west are unlikely to change.

RUSSIA

Vladimir Putin stepped down after eight years in office because the Constitution bars him from being president for a third term. His handpicked successor in the March 2 elections was Dmitry Medvedev. The Kremlin reportedly sent out notices to all regional governors that it wanted a 70/70 result: 70 per cent turnout and 70 per cent support for Medvedev. The results played out according to the Kremlin script: Medvedev won 70.24 per cent of the votes and the turnout was 69.65 per cent.

What next:

Russians wonder if Medvedev will be able to keep his promises or be his own man with Putin in the shadows.

NEPAL

On April 10, more than 4,000 candidates will contest elections to the constituent assembly, which will draft the country8217;s new Constitution and ratify parliament8217;s decision to abolish the monarchy. The constituent assembly is a key component of the peace deal between the government and the Maoists. Question is: will the Maoists stay the course?

MALAYSIA

The opposition, led by Anwar Ibrahim pulled off one of the biggest upsets this poll year when on March 8, it won 82 seats out of 222. Although the United Malays National Organisation remains the biggest party, for the first time since the country8217;s Independence in 1957, the coalition is short of a two-thirds majority.

What next:

With no absolute majority, the ruling coalition can no longer override legislation passed by the states or amend the Constitution.

IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

PAKISTAN

The PPP emerged as the largest party in the February 18 parliamentary polls with 120 seats. Nawaz Sharif8217;s PMLN came in second with 90 seats in the 342-seat National Assembly. With Musharraf8217;s wings clipped, the two parties have agreed to form a coalition government. It remains to be seen how the two parties will work together to tackle extremist elements.

SRI LANKA

A pro-government militia led by former LTTE leader Karuna won 11 of 19 seats in local body elections held in the troubled eastern province of Batticaloa on March 10. The success of the election has spurred Sri Lanka to hold polls for the eastern provincial council in May. The vote in Batticaloa, the first in more than a decade, is seen as a step toward restoring peace.

BHUTAN

Bhutan prepares to shift to democracy by holding its first national assembly elections on March 24. After a century of absolute monarchy, King Jigme Wangchuk8217;s initiative to bring democracy to the Buddhist state is a seminal moment. The main two parties contesting the election are the People8217;s Democratic Party and the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa.

BANGLADESH

Whatever happened to elections here? They were supposed to be held in January last year but were postponed after the army-backed interim government imposed Emergency. Bangladesh is supposed to get back on the he road to democracy by the end of this year.