Elections

The Asia Foundation supports Nepal’s vision for sustainable peace, good governance, development, and prosperity through research, knowledge exchange, and accelerating more inclusive and accountable democratic governance practices. Partnering with government and civil society, we promote inclusive economic development, peaceful conflict mitigation a… Read more

Welcome to The Asia Foundation’s Washington, D.C. May newsletter. This latest issue highlights four of our recent events: a roundtable on the Foundation’s women’s empowerment and gender equality program, a book talk with Ambassador Scot Marciel, a panel showcasing the work of female Indonesian forest defenders, and a panel on conflict trends in Asi… Read more

In anticipation of disinformation ahead of the 2024 elections, The Asia Foundation, in partnership with the National Resilience Agency and Katadata, hosted the public discussion “Counteracting Disinformation in the Political Year” on May 4, 2023. This event highlighted the need for media literacy and methods of determining information accuracy for… Read more

Mongolia’s transition to democracy has been cemented over eight democratic election cycles, each of which has featured multi-party competition, led to peaceful transitions of power, and been deemed free and fair by most observers. These achievements are reminders that Mongolia remains a strong, albeit young, democracy that has shown resilience. Des… Read more

A Survey of the Nepali People in 2022 is based on a nationally representative sample of 7,056 Nepalis randomly selected from 588 wards across all seven provinces. The findings are representative both at the national and provincial levels. This survey attempts to gauge Nepalis’ views on the country’s direction, the situation of their household, loca… Read more

Fourteen thousand women won political office in Nepal’s first local elections in 2017. With the 2022 elections now just days away, our guest asks why so few women ran at the top of the ticket.

While many donors and much state attention have focused on building the skills and capacities of elected women to make them effective in their formal political roles, recent research has shown the need to look beyond formal institutions and processes to understand the informal rules that affect the ability of women elected representatives to fulfil… Read more

In this issue: Lotus Leadership Awards 2022; Australasian Aid Conference Speaker Series: Debt Prospects and Challenges for Developing Countries in the Continuing Pandemic; The Impact of Covid-19 on Small Businesses in Southeast Asia: A Deeper Look at the Women’s Workforce in Thailand and Malaysia; Book Launch: Cambodia’s Chairmanship of ASEAN: Chal… Read more

After months of uncertainty, Nepal has announced the second round of local elections under its historic 2015 constitution. In the face of Covid lockdowns and political paralysis, local governments have been a bright spot on the nation’s rocky road to federalism.

Following this year’s General Election and the UEC’s release of the official results, The Asia Foundation has produced the attached short brief detailing the new composition of Myanmar’s state and region hluttaws(parliaments). Beyond the strong performance of the NLD, the brief notes improved women’s representation in the state/region hluttaws, the… Read more

The 2020 Elections in Myanmar: A Conversation with Ambassador Mark McDowell; Webinar Series: Changing Landscape of Development Cooperation Amidst and Beyond Covid-19 in Asia; Summit on Women’s Leadership in STEM: A Virtual Trilateral Event; Rivers of Iron: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia; Thailand: How to Sell an Avocado on Facebook;… Read more

9:00 am – 10:00 am ET (Washington DC) 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm MMT (Myanmar) Voters in Myanmar cast their ballots in a national parliamentary election on November 8. This election was seen as a referendum on Aung San Sun Kyi and her ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party achievements amid an economic crisis caused by Covid-19 and an exercise in… Read more

Happy New Year, and welcome to the first edition of InAsia for 2020. To herald the new decade, our country representatives this week survey the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for a dynamic and rapidly changing Asia. Here, to kick off the new year, are perspectives from The Asia Foundation’s 18 country offices. 

U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo came to the 52nd annual ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Bangkok with one message in mind: that America is committed to engagement with the region, and with Thailand, a treaty ally, in particular. Speaking to a packed house at the Siam Society on August 1, in the heart of Bangkok, Pompeo said the United States… Read more

A joint project with the National University of Singapore’s Institute of South Asian Studies. For nearly two decades, there has been a steady and incremental advance in relations between the United States and India. Refuting skeptics on both sides, the two nations have overcome significant internal political and bureaucratic resistance to advance t… Read more

Starting from 1990 when the first major political movement restored multiparty democratic system in the country, to 2017 when the elections at all three levels of a new republic and a federally structured country took place, Nepal has gone through unprecedented socio-political changes. When so many path-changing and historical events take place in… Read more

In this issue: Cambodia, Update on Nepal’s Federalism, Addressing the Gender Divide in India, Lotus Leadership Awards Dinner, Let’s Read Initiative, Indonesian Elections, Pakistani Women in Law, 2019 Development Fellows, Myanmar’s Energy Sector, and Shifting to Planned Urbanization in Asia

On April 17, Indonesia will hold its sixth democratic election since the Reformasi protests brought down the authoritarian government of President Suharto. On streets thick with election posters, a mix of hope and trepidation fills the air. Development has begun to move faster in this complex archipelago of over 260 million people, particularl… Read more

Thailand’s March 24 parliamentary election is still playing out, and uncertainty about the results is likely to continue for weeks. At the time of this post, the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) has announced a preliminary tally giving the Pheu Thai Party 135 seats, or 38.6 percent, and the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) 98 seats, or 28 percen… Read more

Reuters quotes the Asia Foundation’s country representative in Thailand, Thomas Parks, in an article analyzing Thailand’s upcoming general elections. The article was also featured in The New York Times and Channel NewsAsia.  Addressing inequality should be high on the agenda of the next government, said Thomas Parks, country representative of… Read more

In this issue: Afghanistan in 2018, Gender Equality in Afghanistan, Timor-Leste’s Nabilan Program, Myanmar, Increasing Environmental Resilience in Indonesia, YSEALI Summit, Inclusive Elections in the Philippines

The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) deployed a study team of international election observers to undertake an independent assessment of key components of the electoral process during Nepal’s 2017 House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly Elections. The mission’s aims were to contribute to the strengthening of Nepal’s electoral proc… Read more

This story traces the efforts of Fully Abled Nation (FAN), a multi-sectoral coalition, towards making Philippine elections more inclusive.

