ALBANIA
On 21 April 2008, the People's Assembly adopted a series of constitutional amendments, which came into force on the same day. Under the revised Constitution, the parliament will be dissolved automatically if the government loses a vote of confidence. Parliament will elect the president of the country by a simple majority vote in the fourth round of voting (previously 83 votes in the 140-member parliament were required). The amendments also changed the electoral system to a pure proportional representation (PR) system. Previously, the country had been using a mixed system under which 100 members were elected by majority vote while 40 were elected by PR in one nationwide constituency. The new system establishes closed party lists and allocates seats at the regional level. The threshold to win parliamentary representation will be 2.5 per cent for political parties and 4 per cent for coalitions. The governing and main opposition parties both supported the constitutional reforms.

BOLIVIA
On 28 February 2008, the National Congress adopted a law calling a constitutional referendum for 4 May. The draft constitution had been submitted to the Congress in December 2007 by the Constituent Assembly elected in July 2006. It includes a bill of rights and considerable autonomy for the country's 36 indigenous groups. Opponents of the draft argued that it places indigenous people above the rest of the population.

On 7 March 2008, the electoral authority postponed the referendum indefinitely, arguing it would be impossible to ensure “legal guarantees, sufficient time and an adequate electoral environment” on such short notice. On 8 May, the oppositioncontrolled Senate passed a bill ordering that fresh elections be held within 90 day for the offices of the President and Vice-President, and the nine regional governors. Those top officials will lose their mandate if more than 53.74 per cent (i.e. the share of votes won by the President in the December 2005 elections) vote to recall them. If that happens, fresh general elections will be held. On 12 May, President Morales set 10 August as the date for the recall election.

CAMEROON
On 11 April 2008, the National Assembly adopted a series of constitutional amendments which were ratified by President Paul Biya on 15 April. The amendments lifted the two-term limit for the President. Under the revised Constitution, the President is also granted immunity for acts committed during the tenure, even after leaving office. In case of a serious crisis, the President's term may be extended after consultation with President of the Constitutional Council and the bureaux of the National Assembly and the Senate. Although the 1996 Constitution provides for a bicameral parliament, the Senate had not been established as at May 2008. According to the constitutional amendments, the Senate will be elected by an electoral college of municipal councillors. The opposition Social Democratic Front criticized the amendments, saying they amounted to a "constitutional coup".

KENYA
The disputed presidential elections of December 2007 led to violent protests in which more than 1,600 people lost their lives. On 28 February 2008, under the mediation of former UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan, President Mwai Kibaki and his election rival, Mr. Raila Odinga, signed a powersharing agreement. The agreement provided for the creation of the post of Prime Minister (not provided for in the Constitution), who can only be removed by a no-confidence vote in Parliament. On 18 March, the National Assembly passed the Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill 2008 to create the office of Prime Minister and two Deputy Prime Ministers, which met with President Kibaki's approval on the same day. On 13 April, President Kibaki named Mr. Odinga as Prime Minister in a coalition cabinet comprising 40 ministers and 52 deputy ministers.

MALDIVES
On 13 April 2008, the People's Special Majlis (constituent assembly) voted for the 1998 Constitution to be repealed upon enactment of the new Constitution. The vote followed a heated debate in which opposition members argued that a newly introduced two-term limit for the President would be retroactively applicable to the incumbent President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. His Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP) argued that the country was to have a totally new constitution, thus the two-term limit should not apply to President Gayoom. The decision of the People's Special Majlis paved the way for Mr. Gayoom to stand for the presidential elections, due to take place in late 2008. The People's Special Majlis also decided that all posts and institutions stipulated in the draft constitution, including the parliament, should be installed within two years of enactment of the new Constitution. The term of the current legislature will therefore continue until the election of the new one.

MYANMAR
On 10 May, a constitutional referendum (see issues No. 28 and 29) was held one week after a huge cyclone hit the country, killing at least 77,000 people. The United Nations urged the authorities to postpone the referendum, but the military junta maintained the date for most of the country, postponing it to 24 May only in the cyclone-ravaged area. A total of 27 million of the country's 57 million inhabitants were eligible to vote. The military government argued that a constitution was the key condition for holding general elections in 2010. The pro-democracy movement urged voters to reject the referendum, arguing that the constitution favours the military junta by giving it 25 per cent of parliamentary seats. According to official results, 99.07 per cent of eligible voters turned out on 10 May, and 26 per cent on 24 May. Over 92 per cent of voters approved the new Constitution.

Under the new Constitution, nationals married to a foreigner are barred from running for public office. The provision is widely considered as a means of disqualifying prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running in the next elections.

ROMANIA
On 4 March 2008, the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) endorsed the new electoral law introducing the majority system and using singlemember constituencies for both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The newly introduced deposit for candidates has been fixed at five minimum wages. The opposition Greater Romania Party (PRM) argued the elections should be accessible to the poor, while the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR), a member of the governing coalition, insisted that the deposit should be lowered to three minimum wages. The President promulgated the new law on 12 March.

SERBIA
On 8 April 2008, the Constitutional Court ruled that the number of signatures to be collected for participation in elections must be the same for all parties, following a parliamentary initiative launched by the Serbian Radical Party (SRS). In the January 2007 elections, minority parties had been required to submit only 3,000 signatures as opposed to the required 10,000 signatures for all other parties. Although some minority parties had already collected over 10,000 signatures in preparation for snap parliamentary elections in May 2008, others were reportedly having difficulty meeting the new requirements.

TURKEY
On 30 April 2008, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey voted to amend Article 301 of the Penal Code, relaxing restrictions on free speech. On 7 May, President Abdullah Gul signed the amendment into law. The previous Article banned insults to "Turkishness", a vague term often used to clamp down on dissidents. Following the changes, denigrating "Turkishness" is no longer a crime, although insulting the Turkish nation still is. Ensuring freedom of expression has been a sine qua non condition in the country's bid to enter the European Union (EU). The EU welcomed the amendment, while some human right groups argued it did not go far enough.