Answers: 2024 and Elections

An unprecedented year for polling

2024 was an election year like no other. Four out of the world’s five most populous nations (sans China) held presidential or parliamentary elections. I have already covered India, the United States (swing states), Indonesia (electoral generals) and Pakistan (political dynasties). I also included the French parliamentary election in a quiz on Euro 2024. Even without all these countries, a significant chunk of the global population turned out to vote in a year marked by inflation and broad anger against incumbents.

Answers:

1) The first parliamentary election of the year was held on January 5. The main opposition party boycotted the vote amid a long-running crackdown on their supporters. The Prime Minister returned to power for a fourth straight term (fifth term overall) following a landslide victory. But by August she was forced to flee the country following a popular uprising. Who and which country?

Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh.

2) This island bucked the trend of faltering incumbents, with the governing party’s candidate being elected president in the vote held in January. It was the third straight presidential win for the DPP. But it lost its majority in parliament. Which island?

Taiwan. More on Taiwan in my earlier quiz below.

3) This southern African country known for its diamonds for the first time saw the defeat of the party that had wielded power since independence in 1966. The winning opposition alliance included former president Ian Khama, son of the country’s first president. Which country?

Botswana. The Botswana Democratic Party lost power for the first time since independence from the United Kingdom. The party was founded by Seretse Khama, who became independent Botswana’s first president and was re-elected multiple times until his death in 1980 (I first read about Seretse Khama in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith, in which he is referred to with reverence. Botswana is the oldest uninterrupted multi-party democracy in Africa.

Seretse Khama’s son Ian Khama was president from 2008 to 2018. But he fell out with his hand-picked successor, Mokgweetsi Masisi. Khama backed the opposition contender Duma Boko, who is now Botswana’s president.

My former colleague Martine Dennis spoke to Ian Khama on her podcast Africa Here & Now after the election verdict.

4) Another southern African country and the party that has governed since independence in 1990 faced its biggest electoral challenge so far. It survived and its candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah became the country’s first female president in a disputed vote. Which country?

Namibia. South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo) has governed Namibia since independence in 1990.

5) A third question from southern Africa. For the first time the governing party since 1994 fell short of a majority. It had to form a ‘government of national unity’ that included the main opposition party. Which country?

South Africa. The African National Congress formed a coalition government with the main opposition Democratic Alliance and the Inkatha Freedom Party, a conservative party with an ethnic Zulu base. Former president Jacob Zuma, who was forced to resign over corruption scandals in 2018 , started a new party, uMkhonto weSizwe. He cut into ANC support, with his party securing about 15 percent of the vote.

6) Southern Africa for a fourth time and the governing party since this country’s independence in 1975 held on to power in the presidential election last October. The main opposition contender Venâncio Mondlane alleged fraud and refused to accept the results. Violent protests followed. January 2025 saw Mondlane return to the country after a period of self-imposed exile. Which country?

Mozambique. The Frelimo party has governed the country since independence from Portugal in 1975.

7) The presidential election due in this West African country was postponed in February by the outgoing leader, who could not run again because of a two-term limit. The move followed political tensions and protests as the opposition accused the government of trying to shut them out by slapping fake cases on their candidates. This country’s reputation as the only coup-free one in West Africa was on the line. But its top election authority overruled the government and elections went ahead in March. The winner was a 44-year-old opposition candidate, who was freed from jail just ten days away from the vote. Which country?

Senegal. Bassirou Diomaye Faye is now president.

8) The candidate selected in a primary contest held by the opposition in this country was barred from running for president. They turned to a retired diplomat, Edmundo Gonzalez to take on the incumbent in the presidential election held in July. The incumbent, in power since 2013, was declared re-elected. The opposition alleged the vote was rigged. The sole international observer allowed, the Carter Center, called the vote undemocratic. Which country?

Venezuela. Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for another term in January.

9) This country saw the incumbent party’s presidential candidate secure a landslide win in a battle of two women. The climate scientist and former mayor of the capital city is the country’s first female president. She is one of two presidents of Jewish heritage outside Israel, the other being Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Who and which country?

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico. More on her efforts to boost clean energy as Mexico City’s mayor here and here.

10) This country’s prime minister quit as leader of the governing party after a series of corruption scandals. The long-running governing party chose a new leader and prime minister. The new PM called a snap election in October. But his party fell short of a majority in the lower house and now he leads a minority government. Which country?

