Master Timeline of Authoritarian Consolidation

Every dated event from the country profiles in one chronology, from 1999 to 2026. Use the buttons to filter by region. Each entry links to its source and to the full country profile. Historical cases such as Chile 1973, Greece 1967 and Nazi Germany have their own timelines.

1. 1999

2. December 15, 1999Venezuela

   Voters approved a new constitution drafted by a Constituent Assembly elected under President Hugo Chávez, with 71.78% voting yes. Source: IFES ElectionGuide

3. December 31, 1999Russia

   Boris Yeltsin resigned and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin became acting president. Putin's first act was to grant Yeltsin a pardon. He won the March 2000 election in the first round. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

4. 2001

5. April 14, 2001Russia

   Gazprom's media arm took control of the independent NTV network and installed new management. Putin called it 'purely a business dispute'. Source: RFE/RL

6. 2003

7. October 25, 2003Russia

   Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky, then Russia's richest man, was arrested. He was later convicted of fraud and tax evasion. Source: RFE/RL

8. 2004

9. December 2004Russia

   After the Beslan school siege, a law ended direct elections of regional governors in favour of presidential nomination. Putin framed it as a security measure against terrorism; critics said Beslan served as a pretext. Source: RFE/RL

10. December 12, 2004Venezuela

    The pro-Chávez National Assembly appointed 12 justices to newly created seats on the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, after a 2004 law expanded the court from 20 to 32 members. Human Rights Watch said it 'dealt a severe blow to judicial independence'. Source: Human Rights Watch

11. 2005

12. June 28, 2005Uganda

    Parliament voted 232 to 50 to remove presidential term limits from the constitution. Source: The Irish Times

13. 2007

14. January 10, 2007Nicaragua

    Daniel Ortega returned to the presidency after winning the November 2006 election. Source: The Irish Times

15. May 27, 2007Venezuela

    RCTV, the oldest private TV channel and a government critic, lost its broadcast licence when the government declined to renew it, and its signal went to a state-controlled channel. Source: Al Jazeera

16. 2009

17. February 15, 2009Venezuela

    Voters approved constitutional amendments removing term limits for the president and other elected officials, about two years after a similar package was defeated. Source: Al Jazeera

18. October 19, 2009Nicaragua

    Sandinista magistrates on the Supreme Court's Constitutional Chamber set aside the constitutional ban on consecutive re-election, clearing Ortega to run again. Opposition leaders called it illegal. Source: The Tico Times

19. 2010

20. September 12, 2010Turkey

    Voters approved constitutional amendments by about 58%, giving the government a greater say in appointing senior judges and prosecutors and expanding the Constitutional Court. Erdoğan said the reforms broke with a military-dominated past; the main opposition parties said they would put the courts under government control. Source: Voice of America

21. December 20, 2010Hungary

    Parliament, where Fidesz held a two-thirds majority, adopted a new media law. The OSCE media-freedom representative said it gave broad powers to a new media authority and media council whose members were all backed by the governing party, and placed the budget of all public-service media under that authority. Source: OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

22. 2011

23. April 18, 2011Hungary

    Parliament approved a new constitution, the Fundamental Law, by 262 votes to 44, with every vote in favour coming from the Fidesz-KDNP coalition. Opposition parties boycotted the vote, saying it lacked consensus. Fidesz said it would complete the democratization begun in 1989. The constitution took effect on January 1, 2012. Source: RFE/RL

24. 2012

25. July 21, 2012Russia

    Putin signed a law requiring foreign-funded NGOs engaged in loosely defined 'political activity' to register as 'foreign agents'. Source: Al Jazeera

26. October 1, 2012Georgia

    Bidzina Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition defeated President Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement in parliamentary elections. Saakashvili conceded the next day. Source: Al Jazeera

27. November 6, 2012Hungary

    The EU Court of Justice ruled that Hungary's abrupt cut in the mandatory retirement age for judges, prosecutors and notaries, from 70 to 62, was unjustified age discrimination under EU law. Source: Court of Justice of the EU, press release 139/12

28. 2013

29. Late May 2013Turkey

    Police cleared a protest against the redevelopment of Istanbul's Gezi Park, setting off nationwide anti-government demonstrations. Amnesty International documented what it called 'unnecessary and abusive force' against peaceful gatherings. Source: Amnesty International

30. 2014

31. March 16, 2014Serbia

    Aleksandar Vučić's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won about 49% of the vote in snap elections, projected to give it around 157 of 250 seats. Vučić was expected to become prime minister. Source: Al Jazeera