The Study on the Election Campaign Finance: Local, Provincial, and Federal Elections in Nepal, 2017 aims to measure the extent and magnitude of financial accountability of political parties in Nepal contesting in the local, provincial, and federal elections. This research study was conducted by Election Observation Committee – Nepal. The findings a… Read more

A social media card from the campaign. As a lead up to the 2018 general elections in Pakistan, The Asia Foundation supported the outreach campaign Voters Education and Engagement Program – Vote First (#VoteFirst). Through this initiative, the Foundation educated citizens about their constitutional right to vote and its importance in strengthening t… Read more

The general elections in Pakistan last month that propelled Imran Khan to the Prime Minister’s seat were momentous in many ways. With troubled relations abroad and fiscal difficulties at home, the electoral stakes were high. Newly liberalized voter registration laws and an enormous youth population promised a surge of first-time voters. The Asia Fo… Read more

Tolo News features The Asia Foundation’s Afghanistan Country Representative Abdullah Ahmadzai in a televised discussion about the Independent Election Commission’s July 31st announcement that the presidential elections are to be held on April 20, 2019.  According to a statement issued by the President’s Office at the time, President… Read more

On July 25, I voted for Pakistan. The national elections of 2018, preceded by controversy and enveloped in political heat, were conducted in the true spirit of democracy that Pakistan so deserves. Observers and analysts will have their say, but I want to share my experience of three inspiring aspects of Elections 2018. First, after working with my… Read more

In this issue: Community Mediation, Bangladesh, Post-2018 Elections in Timor-Leste, 200 Years of US-Thailand Relations, Let’s Read! Initiative, Pakistan, Women in Afghanistan’s Legal Sector, Seventh World Peace Forum in Beijing, Women Empowerment, and Asian Views on America’s Role in Asia

The successful completion of local, provincial, and federal elections in 2017 was a historic milestone for Nepal, coming after almost two decades. A record number of women representatives were elected to office in these elections, and this has presented both opportunities and challenges. This increased number of women, especially from marginalized… Read more

On July 25, roughly 106 million Pakistanis will begin casting their ballots for 272 National Assembly members and 577 Provincial Assembly members to serve for the next five years. The results of past elections in Pakistan have consistently been mired in controversy. Accusations of vote-rigging from losing parties are common, as in 2013, when the Pa… Read more

Dawn newspaper in Pakistan highlights The Asia Foundation’s participation in an Election Mela, an event designed to raise awareness about voting and political participation. The Asia Foundation, in collaboration with PODA (Potohar Organization for Development & Advocacy) and the Election Commission of Pakistan, held an “Election Mela” (Election… Read more

Asian Views on America’s Role in Asia: an Early Assessment of the Trump Presidency offers a follow-up to The Asia Foundation’s signature foreign policy initiative, AVARA, or Asian Views on America’s Role in Asia: The Future of the Rebalance, which brought together diverse perspectives from influential Asian thought leaders on U.S. foreign policy pr… Read more

The Asia Foundation’s Pakistan office has successfully introduced a social media campaign ahead of Pakistan’s general elections scheduled for July 25th. VoteFirst uses social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to share videos, pictures, illustrations, graphics and positive messages to encourage citizens to vote. The campaign s… Read more

In a PTV News report, a Philippine digital strategy firm cites InAsia blog piece, “Social Media: A Game Changer in Philippines Elections,” written by former deputy country representative Maria Isabel T. Buenaobra. As the Philippine 2019 mid-term elections draw near, the analytics firm, David and Golyat, has advised social media users and the g… Read more

In this issue: Timor-Leste, Gender Justice in Sri Lanka, 2018 APEC App Challenge, Women’s Entrepreneurship in Mongolia, Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding, Elections in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and City Life Survey in Myanmar

The stunning, 2017 electoral defeat of Jakarta’s popular, non-Muslim governor, and his subsequent imprisonment for blasphemy, caught most Indonesians off guard. Indonesia was built on the premise of pluralism, writes Asia Foundation country director Sandra Hamid, and appeals to Islam had been largely ineffective in past elections. But as politician… Read more

Southeast Asia’s newest country and youngest democracy, Timor-Leste, has once again conducted a successful national election. On Saturday, May 12, the Timorese people went to the ballot box to decide which among four political parties and four party coalitions should lead their country for the next four years. It was an early election, called by Pr… Read more

In 2012, when I first started to travel to Myanmar from my base in Hanoi, where I was The Asia Foundation’s Vietnam country representative, the big question that everyone I met would raise was: “Is this transition to be believed?” The military generals who shed their uniforms to become civilians in the first government elected under the 2008 Consti… Read more

The Election Reforms Law of 1987 mandates that Philippine public school teachers oversee the voting and counting processes during elections. While this old law provided a capable and available workforce, it unintentionally made teachers vulnerable to political pressures. This brief traces the efforts of the Coalitions for Change program and its ref… Read more

In this issue: Philippines, Technology, China, Women’s participation, Nepal Elections, Afghanistan, and Timor-Leste

A Survey of the Bangladeshi People This survey, conducted in January and February 2017, captures the diverse range of attitudes towards democracy and elections, identity, and violence, and compares them with similar surveys carried out in 2006 and 2015. Overall, Bangladeshis are more optimistic in 2017 compared to 2015, as reflected in responses ac… Read more

Without a doubt, 2017 put Asia to the test. Religious and ethnic tensions spilled out onto the streets, game-changing elections toppled leaders as new ones emerged, some economies boomed while others declined. Meanwhile, natural disasters such as the devastating floods in South Asia—the worst in a decade—killed over 1,000 people, displaced millions… Read more

2017 is a milestone year for Nepal: millions of Nepalis voted in provincial and federal elections which ended last week, and earlier this year, the country held its first local elections in two decades, electing a total of 35,041 local representatives across 753 local levels. The elections were also a high point for women elected leaders, thanks to… Read more

Millions of Nepalis on Sunday cast their votes in the first of two-phase provincial and federal elections which will conclude on December 7. Thousands of candidates from more than 90 parties are competing for 275 seats in the new federal parliament and 550 seats in seven provincial assemblies across the country. A police personnel guards a polling… Read more

Within the Australian Government-The Asia Foundation Partnership, Community Members Interested (COMMITTED) is profiling emblematic municipalities to capture the status of public service delivery for devolved sectors. This will help define and establish a tested planning and development process that will enable a long-term vision and objective to ad… Read more

Below is an excerpt from an interview with The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Nepal, George Varughese, first published by World Politics Review. In mid-September, Nepal closed the chapter on its first local elections in two decades, as the third phase of voting for municipal bodies took place in restive southern Nepal. The vote was fre… Read more

Two years after two powerful earthquakes hit Nepal in April and May 2015, the Independent Impacts and Recovery Monitoring project (IRM) completed its fourth round of research to track how people are recovering, what aid has been provided and how effective it has been, which groups are being left behind, and what coping strategies people have used…. Read more

On October 2, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law postponing barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth) elections to May 2018—less than one month before they were scheduled to take place on October 23. The move marks the second postponement of local elections under Duterte, who claimed that the elections could interfere with… Read more

While true that Mongolia’s economy is heavily dependent on fluctuating coal and copper prices, it is also true that the country’s political parties increasingly influence economic outcomes. According to The Asia Foundation’s annual survey on perceptions of corruption in Mongolia, in 2010, political parties ranked fifth on a list of the 16 most corr… Read more

