I missed the December 2021 entry for this series, partially because there were no major developments that I wanted to comment on, and partially because I didn’t have time. But here is a rundown of the elections in January of 2022.

Serbia held a constitutional referendum on the 16th. The proposal was to modify the judiciary, as Serbia aspires to join the European Union. The changes modernized the system of choosing judges, making the judiciary independent from the National Assembly and Executive. The result of the referendum was a resounding victory for the “Yes” option, 60-39%. There have been claims of voter fraud by non-governmental organizations. 

The referendum in Serbia is particularly odd, because not only is it outside the typical authoritarian playbook, it is in direct contradiction to it. Serbia is ruled by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which has a supermajority in parliament. President Aleksandar Vučić, who is also President of the SNS, is considered authoritarian and illiberal. Yet these proposals came straight out of SNS headquarters. Why would a regime, which has survived because it has control of the country’s judicial system, voluntarily give up that control? Is joining the European Union really so important to them?

Barbados held its election on 19 January. For the second election in a row, the Barbados Labour Party, led by Mia Mottley, has won all 30 seats in the House of Assembly. This election is the first since Barbados severed its ties to the Crown of Great Britain; last year they became an independent republic. 

The Portuguese held an election on the 30th. The result was a complete surprise, and a rare example of polling being completely inaccurate as to even the general result of the election. The snap election was called after the ruling Socialist Party lost a budget vote. They were expected to lose votes, but in fact, they have been returned with a majority government. The opposition Social Democratic Party was expected to gain significantly. Although they achieved a swing of 1.5% in the popular vote, they lost seats. The Left Bloc and Portugese Communist Party, the two parties that caused the downfall of the budget, both suffered massive losses.

Costa Rica is the only country with an election scheduled for February. Belarus is scheduled to hold a constitutional referendum, which will likely be just as much of a sham as the previous votes in the country.