While in the past there has generally been an atmosphere of resigned acceptance after the election, this time countless Belarusians went out on the streets to contest the results. The dynamics of the protest clearly illustrate its main goal is not to ensure Svitlana Tsikhanauskaya becomes the head of state, but rather to guarantee Lukashenka does not stay in this position. One factor that played a particularly important role was the way that President Lukashenka was handling the COVID-19 crisis. Nonetheless, it was Tsikhanauskaya’s campaign that made people actually vote – because it gave them hope they could influence political affairs.
By
Sofie Bedford
As the citizens in this time of crisis have found they have to take responsibility for their own and others wellbeing the social contract could potentially be considered broken, or at least breaking. Perhaps this in fact the reason the Belarusian authorities have found themselves faced with a unique volatile situation as the general frustration over how they handled the Covid-19 situation is spilling over to the ongoing presidential election campaign.
By
Sofie Bedford
On February 9 elections to the National Parliament – Milli Məclis – were held in Azerbaijan, nine months early. The […]
By
Sofie Bedford
The proposition that a Presidential Election was held early because it was simply better to ‘get it out of the way’ in order to be able to focus on time consuming other events might appear far-fetched in other contexts. When considering the history of elections in Azerbaijan it appears to make sense. In fact, it is almost more puzzling why elections are held at all – when everybody knows who will win. But, in difference to the predictable result, the rumors and speculations preceding the election are intriguing and do tell us a lot about what is going on in Azerbaijan.
By
Sofie Bedford
Vasil Navumau, The Belarusian Maidan in 2006: A New Social Movement Approach to the Tent Camp Protest in Minsk, Polish Studies in Culture, Nations and Politics, vol. 5, edited by Joanna Kurczewska and Yasuko Shibata, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2016, 260 pages.
By
Sofie Bedford
On October 9 presidential elections were held in Azerbaijan. As a result of the criticized 2009 amendment to the constitution the two-term limit for the presidency was removedand the incumbent, President Ilham Aliyev, could stand as candidate fora third time. Nobody was surprised when he won again.
By
Sofie Bedford
On October 10 the people of Kyrgyzstan elected a new national parliament (Jogorku Kenesh) in an election that has been described as the most free and fair ever in a post-Soviet Central Asian republic. A closer look at the elections as well as their results indicates certain obstacles on the road to a prosperous parliamentary system.
By
Sofie Bedford
Issue 2020, 2-3 
Baltic Worlds covers; the Baltic Sea Region, Eastern Europe, Russia, Caucasus and the Balkan area.
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