By Online Desk
Could Donald Trump make a comeback? Can anyone in Russia challenge Vladimir Putin? Will it be ‘Teesri Baar Modi Sarkar’ (Modi govt for a third time) in India? Only time will unveil the answers to these pivotal political questions in what will be a record-breaking year of elections.
Over three billion voters across 40-plus countries will elect their heads of state in 2024, starting with Taiwan’s election in January and running all the way to the United States in November. Elections will also take place in India, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and South Africa, among others.
According to Bloomberg Economics, voters in these nations represent nearly 41% of the world’s population and contribute $44.2 trillion or 42% of the planet’s GDP.
With the global economy facing successive challenges amid two intense conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, persistent inflation, and elevated borrowing expenses, hindering the post-pandemic resurgence, the 2024 election cycle could act as the next potential source of disruption in this era of multifaceted crises.
With over 40% of the world heading to polls in 2024 here are five key elections to watch:
Trump-Biden rematch?
On November 5, tens of millions of Americans will choose a president in a contest that could keep incumbent Joe Biden in power until the age of 86.
Poll after poll shows that a majority of voters think the gaffe-prone Democrat is too old to be commander-in-chief, despite his likely rival, ex-president Donald Trump making similar slip-ups at 77.
Disinformation looks set to be a feature of the campaign, a hangover from the last foul-tempered contest which ended with Trump supporters storming the US Capitol to try to halt the certification of Biden’s victory. Trump goes into the Republican party nomination contest the clear favourite, despite multiple criminal trials hanging over him.
ALSO READ | Poll shows few adults would be satisfied with Biden-Trump rematch in 2024
Biden’s campaign suffered another blow after the Republican-led House of Representatives voted in December to open a formal impeachment inquiry into whether he profited unduly from his son’s foreign business deals while he was vice president under Barack Obama.
Putin eyes six more years
A newly-confident Russian President Vladimir Putin, energised by his troops’ success in holding their positions in Ukraine two years into the war, is hoping to extend his 24-year rule by another six years in the March elections.
On December 8 he announced he is running for a fifth term, which would keep him in power until 2030.
In 2020, he had the constitution amended to allow him to theoretically stay in power until 2036, which could potentially see him rule for longer than Joseph Stalin.
With the war in Ukraine used to lock up or silence dissenters and opponents, there is little chance of anyone standing in his way. His long-time nemesis Alexei Navalny is serving a 19-year jail sentence.
Modi’s great power play
Nearly one billion Indians will be called on to vote in April-May when the world’s most populous nation goes to the polls in an election in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his nationalist BJP party are seeking a third term.
Modi’s political career and success have been based on support from India’s one-billion-plus Hindus and, critics say, stoking enmity toward the country’s large Muslim minority.
Despite a crackdown on civil liberties on his watch, he goes into the vote the clear favourite, with his supporters crediting him with boosting his country’s standing on the global stage.
ALSO READ | Opposition must realise BJP fights every election as its last battle: Chidambaram
EU test for populists
The world’s largest transnational poll in June will see more than 400 million people eligible to vote in the European Parliament election. More than 400 million voters will elect 720 members of the European Parliament across 27 member countries.
The vote will be a test of support for right-wing populists, who have the wind in their sails after the victory of Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam, anti-EU PVV Freedom Party in November’s Dutch elections and last year’s win for Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy.
Brussels can take heart however from Poland, where former European Council president Donald Tusk has returned to power on a solidly pro-EU platform.
First Mexican woman president?
A leftist former mayor of the capital and a businesswoman with Indigenous roots are both vying to make history in Mexico in June by becoming the first woman president of a country with a tradition of machismo.
Former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum is running on behalf of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s Morena party.
Her outspoken opponent Xochitl Galvez has been selected to represent an opposition coalition, the Broad Front for Mexico.
According to the Center for American Progress (CAP), a prominent US policy institute, the erosion of trust in global elections is attributed to the emergence of political figures who undermine and reject election outcomes.
While safeguarding democracy is not solely the responsibility of the private sector, the substantial influence wielded by companies managing a few dominant social media platforms underscores their significant role in preserving digital democracy, remarks CAP in its report titled ‘Protecting Democracy Online in 2024 and Beyond’.
Similarly, the CAP report says the rapid deployment of new AI tools to a massive user base, lacking clear guidelines for proper use, necessitates swift implementation of regulatory measures by these emerging companies and technologies to safeguard the integrity of elections.
