Iraq
unicameral Council of Representatives (325 seats consisting of
317 members elected by an optional open-list, proportional
representation system and 8 seats reserved for minorities; members
serve four-year terms); note - Iraq's Constitution calls for the
establishment of an upper house, the Federation Council
elections: last held on 7 March 2010 for an enlarged 325-seat
parliament; next election to be held in 2014
election results: Council of Representatives - percent of vote by
coalition - Iraqi National Movement 25.9%, State of Law coalition
25.8%, Iraqi National Alliance 19.4%, Kurdistan Alliance 15.3%,
Goran (Change) List 4.4%, Tawafuq Front 2.7%, Iraqi Unity Alliance
2.9%, Kurdistan Islamic Union 2.3%, Kurdistan Islamic Group 1.4%;
seats by coalition - Iraqi National Movement 91, State of Law
Coalition 89, Iraqi National Alliance 70, Kurdistan Alliance 43,
Goran (Change) List 8, Tawafuq Front 6, Iraqi Unity Alliance 4,
Kurdistan Islamic Union 4, Kurdistan Islamic Group 2, seats reserved
for minorities 8
Ireland
bicameral Parliament or Oireachtas consists of the Senate or
Seanad Eireann (60 seats; 49 members elected by the universities and
from candidates put forward by five vocational panels, 11 are
nominated by the prime minister; members serve five-year terms) and
the House of Representatives or Dail Eireann (166 seats; members
elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation
to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held in July 2007 (next to be held probably
in early 2011); House of Representatives - last held on 24 May 2007
(next to be held probably in early 2011)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party - Fianna Fail 28, Fine Gael 14, Labor Party 6, Progressive
Democrats 2, Green Party 2, Sein Fein 1, independents 7; House of
Representatives - percent of vote by party - Fianna Fail 41.6%, Fine
Gael 27.3%, Labor Party 10.1%, Sinn Fein 6.9%, Green Party 4.7%,
Progressive Democrats 2.7%, other 6.7%; seats by party - Fianna Fail
78, Fine Gael 51, Labor Party 20, Sinn Fein 4, Green Party 6,
Progressive Democrats 2, independents 4, Speaker of the Dail 1; note
- through dissertions and attrition the makeup of both houses is
greatly changed
note: on 8 November 2008, delegates voted to disband the Progressive
Democrats, and in November 2009 it officially stopped operating as a
political party
Isle of Man
bicameral Tynwald consists of the Legislative Council
(11 seats; members composed of the President of Tynwald, the Lord
Bishop of Sodor and Man, a nonvoting attorney general, and 8 others
named by the House of Keys) and the House of Keys (24 seats; members
elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Keys - last held on 23 November 2006 (next to be
held in November 2011)
election results: House of Keys - percent of vote by party - NA;
seats by party - Liberal Vannin Party 2, Manx Labor Party 1,
independents 21
Israel
unicameral Knesset (120 seats; political parties are elected
by popular vote and assigned seats for members on a proportional
basis; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held on 10 February 2009 (next scheduled election to
be held in 2013)
election results: percent of vote by party - Kadima 23.2%, Likud-Ahi
22.3%, YB 12.1%, Labor 10.2%, SHAS 8.8%, United Torah Judaism 4.5%,
United Arab List 3.5%, National Union 3.4%, Hadash 3.4%, The Jewish
Home 3%, The New Movement-Meretz 3%, Balad 2.6%; seats by party -
Kadima 28, Likud-Ahi 27, YB 15, Labor 13, SHAS 11, United Torah
Judaism 5, United Arab List 4, National Union 4, HADASH 4, The
Jewish Home 3, The New Movement-Meretz 3, Balad 3
Italy
bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the Senate or
Senato della Repubblica (315 seats; members elected by proportional
vote with the winning coalition in each region receiving 55% of
seats from that region; members to serve five-year terms; and up to
5 senators for life appointed by the president of the Republic) and
the Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; members
elected by popular vote with the winning national coalition
receiving 54% of chamber seats; members to serve five-year terms);
note - it has not been clarified if each president has the power to
designate up to five senators or if five is the number of senators
for life who might sit in the Senate
elections: Senate - last held on 13-14 April 2008 (next to be held
in April 2013); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 13-14 April 2008
(next to be held in April 2013)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party - S. BERLUSCONI coalition 174 (PdL 147, LN 25, MpA 2), W.
VELTRONI coalition 132 (PD 118, IdV 3), UdC 3, other 6; Chamber of
Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - S.
