- FINLAND: The center-right government unexpectedly fell Friday, ahead of planned elections on April 14. The trigger was Prime Minister Juha Sipila’s failure to pass social and health care reforms. Sipila’s Center Party has trailed the Social Democrats in opinion polls since last May.
- ISRAEL: After a brief surge in momentum, the Blue and White alliance, between Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, appears to be trailing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc again. The results seem to indicate the initial buzz around both the alliance and Attorney General Mendelbilt’s indictment of the Prime Minister appears to be fading. The big day is April 9.
- INDIA: The country has set a date for what will be no less than the largest democratic exercise in history. The election of a new Lok Sabha will take place over seven stages and last more than a month, beginning on April 11. Some 900 million people will be eligible to vote in what will be a key test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and his populist, Hindu nationalist government.
- THAILAND: As expected, the Constitutional Court dissolved the Thai Raksa Chart party on Thursday, ahead of parliamentary elections on March 24. The party has links to exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and opposes military rule. The ruling was, ostensibly, connected to the party’s choice of Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya as its prime ministerial candidate.
- ESTONIA: Locals are still sorting out the results of last week’s election, which saw the opposition, center-right Reform Party, top the governing Center Party. The big winners, however, may have been the right-wing populist Estonian Conservative People’s Party, which gained 12 seats and came in third. Coalition talks are still ongoing.
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International Roundup: Election Fever
