Millions vote in elections from Japan to Uruguay. Here's a quick look

It is a super week for Psephologists, experts who study elections and explain what's happening. Elections or election results are on screens in Japan, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Georgia and Uruguay.

The elections came in a bunch this year, and global affairs like Israel's war on Gaza, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and great power rivalry have dominated the discourse apart from local politics.

Japan and Gaza

In Japan, the ruling coalition has suffered a historic setback, losing its parliamentary majority for the first time since 2009, but at least two pro-Palestine lawmakers have returned to parliament after snap elections in Japan.

Akiko Oishi and Mari Kushibuchi, who represent the Reiwa Shinsengumi party, won the elections. The duo had become vocal in seeking an end to the war on Gaza.

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan voted in a parliamentary election on Sunday, in the absence of opposition parties, is certain to produce a legislature loyal to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev despite constitutional reforms bringing some procedural changes.

Uzbekistan has close economic ties with Russia, and millions of Uzbek migrant labourers work there. But Tashkent has remained neutral in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and has said it abides by Western sanctions against Moscow.

Bulgaria's EU dream

Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party won a parliamentary election on Sunday, preliminary results showed, but it will have to seek a coalition partner to form a government.

According to preliminary results from the state election commission based on a partial vote count, GERB won 26.08 percent of the votes.

Bulgarian plans to join the Eurozone have already been pushed back twice because of missed inflation targets. Accession is currently slated for January 25, 2025 and is likely to influence the voters.

Lithuania and Ukraine

Lithuania's centre-left opposition is set to win the parliamentary election, preliminary results showed, after a campaign dominated by concerns about the cost of living, social inequality and concerns about Ukraine war.

The Social Democratic Party secured 50 seats in the 141-seat parliament and is now hoping to build a coalition.

Whatever the power shift, it is not expected to affect the NATO and EU members' strong support for Ukraine amid security concerns about neighbouring Russia.

Lithuania ranks among the top three countries globally in terms of aid for Ukraine.

Lithuania is also among the top NATO spenders, allocating 3.2 percent of its GDP to defence this year, well above the NATO target of two percent.

Another Milei in Uruguay

In Uruguay, Centre-left opposition leader Yamandu Orsi and Alvaro Delgado of the ruling centre-right coalition will face off in a second round for the Uruguayan presidency on November 24.

Orsi, 57, and Delgado, 55, took a lead over nine rivals in the first round of voting on Sunday, but neither of them had enough votes to declare an outright victory.

The next closest candidate, who managed to garner 16 percent of the vote, was 40-year-old lawyer Andres Ojeda, the candidate from the Colorado Party, which is also part of the government coalition. Ojeda gained momentum with his unconventional way of doing politics, for which he is compared to Argentinian President Javier Milei.

Georgia's European slap

In Georgia, the governing Georgian Dream party received more than 54 percent of the vote in a parliamentary election.

Georgian Dream's founder Bidzina Ivanishvili campaigned heavily on keeping Georgia out of the war in Ukraine.

The results are a blow to pro-Western Georgian parties, who had cast the election as a choice between a governing party that has deepened ties with Russia, and an opposition that had hoped to fast-track integration with the European Union.