The Asia Foundation’s governance program in the Philippines has focused on supporting key democratic institutions and strong civil society organizations, encouraging respect for the rule of law and human rights, promoting peace and security and supporting trends towards more democratic, open and accountable governance. Currently, the Foundation par… Read more

In July, Timor-Leste held its 4th parliamentary election, heralding in a new government, and potentially new leadership both within key ministries and at the prime ministerial level. Such leadership changes come at a critical time for the oil-dependent island nation, with warnings that if it doesn’t diversify its economy beyond oil extraction, the… Read more

A decade ago, Nepal’s political parties agreed to change the country’s unitary system of government to a federal system. This change was seen by many as a panacea to help address the country’s problems of governing such variegated demography, society, and geography. Two years after Nepal’s 2015 Constitution established federalism, the country is no… Read more

Presidential elections in January 2015 and parliamentary elections the following August promised sweeping changes to Sri Lanka’s political landscape and brought new hopes for reconciliation, restoration, and healing after the 26-year civil war, which ended in 2009. The new government, with its stated commitment to postconflict reconciliation, has h… Read more

It is rare for a government leader to offer explicit support and resources for social auditing, a process in which citizens monitor government services and programs to ensure that they are inclusive and serve the needs of the people. But Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araújo did just that at his swearing-in ceremony in early 2015. A soci… Read more

In this issue: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Women’s Empowerment Program, Technology, The Philippines, Mongolia, Elections, and Timor-Leste.

On June 26, Mongolians went to the polls to vote for their fifth president since Mongolia’s transition to a democracy in 1990. Despite a high voter turnout of over 66 percent, the General Election Commission officially announced on Tuesday that none of the candidates had received the necessary 51 percent of the vote to declare a winner. As a result… Read more

On July 22, Timorese will once again cast their vote in the country’s fourth parliamentary election since independence from Indonesia in 1999. With the March presidential election now almost a distant memory, all eyes are on the hotly contested parliamentary election. It is interesting to note that despite all the news and controversy surround… Read more

Sixty years of military rule in Myanmar has seen the critical role of women’s political participation marginalized. From an extremely low base, the 2010 general elections increased the opportunity for women’s participation in governance. The 2015 general elections presented another opportunity for a more inclusive representational government, and M… Read more

Even by Philippine standards, the past week has been a tumultuous one. Militants linked to Islamic State fought security forces in the Islamic City of Marawi, President Duterte cut short a state visit to Russia and declared Martial Law in Mindanao, and peace negotiations with the Communist insurgents seem on the verge of breakdown. President Dutert… Read more

Less than a month into his new presidency, South Korea’s new leader, Moon Jae-in, already faces a multitude of challenges, foremost of which are heightened tensions on the Peninsula over North Korea’s missile threat. But as the new administration sets its policy agenda, the concerning rise in youth unemployment will no doubt also be near the top. T… Read more

In this issue: Malaysia, Nepal, Young Lotus Circle, Women’s Empowerment, Elections, Cambodia, Laos, Environment, India, and the Philippines.

On May 9, after more than six months of massive political demonstrations, public turmoil, and an impeachment, Koreans elected Democratic Party candidate Moon Jae-in as their new president. While the snap election was of unusual significance for Koreans for a number of reasons, it also provided a model for other countries on how a political crisis c… Read more

Next week, Nepalis will vote in local elections for the first time in 20 years. The first phase of elections will be held on May 14 in federal provinces 3, 4, and 6; the second phase is scheduled for June 14 in provinces 1, 2, 5, and 7. Election fever has certainly gripped the country and there is much excitement about having elected representative… Read more

On May 9, South Koreans voted in a snap presidential election, with Democratic Party leader Moon Jae-in emerging as the winner, in a victory that is said to be bolstered by the strong support of the country’s youth. After a grueling campaign, the election sees the political pendulum shift following months of political turmoil surrounding a massive… Read more

After two decades of steady gains at the ballot box under Prime Minister Hun Sen’s rule, in 2013 his Cambodian People’s Party lost 22 seats to a newly formed coalition, the Cambodian National Rescue Party. Many interpreted this unexpected result as a popular call for change. Since then, some have wondered whether these calls for change have transla… Read more

On May 14, Nepalis will go to elections for newly-delineated local (village and municipal) governments. These comprise one of three constitutionally mandated elections to be completed by January 2018. At the time they were announced, the news of elections at the local level brought mixed reactions from those who wish for some si… Read more

On April 1, nearly 800,000 out of some 2 million eligible voters cast their ballot in Myanmar’s by-elections to fill 19 vacant seats at the national and sub-national level. The election is the first since the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government assumed power in March 2016, and the first to be administered by the new Union Election Co… Read more

South Asia as a whole is more democratic now than at any time in the past. Most of the countries in the region can be labeled as “electoral” democracies. While international concerns have prompted countries in the region to move toward improving accountability mechanisms, the inclusion of citizens as legitimate stakeholders in the process of govern… Read more

On March 20, the people of Timor-Leste cast their vote for a new president—the fourth time since 2002 and the first without a UN peacekeeping presence—with former independence leader and Fretilin party head, Francisco “Lú-Olo” Guterres, securing 57 percent of the votes. Then president Taur Matan Ruak shows his ballot as he prepares to vote for the… Read more

On March 10, South Korea’s Constitutional Court removed President Park Geun-hye from office after she was impeached over a massive corruption scandal. An election to choose her successor must be held by May 9, leaving less than two months for potential candidates to campaign. This political drama takes place at the same time as several other major… Read more

Politics in Timor-Leste is always engaging and colorful, and the lead-up to the 2017 presidential election on March 20 is no exception. With campaigning in full swing, the Timorese variety of consensus politics is on full display. It is a common site these days to see campaign event-bound trucks loaded with supporters of two former opposition parti… Read more

Nearly three months after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a ban on its highest-denomination currency to curb corruption and tax evasion, the country is still reeling from the move, with millions struggling from a cash shortage in an overwhelmingly cash-dependent economy. In Asia editor Alma Freeman spoke with The Asia Foundation’s cou… Read more

South Korea’s former Foreign Minister Han Sung-Joo, who was recently decorated by Japanese Emperor Akihito with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, the top civilian medal of honor in Japan, for his distinguished achievements in promoting Seoul-Tokyo relations and friendship, spoke with The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Ko… Read more

In 2016, Asia was rocked by major events that tested the region’s perseverance and proved its strength. While many countries in the region proved to be economically resilient and politically stable, others were challenged by shifting alliances and leadership change, including the passing of a beloved monarch, and threats of regional security and re… Read more