32. 2015

33. October 29, 2015Tanzania

    John Magufuli of the ruling CCM was declared president with 58%. The opposition alleged fraud, and the Zanzibar vote was annulled. Source: Voice of America

34. November 13, 2015Myanmar

    Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won an outright parliamentary majority, although the constitution reserved a quarter of seats for the military. Source: Al Jazeera

35. 2016

36. March 4, 2016Turkey

    At a prosecutor's request, an Istanbul court appointed trustees to run the media group that owned Zaman, then Turkey's highest-circulation daily, over alleged links to Fethullah Gülen. Human Rights Watch called it a move to 'eradicate opposition media'. Source: Human Rights Watch

37. July 15, 2016Turkey

    A coup attempt by a military faction failed after some 250 people were killed. The government blamed the Gülen movement, which denied involvement. Under emergency rule, more than 130,000 people were removed from public-sector jobs. Source: NPR

38. July 20, 2016Turkey

    Erdoğan declared a state of emergency allowing rule by decree, saying it was needed 'to remove swiftly all the elements of the terrorist organisation involved in the coup attempt'. It was extended seven times before lapsing in July 2018. Source: Al Jazeera

39. 2017

40. March 29, 2017Venezuela

    The Supreme Tribunal took over the legislative functions of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, saying it was 'in contempt'. President Nicolás Maduro called it 'a historic ruling'. Source: NPR

41. April 16, 2017Turkey

    Voters narrowly approved, with 51.4%, constitutional changes creating an executive presidency. OSCE observers said the vote took place on an 'unlevel playing field'; the government called the assessment 'prejudiced'. Source: Al Jazeera

42. May 31, 2017Serbia

    Vučić was sworn in as president after winning in the first round. Protesters alleged a stifled media, voter intimidation and bribes during the campaign. Source: RFE/RL

43. July 30, 2017Venezuela

    Venezuela elected a 545-member Constituent Assembly with power to rewrite the constitution and override the legislature. The opposition boycotted the vote. More than 100 people had been killed in four months of protests. Source: The World (PRI)

44. December 20, 2017Uganda

    Parliament voted 315 to 62 to scrap the presidential age limit of 75, which would otherwise have barred Yoweri Museveni in 2021. Source: Africanews

45. 2018

46. April 18, 2018Nicaragua

    Protests began. By August the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights counted 322 deaths and said most victims died 'as a result of State action or vigilante forces in the service of the State'. Ortega called the unrest a U.S.-backed coup attempt. Source: IACHR / OAS

47. May 20, 2018Venezuela

    Maduro was declared re-elected with almost 68% in a vote the main opposition boycotted and from which its most popular leaders were barred. Source: NPR via KPBS

48. July 9, 2018Turkey

    After winning the June 24 snap election, Erdoğan was sworn in as Turkey's first executive president, with powers to issue decrees, appoint and remove ministers and senior judges, and dissolve parliament. Source: Al-Monitor

49. September 12, 2018Hungary

    The European Parliament voted 448 to 197 to start the Article 7 procedure against Hungary over threats to EU values and the rule of law. It was the first time the Parliament had done so. The government called the vote 'petty revenge' over migration policy. Source: AP via PBS NewsHour

50. November–December 2018Hungary

    Government-allied owners donated their media companies to the new Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA). A government decree then declared the merger of 'strategic national importance', exempting it from competition review. A later investigation estimated that KESMA controlled close to 500 outlets. Source: International Press Institute

51. 2020

52. February 9, 2020El Salvador

    Armed soldiers and police briefly occupied the Legislative Assembly after lawmakers stalled a loan for President Nayib Bukele's anti-gang plan. Source: NPR

53. March 30, 2020Hungary

    A coronavirus emergency law let the government rule by decree with no set end date and made spreading false information that obstructs the pandemic response a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. The government said it was protecting lives and rejected claims of a power grab. Source: CNBC

54. June 21, 2020Serbia

    The SNS won about 61% of the vote, about 190 of 250 seats, in elections the main opposition boycotted, saying Vučić dominated state-run media unfairly. Vučić called the result historic. Source: AP via CTV News

55. July 1, 2020Russia

    A national vote approved constitutional amendments that reset Putin's presidential term count, allowing two more terms. Officials reported almost 78% support. Source: Meduza

56. August 18, 2020Sahel

    Mali: Soldiers detained President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, who resigned. The coup leaders promised elections within a 'reasonable time'. Source: Al Jazeera

