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19 April 2015 Finland
At parliamentary elections, according to preliminary results, the Finnish Centre Party increased its representation by 14 seats to hold 49 seats in the Eduskunta, thus becoming the largest party in the legislature. Its Chairman Juha Sipilä was to begin discussions on the formation of a new coalition government. The populist, anti-European Union and anti-immigration Finns Party took second place with 38 seats, ahead of outgoing Prime Minister Alexander Stubb’s National Coalition Party, which secured 37. The Social Democratic Party of the outgoing coalition took 34 seats (down from 42), while the Green League increased its representation to 15 seats.
1 April 2015 Nigeria
Maj.-Gen. (retd) Muhammadu Buhari, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, was declared the winner of the presidential election of 28–29 March, having secured, according to results released by the Independent National Election Commission, 54.0% of the votes cast. The incumbent President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, representing the People’s Democratic Party received 45.0%, while none of the 12 other candidates won more than 0.2% of the votes. The rate of voter participation was officially recorded at 47.1% of the electorate. Buhari, who had served as President from December 1983 (when he seized power in a military coup) until he was ousted, also in a coup, in August 1985, became the first opposition candidate in the country’s history to defeat a sitting head of state. Elections to the House of Representatives and the Senate were held concurrently with the presidential election, but complete results were not expected to be released immediately.
30 March 2015 Peru
The President of the Council of Ministers, Ana Jara, was forced to resign after failing to survive a no confidence vote against her in the Congress. The vote came about following press revelations that the country’s intelligence service had been spying on journalists, military officers and politicians. The prime minister was accused of failing to address the claims, which dated back to 2005. Following Jara’s departure, the cabinet was also constitutionally obliged to resign. A new Council of Ministers was scheduled to be appointed by President Ollanta Humala within 72 hours.
21 March 2015 Namibia
Dr Hage Geingob was sworn in as President, replacing Hifikepunye Pohamba. Geingob, representing the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation of Namibia, had won 86.7% of the votes cast in the presidential election held on 28 November 2014. Following his inauguration, Geingob appointed a new Cabinet in which Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, the Minister of Finance in the outgoing Government, assumed the premiership, while Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Co-operation.
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17 March 2015 Israel
Elections to the Knesset took place. According to final results published on 25 March by the Central Elections Committee, the Likud party of outgoing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu became the largest group in the legislature, with 30 seats and 23.4% of the valid votes cast. The centre-left Zionist Union, which comprised the Labour Party and Hatnua, secured 24 seats (18.7% of the vote). The Joint List—an alliance of Arab Israeli parties—took 13 seats (10.6%), while two centrist parties, Yesh Atid and Kulanu, garnered 11 seats (8.8%) and 10 seats (7.5%), respectively. A further five parties exceeded the 3.25% threshold for representation: Jewish Home (eight seats, 6.7%); Shas (seven seats, 5.7%), Israel Beytenu (six seats, 5.1%), United Torah Judaism (six seats, 5.0%) and Meretz (five seats, 3.9%). Voter turnout was recorded at 72.3%.
5 March 2015 Egypt
President Abd al-Fatah al-Sisi effected a reorganization of the Government. Most notably, Gen. Magdy Abd al-Ghafar replaced Maj.-Gen. Muhammad Ibrahim as Minister of the Interior. The Ministry of Health and Population was divided: Hala Youssef joined the Government in the new post of Minister of Population, while responsibility for the health portfolio was retained by Adel al-Adawi. A new Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training was created: Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Yousef took the post of Minister. Salah al-Din Mahmoud became Minister of Agriculture and Land Cultivation, and Mohib Mahmoud Kamel al-Refai Minister of Education. New Ministers of Communications and Information Technology, Culture, and Tourism were also appointed.
1 March 2015 Uruguay
Tabaré Vázquez was inaugurated for a five-year term as President. Vázquez, of the left-wing Frente Amplio, had been elected in October 2014 with almost 48% of the votes cast. He succeeded the popular José Mujica, also of the Frente Amplio, as head of state. Vázquez had previously served as President in 2005–10.
24 February 2015 Greece
Eurozone ministers of finance approved a number of economic reforms proposed by the Synaspismos Rizospastikis Aristeras (SYRIZA—the Coalition of the Radical Left)-led Government, in fulfilment of a pre-condition for the agreement of a four-month extension of the country’s funding arrangements. The extension required the assent of a number of national parliaments and, significantly, was approved by the German legislature three days later. The negotiations with the so-called Eurogroup ministers followed parliamentary elections in Greece on 25 January, at which SYRIZA had secured 149 seats (two seats fewer than the 151 seats required to secure an overall majority) in the 300-seat Vouli (Parliament), compared with the 76 seats secured by the centre-right Nea Demokratia (ND—New Democracy), led by the hitherto Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras. Strong opposition from within the eurozone, and fears that Greece might be compelled to abandon the euro, had led the coalition Government of the SYRIZA leader and new Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, to dilute its pledges to renegotiate the terms of Greece’s lending agreements.
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