After a grueling election season, on November 8, Americans elected their 45th president of the United States in a stunning victory for Donald Trump. As in much of the world, policymakers in Asia have been transfixed by the twists and turns of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, raising questions over where U.S. foreign policy toward Asia will stan… Read more

The 2016 election campaign has revealed mounting concern and skepticism about American foreign policy commitments towards Asia, including signals towards anti-globalization and isolationism. Concerns have been raised about free trade and investment, the rise of China, territorial disputes, nuclear proliferation, and America’s presence in Afghanista… Read more

On October 24, South Korean President Park Geun-hye proposed a constitutional amendment to replace the current five-year, single-term presidency. Although 80 percent of the current Parliament Members agree on the need for reform, many opposition leaders accused Park of attempting to divert attention from a developing power corruption scandal involv… Read more

When President Obama made his first visit to India in 2010, he declared the U.S.-India relationship as “one of the defining relationships of the 21st century.” It’s no surprise, then, that Indians—with much at stake in the outcome under a new U.S. presidential administration—have paid close attention to the 2016 election campaign that ended yesterd… Read more

The Philippines will serve as ASEAN Chair in 2017, at which time ASEAN will mark its 50th anniversary. Having successfully served as host of APEC in 2015, the country has demonstrated that facilitating massive, significant international events is well within its capability—thus observers’ attention can focus on substance instead of administrative d… Read more

This month, the global coffee giant, Starbucks, expanded its operations in Cambodia with a shiny new 7,000 square feet, two-story shop in the capital, Phnom Penh, just one year after entering the country—now one of the fastest growing economies in the world. This may lead some to ask: what is one of the largest Starbucks in Southeast Asia doing in… Read more

Following the surprising outcome to Cambodia’s 2013 general election, when the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) lost 22 seats at the National Assembly, Prime Minister Hun Sen pushed members of his government to take reform more seriously in order to secure popular support for the forthcoming 2017 commune and 2018 general elections. Not surpris… Read more

On August 17, 2016, the Government of Timor-Leste announced in the Journal du Republica the intention to proceed with the local government elections for xefes Aldeia, suku council members, and xefe suku on September 30, 2016. The upcoming election would follow the new election proceedings as contained within the newly promulgated Suku Law No. 9/201… Read more

By August, 1.5 million students across the Philippines attended 11th grade for the first time, thanks to the newly established senior high school (SHS), a cornerstone of the country’s long-running K-12 education reform efforts. The education reform debate leading up to this moment had been centered on whether or not to defer implementation of the K… Read more

On June 29, 2016, Mongolians voted for a new parliament (the State Great Khural), which resulted in a landslide victory for the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) over the ruling Democratic Party (DP). The overwhelming win came as a surprise to many, and clearly indicates the Mongolian public’s dissatisfaction with DP’s governance performance over the… Read more

Last week, Nepal elected Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka Prachanda, the “fearsome one”) as the country’s 24th prime minister in 25 years. The former rebel chief and chairman of the CPN-Maoist Center (MC) was sworn in to govern for a whopping nine months. Following his turn, Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba is already lined up to govern as prime mi… Read more

On August 7, Thais went to the polls to give their verdict on a new constitution drafted by the government installed by a military coup in 2014. Drafters claim that the new constitution will combat corruption, resolve long-standing political turmoil, and provide a roadmap for the return to democratic government. Although turnout was low, over 61 pe… Read more

During Myanmar’s historic 2015 election, the only consistently available and reliable source of candidate information was via online mobile apps, and every one of those apps was powered by The Asia Foundation’s Mae Pay Soh (“Let’s Vote”) voter information database.

On June 30, just as Noynoy Aquino officially ended his six-year presidency and incoming president Rodrigo Duterte took the reins, the Philippines welcomed the announcement that it had reached Tier 1 on the U.S. State Department’s Global Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, the first Southeast Asian country to achieve the report’s highest… Read more

Timor-Leste, the half-island nation nestled between Indonesia and Australia, is preparing for presidential and parliamentary elections in 2017, the fourth round of elections since the brutal withdrawal by Indonesian occupation forces in 1999. Today, Timor-Leste is widely considered a stable and peaceful country. But most who know the country well a… Read more

The Asia Foundation is one of the largest and most effective providers of election and governance assistance in Asia. Our programs support free and fair elections through voter education, voter registration, election administration, and international and domestic election observation. In addition, we support democratic governance through political… Read more

On June 29, Mongolians will cast their vote for a new parliament, the State Great Khural, for the seventh time since the country’s first democratic election in 1992. The election process in Mongolia has always been reasonably free and fair with no concrete evidence of electoral fraud, and with a relatively high turnout. However, since the 1992 elec… Read more

Move over China, India is officially the world’s fastest growing major economy. According to the government’s latest economic figures, India’s economy grew at 7.9 percent in the March quarter, up from 7.6 percent in fiscal year 2015-2016. During a period of global economic slowdown, India’s economic performance is impressive, and even more so given… Read more

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi just wrapped up his second visit to the U.S., where he met with President Obama and delivered a speech before Congress in which he spoke of his country’s economic reform agenda, cooperation on climate change, security, renewable energy, and more. As the visit concluded, In Asia editor Alma Freeman caught up with… Read more

As Myanmar’s new government begins defining its reform policies, arguably the biggest need is for good governance. Following decades of centralized military dictatorship, the country confronts dual challenges of trying to loosen the military’s grip on public administration as well as push government agencies to be more accountable and deliver bette… Read more

In the lead-up to May 9 Philippine elections, anxiety mounted over how the decades-long Bangsamoro peace process to resolve the protracted conflict in Mindanao would continue – if at all – under new leadership. Now, as President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, who will be sworn into office on June 30, sets about naming his new cabinet, peace advocates are w… Read more

The May 9 Philippine election not only set a new record for voter turnout, it also marked the first time that Republic Act 10366 – which mandates that polling stations be fully accessible for people with disabilities (PWDs) – was implemented in full. In his speech during the proclamation of senators-elect, the Philippine Commission on Elections (CO… Read more

On May 9, a record-breaking 81.6 percent of Filipino voters went to the polls to elect a new president. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who ran a tough-talking, polarizing campaign that focused on criminality and promised to instill law and order, won with over 38 percent of the votes. On May 9, a record-breaking 81.6 percent of Filipino voters w… Read more

In 2010, the Philippines conducted its first-ever automated poll, and I wrote that “elections had changed, but politics didn’t.” This year for a second time, a general election, including the presidency, was automated. Again we had concessions from presidential candidates the day after the polls instead of having to wait weeks for a manual count. T… Read more

In the Philippines, violence has always been an issue of great concern come election time, and May 9 was no exception, especially in Lanao del Sur, one of the five provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao where the risk of violence is compounded by the presence of private armed groups, local conflicts, and loose firearms. At the bullet… Read more

