Elections

Iran Heads to Rare Runoff in Sham Presidential Race with Record Low Turnout

Iran’s “moderate” reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, once dismissed as a dark horse with little chance of winning the emergency election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, managed to become the frontrunner by about a million votes when the results were announced on Saturday. Pezeshkian could not get past the 50 percent threshold to win outright, so he will face hardliner Saeed Jalili in a runoff election on July 5.

TEHRAN, IRAN - JUNE 28: Iranian presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian cast his vote for

Modi Hangs on to Power in India with Smaller Margin

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared victory in the 2024 election on Tuesday night, but he will enter his third term with greatly reduced parliamentary support from his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which performed well below expectations.

Narendra Modi

Senegal’s Fiery Opposition Leader Ousmane Sonko Appointed Prime Minister

Senegal’s outspoken and combative opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was disqualified from running for president in the March 24 presidential election, but he had the last laugh on Thursday when his former lieutenant Bassirou Diomaye Faye appointed him as prime minister. Faye ran in Sonko’s place and won a resounding victory with over 54 percent of the vote.

Ousmane Sonko attends a press conference in Dakar, Senegal, March 15, 2024. Newly-elected

Turkey Refuses to Let Pro-Kurdish Mayor Take Office, Installs Member of Erdogan’s Party Instead

Turkish election officials on Tuesday refused to allow pro-Kurdish Mayor-Elect Abdullah Zeydan take office in the city of Van. Instead, the national government tried to install a member of authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party as mayor, even though Zeydan defeated him by almost 30 points in the election. The decision was reversed by Turkey’s High Election Board on Wednesday after unrest spread across southeastern Turkey.

HATAY, TURKEY - 2024/04/02: A Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) supporter carrie