Pulse List 2018: 5 notable presidential elections this year

In no particular order, here are five notable presidential elections that took place across the world this year.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabweans marched to the polls in July 2018 with the choice to carve out a new chapter for their nation. It was the first time in decades that Robert Mugabe would be absent on the ballot as the 94-year-old was forced out in 2017.

Mugabe resigned in November 2017 after the military 'took over' the nation's capital and piled pressure on him, with the help of parliament, to step down after 37 long years.

His longtime ally and recently dismissed vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was sworn in as president to complete the remainder of his term until the 2018 election which eventually took place in July.

Critics say President Emmerson Mnangagwa has failed to turn around the economy AFP

On August 1, Mnangagwa was declared winner of the election as he won 50.8% of the total votes cast to defeat his closest challenger, Nelson Chamisa, who got 44.3% of the votes.

With the opposition accusing Mnangagwa's government of rigging the election, post-election violence led to the killing of three people by the Zimbabwean Army.

76-year-old Mnangagwa was officially inaugurated as the third President of Zimbabwe on August 26, 2018.

Cameroon

If Zimbabwe's election was notable for moving in a new direction with a new leader after decades, Cameroon did quite the opposite.

President Paul Biya has ruled Cameroon for 35 years and is seeking a seventh straight term in the October 7 election ece-auto-gen

Paul Biya, who has ruled Cameroon since 1982, won another seven-year term after the October 7, 2018 election that was alleged by the opposition to have been marred by widespread fraud, low turnout of voters and violence.

Biya, currently Africa's second longest serving leader, won 71.28% of the votes cast during the election that was conducted at a time when armed separatists in the two English-speaking regions of the country were up in arms and demanding secession.

General turnout for the election was a low 54%, while it was even worse in the troubled English-speaking regions where a measly 10% turnout was recorded.

Violence is an almost daily occurrence in Cameroon's two anglophone regions, where separatists are battling security forces. President Paul Biya, 85, who was re-elected on October 7 for a seventh term, has rejected demands for autonomy AFP

Biya, Africa's second oldest leader at 85, was sworn in on November 6 and will be 92 by the time his tenure ends.

Russia

Bursting the age-long myth that only African leaders cling onto power is Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Ukraine's economic problems, saying "It's always easier to blame economic failures on war" ece-auto-gen

Putin was first elected the European nation's leader in 2000 and did two four-year terms until 2008 when he stepped down, because he was constitutionally barred from a third consecutive term, to be appointed Prime Minister by Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally whom he had handpicked as his successor and helped become president.

Medvedev soon proposed and signed a new law to extend the term of the president from four years to six, starting from the next president.

Even though he repeatedly denied a return to power, Putin returned as president in 2012 to become the nation's first 6-year president, with Medvedev returning as his Prime Minister.

After ruling Russia for 12 combined years as president, Putin won another 6-year term during the presidential election that was conducted on March 18, 2018.

The 66-year-old former KGB foreign intelligence officer won his fourth overall term in office with 76.69% of the total votes cast in an election that was criticised by the opposition for alleged voting irregularities.

When asked in March if he would run again in 2024, Putin dismissed the question without properly answering it. "Let's count - what, will I be sitting here until I'm 100 years old?" he said.

Two months after his victory, Russia's parliament was reported to be considering a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow a president hold office for three consecutive terms rather than the current limit of two, essentially paving the way for Putin to contest again in 2024.

Mexico

65-year-old Andrés Manuel López Obrador coasted to an overwhelming victory in the July 1, 2018 presidential election to become Mexico's new president.

He won 53.19% (30,113,483) of the popular vote with his closest challenger, Ricardo Anaya, winning only 22%.

Leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador promised the start of a "political regime change" as he swore in as Mexico's president ece-auto-gen

His victory was the first time since 1988 that a presidential candidate was elected with an absolute majority (50%+1) of the votes cast as he won 31 out of the country's 32 states.

He replaced Enrique Peña Nieto as Mexico's president after he was sworn in to start a six-year term on December 1.

Brazil

Jair Bolsonaro required two rounds of voting to emerge as Brazil's new president in elections that took place in October.

Brazil's president-elect Jair Bolsonaro, who takes office January 1, 2019, has long criticized government environmental monitoring agencies ece-auto-gen

The Social Liberal Party candidate beat 12 other opponents to 46.03% of the total votes cast in the first round on October 7, but his inability to win, at least, a 50% majority meant a run-off election was required.

The Rio de Janeiro congressman eventually beat his closest challenger, Fernando Haddad, in the second round, winning 55.13% of the popular vote.

The 63-year-old retired military officer will be sworn-in as the South American nation's new president on January 1, 2019.