“No administration can afford to ignore the costs of conflict in Mindanao – not the human costs of conflict, the costs of development delayed or foregone, the budgetary and security costs of conflict, nor the risk of worsening a climate conducive to the spread of violent extremism.” This was the latest assessment of the Third Party Monitoring Team… Read more

Sri Lanka underwent a major political transition in 2015 with the election of President Maithripala Sirisena and the establishment of a new coalition government between the United Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) and one faction of the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA). The Sri Lanka Strategic Assessment analyses six spheres of contestation… Read more

Less than two weeks before May 9 presidential elections in the Philippines, it is still anyone’s ballgame and no one knows who will emerge as the frontrunner. With such a tightly contested race, it is bound to be a “last two minutes” kind of game, with each candidate scrambling to make the winning shot. How exactly will the candidates swing the vot… Read more

Voting officially closed at 6 p.m. for Korea’s April 13 general elections, but 30 minutes earlier, I received the early exit poll results from a joint poll conducted among three major national networks including my company, MBC, where I head the evening news desk. The poll surveyed 800,000 voters in 2,600 balloting stations across the country. As w… Read more

Last week, South Koreans went to the polls to elect new National Assembly representatives, with results showing that the governing party led by President Park Geun-hye has lost its majority in Parliament. In Korea, Parliamentary elections are seen as a harbinger of what’s to come in the presidential election, so the results are highly anticipated…. Read more

March came in with a bang. In this month of International Women’s Day, two Filipino women stand out: Senator Grace Poe and Congresswoman Leni Robredo. Both are running for the two highest elective posts in the May 9 elections in the Philippines – Poe for president, Robredo for vice president. Both were thrust into the political limelight after the death of their loved ones: Senator Grace Poe lost her father, and one of the Philippines’ most famous movie stars turned presidential candidate in the 2004 elections; and Congresswoman Leni Robredo…

The Asia Foundation recently hosted a panel discussion in Washington, D.C., focused on changes underway in post-election Myanmar, which included the Foundation’s country representative in Myanmar, Kim Ninh, along with Ma Thida, noted human rights activist, surgeon, and writer.

Women in Myanmar were granted constitutional rights to equal political participation and the right to vote in 1932, quite early in comparison with other countries in Asia. Japan did not do so until 1945, China in 1949, and India in 1950. Yet the reality of women’s political participation in Myanmar…

Bolstered by a massive construction boom over the last few years, Cambodia now boasts one of the world’s fastest growing economies and was one of the few countries able to meet its Millennium Development Goals. In fact, Cambodia, which has halved its poverty rate in one decade, is now entering lower-middle income status.

Thirty years ago, on Feb. 22, 1986, then Jaime Cardinal Sin made an urgent call on church-owned Radio Veritas for Filipinos to take to the streets and support the revolt against President Ferdinand E. Marcos. For most Filipinos, Jaime Cardinal Sin’s message was what started the People Power Revolution, with hundreds of thousands of supporters…

Formal campaigning officially began last week for the May 9 general elections in the Philippines, with much flurry of advertisements and activities as candidates scrambled for last-minute publicity before campaign spending limits took effect. The informal campaign had already been going on for months with the list of five formal candidates…

On Dec. 30, 2015, Bangladesh held its first-ever local-level elections in which political parties were able to nominate and field their own candidates for mayoral positions. Amid sporadic irregularities, millions lined up to vote in 234 municipalities across the country. While the election commission has yet to release official results…

The 2013 national elections in Cambodia saw the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) losing 55 of the 123 parliamentary seats to the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party(CNRP), the slimmest victory ever for the party that has ruled the country since 1993.

In the last year, Asia experienced both highs and lows: historic elections in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, devastating earthquakes in South Asia, booming growth in India and slumping economies in China and Mongolia, anti-government protests in Malaysia, South Korea, and beyond, aging populations juxtaposed with unprecedented youth bulges…

After a period of relative stability (at least by Philippine standards), 2016 is extremely hard to assess. Turns out, as Yogi Berra famously said, “it’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” To begin with, the run-up to the May 2016 general elections is in full-swing…

Season’s Greetings! On behalf of In Asia’s editorial board and bloggers, we thank you for your engagement and continued readership throughout the year. This week we feature a countdown of the year’s most-read pieces: our top 10 blog posts on some of the most pressing events and issues in Asia throughout 2015. We return on January 6 with the first issue of 2016.

Just under 100 million Indonesians were eligible to vote in Wednesday’s local elections for nine governors, 224 district heads, and 36 mayors as well as their deputies. Overall, this represents elections for about half of the country’s districts and municipalities and a quarter of the provinces.

On Sunday, November 8, more than 30 million voters in Myanmar went to the polls to cast their votes for members of the Union Parliament as well as for the 14 state and region parliaments. These were the first elections in many decades in which an astounding 91 diverse political parties participated. Given that many were voting for the first time, the Union Election Commission, political parties, and hundreds of civil society organizations provided much-needed voter education.

This Sunday, November 8, more than 30 million voters will head to the polls for landmark nationwide general elections in Myanmar, in which all 91 political parties will be able to contest for the first time in many decades. Many of these voters will also be voting for the first time in their lives. While attention is focused on the presidency, in fact, there are over a thousand parliamentary seats up for grabs across the country’s ethnically diverse regions.

Over 1,500 representatives from civil society organizations, businesses, and governments gathered in Mexico City on October 28-29 for the Open Government Partnership’s Global Summit, with special attention this year on the role that open government can play…

From October 12-16, thousands trooped to national and local Commission on Elections (COMELEC) offices across the Philippines to file certificates of candidacy for the May 2016 elections. The wannabes came in all shapes and sizes, some in attire portraying revolutionaries…

This week, tens of thousands of aspiring candidates – from president and vice president, through senators and members of Congress, to governors, mayors, and local councilors – will file for candidacy in May 2016 general elections in the Philippines.

On September 27, 112 developers and designers gathered in Yangon for the finale of the MaePaySoh (Let’s Vote) Hack Challenge, a competition to develop web and mobile applications that provide voters access to essential information…

When 32 million Myanmar voters go to the polls on November 8 to choose their representatives in national, state, and regional parliaments, many will be voting for just the first or second time in their lives. After decades of military rule, this will be Myanmar’s first election in which all political parties will participate, with 91 parties fielding 6,074 candidates.

Singapore went to the polls on September 11, returning the governing People’s Action Party (PAP) to power once again. The PAP won 83 out of 89 seats in Parliament, with a resounding 70 percent of the vote, 10 percent more than in the previous general election in 2011 (GE 2011). This was the first election since Singapore’s independence…

As landmark November elections approach, Myanmar is experiencing its most intensive armed conflicts in decades, particularly in the country’s north, where a handful of ceasefires and informal arrangements for local autonomy had maintained stability since the early 1990s.

