Elections in Eritrea

Last updated

There have not been national elections in Eritrea since independence in 1993. [1] In theory, elections choose representatives from the country's six regions for the National Assembly. Elections would also occur to elect representatives for the country's regional assemblies and other posts within the country's districts. However, local elections have been regularly held in the past. [2] [ unreliable source? ] Eritrea was least electoral democracy in Africa in 2023 according to V-Dem Democracy indices with a score of 0.073 out of 1. [3] [4]

Contents

National government

The National Assembly of Eritrea (Hagerawi Baito) has 104 members, 60 members that are appointed and 44 members that represent the members of the Central Committee of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), parliament has 150 indirectly elected members. The National Assembly was composed in February 1992. Agence France-Presse reported that Eritreans have elected 399 representatives in the country's six regions in a lengthy process that will lead to the formation of a constituent assembly. The regional elections began on 4 January 1997 in some parts of the country and were completed in others by March 1, 1997. As Eritrea is a one-party state, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice is the only political party permitted to exist. The party controls half of the Eritrean Legislature, the other half being held by independent politicians.

Eritrean national elections were set for 1997 and then postponed until 2001, it was then decided that because 20% of Eritrea's land was under occupation that elections would be postponed until the resolution of the conflict with Ethiopia. Local elections have continued in Eritrea. [5] The most recent round of local government elections were held in May 2003, though to the present Eritrea has failed to hold any national elections.

On further elections, the President's Chief of Staff, Yemane Ghebremeskel said,

"The electoral commission is handling these elections this time round so that may be the new element in this process. The national assembly has also mandated the electoral commission to set the date for national elections, so whenever the electoral commission sets the date there will be national elections. It’s not dependent on regional elections, although that might be a very helpful process.
Multipartyism, in general principle yes, it is there but the law on political parties has to be approved by the national assembly. It was not approved the last time. The view from the beginning was that you don’t necessarily need a party law to hold national elections. You can have national elections and the party law can be adopted at any time. So in terms of commitment it’s very clear, in terms of the process it has its own pace, its own characteristics." [6]

President

Isaias Afewerki was elected president of Eritrea by the national assembly in 1993. He has since been the de facto leader before independence with no legal opposition to his rule. Presidential elections, planned for 1997, have never been held. [7]

Local elections in Agordat, Eritrea. Agordat Elections.jpg
Local elections in Agordat, Eritrea.

Regional elections

Regional and local elections for regional assemblies and local courts took place in all regions of Eritrea in December 2002 and May 2004. [8] The polls were considered free and fair by the National Elections Commission. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Cape Verde</span> Political system of Cape Verde

Politics of Cape Verde takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Cape Verde is the head of government and the President of the Republic of Cape Verde is the head of state, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the president and the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The constitution, first approved in 1980 and substantially revised in 1992, forms the basis of government organization. It declares that the government is the "organ that defines, leads, and executes the general internal and external policy of the country" and is responsible to the National Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of El Salvador</span> Political system of El Salvador

Politics of El Salvador takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of El Salvador is both head of state and head of government, and of an executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Legislative Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. El Salvador was ranked 5th least electoral democratic country in Latin America and the Caribbean according to V-Dem Democracy indices in 2023 with a score of 0.378 out of 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Eritrea</span> Political system of Eritrea

The Politics of Eritrea and the Government of Eritrea takes place in a framework of a single-party presidential republican totalitarian dictatorship. The President officially serves as both head of state and head of government. The People's Front for Democracy and Justice is the only political party legally permitted to exist in Eritrea. The popularly elected National Assembly of 150 seats, formed in 1993 shortly after independence from Ethiopia, elected the current president, Isaias Afwerki. There have been no general elections since its official independence in 1993. A new constitution was drafted in 1993 and ratified in 1997, but has not been implemented. Since the National Assembly last met in January 2002, President Isaias Afwerki has exercised the powers of both the executive and legislative branches of government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Ethiopia</span> Activities associated with the governance of Ethiopia

The politics of Ethiopia are the activities associated with the governance of Ethiopia. The government is structured as a federal parliamentary republic with both a President and Prime Minister. The legislature is multicameral, with a house of representatives and a council. The term politics of Ethiopia mainly relates to the political activities in Ethiopia after the late 20th century when democratization took place in the nation. The current political structure of Ethiopia was formed after the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) overthrew dictator President Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. A general election was held in June 1994 and Ethiopia has maintained a multiparty political environment till today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Belgium</span>

The politics of Belgium take place in the framework of a federal, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy. The King of the Belgians is the head of state, and the prime minister of Belgium is the head of government, in a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. The federation is made up of (language-based) communities and (territorial) regions. Philippe is the seventh and current King of the Belgians, having ascended the throne on 21 July 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Member of the Senedd</span> Representative in the devolved parliament of Wales

A member of the Senedd is a representative elected to the Senedd. There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd constituencies, and twenty to represent the five electoral regions of the Senedd in Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Front for Democracy and Justice</span> Political party in Eritrea

The People's Front for Democracy and Justice is the founding, ruling, and sole legal political party of the State of Eritrea. The successor to the Marxist–Leninist Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), the PFDJ regards itself as a left-wing nationalist party, though it holds itself open to nationalists of any political affiliation. The leader of the PFDJ party and current President of Eritrea is Isaias Afwerki. It has been described as totalitarian. Under People's Front for Democracy and Justice's rule Eritrea reached the status of least electoral democratic country in Africa in 2023 according to V-Dem Democracy indices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regions of Eritrea</span> Geographical divisions of Eritrea

The regions of Eritrea are the primary geographical divisions through which Eritrea is administered. Six in total, they include the Central, Anseba, Gash-Barka, Southern, Northern Red Sea and Southern Red Sea regions.

