World’s fiestas 2024

The Philippines’ main siesta season is over but were you aware that in 2024, we’ve had other even grander grand fiestas going on, year-round, in different countries?

In 2024, 64 countries, half of the world’s people of voting age, have been or will be participating in national elections, with consequences not just for the country in which the elections are being held but for neighboring countries, if not the entire world.

Many of the elections are similar to the Philippines in terms of fanfare, as well as the deployment of guns, goons, gold, and glamour (celebrities), the celebrities there not just to entertain but to run for elective office.

The use of the word “elections” is for convenience because there are some countries, some quite large, where there are no true free elections.

With half of the year nearly over, I thought I’d run through some of the elections already held. For us Filipinos, we might want to look ahead to 2025 when we hold midterm elections nationwide.

We started the year with elections in neighboring Taiwan, with the election of Lai Ching-te as president. He is from the same political party as his predecessor and with the same political stand that Taiwan is independent, not a province of China. That has escalated tensions not just with mainland China but for the region, and as Taiwan’s closest neighbor, the Philippines’ own problems with claims on the West Philippine Sea have us even more entangled in geopolitics.

In February, Pakistan held elections with a surprising victory for former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, which won most of the National Assembly seats. The results shocked observers because Khan is in prison. A new government will have to be built on coalitions, which will not be easy. Khan’s main opponent is another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who is backed by the military.

The Russian Federation had elections in March with its warmonger president Vladimir Putin “winning” a fifth term in clearly rigged elections. One of the main opposition leaders, the much-loved Alexei Navalny, died in mysterious circumstances in jail, just a month before the elections.

South Korea had elections in April, with the liberal opposition gaining more seats in the parliament but not enough to allow an ousting of the existing parliament and president, which means they stay on in office for another three years.

This takes us to the month of May, a kind of torrid global summer in terms of politics. South Africa, held its elections end of May with no party winning a majority but what was significant was that the African National Congress (ANC) did not get a majority in parliament, the first time since it led the country to overthrow the apartheid regime in 1994. Corruption and mismanagement have plagued the ANC. A coalition government is the next difficult task for a country that is becoming an important global player in trade and politics.

India has the world’s largest population (1.4 billion, of which 969 million are eligible to vote) and its elections took all of six weeks to unfold, excluding the campaign period. The elections ended just last week. The current prime minister Narendra Modi coasted into a third five-year term that will intensify India’s move toward a free market with all its advantages and disadvantages. What marred this election though was Modi’s use of Hindu nationalism as part of his campaign, one marked by strong anti-Muslim rhetoric, including much disinformation which can easily spill over into violence.

Finally, Mexico just held an election with two women as main contenders. Claudia Sheinbaum, leader of the ruling Morena party, has been declared as winner. Morena is the short name for Movimiento Regeneracion Nacional, the “nickname” alluding to the brown Madonna, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is also venerated in the Philippines.

Sheinbaum headed Mexico City’s government before running for president but is also known as a scientist, with degrees in physics and a master’s in energy engineering. An article about her in El País, a Spanish newspaper, has her explaining that her decisions are based on data. She is sometimes called the “dama de hielo” or ice lady but is known, too, as a listener. Once at the height of COVID-19, she visited an emergency operations center after midnight and volunteered on the spot to take in calls responding to emergencies, arrange for ambulances, and look for hospital rooms. She stayed four hours.

Her compassion reminded me of one of our former presidential candidates but our next fiesta en grande is three years away. Meanwhile, we still have to see another blockbuster fiesta in November, described by The Economist as “the biggest danger to the world.” Yup, it’s the felon (translation: certified criminal) Trump versus Biden.

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