57. October 30, 2020Tanzania

    Magufuli was declared re-elected with 84%. Opposition candidate Tundu Lissu rejected the result, and internet services were sharply curtailed. Source: Africanews

58. November 8, 2020Myanmar

    The NLD won decisively again. The military alleged fraud; the Asian Network for Free Elections said it saw no credible evidence of massive irregularities. Source: AP via KSAT

59. December 22, 2020Turkey

    The European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber ruled that the detention of former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş pursued the ulterior purpose of 'stifling pluralism' and ordered his release. He remained in prison. Source: Human Rights Watch

60. 2021

61. January 16, 2021Uganda

    Museveni was declared winner with 58% against Bobi Wine's 34%, after an internet shutdown. Wine alleged rigging. Source: NPR via KUNC

62. January 17, 2021Russia

    Opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detained on his return from Germany, where he had been treated after a Novichok poisoning. The Kremlin denied involvement in the poisoning. Source: Al Jazeera

63. February 1, 2021Myanmar

    The military detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders, declared a state of emergency and put Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing in charge, citing alleged election fraud. Source: Axios

64. March 19, 2021Tanzania

    Samia Suluhu Hassan became Tanzania's first female president after Magufuli's death. Source: AP via Christian Science Monitor

65. May 1, 2021El Salvador

    On its first day, the new Assembly controlled by Bukele's party removed all five Constitutional Chamber judges and the attorney general. Bukele said corrupt officials were being purged; legal experts called the removals unconstitutional. Source: Al Jazeera

66. May 24, 2021Sahel

    Mali: Soldiers arrested the transitional president and prime minister in the country's second coup in nine months. Source: Voice of America

67. July 24, 2021Nicaragua

    Police arrested another presidential hopeful, bringing to at least seven the would-be opposition candidates detained before the November election. Ortega said those targeted were plotting a coup. Source: Al Jazeera

68. September 3, 2021El Salvador

    The newly appointed Constitutional Chamber ruled that a president may serve two consecutive terms, allowing Bukele to run in 2024. Source: AP via WSLS

69. November 7, 2021Nicaragua

    Ortega was declared winner of a fourth consecutive term with more than 75%, while seven prominent would-be challengers were in prison. Source: AP via The Columbian

70. December 28, 2021Russia

    The Supreme Court ordered the liquidation of Memorial International, Russia's oldest human rights organization, citing violations of the foreign-agent law. Source: The Boston Globe

71. 2022

72. March 4, 2022Russia

    Days after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia criminalized spreading 'false information' about the military, with up to 15 years in prison. Independent broadcasters closed or suspended operations. Source: RFE/RL

73. March 27, 2022El Salvador

    After 62 homicides in one day, the Assembly approved a state of emergency limiting assembly and access to lawyers and allowing longer detention. The Assembly president said it would 'confront criminality head-on'. Source: Al Jazeera

74. April 3, 2022Hungary

    Fidesz won about 53% of the vote. OSCE observers said the election was well run and offered distinct alternatives, but was marred by government messaging that blurred the line between state and party, by media bias and by opaque campaign funding. Source: RFE/RL

75. July 11, 2022Turkey

    In only the second infringement ruling in its history, the ECtHR found Turkey had failed to comply with its order to release civil-society figure Osman Kavala, who had been sentenced in April 2022 to life without parole over the Gezi protests. Turkey says he played a leading role in Gezi. Source: Human Rights Watch

76. September 30, 2022Sahel

    Burkina Faso: Capt. Ibrahim Traoré ousted Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Damiba, who had himself deposed the elected president in January 2022. Source: Al Jazeera

77. December 2022Hungary

    EU governments agreed to freeze €6.3 billion in EU funds for Hungary under the rule-of-law conditionality mechanism, citing rule-of-law problems and corruption. Source: Investigate Europe

78. 2023

79. January 3, 2023Tanzania

    Hassan lifted the 2016 ban on political rallies, which critics said had targeted the opposition. Source: Al Jazeera

80. February 9, 2023Nicaragua

    Nicaragua freed 222 political prisoners, flew them to Washington and stripped them of citizenship. Source: NPR

81. February 15, 2023Nicaragua

    A further 94 critics, including writers Sergio Ramírez and Gioconda Belli, were declared 'traitors' and told they would lose citizenship and property. Source: NPR via Northern Public Radio

82. March 10, 2023Georgia

    After three nights of mass protests, during which police used tear gas and water cannon, parliament voted down a 'foreign agents' bill. The government had said the bill was modelled on the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and was meant to increase transparency. Source: Al Jazeera