BERLUSCONI coalition 344 (PdL 276, LN 60, MpA 8), W. VELTRONI
coalition 246 (PD 217, IdV 29), UdC 36, other 4
Jamaica
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 21-member
body appointed by the governor general on the recommendations of the
prime minister and the leader of the opposition; ruling party is
allocated 13 seats, and the opposition is allocated 8 seats) and the
House of Representatives (60 seats; members elected by popular vote
to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held on 3 September 2007 (next to be held no later
than October 2012)
election results: percent of vote by party - JLP 50.1%, PNP 49.8%;
seats by party - JLP 33, PNP 27
Japan
bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors
or Sangi-in (242 seats - members elected for fixed six-year terms;
half reelected every three years; 146 members in multi-seat
constituencies and 96 by proportional representation) and the House
of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - members elected for
maximum four-year terms; 300 in single-seat constituencies; 180
members by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs); the
prime minister has the right to dissolve the House of
Representatives at any time with the concurrence of the cabinet
elections: House of Councillors - last held on 11 July 2010 (next to
be held in July 2013); House of Representatives - last held on 30
August 2009 (next to be held by August 2013)
election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party -
DPJ 31.6%, LDP 24.1%, YP 13.6%, NK 13.1%, JCP 6.1%, SDP 3.8%, others
7.7%; seats by party - DPJ 106, LDP 84, NK 19, YP 11, JCP 6, SDP 4,
others 12
House of Representatives - percent of vote by party (by proportional
representation) - DPJ 42.4%, LDP 26.7%, NK 11.5%, JCP 7.0%, SDP
4.3%, others 8.1%; seats by party - DPJ 308, LDP 119, NK 21, JCP 9,
SDP 7, others 16 (2009)
Jersey
unicameral Assembly of the States of Jersey (58 seats; 55 are
voting members, of which 12 are senators elected for six-year terms,
12 are constables or heads of parishes elected for three-year terms,
29 are deputies elected for three-year terms, the bailiff and the
deputy bailiff, and 3 non-voting members include the Dean of Jersey,
the Attorney General, and the Solicitor General appointed by the
monarch)
elections: last held on 15 October 2008 for senators and 26 November
2008 for deputies (next to be held in 2011)
election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 55
Jordan
bicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-'Umma consists of
the Senate, also called the House of Notables or Majlis al-Ayan (60
seats; members appointed by the monarch to serve four-year terms)
and the Chamber of Deputies, also called the House of
Representatives or Majlis al-Nuwaab (120 seats; members elected
using a single, non-transferable vote system in multi-member
districts to serve four-year terms); note - the new electoral law
enacted in May 2010 allocated an additional 10 seats (6 seats added
to the number reserved for women, bringing the total to 12; 2
additional seats for Amman; and 1 seat each for the cities of Zarqa
and Irbid; unchanged are 9 seats reserved for Christian candidates,
9 for Bedouin candidates, and 3 for Jordanians of Chechen or
Circassian descent
elections: Chamber of Deputies - last held on 9 November 2010 (next
scheduled in 2014); note - the King dissolved the previous Chamber
of Deputies in November 2009, midway through the parliamentary term
election results: Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party -
NA; seats by party - independents and other 120 (includes 12 seats
filled by women's quota and 1 woman was directly elected); note -
the IAF boycotted the election
Kazakhstan
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (47 seats; 15
members are appointed by the president; 32 members elected by local
assemblies; members serve six-year terms, but elections are
staggered with half of the members up for re-election every three
years) and the Mazhilis (107 seats; 9 out of the 107 Mazhilis
members elected by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, a
presidentially appointed advisory body designed to represent the
country's ethnic minorities; non-appointed members are popularly
elected to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - (indirect) last held in October 2008 (next to be
held in 2011); Mazhilis - last held on 18 August 2007 (next to be
held in 2012)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party - Nur Otan 16; Mazhilis - percent of vote by party - Nur-Otan
88.1%, NSDP 4.6%, Ak Zhol 3.3%, Auyl 1.6%, Communist People's Party
1.3%, Patriots Party 0.8% Ruhaniyat 0.4%; seats by party - Nur-Otan
98; note - parties had to achieve a threshold of 7% of the
electorate to qualify for seats in the Mazhilis; changes to
electoral legislation enacted since the 2007 election now ensure
that the second-placed party will enter the Majilis at the next
parliamentary election, even if it does not clear the 7% threshold