by ANDERS GUSTAFSON
This year is shaping up to be one of the most important election years in history.
As many as 80 countries, comprising about half of the world’s population, are expected to vote in parliamentary or general elections in 2024. These elections will have a huge impact on global politics for years to come.
One of the most compelling races, of course, will be the presidential election in the United States between President Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump, the 45th president. This election will have major ramifications on world politics, and is shaping to be a close, competitive run for the White House.
With Biden and Trump now firmly entrenched as the two candidates, it will be a rematch of the contentious 2020 election. Either man, if elected, would leave office in their 80s as the oldest president in U.S. history.
The Russia “election” will take place this weekend. The current Russian president, Vladimir Putin, 71, is running for his fifth term. He runs generally unopposed, as most political opponents of Putin have escaped to different countries or are in prison. Putin’s main critic and opponent, Alexei Navalny, died recently in a top-secret Russian prison in the Arctic Circle. Putin looks to easily win his latest contest, and he will likely continue his invasion of Ukraine as it enters its third year.
The election in India marks another significant political development. The current prime minister, Narendra Modi, is highly favored to win the election, which is expected to be held in April or May. The election will mainly consist primarily of two large coalitions: the National Democratic Alliance, or NDA, which Modi belongs to, and the I.N.D.I.A. coalition.
Several other elections also have a chance to impact global politics. Taiwan’s political contests will impact its relations with both the United States and mainland China. They happened earlier this year and resulted in the Democratic Progressive Party’s Lai Chingte, a.k.a. William Lai, winning the race. The Democratic Progressive Party has long held more “pro independence” views than its main opponent, the Kuomintang, which previously asserted “pro unification” views and has expressed more willingness to have dialogue with China.
Pakistan’s upcoming elections will also have a major effect on international politics. The election will be between Imran Khan, the former prime minister currently in prison; Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister, and Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz’s brother; who has been the prime minister since 2022.
The parties of the Sharif brothers have aligned to form a coalition, but neither party currently has a majority. Shehbaz Sharif has much of Pakistan’s military on his side and was projected to win the election, but Khan’s party has surprisingly won many seats in Pakistan’s parliament.
Bangladesh, the world’s eighth-most-populous country, held general elections in January. Sheikh Hasina won her fifth term, with her party claiming 75% of the seats in the Bangladeshi parliament.
The opposition party, however, boycotted the election, leading to many seats being held by independent candidates. In addition, there was a record-low voter turnout of 40%. Many people have spoken against the limited political freedom in Bangladesh as political opponents continue to be imprisoned and strange results like the 2024 election continue to happen.
The European Union is hosting elections for every country to select representatives to the European Parliament. These elections are significant because of the rise of right-wing political parties.
With countries such as the Netherlands and Italy electing more members of right-leaning parties, the EU elections could result in many right-leaning politicians being promoted, and a possibly dramatic change in European politics.
The United Kingdom will also hold general elections in 2024. The races will be for all the seats in Parliament, and are likely to happen in the second half of the year. The current prime minister chooses when the election will take place, but according to British law, it must happen by Jan. 28, 2025.
Other countries that have had or will have legislative or executive elections this year include El Salvador, Finland, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Portugal, Slovakia, South Korea, North Macedonia, Panama, Lithuania, Dominican Republic, Iceland, Mexico, Rwanda, Mauritania, Croatia, Mozambique, Georgia, Uruguay, Ghana, Senegal, Austria, South Sudan, Chad, Moldova, Algeria, North Korea, Togo, Venezuela and Botswana.
The Mainsheet 