After a hotly contested campaign, Parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka concluded peacefully last week in a vote hailed by local and international observers as one of the most free, fair, and peaceful in Sri Lanka’s recent history. The 70 percent turnout fell short of last January’s 82 percent, possibly due to the monsoon rain that arrived two hours before polls closed on Monday, August 17.

The first anniversary of Thailand’s latest coup passed without ceremony or acknowledgment by the military-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which assumed power following the ouster of the elected Pheu Thai government on May 22 last year. The anniversary was marked by fresh statements of concern from international organizations, pointed commentary from international news agencies and country specialists, and thoughtful reflections by a handful of respected Thai political observers whose public prominence and carefully measured views limit their risk of political censure.

Myanmar is preparing for historic elections later this year, but with the country’s limited electoral experience, voter outreach and education are critical challenges. Recently, The Asia Foundation sponsored a study tour for a delegation from Myanmar’s Union Election Commission (UEC) to Indonesia, which itself has undergone a democratic transition and recently held general elections.

On April 28, Bangladesh held municipal elections for mayors and ward councilors in Dhaka North, Dhaka South, and Chittagong. The city corporation elections, as they are called, were important for many reasons, and as The Asia Foundation’s director for elections, I had come to Chittagong to observe the process. They were the first municipal elections held in Dhaka City since 2002…

On April 12, the Multinational Observer Group released its final report on last September’s national elections in Fiji, the first since a military coup there in 2006. Confirming its preliminary findings released shortly after the vote…

What exactly are international norms and standards of electoral integrity, and how should these be promoted while accommodating local circumstances, such as conflict, socio-economic conditions, and culture? Last week, the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) and the National Electoral Commission of Timor-Leste…

As predicted, the Philippines is heading into a severe “summer” power crisis. One peculiarity of the widespread use of English in the Philippines is the mismatch between seasonal names and the months of the year. Leaves start falling from trees in March – is it “autumn?”

Veteran Korean journalist Seung Ryun Kim, assistant editor at Channel A’s political desk, prime-time host, and 2014-15 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, recently visited Asia Foundation headquarters in San Francisco. Kim is the 27th Asian journalist sponsored by The Asia Foundation for this fellowship program since 1956.

It was an admirable effort. On March 7, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), understaffed with just four commissioners left after the retirement of Chairman Sixto Brillantes, held a symbolic special satellite voter registration of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members and their families….

In Asia editor Alma Freeman sat down with Asia Foundation trustee Ambassador Kathleen Stephens, who visited Asia Foundation headquarters in San Francisco having just concluded a 7-month post as chargé d’affaires at the U.S Embassy in New Delhi.

While Japanese prime ministers in recent history have done so with unusual regularity, to voluntarily relinquish the post of prime minister anywhere in the world remains an unusual transition strategy. Yet, this is precisely what occurred in Timor-Leste…

On February 7, Delhi residents head to the polls for a second time in less than two years to select 70 new members to the Delhi Legislative Assembly. The election is critical because the capital has been without a functioning government since February 2014…

On his three-day visit to India, President Obama became the first U.S. president to attend the annual Republic Day parade with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in what many are calling a sign of strengthened relations between the world’s largest democracies. In Asia editor Alma Freeman caught up with The Asia Foundation’s India country representative, Sagar Prasai…

January 22 marks the deadline for a new constitution in Nepal, as committed to by all political parties participating in the 2013 Constituent Assembly (CA) elections. But on Tuesday of this week, thousands of police were deployed and schools and shops were shut down in the capital…

In 2014, internet usage in Cambodia grew at a rate of 42.7 percent, according to a report released by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications last year. This sharp growth rate is being driven by an increasingly dominant youth demographic that aspires to connect to each other…

This past week the citizens of Sri Lanka demonstrated their extraordinary resilience by voting overwhelmingly for a new president. Belying all fears of large-scale violence on election day, the voting process was exceptionally smooth, with a record turnout of 81.5 percent at the polling centers. Just one month ago, it seemed that incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa would coast to an easy victory and retain his authoritarian hold on Sri Lanka’s electorate once again. But his electoral calculations went awry with the emergence of a worthy rival from his own camp, former Minister of Health, Maithripala Sirisena, who was put forward in November as the “common candidate” by a suddenly rejuvenated opposition.

Maithripala Sirisena, sworn in as Sri Lanka’s president soon after his stunning upset victory in the January 8 election, will have a very different persona from his predecessor. His top priorities deal with domestic governance, and will be tough to implement. He presides over a coalition which has little in common…

Southeast Asia enters 2015 facing a number of critical challenges that will have a bearing on its future: Can economic integration be achieved among all 10 members of ASEAN? How might maritime security disputes unite or splinter ASEAN? Will democracy in Myanmar continue to develop apace? Will democratic development in Thailand be further weakened? Also looming large is the question of whether the U.S. can ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a key economic ingredient in the country’s rebalancing strategy toward Asia. Below are some of my predictions on these issues.

A year ago, I predicted that one of the main stories of 2014 in the Philippines would be recovery efforts from Typhoon Haiyan, and indeed it took until October (almost the one-year anniversary) for final approval of the massive rehabilitation phase.

2014 was a good year for regional cooperation in South Asia. In May, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to the heads of state of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries to attend his swearing-in ceremony…

Season’s Greetings! On behalf of In Asia’s editorial board and bloggers, we thank you for your engagement and continued readership throughout the year. We’ll be taking a short break, but will return on January 7. In the meantime, catch up on our must-read pieces and highlights on the most pressing events and issues in Asia throughout 2014.

Myanmar’s recent transition to a quasi-civilian government in 2011 under President Thein Sein has brought about many social, economic, and political reforms, but 2014 has also seen rising concern both inside and outside of the country that the reform process has stalled…

The Asia Foundation’s third national survey on democratic development in Cambodia released today suggests some sobering trends in public opinion, despite significant economic growth and poverty reduction over the last decade…

Despite significant growth and poverty reduction over the last decade and measured improvement in citizens’ ability to function within a democracy, Cambodians say their country is heading in the wrong direction and are demanding better performance in government service delivery, according to The Asia Foundation’s “Democracy in Cambodia – 2014: A Su… Read more

From the Arab Spring to the current demonstrations in Hong Kong, much has been said about the power of youth movements and the impact of social media on political development in countries like Cambodia where freedom of speech, assembly, and association is often restricted.