83. March 28, 2023Myanmar

    The military government dissolved 40 parties, including the NLD, for failing to re-register under a new law. Source: AP via KSAT

84. July 26, 2023Sahel

    Niger: The presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum and its commander, Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, took power. Source: Al Jazeera

85. September 16, 2023Sahel

    Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger signed a mutual-defence pact creating the Alliance of Sahel States. Source: Africanews

86. December 12, 2023Hungary

    Parliament passed the Act on the Protection of National Sovereignty, which created a Sovereignty Protection Office empowered to investigate activities carried out on behalf of foreign interests. In February 2024 the European Commission opened infringement proceedings over the law. Source: JURIST

87. December 17, 2023Serbia

    After snap elections, a joint international observer mission said 'the decisive involvement of the President dominated the electoral process'. It also reported misuse of public resources, pressure on voters including cases of vote buying, and media coverage dominated by the ruling parties. Source: OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (joint observer statement)

88. 2024

89. February 4, 2024El Salvador

    Bukele won re-election with about 83% of the vote, despite a constitutional ban on consecutive terms. Source: Voice of America

90. February 16, 2024Russia

    The prison service announced that Navalny had died in an Arctic penal colony. His family and allies blame the Kremlin; officials gave no cause beyond saying he lost consciousness after a walk. Source: Novaya Gazeta Europe

91. March 15–17, 2024Russia

    Putin won a fifth term with about 87% of the official vote. AP reported that independent monitoring was 'extremely limited' and that critics were jailed or in exile. Source: AP via PBS NewsHour

92. May 25, 2024Sahel

    Burkina Faso: A new charter extended military rule by five years and allowed Traoré to run in eventual elections. The junta cited the security crisis. Source: Africanews

93. May 28, 2024Georgia

    Parliament overrode the president's veto and enacted a 'transparency of foreign influence' law. It requires media and NGOs that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as pursuing a foreign power's interests. Georgian Dream said the law counters harmful foreign actors; the EU said it harms Georgia's EU path. Source: AP via Anchorage Daily News

94. July 28–30, 2024Venezuela

    The electoral council declared Maduro the winner without publishing polling-station results. The Carter Center said the election 'cannot be considered democratic'. Source: The Carter Center

95. August 2024Nicaragua

    The government revoked the legal status of 1,500 NGOs, most of them religious, bringing closures since 2018 to more than 5,000. Source: AFP via The Standard

96. October 26, 2024Georgia

    Georgian Dream was declared the winner of parliamentary elections with about 54%. ODIHR said election-day practices 'compromised the ability of some voters to cast their vote without fear of retribution'. The prime minister said ODIHR found no irregularities at 76% of the stations it observed. Source: RFE/RL

97. November 1, 2024Serbia

    A concrete canopy collapsed at the renovated Novi Sad railway station, eventually killing 16 people. Many Serbians blamed corruption-linked renovation work, and student-led protests followed. Vučić accused protesters of 'terrorizing' people. Source: AP via ABC News

98. November 16, 2024Uganda

    Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye was abducted in Nairobi and brought before a military court in Kampala days later. Source: Amnesty International

99. November 28, 2024Georgia

    Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said EU accession would be off the agenda until the end of 2028, accusing European politicians of 'blackmail'. Mass protests followed. Source: Al Jazeera

100. December 14, 2024Georgia

     Mikheil Kavelashvili, Georgian Dream's nominee, was elected president by a 300-member electoral college that the party controls. Outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili called the vote 'a parody'. Source: Voice of America

101. December 23, 2024Georgia

     Human Rights Watch reported that local monitors had counted more than 460 protesters arrested since November 28, with more than 300 detainees alleging ill-treatment or torture. Source: Human Rights Watch

102. 2025

103. January 28, 2025Serbia

     Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned after weeks of protests and an attack on a student allegedly carried out by ruling-party supporters. Source: Al Jazeera

104. January 29, 2025Sahel

     ECOWAS said the three states' withdrawal from the regional bloc had formally taken effect. Source: Reuters via Arab News Pakistan

105. January 30, 2025Nicaragua

     The National Assembly gave final approval to a constitutional reform making Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo 'co-presidents' and extending the term to six years. Source: AP via NY1

106. January 31, 2025Uganda

     The Supreme Court ruled that military courts lack jurisdiction over civilians. Source: Human Rights Watch

