sroCouverture_Ang_Mise en page 1 11/08/11 11:07 Page1 Print ISSN: 1994-0963 Electronic ISSN: 1994-098X INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION CHRONICLE OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 2010 CHRONICLE OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS VOLUME 44 Published annually in English and French since 1967, the Chronicle of Parliamen tary Elections reports on all national legislative elections held throughout the world during a given year. It includes information on the electoral system, the background and outcome of each election as well as statistics on the results, distribution of votes and distribution of seats according to political group, sex and age. The information contained in the Chronicle can also be found in the IPU’s database on national parliaments, PARLINE. PARLINE is accessible on the IPU web site (http://www.ipu.org/parline) and is continually updated. Inter-Parliamentary Union VOLUME 44 5, chemin du Pommier Case postale 330 CH-1218 Le Grand-Saconnex Geneva – Switzerland Tel.: +41 22 919 41 50 Fax: +41 22 919 41 60 2010 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.ipu.org 2010 Chronicle of Parliamentary Elections VOLUME 44 1 January - 31 December 2010 © Inter-Parliamentary Union 2011 Print ISSN: 1994-0963 Electronic ISSN: 1994-098X Photo credits Front cover: Photo AFP/Pascal Pavani Back cover: Photo AFP/Tugela Ridley Inter-Parliamentary Union Office of the Permanent Observer of 5, chemin du Pommier the IPU to the United Nations Case postale 330 220 East 42nd Street CH-1218 Le Grand-Saconnex Suite 3002 Geneva — Switzerland New York, N.Y. 10017 USA Tel.: + 41 22 919 41 50 Tel.: +1 212 557 58 80 Fax: + 41 22 919 41 60 Fax: +1 212 557 39 54 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.ipu.org/parline TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction.................................................................................................................4 Afghanistan: National Assembly House of Representatives..........................................................................8 Australia: Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia House of Representatives........................................................................15 Senate .......................................................................................................20 Azerbaijan: National Assembly...............................................................................26 Bahrain: National Assembly Council of Representatives .....................................................................31 Belgium: Federal Parliament House of Representatives........................................................................36 Senate .......................................................................................................46 Bosnia and Herzegovina: Parliamentary Assembly House of Representatives........................................................................56 Brazil: National Congress Chamber of Deputies ..............................................................................62 Federal Senate .........................................................................................67 Burundi: Parliament National Assembly....................................................................................72 Colombia: Congress House of Representatives........................................................................78 Senate .......................................................................................................83 Costa Rica: Legislative Assembly............................................................................88 Czech Republic: Parliament Chamber of Deputies ..............................................................................93 Senate .....................................................................................................100 Dominican Republic: Congress of the Republic Chamber of Deputies ............................................................................106 Senate .....................................................................................................110 Egypt: People’s Assembly .................................................................................114 Shoura Assembly ....................................................................................122 Ethiopia: House of Peoples’ Representatives......................................................127 Haiti: National Assembly Chamber of Deputies ............................................................................132 Senate .....................................................................................................140 Hungary: National Assembly .................................................................................148 Iraq: Council of Representatives of Iraq ..............................................................156 Chronicle 44 - January - December 2010 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Japan: National Diet House of Councillors ..............................................................................162 Jordan: National Assembly House of Representatives......................................................................170 Kyrgyzstan: Supreme Council ...............................................................................175 Latvia: Parliament...................................................................................................182 Mauritius: National Assembly ................................................................................188 Myanmar: Assembly of the Union House of Representatives......................................................................193 House of Nationalities ............................................................................204 Nauru: Parliament...................................................................................................215 Netherlands: States General House of Representatives......................................................................223 Philippines: Congress House of Representatives......................................................................229 Senate .....................................................................................................235 Republic of Moldova: Parliament.........................................................................241 Saint Kitts and Nevis: National Assembly .............................................................248 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: House of Assembly.....................................252 Sao Tome and Principe: National Assembly........................................................257 Slovakia: National Council....................................................................................261 Solomon Islands: National Parliament .................................................................268 Sri Lanka: Parliament..............................................................................................274 Sudan: National Legislature National Assembly..................................................................................281 Suriname: National Assembly ...............................................................................288 Sweden: Parliament ...............................................................................................294 Tajikistan: Supreme Council House of Representatives......................................................................300 Tonga: Legislative Assembly..................................................................................304 Trinidad and Tobago: Parliament House of Representatives......................................................................309 Tuvalu: Parliament of Tuvalu .................................................................................314 United Kingdom: Parliament House of Commons ...............................................................................317 United Republic of Tanzania: National Assembly ...............................................323 2 Chronicle 44 - January - December 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS United States of America: Congress House of Representatives......................................................................328 Senate .....................................................................................................333 Venezuela: National Assembly .............................................................................338 Chronicle 44 - January - December 2010 3 INTRODUCTION In 2010, 56 direct parliamentary elections took place in 44 countries. Worldwide turnout averaged 65.34 per cent, down by 3.95 percentage points compared with 2009 based on available data. The ruling party or coalition was returned to power in 21 of the 28 countries where the composition of the government depended on the results of parliamentary elections. Fewer election-related violent incidents occurred than in previous years. While violence was rife in Afghanistan and the Philippines, the elections in Colombia were the most peaceful in many years according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Impact of the global economic crisis Austerity measures introduced as a result of the global economic crisis were the major election issue in many countries. Elections in several European countries were also marked by the euro crisis, sparked by its fall in value to a four-year low as a result of Greece’s severe debt crisis and fears that other euro-zone countries would follow suit. In Hungary (April),