At his inauguration on September 29, President Ashraf Ghani thanked his wife, Rula, for her support during the campaign, and to the surprise of many in Afghanistan, promised Afghans that she would continue her work advocating on behalf of the nation’s 750,000 internally displaced people. Having previously served as the country’s finance minister in 2002-2004…

Afghanistan’s newly inaugurated president, Ashraf Ghani, appears to be off to a good start with the Afghan people. He has announced a series of new initiatives and adopted a hands-on style of governing, including surprise visits to military posts…

Indonesia’s new President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo sent a clear message last week that he intends to create a business-friendly bureaucracy by eliminating costly red tape for entrepreneurs and investors.He announced his intention during a surprise inspection of the One-Stop Shop Investment Service (PTSP) of the Investment Coordinating Board…

In Indonesia, people are celebrating. Joko Widodo’s supporters joined a parade on Monday to welcome him and Jusuf “JK” Kalla on the day they were sworn into office as Indonesia’s new president and vice-president. After a grueling process, Jokowi, as the new president is popularly known, and JK won against former general Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa…

The Asia Foundation hosted four U.S. ambassadors to Asia at its headquarters in San Francisco on October 9 for “ASEAN Matters,” a panel discussion on why Asia is crucial to the United States’ economic growth. In Asia editor Alma Freeman sat down with U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Robert Blake…

On September 10, Philippine President Benigno Aquino personally turned over the draft Basic Law based on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro to Congress after months of revisions and refinement. The move continues the roadmap set forth in negotiations…

Last week, Indonesians woke up to the news that in the dead of night the parliament voted for a bill that would end direct elections for over 500 local-level political offices (mayors, district and sub-district governors), and replace them with an indirect selection process in regional parliaments. Since then, the country has been engaged by the decision, and civil society groups have readied themselves…

On September 26, the House of Representatives passed a bill that took away Indonesians’ right to vote for governors, mayors, and district heads, and gave it to the corresponding regional legislative bodies. Since then, Indonesians have expressed concern that the decision is likely to put the brakes on the emergence…

In what is yet another significant twist in this fascinating election year in Indonesia, the country’s national legislature (DPR) will vote today on a hastily cobbled bill that aims to eliminate over 500 direct local elections. Following heralded national elections in April and July and a decade of direct local elections, this bill has surfaced like a sudden malady afflicting Indonesia’s electoral democracy. Here is a brief diagnosis of this disorder as well as a prognosis for recovery.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin his highly anticipated U.S. visit later this week. While the first-half of the visit revolves around UN events, it is the second-half that involves meetings with President Obama, the India Caucus in U.S. Congress, and a select group of celebrity CEOs…

In Asia editor Alma Freeman sat down last month with The Asia Foundation’s new trustee, Donald Steinberg, president and CEO of World Learning, and former deputy administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, White House Deputy Press Secretary, and U.S. ambassador to Angola.

On August 21, millions of Indonesian voters watched live as the Constitutional Court Chief Judge, Hamdan Zoelva, read the conclusion of the Court’s 300-page decision of the 2014 presidential election results dispute. The court rejected on all counts the challenge from presidential and vice presidential candidate, Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa…

Just weeks after election results declared former Jakarta governor Joko Widodo (“Jokowi”) as Indonesia’s presidential front-runner, the president-elect’s team of volunteers announced that he would be crowdsourcing his cabinet. Through an online survey, anyone can choose…

In a new paper, Tim Meisburger, The Asia Foundation’s senior director for Elections and Political Processes, examines Cambodia’s electoral reform process in light of the unexpected results of the last election, and how the current political impasse could present opportunity for reform that has not previously existed. The paper, “Electoral Reform an… Read more

In this year’s hotly contested presidential elections, Indonesia’s democracy went through what probably has been its hardest test yet. Two hours before the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced the final results on July 22, when Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s victory…

In Asia editor Alma Freeman recently interviewed Dwi Rubiyanti Kholifah, Indonesia country director for the Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN), which focuses on the role of women in peace building and inter-faith cooperation. Kholifah was selected as one of the 10 inaugural 2014 Asia Foundation Development Fellows.

On Tuesday, the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) agreed to take its 55 seats in the national assembly on condition of reconstituting the National Electoral Commission (NEC), which it accused of rigging last year’s national election…

On July 2, The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative for Nepal George Varughese and Country Representative in Cambodia Silas Everett spoke on a panel hosted by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London to discuss elections and development

Indonesians went to the polls on Wednesday to elect a new president and vice president. This election represents the first transition from one democratically elected president to another in Indonesia’s history. The scale and consequences of the election are enormous, but the contest is simple…

After being inundated by months of campaigning, it now looks like it will be some time before Indonesian electors can come up for air and focus on repairing some of the damage of a divisive election season. Indonesia has witnessed the tightest and most polarized presidential election in the democratic era…

There is much talk these days in Pakistan about democracy. Just over a year since national elections marked the first transition in the country’s history from one democratically elected federal government to another, some are already calling for new elections for reasons ranging from alleged malpractice at the 2013 polls…

In Asia editor Alma Freeman recently interviewed Philippine local governance leader Marcia Czarina Corazon Medina-Guce on President Aquino’s ambitious reform agenda and progress on poverty reduction and inclusive development.

After declaring martial law for just a couple of days, Thailand’s military decided to launch a full-blown military “takeover” which most people in the rest of the world called a coup. The junta is now called the National Peace and Order Maintaining Council (NPOMC).

One week after the Thai military seized control of the country for the second time in eight years, The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Thailand, Kim McQuay, responds to questions from his office in Bangkok on the military intervention, the reaction from the Thai people, and what’s at stake for the country’s immediate future…

On July 9, Indonesians will head to the polls once again after April 9 parliamentary elections to elect a new president. Since 1998, The Asia Foundation has worked to promote free and fair elections in Indonesia. In this new compilation of recently published articles, Asia Foundation experts present a range of opinions and analysis on election issu… Read more

Nearly two months, 930,000 poll booths, 1.7 million voting machines, and over 500 million voters later, India’s marathon election concluded last Friday. Across the country, people were glued to their TVs as the results began to come in. By the evening, the outcome was clear – the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), in opposition for the last 10 years, had won a landslide victory. Capturing a staggering 284 out of 543 parliamentary seats, this is the first time in India’s independent history that a non-Congress party has won a clear majority in the lower house of parliament. On May 26, chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat and BJP leader, Narendra Modi, will be sworn in as India’s 14th prime minister.

A turbulent last 10 days in Thailand’s protracted political crisis has left its embattled political leaders no closer to a compromise solution. Emboldened by the Constitutional Court’s decision last week to remove former Pheu Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra…

May 5 was the start of a very tumultuous week in Thailand on many fronts. But it initially did not start that way. May 5 is Coronation Day in Thailand, a national holiday, which this year commemorated the 64th anniversary of King Bhumipol Adulyadev’s ascension to the throne.

The hustle and bustle of the April 9 legislative elections in Indonesia is not over yet. Right now, many of the 235,637 candidates are closely monitoring the recap of election results at the sub-district, district, province, and national levels.