107. March 15, 2025Serbia

     More than 100,000 people rallied in Belgrade, one of the largest protests in decades. The government denied corruption allegations and said Western intelligence agencies were backing an effort to destabilise Serbia. Source: Reuters via The Star

108. March 15–16, 2025El Salvador

     The U.S. sent about 250 deportees, mostly Venezuelans it accused of gang membership, to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison despite a federal judge's order to halt the flights. Source: NPR

109. March 18, 2025Turkey

     Istanbul University annulled the degree of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a requirement for running for president. His lawyer called the decision null and void; the government denies pressuring institutions. Source: Reuters via The Star

110. March 19–23, 2025Turkey

     İmamoğlu was detained and then jailed pending trial on financial-crime charges, and was removed from office. Hundreds of thousands protested. The government says the courts are independent; İmamoğlu calls the case a 'smear campaign'. Source: Al Jazeera

111. March 26, 2025Sahel

     Niger: Tchiani was sworn in for a five-year transition under a charter that replaced the constitution. Source: Africanews

112. April 1, 2025Georgia

     Parliament passed a Foreign Agents Registration Act that extends the 'foreign agent' definition to individuals and sets penalties of up to five years in prison for failing to register. Georgian Dream said it was modelled on US FARA. Source: Kyiv Independent

113. April 10, 2025Tanzania

     Chadema leader Tundu Lissu was charged with treason, a non-bailable offence, over remarks urging election reform or boycott. He denies the charges. Source: Amnesty International

114. April 12, 2025Tanzania

     The electoral commission disqualified Chadema from the 2025 elections after it refused to sign the electoral code of conduct. Source: AFP via Arab News Pakistan

115. May 20, 2025El Salvador

     The Assembly passed a Foreign Agents Law requiring recipients of foreign funding to register and taxing that funding at 30%. Human Rights Watch said it 'stifles dissent'. Source: Human Rights Watch

116. June 16, 2025Uganda

     A new law signed by Museveni restored military trials of civilians in certain circumstances, five months after the Supreme Court ruling. Source: Africanews

117. July 3, 2025Sahel

     Mali: After all political parties were dissolved in May, the transitional parliament granted Assimi Goïta a five-year mandate renewable 'until the pacification of the country' without elections. Source: Al Jazeera

118. July 31, 2025El Salvador

     By 57 votes to 3, the Assembly amended the constitution to allow indefinite presidential re-election, lengthen terms to six years and abolish the runoff. Source: AP via Maine Public

119. July 31, 2025Myanmar

     The military ended the state of emergency after seven six-month decrees. Min Aung Hlaing became acting president and head of a new security commission ahead of elections. Source: AP via The Washington Times

120. August 6, 2025Georgia

     A court sentenced Mzia Amaglobeli, founder of Batumelebi and Netgazeti, to two years in prison over a January 2025 incident in which she slapped Batumi's police chief. CPJ called the sentence 'disproportionate and politicized'. Source: Committee to Protect Journalists

121. August 12–13, 2025Serbia

     Government supporters and protesters clashed in Vrbas and other towns, leaving dozens injured, including 16 police officers. Each side said the other attacked first. Source: AP via PBS NewsHour

122. October 4, 2025Georgia

     During local elections boycotted by the largest opposition blocs, some protesters tried to break into the presidential palace in Tbilisi; police used water cannon and pepper spray. Five activists were charged with calling for the overthrow of the authorities. Georgian Dream said it won every municipality. Source: Reuters via The Star

123. October 31, 2025Georgia

     Georgian Dream MPs filed a Constitutional Court suit to ban three opposition parties. Later filings added the Federalists (April 21, 2026) and For Georgia (September 24, 2026). Source: JAMnews

124. November 1, 2025Tanzania

     Hassan was declared the winner with 97.66% amid protests and internet restrictions. The foreign minister said no excessive force had been used. Source: Al Jazeera

125. December 28, 2025Myanmar

     The first phase of a three-stage election took place. The government said it marked a return toward democracy; a UN expert called it 'theater of the absurd performed at gunpoint'. Source: AP via Manila Bulletin

126. 2026

127. January 3, 2026Venezuela

     U.S. forces struck Caracas, captured Maduro and flew him to New York to face a narco-terrorism indictment. His government called it an 'imperialist attack'. Source: AP via PBS NewsHour

128. January 5, 2026Venezuela

     Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president, keeping Maduro's party in power. Source: Al Jazeera

