12 September 2023
Justice-on-Demand at the Indonesian Constitutional Court?
Indonesia will have the world’s biggest one-day election in 2024. More than 200 million voters will go to the ballots to choose the next president and legislative members on 14 February, opening a fresh chapter for the nation’s leadership after a decade of President Joko Widodo’s rule. In recent weeks, the Constitutional Court has been flooded with back-to-back filings for judicial review of Indonesia’s General Election Law. Against the backdrop of Indonesia’s declining levels of trust in public institution, the Court’s rulings might not only change the rules of Indonesia’s electoral game but also threaten to further impair its own independence and integrity. Continue reading >>
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18 August 2023
Has Right-Wing Populism Reached Argentina?
Last Sunday, August 13, Argentina held elections to determine the candidates who will run in next October's national presidential elections. In a surprising turn of events, the far-right candidate Javier Milei, an outsider that started in politics around 2019, surged ahead in the preliminary elections, sending shockwaves through Argentina's political landscape which has traditionally favoured left-wing populism. In this blogpost, I argue that disillusionment with political establishment, extremely high inflation and crime are core reasons driving Milei’s surprise success at the ballot box. Continue reading >>
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14 Juli 2022
Terra Incognita for the Fifth French Republic
Undoubtedly, 19 June 2022 will make a mark in the history of the Fifth Republic. Not only did it mark the end of the “absolute majority” of the re-elected President’s party in the Chamber of Deputies, but it also brought about an upheaval in the political and institutional habits in force since 1958. One might be inclined to think that this new configuration will be favorable to dialogue and cooperation between the institutions of the Fifth Republic. One might even assume that the National Assembly, now composed of multiple political forces, will once again be a place for debate. June 2022 will certainly have sounded the death knell of French “presidentialism”, but the concomitant advent of such a divided Assembly will perhaps not favor the emergence of a renewed parliamentarism. Continue reading >>03 März 2022
Three Constituent Peoples and “the Others”
This fall, presidential and general elections are supposed to take place in crisis-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina. Already in 2009, the electoral system in force and its approach of ethnic representation was found to be discriminatory in terms of the ECHR by the Strasbourg court’s famous Sejdić and Finci decision. Without necessary amendments to the Constitution and the Election Act, the country now risks facing an electoral boycott or entering an election process contrary to the ECHR for the fourth time in a row. Continue reading >>
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16 Januar 2022
All Needs to Stay As It Is so All Can Change
The terms of office of Italian President Sergio Mattarella and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will end within few weeks from one another. Yet the two countries could not experience the two deadlines more differently. While the German President's re-election in the first round is certain, in Italy a sort of collective psychodrama has been going on for months. Continue reading >>
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30 November 2020
Nothing will Change
On 15 November 2020, the reformist, pro-European candidate Maia Sandu has won the presidential election in the Republic of Moldova. Sandu has raised great expectations among the population that she will eradicate corruption and mitigate the devastating effects of COVID-19. As the confetti has been swept away and the euphoria about her victory is passing, it is doubtful, whether President Sandu can deliver on her campaign promises, given the President’s limited powers and the composition of parliament. Continue reading >>
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09 November 2020
What Happens Next?
Despite the length of time it took to determine the result, this is not a close election. Everyone who has felt that the last four years brought American democracy perilously close to collapse should now feel relieved. Biden’s margin of victory in the decisive states is too large to be overturned by typical recounts or by the usual toolbox of legal challenges. As I will explain in this post, however, we’re not completely out of danger yet. Continue reading >>06 November 2020
Die große Illusion
Über den Wahlverlierer Trump, Spannungsbögen und den Unterschied zwischen einem Punkt und einem Strich Continue reading >>06 November 2020
The Grand Illusion
On the loser Donald Trump, several arcs of suspense and the difference between a dot and a dash Continue reading >>05 November 2020