On January 3, ongoing street protests by garment workers in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, turned violent. Government troops opened fire into a crowd of civilians, killing four and leaving one person missing. A total of 23 civilians were arrested and 21 are still detained without bail.

In his 4th State of the Nation Address in June 2013, Philippine President Aquino praised a 30-year-old Makati resident Nino Aguirre who has no legs, but had laboriously climbed four floors to reach his polling station and cast his vote in the May 2013 midterm elections. While Mr. Aguirre’s feat demonstrated laudable…

Indonesia’s legislative elections on April 9 confirmed some well-established assumptions but also produced a few surprises. On the basis of quick count results, media reports, and independent election observation, here are nine key takeaways from these elections…

Out of Indonesia’s 186 million eligible voters, an estimated 139 million cast their ballots on Wednesday to elect 235,637 legislative candidates in competition for nearly 19,699 positions across the country. It will take up to a month for official results to be released, but early “quick counts” released by CSIS and Cyrus Network barely four hours after polling stations closed suggest a relatively high voter turnout of 75 percent. As has been the case since 1999 when Indonesians turned out for the first post-Suharto democratic election, Indonesians have once again shown their eagerness and determination to take part in deciding the course of their country, the third-largest democracy in the world.

Election fever is at an all-time high in India as polling for the 16th general elections began on Monday. In sheer numbers, the election is the largest in the world, with 814 million people registered to vote for 543 representatives of the lower house of parliament at nearly a million polling stations between April 7 and May 12.

Millions of Indonesians voted in legislative elections on Wednesday, their ink-stained fingers marking another important moment in the consolidation of Indonesian democracy. Sixteen years after the fall of the Suharto regime, elections are largely considered free and fair…

In the words of my colleagues, I used to be gaptek – the Indonesian term for “technologically challenged.” I didn’t know an App from an API, and the smartest thing about my phone was its shiny black case. But the expansion of social media in Indonesia has been so overwhelming and impossible to resist…

As we prepare for the long-awaited March 27 signing in Manila between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, one of the striking things of the peace process…

Indonesia is gearing up for the first of two critical elections this year, and nearly 22 million of the 187 million registered voters, are 17 to 21 years old and will be casting ballots for the first time. The Asia Foundation is partnering with Google and Perludem to connect with these young voters and develop a first-ever, just-launched interactiv… Read more

After only 49 days in government, Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi’s chief minister, dramatically resigned last week. His announcement came after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was unable to introduce the anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly. The bill was blocked by members of the Congress and Bharatiya Janta Party…

Philippine President Benigno Aquino secured big wins in the May midterm elections, which were seen as vital to his ambitious reform agenda. Aquino now marks the midpoint of his single six-year term as president, and while it might be clear that politics has yet to change in the last three years…

There has been some controversy about the quality of the May 2013 general elections in the Philippines, during which some 18,000 local and national positions were elected. But the fairest verdict of this exercise in electronic voting would seem to be that, like in May 2010, elections changed…

Throughout Pakistan’s history, the issue of local government – and whether it is elected or bureaucratic – has been used by various regimes to advance their own agendas. The 18th Amendment of the Constitution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on April 8, 2010, requires…

The issue of corruption in the Philippines has once again hit international newspapers with reports that the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Renato Corona (currently undergoing an impeachment trial before the Philippine Senate), had dozens of dollar accounts…

Given that I’ve written that kinship is the idiom of social organization in the Philippines, it’s probably not surprising that when asked for one book to read about the Philippines I often recommend An Anarchy of Families: State and Society in the Philippines, edited by Alfred W. McCoy.

On August 3, in a nationally televised speech, Senator Juan Miguel “Migs” Zubiri resigned his seat in the upper house of the Philippine Congress. While he stated emphatically that he did not cheat, or ask anybody else to cheat, when he ran in the 2007 election, Zubiri said that rising speculation and publicity about fraud…

Many are wondering what lessons the 1986 People Power Revolution in the Philippines, which ousted Ferdinand Marcos after 14 years of strongman rule (which followed two terms as elected president), might hold for the current “fourth wave” of democratization sweeping through North Africa and the Middle East.

The fact that an In Asia blog piece was scheduled to appear just two days after polls closed for the May 10 general elections in the Philippines was enough to cause anxiety for this writer. In the past, it was literally weeks before results of manual counting of handwritten ballots would produce results. This time, though, two days is enough to ana… Read more

In the past, Philippine elections have frequently been marred by allegations of widespread cheating and other electoral malpractice. The most famous (or perhaps infamous) method of cheating is called dagdag/bawas (add-subtract), when votes are subtracted from the opposition candidate and added to a favored candidate, and vice versa. Concerns over e… Read more

As the Philippines enters the final stretch before elections on Monday, May 10, competing survey results continue to deluge the public. The Philippines is well-endowed with respected, technically sound public opinion pollsters (as well as long-standing market researchers). So much so, that many suggest a “poll of polls” approach is necessary to mak… Read more

In the Philippines, there is a well-known saying by Jose Rizal: Ang hindi lumilingon sa pinanggalingan ay Hindi makararating sa paroroonan. “One who does not look back from where she came will never reach her destination.” So, as we prepare for the May 10 general elections here, we should review the past – but how far back need we go? The history o… Read more

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has dominated Philippine politics this entire decade, first in January 2001 as a vice president who succeeded President Joseph Estrada on the heels of a “people power” protest (triggered by the suspension of the impeachment trial of President Estrada) – a succession that was confirmed by the Supreme Court. She then… Read more

It’s SHOWTIME!  In the Philippines, politics is entertainment and elections are fiestas. This proved to be true once again with the start of the official campaign season on February 9. At campaign kick-offs in various parts of the country, presidential candidates were joined with celebrities, singers, and dancers at the campaign sorties. Manny Vill… Read more

On the night of Sept. 1, 2009, Vicente Valera, former governor of Abra – a province in Northern Luzon in the Philippines – was arrested in his posh Rockwell condominium in Makati, Metro Manila. Valera is now the prime suspect in the murder of Congressman Luis Bersamin, Jr. The murder took place Dec.16, 2006, just prior to the campaign season for th… Read more

The passing of former Philippine President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino has evoked strong emotions. Many – Filipino and foreigner alike – have written their thoughts and assessments since she died last weekend, some with mixed feelings one has when powerful memories have been stirred. Like most Filipinos, I never met “Cory” but came to know her first b… Read more

In early 1992, toward the end of the administration of President Corazon Aquino, I participated in a Cabinet meeting where the discussion focused on her administration’s achievements and failings. Discussion was lively, and at times heated. There was much detailed argumentation on vision, strategy, programs, policy reforms, and delivery. President… Read more