129. January 10, 2026Nicaragua

     Under U.S. pressure, the government released dozens of political prisoners, describing it as 'reconciliation'. The U.S. Embassy said more than 60 people remained unjustly detained or disappeared. Source: AFP via The Tico Times

130. January 17, 2026Uganda

     Museveni was declared winner of an election held under an internet blackout, with 71.65%. Bobi Wine called the results fabricated. Source: NPR via KPBS

131. January 28, 2026Uganda

     Human Rights Watch documented a military siege of Bobi Wine's home, enforced disappearances of opposition officials and charges against at least 118 opposition supporters. Source: Human Rights Watch

132. January 29, 2026Sahel

     Burkina Faso: The junta dissolved all political parties, saying their proliferation had 'fuelled divisions among citizens'. Source: DW via AllAfrica

133. January 31, 2026Myanmar

     The military-backed USDP won large majorities in both houses, with the military holding a quarter of seats by right. ASEAN said it would not endorse the process. Source: Al Jazeera

134. March 9, 2026Turkey

     The mass trial over alleged corruption at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality opened with about 400 defendants, with İmamoğlu facing 142 charges. Source: Hürriyet Daily News

135. April 3, 2026Myanmar

     The new parliament elected coup leader Min Aung Hlaing president with 429 of 584 votes. Source: Al Jazeera

136. April 6, 2026Venezuela

     Rodríguez remained acting president after the initial 90-day period ended, without a public legislative vote extending it. Source: AP via Fox5 Vegas

137. April 12, 2026Hungary

     Péter Magyar's Tisza party defeated Fidesz on record turnout, winning a two-thirds majority. Orbán conceded and said he had congratulated the winners. Magyar was sworn in as prime minister on May 9, 2026. Tisza's final total was 141 of 199 seats. Source: Al Jazeera; Euronews

138. April 23, 2026Tanzania

     A government-appointed inquiry found 518 people died of unnatural causes in the post-election violence, 197 of them shot. Hassan defended the security forces; Chadema called the report a cover-up. Source: BBC via Citi Newsroom

139. July 3, 2026Hungary

     Parliament amended the media law. The amendments ended the mandates of the Media Council and of public-media leaders and created a nine-member Independent Public Media Board, with members nominated by governing parties, opposition parties and media-sector organisations. Fidesz-KDNP voted against and criticised the lack of public consultation. Source: Telex English / 444 Insight Hungary

140. July 12, 2026El Salvador

     Nuevas Ideas nominated Bukele for a third consecutive term in the February 2027 election. Supporters credit the state of emergency for record-low homicides; rights groups report more than 500 deaths in custody. Source: AP via The Daily Gazette

141. July 13, 2026Hungary

     Parliament voted 139 to 6 for a constitutional amendment that ended President Tamás Sulyok's term; Fidesz boycotted the session. Sulyok signed it on July 18 but said it harmed the rule of law. Human Rights Watch said the changes were 'reminiscent of (the) Fidesz era', while the government said it was dismantling a captured state. Source: Al Jazeera

142. July 19, 2026Nicaragua

     Ortega said, as translated by Reuters, 'There won't be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government'. AP reported this effectively cancels the election due in November 2027. Source: Al Jazeera

143. September 18–20, 2026Russia

     United Russia won 349 of 450 State Duma seats. The anti-war Yabloko party was excluded from the national party-list ballot, and there was no recognized international observation. Source: International IDEA Democracy Tracker

144. September 27, 2026Serbia

     Vučić, constitutionally barred from a third presidential term, resigned the presidency to run for prime minister in an October 25 snap election. Speaker Ana Brnabić became acting president. Source: AP via NY1

145. October 21, 2026Georgia

     The Constitutional Court opened hearings in Batumi on the five-party ban and rejected all opposition motions. A ruling is due by June 24, 2027. The prime minister calls the parties 'inherently unconstitutional'; the opposition calls the case politically motivated. Source: JAMnews; RFE/RL

146. October 25, 2026Serbia

     The opposition Student List won a majority in snap elections and Vučić conceded: 'It is clear that we have lost these elections.' After repeat voting, results gave the Student List 53.01% against 38.98% for Vučić's United Serbia. Source: Al Jazeera

147. October 28, 2026Tanzania

     Human Rights Watch said no one had been arrested for the killings a year on, and that Lissu's treason trial was continuing. Source: Human Rights Watch

148. October 29, 2026Venezuela

     Rodríguez said Venezuela would hold all constitutionally required elections under a 'renewed' electoral authority, but set no date. Source: EFE via Emol