The elections in Taiwan each held every four years, typically in January and November. Since 2012 the previously eleven types of elections in Taiwan have been unified into general and local elections. There may also be by-elections. Electoral systems include first-past-the-post, proportional representation, single non-transferable voting, and a parallel mixture of the above.

Elections in the People's Republic of China occur under a one-party authoritarian political system controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Direct elections, except in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, occur only at the local level people's congresses and village committees, with all candidate nominations preapproved by the CCP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Belgium</span> Political elections for public offices in Belgium

Elections in Belgium are organised for legislative bodies only, and not for executive functions. Direct elections take place for the European Parliament, the Chamber of Representatives, the Parliaments of the Regions, the Parliaments of the Communities, the provincial councils, the municipal councils and the councils of Districts of Antwerp. Voting is mandatory and all elections use proportional representation which in general requires coalition governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Portugal</span>

Elections in Portugal are free, fair, and regularly held, in accordance with election law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Nepal</span> Process of choosing Leader in Nepal

There are three types of elections in Nepal: elections to the Federal Parliament, elections to the provincial assemblies and elections to the local government. Within each of these categories there may be by-elections as well as general elections. Currently three electoral systems are used: parallel voting for House of Representatives and provincial assemblies, Single transferable vote for National Assembly and first past the post for local elections.

Elections in the Philippines are of several types. The president, vice-president, and the senators are elected for a six-year term, while the members of the House of Representatives, governors, vice-governors, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, mayors, vice-mayors, members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod/members of the Sangguniang Bayan, barangay officials, and the members of the Sangguniang Kabataan are elected to serve for a three-year term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Cuba</span>

Elections in Cuba are held at municipal, provincial, and national levels. Cuba is a one-party state, with the Communist Party of Cuba being described as the "superior driving force of the society and the state" in the Constitution of Cuba, and the communist party is the only official political party. Elections in Cuba are not considered democratic because the government does not allow free and fair voting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Namibia</span> Political elections for public offices in Namibia

Elections in Namibia determine who holds public political offices in the country. Namibia is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic. It runs direct elections every five years for the position of the president and seats in the National Assembly, and every six years for the Regional Councils and the distribution of seats in local authorities. The National Council is elected indirectly by the constituency councillors of Namibia's 14 regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Assembly (Eritrea)</span> Unicameral legislature of Eritrea

The National Assembly of the State of Eritrea has 150 members, 75 members appointed and 75 members representing the members of the Central Committee of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), the sole legal political party of Eritrea. According to the IPU, the National Assembly has 150 indirectly elected members. The National Assembly was composed in 1994, and its meeting place is located in Asmara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regional Assemblies of Eritrea</span> Regional legislative body of Eritrean unicameral system

Lower Regional Assemblies of Eritrea are found in each of the six zones of the State of Eritrea. These Assemblies are responsible for setting a local agenda in the event that they are not overruled by the National Assembly. The Regional Assemblies are in turn popularly elected within each region.

There are four types of elections in Wales: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elections to the devolved Senedd, local elections to community councils and the 22 principal areas, and the Police and Crime Commissioner elections. In addition there are by-elections for each aforementioned election. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday. Since the passing of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 for UK general elections, all four types of elections are held after fixed periods, though early elections to the UK parliament can occur in certain situations, with Senedd elections being postponed to avoid elections to the UK parliament and Senedd coinciding with each other.

A mixed electoral system or mixed-member electoral system combines methods of majoritarian and proportional representation (PR). The majoritarian component is usually first-past-the-post voting (FPTP/SMP), whereas the proportional component is most often based on party-list PR. The results of the combination may be mixed-member proportional (MMP), where the overall results of the elections are proportional, or mixed-member majoritarian, in which case the overall results are semi-proportional, retaining disproportionalities from the majoritarian component.

References

  1. ↑ Lynch, Tiffany (6 November 2013). "The Country That's Never Had an Election". Foreign Policy .
  2. ↑ "Does Eritrea Need National Elections". Madote. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  3. ↑ V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset" . Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  4. ↑ Democracy Report 2023, Table 3, V-Dem Institute, 2023
  5. ↑ "Regional Elections That Reflected the Political Maturity of the People". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  6. ↑ "Interview of Mr. Yemane Gebremeskel, Director of the Office of the President of Eritrea". PFDJ. 2004-04-01. Archived from the original on 2007-03-13. Retrieved 2006-06-07.
  7. ↑ "Country profile: Eritrea - Leaders". BBC News. 2009-12-24. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  8. ↑ "Country Profiles: Eritrea" . Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  9. ↑ "Country Profile 2006 (Eritrea)" (Press release). Economist Intelligence Unit. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.