(With inputs from AFP) Follow channel on WhatsApp
Could Donald Trump make a comeback? Can anyone in Russia challenge Vladimir Putin? Will it be ‘Teesri Baar Modi Sarkar’ (Modi govt for a third time) in India? Only time will unveil the answers to these pivotal political questions in what will be a record-breaking year of elections.
Over three billion voters across 40-plus countries will elect their heads of state in 2024, starting with Taiwan’s election in January and running all the way to the United States in November. Elections will also take place in India, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and South Africa, among others.
According to Bloomberg Economics, voters in these nations represent nearly 41% of the world’s population and contribute $44.2 trillion or 42% of the planet’s GDP. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2′); });
With the global economy facing successive challenges amid two intense conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, persistent inflation, and elevated borrowing expenses, hindering the post-pandemic resurgence, the 2024 election cycle could act as the next potential source of disruption in this era of multifaceted crises.
With over 40% of the world heading to polls in 2024 here are five key elections to watch:
Trump-Biden rematch?
On November 5, tens of millions of Americans will choose a president in a contest that could keep incumbent Joe Biden in power until the age of 86.
Poll after poll shows that a majority of voters think the gaffe-prone Democrat is too old to be commander-in-chief, despite his likely rival, ex-president Donald Trump making similar slip-ups at 77.
Disinformation looks set to be a feature of the campaign, a hangover from the last foul-tempered contest which ended with Trump supporters storming the US Capitol to try to halt the certification of Biden’s victory. Trump goes into the Republican party nomination contest the clear favourite, despite multiple criminal trials hanging over him.
ALSO READ | Poll shows few adults would be satisfied with Biden-Trump rematch in 2024
Biden’s campaign suffered another blow after the Republican-led House of Representatives voted in December to open a formal impeachment inquiry into whether he profited unduly from his son’s foreign business deals while he was vice president under Barack Obama.
Putin eyes six more years
A newly-confident Russian President Vladimir Putin, energised by his troops’ success in holding their positions in Ukraine two years into the war, is hoping to extend his 24-year rule by another six years in the March elections.
On December 8 he announced he is running for a fifth term, which would keep him in power until 2030.
In 2020, he had the constitution amended to allow him to theoretically stay in power until 2036, which could potentially see him rule for longer than Joseph Stalin.
With the war in Ukraine used to lock up or silence dissenters and opponents, there is little chance of anyone standing in his way. His long-time nemesis Alexei Navalny is serving a 19-year jail sentence.
Modi’s great power play
Nearly one billion Indians will be called on to vote in April-May when the world’s most populous nation goes to the polls in an election in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his nationalist BJP party are seeking a third term.
Modi’s political career and success have been based on support from India’s one-billion-plus Hindus and, critics say, stoking enmity toward the country’s large Muslim minority.
Despite a crackdown on civil liberties on his watch, he goes into the vote the clear favourite, with his supporters crediting him with boosting his country’s standing on the global stage.
ALSO READ | Opposition must realise BJP fights every election as its last battle: Chidambaram
EU test for populists
The world’s largest transnational poll in June will see more than 400 million people eligible to vote in the European Parliament election. More than 400 million voters will elect 720 members of the European Parliament across 27 member countries.
The vote will be a test of support for right-wing populists, who have the wind in their sails after the victory of Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam, anti-EU PVV Freedom Party in November’s Dutch elections and last year’s win for Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy.
Brussels can take heart however from Poland, where former European Council president Donald Tusk has returned to power on a solidly pro-EU platform.
First Mexican woman president?
A leftist former mayor of the capital and a businesswoman with Indigenous roots are both vying to make history in Mexico in June by becoming the first woman president of a country with a tradition of machismo.
Former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum is running on behalf of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s Morena party.
Her outspoken opponent Xochitl Galvez has been selected to represent an opposition coalition, the Broad Front for Mexico.
According to the Center for American Progress (CAP), a prominent US policy institute, the erosion of trust in global elections is attributed to the emergence of political figures who undermine and reject election outcomes.
While safeguarding democracy is not solely the responsibility of the private sector, the substantial influence wielded by companies managing a few dominant social media platforms underscores their significant role in preserving digital democracy, remarks CAP in its report titled ‘Protecting Democracy Online in 2024 and Beyond’.
Similarly, the CAP report says the rapid deployment of new AI tools to a massive user base, lacking clear guidelines for proper use, necessitates swift implementation of regulatory measures by these emerging companies and technologies to safeguard the integrity of elections.
(With inputs from AFP) Follow channel on WhatsApp
