The Sydney Morning Herald logo

World elections

Advertisement
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in her office in Copenhagen. For months, she has played a nervous game of brinkmanship with Donald Trump.

‘Not over yet’: After taking on Trump, Danish PM calls snap vote over Greenland

Mette Frederiksen will take the country to the polls on March 24, counting on her recent surge in popularity to take home the prize.

  • David Crowe

Latest

Cannabis was decriminalised in Thailand in 2022, leading to a boom in dispensaries.

Will a new government breathe life into Thailand’s gasping cannabis industry?

Weed parlours were everywhere in Bangkok, like pubs in London. But the trade has been a debacle of the former government’s own making.

  • Zach Hope

Japan’s election result is a geopolitical earthquake and a ‘very big deal’ for Australia

The Japanese people have just given Sanae Takaichi a super-majority in the parliament. It signals a period of great change ahead for one of Australia’s key allies.

  • Peter Hartcher
Sanae Takaichi places a red rose on the name of one of her winning candidates at the LDP party’s headquarters.

Landslide win for Japan’s fledgling ‘Trump whisperer’ an opportunity for Canberra

The victory vindicates Sanae Takaichi’s decision to take a firm hand with China, which has been increasingly assertive in the Indo-Pacific.

  • Lisa Visentin
Anutin Charnvirakul called the snap election in December amid the fallout over Thailand’s border conflict with Cambodia.

Thailand’s progressives crushed by conservatives in election surprise

Thailand’s conservatives are poised to form government after the youth-led reform movement and the political vehicle of the Shinawatra family suffered election shocks.

  • Zach Hope and Veena Thoopkrajae
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, right, is popular with younger voters, in part due to her willingness to break the mould like drumming KPOP songs with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

‘Not from central casting’: Japan’s unconventional leader puts it all on the line

Sanae Takaichi is banking on a snap election to give her the mandate to run the country the way she wants to.

  • Lisa Visentin
Advertisement
TOKYO, JAPAN - JANUARY 23: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (R) attends the plenary session of the lower house of the Diet on January 23, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. Takaichi dissolved the lower house of the National Diet, calling a snap election for February 8th. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)

Japan to hold early election as Takaichi aims to capitalise on her popularity

Elected in October as Japan’s first female leader, Takaichi has been in office only three months, but she has seen strong approval ratings of about 70 per cent.

  • Mari Yamaguchi
Japan South Korea Leaders play drums

The not-so-subtle message in cheesy moment between two leaders

Like all finely tuned pieces of diplomatic stagecraft, there was more to the friendly jamming session than matching tracksuits and K-pop hits.

  • Lisa Visentin
Voters line up to cast their ballots at a polling station in Naypyitaw, Myanmar.

As some boycott Myanmar’s flawed election, others hope for change

Voting is almost sure to favour the ruling military junta, which is stage-managing the polls but some see them as the most pragmatic way to try to improve conditions.

  • Sui-Lee Wee
Zohran Mamdani appears on the Flagrant podcast, with comedian Andrew Schulz.

Trump made this the new political test – Mamdani just showed the left how to ace it

Two weeks before the New York election, Zohran Mamdani appeared on an edgy anti-woke podcast. His answers had the host in stitches – and drew 1.9 million views.

  • Nathan Taylor Pemberton