Japan. Shigeru Ishiba is the Prime Minister and head of the Liberal Democratic Party.

11) This country held a snap presidential election after the incumbent died in a plane crash. The first round saw a record low turnout of 40 percent. The moderate contender pulled off a surprise win in the second round, as turnout spiked to 49.8 percent. Which country?

Iran. Moderate contender and cardiac surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian defeated conservative rival Saeed Jalili. The election took place after the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a plane crash. More in my earlier quiz on leaders who were killed in plane crashes.

12) Which European country and EU member has held seven parliamentary elections since 2021 including two in 2024? None of them have led to a stable government. In January parliament approved a new prime minister and cabinet after more than two months of talks.

Bulgaria

13) Which EU member saw the far-right Freedom Party emerge on top in parliamentary elections? It was the first time since 1945 that a far-right party finished first in the country. In January the Freedom Party’s leader was tasked with forming a coalition government after talks excluding the far-right failed.

Austria.

2025 update: Talks between the Freedom Party and the conservative Austrian People's Party collapsed in February. The Austrian People’s Party reached a coalition deal with two other parties in March, shutting out the far-right.

14) This country’s presidential election in September saw a leftist underdog defeating the son of a former president. The winner, who is known in the country as AKD, belongs to a party known for two failed insurrections to overthrow the state in 1971 and the late 1980s. Which country?

Sri Lanka. The current president is Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his party is the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). Last September, he defeated Sajith Premadasa, son of former president Ranasinghe Premadasa. The Premadasas are included in my earlier quiz on political dynasties here. Namal Rajapaksa, the son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, got just 2.57 percent of the vote. His uncle Gotabaya was earlier forced to resign as president amid mass protests and an unprecedented economic crisis. Back in 2019, when Gotabaya Rajapaksa became president by defeating Sajith Premadasa, Anura Kumara Dissanayake was backed by just 3 percent of voters.

Parliamentary elections last November saw a landslide win for Dissanayake’s governing alliance.

15) This country saw the pro-European Union incumbent defeating an opponent who called for a closer relationship with Moscow in a tense runoff vote. The defeated candidate secured more votes in the country itself while the winning incumbent dominated among expat voters. Which country?

Moldova. The former Soviet state also narrowly voted to enshrine in its constitution its goal of joining the European Union in a referendum. More here.

Moldova’s internationally recognised territory also includes the Russia-backed breakaway region of Transnistria. More in my earlier quiz here.

16) The first round of this EU and NATO member’s presidential election last November saw a far-right pro-Russia candidate unexpectedly finish on top, with TikTok playing a major role in amplifying his message. The country’s top court annulled the election in December, citing voting manipulation through social media and suspected Russian interference (allegations Russia denied). The election is now set for May. Which country?

Romania. More about the close linguistic and cultural ties between Romania and Moldova in my earlier quiz here on Language and Turmoil.

17)) This country’s governing party returned to power in parliamentary elections held in October, amid allegations of rigging by the opposition. This was followed by mass protests after the government suspended accession talks with the European Union. A former footballer was chosen as president in December by an electoral college dominated by the governing party. Which country?

Georgia

18) This EU member recorded a budget surplus of 7 percent of national income last year, an unusual position for a European country. Despite the economic boom, a housing crisis was a major election issue in November. The two main parties in the outgoing coalition secured enough seats to cobble together another coalition. Their power-sharing deal was announced in January. Which country?

Ireland

19) Which party became the largest contingent from Northern Ireland in the British parliament for the first time following elections in July 2024?

Sinn Fein, the former political arm of the Irish Republican Army. The party has benefited from demographic changes, with Catholics now outnumbering Protestants according to the census. This is detailed in my earlier quiz here on the Implications of Demographic Change. Earlier in 2022 Sinn Fein became the single largest party in the Northern Ireland assembly for the first time. After a long deadlock, Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill was appointed Northern Ireland's first nationalist first minister in February 2024.

Sinn Fein’s objective of a united Ireland got another boost in 2020 when it got the most votes in parliamentary elections down south, only to be shut out of the subsequent coalition. But four years later, despite finishing second the party failed to consolidate on the gains made in 2020 and is now in the opposition.