Democracy Tracker
The Democracy Tracker provides event-centric, monthly information on democracy and human rights developments in 173 countries. Event reports describe a change to the status-quo of the state of democracy at the country level. They include a description of the event, indications of the specific aspects of democracy that have been impacted, the magnitude of the impact, links to original sources and keywords to enable further research. Click on the country hexagons below to read the most recent developments, or hover over to the country profiles menu at the top to access the full data and analysis of a specific country.
Positive and Negative Events in May 2025
Australia
Chile
Colombia
Cyprus
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Italy
Kenya
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Liberia
Pakistan
Philippines
Republic of Moldova
Senegal
Syrian Arab Republic
Tajikistan
Argentina
Bangladesh
Burundi
Congo
El Salvador
Ethiopia
France
Georgia
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Israel
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Pakistan
Russian Federation
South Sudan
United States of America
Mali
*Assessments are relative to each country and do not represent comparisons or rankings between countries.
May 2022
Malaysia
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Critical Events To Watch in May 2025
Asia and the Pacific • Bangladesh
On 12 May, the interim government imposed a temporary ban on the Awami League (AL), former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's party, restricting the party’s online and offline political activities, including rallies and protests. The ban, executed under the amended Anti-Terrorism Act, follows protests calling for AL to be designated a terrorist organization. Shortly thereafter, the Election Commission suspended AL’s registration, disqualifying AL from contesting polls. The ban will remain in place until the country’s domestic war crimes tribunal – the International Crimes Tribunal - concludes its trial against the party and its leaders over the deaths from last year’s anti-government protests. The ban also coincides with an ordinance that expands the Tribunal's reach to include collective political organizations, rather than just individuals. Rights experts and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volter Turk have noted that the ban restricts rights rather than promoting accountability in a trial that could potentially last years.
Americas • El Salvador
On 20 May, the Legislative Assembly passed an executive-initiated Foreign Agents Law, which entered into force on 7 June. The legislation establishes a Foreign Agents Registry and mandates organizations and private individuals that receive foreign funds to register as ‘foreign agents.’ It also requires that they label their reports and other documents to indicate that they are financed by a foreign agent. Affected parties will have to pay a 30 per cent tax on all funds received from abroad and risk hefty fines or the cancellation of their registration for non-compliance. President Bukele and the legislature justify the measure as needed to ensure transparency and accountability, stating that the resulting revenue will be used to support local charities and public works; when announcing the bill, Bukele lambasted some civil society for their criticism of the government. The new legislation will severely impact the work of civil society and independent media, who will now face overly burdensome reporting and fiscal obligations.
Europe • Bosnia and Herzegovina
On 22 May, the Bosnian state court sentenced Vojin Pavlović, head of the NGO Eastern Alternative, to two and a half years in prison for genocide denial and glorifying war criminals. The ruling is one of the first genocide denial convictions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). In 2023, Pavlović publicly displayed banners celebrating the anniversary of the Srebenica genocide and the birthday of Ratko Mladić, the former military commander convicted of genocide and other war crimes by the Hague Tribunal in 2017. The court cited incitement to hatred in its decision and argued that Pavlović’s actions created a sense of fear and insecurity among war victims and survivors. The presiding judge described the verdict as a significant step forward in addressing genocide denial. Genocide denial was included as an offence in BiH’s criminal code in 2021. The Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide has criticized the judiciary for not taking sufficient action to prosecute genocide denial under the legislation. The verdict can be appealed.
Africa • Liberia
On 13 May, Liberia’s House of Representatives elected a new Speaker, breaking a six-month deadlock between two factions over the leadership of the lower chamber. During this period, the factions have held separate and uncoordinated sittings under rival speakers, thereby disrupting parliamentary processes and raising political tensions within and outside the House. The split was precipitated by a failed attempt from the larger grouping (the Majority Bloc) to impeach the then Speaker and opposition representative Jonathan Fonati Koffa over alleged corruption and poor governance, prompting it to break away and unilaterally elect its own speaker, Richard Nagbe Koon (a representative of the ruling Unity Party). Despite an April Supreme Court ruling reaffirming him as the legitimate Speaker, Koffa resigned on 12 May, citing declining parliamentary support and the government’s insistence on working with the Majority Bloc. Koon was elected as Speaker by a reunified House the following day.
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Democracy Notes & Commentary
Intervju med Ahmed Abdirahman om politiskt deltagande bland olika befolkningsgrupper i Sverige
May 22, 2025
Q&A: Ahmed Abdirahman on the political participation of ethnic minority Swedes
May 22, 2025
Q&A: Sanaa Alsarghali on the future of Palestinian internal governance
May 21, 2025
Monthly Event Reports
See all the information related to countries that have updates this month.
Africa
MLI
SSD
KEN
ETH
BDI
SEN
TCD
COG
COD
LBR
SDN
LBY
ZAF
MDG
ZWE
DZA
AGO
BEN
BWA
BFA
CMR
CAF
COM
CIV
CPV
DJI
EGY
GNQ
ERI
GAB
GMB
SWZ
GHA
GIN
GNB
LSO
MWI
MRT
MUS
MAR
MOZ
NAM
NER
NGA
RWA
SLE
SOM
TZA
TGO
TUN
UGA
ZMB
Americas
SLV
NIC
USA
VEN
COL
SUR
ARG
CHL
MEX
CAN
HTI
BRB
BOL
BRA
CRI
CUB
DOM
ECU
GTM
GUY
HND
JAM
PAN
PRY
PER
TTO
URY
Asia and the Pacific
KGZ
TJK
NZL
AUS
NPL
BGD
PAK
IDN
SGP
PHL
IND
TWN
LKA
MYS
MMR
TLS
AFG
JPN
BTN
KHM
CHN
PRK
FJI
KAZ
LAO
MDV
MNG
PNG
KOR
SLB
THA
TKM
UZB
VUT
VNM
Europe
ALB
ROU
POL
HUN
BIH
ITA
CYP
MDA
GEO
ESP
PRT
FRA
RUS
DEU
UKR
GBR
KSV
TUR
ARM
CHE
SVK
AUT
AZE
BLR
BEL
BGR
HRV
CZE
DNK
EST
FIN
GRC
ISL
IRL
LVA
LTU
LUX
MLT
MNE
NLD
MKD
NOR
SRB
SVN
SWE
Western Asia
SYR
LBN
ISR
IRQ
BHR
IRN
JOR
KWT
OMN
PSE
QAT
SAU
ARE
YEM
May 2022
Malaysia
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