World Politics Digest thread

Joe_ Public

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117914678#Comment_117914678

Yes, quite likely you'll get a bit of stirring up along those lines in some quarters. But can't see there could possibly be any substance behind it as all the main parties, excepting AfD, are quite firmly pro EU and AfD, while maintaining a steady 10-11%, don't look like gaining any ground. Even should Scholz, the centre left SPD candidate, take over, he doesn't come across all that fundamentally different from Merkel to me. It all suggests continuity either way, just with a 3 party rainbow coalition instead of 2. Adam Boulton signed off his show this morning saying he'd be presenting from Berlin next Monday, so they'll definitely be giving it some welly anyway!

Brussels Sprout

Presented without comment: Putin's United Russia is on track to be the winner of the Russian parliamentary election:

With almost all of the votes counted, the United Russia party had won nearly 50% of the vote, marking a slight drop in support from the previous election.

Mr Putin's biggest critics were barred from running, and there were reports of ballot stuffing and forced voting.

Russia's electoral commission rejected claims of widespread irregularities.

With more than 99% of votes counted, United Russia's closest rival, the Communist Party, had about 19% of the vote, according to the election commission.

United Russia's victory means it will have more than two-thirds of the 450 seats in the country's parliament, officials say.

link

Itssoeasy

https://youtu.be/FplSFOFX_dw

Anyone who wants to watch the election coverage of the Canadian election results can so from midnight Irish time.

For Forks Sake

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117916664#Comment_117916664

Unsurprisingly there are masses of instances of voter fraud being reported.

https://twitter.com/darthputinkgb/status/1439541381840740352

OneColdHand

Canadian election being called as a Liberal minority. Same as before, basically. Looking like very little change.

HalloweenJack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117914678#Comment_117914678

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58498231

I freely admit to not agreeing with Katya Adler on a lot of things so I can't give a truly unbiased opinion on the piece but there were some conclusions that felt simplistic and playing to the crowd.

Abyway, I'll put it out there for others to decide.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117917989#Comment_117917989

Are there any primers out there for the basics in Canadian politics? Their southern neighbors dominate debates so much I couldn't name a party or politician bar Trudeau (and eveb then couldn't speak to his Politics).

Itssoeasy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117921099#Comment_117921099

Well the Canadian follow the UK in their system by having a House of Commons and an upper house. From watching the coverage of it, the liberal party and conservatives in Canada seem to follow labour and the conservative in that they’ve shared the top job in the history of Canada and have the same colours. The NDP(New Democratic Party) would probably be the Lib Dems, and their the French Canadian party Bloc Québécois which would be like the SNP, and the greens are the greens. That’s a very very general overview and there’s obvious nuances.

OneColdHand

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117921216#Comment_117921216

That's it in a nutshell. I'm no expert on Canadian political history, but I live here now, so take a general interest.

There's also PPC (People Party of Canada) who are comparable to UKIP. They won a huge number of votes, but got no seats. It seems these votes have cost the conservatives a number of seats.

This episode of this podcast gives a good overview of the outcomes of this election and where each party will go form now:

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/209-front-burner/episode/15867419-election-changes-little-liberal-minority-continues

Itssoeasy

I meant to say it for a country that is has the reputation of being efficient in many ways, it’s doesn’t stretch to their election set up. It’s a very un German like set up and given that’s it’s an unclear picture for the upcoming election, I don’t think the bizarre election set up will help.

Joe_ Public

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117922450#Comment_117922450

I'd be a bit unclear as to what is specifically inefficient about it tbh? Is it that no one party is likely to achieve a majority? No single party has done so in German post war history, so there's nothing new there, coalitions are the lifeblood of their political representative system. Not unusual to have 3 or even 4 parties making up the government, plus with their federal system, local representation is accorded considerable weight. Scotland and I think New Zealand use a similar system now, I'm sure others too.

Capt'n Midnight

Kim Yo-jong says North Korea open to ending Korean war if conditions met

She's the sister and heir apparent and the critical timeline may be the presidential election down south in March.

"What needs to be dropped is the double-dealing attitudes, illogical prejudice, bad habits and hostile stand of justifying their own acts while faulting our just exercise of the right to self-defence," she said in a statement.

"Only when such a precondition is met, would it be possible to sit face to face and declare the significant termination of war."

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117922795#Comment_117922795

The way that the total number of seats in Parliament is not fixed and is actually dependent on the election results is a bit messed up. It's a situation like the House of Lords where it seems to keep on increasing in size. I know they have a large population but they currently have 709 seats in the Bundestag and that will apparently increase due to the larger number of parties who are meeting the 5% threshold. It's already after surpassing the European Parliament (705 seats). The Irish Times Politics podcast were discussing it the other day. The correspondent basically said that all of the parties know it's unsustainable but they cannot agree on a solution to remedy it.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117938000#Comment_117938000

That's madness. Where are parties disagreeing on attempts to address the growth of representatives? The actual number or something more granular? Presumably the smaller parties are just terrified of losing swathes of seats, cos no jobs industry ever voted against their interests. What about the big three though?

Joe_ Public

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117938000#Comment_117938000

Fair point, that does seem to be an obvious glitch alright. It also would seem eminently solvable by reducing the number of electoral districts or some other alternative means of capping the numbers. That would require multi party consensus, though, and we know how tricky that can be when competing interests are at play! I'm sure i read somewhere that broad agreement was reached on dealing with it for subsequent elections, but not 100% on the details tbh.

Itssoeasy

This German election is looking like it will be very close. First exit polls at 6pm our time.

Joe_ Public

Bad start to polling day for the gaffe prone Laschet. Not being able to cast your vote properly not exactly the choice look for a wannabe leader of the EUs foremost economy.

https://twitter.com/TheLocalGermany/status/1442142430787031043?s=20

Itssoeasy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117941908#Comment_117941908

I saw it earlier. That should be a layup for a politician doing the obligatory photo op on Election Day.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117941908#Comment_117941908

...cause folding your ballot paper the wrong way is an astonishing failure in life, and clearly shows the lack of leadership skills in a person! serious?

Joe_ Public

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117941965#Comment_117941965

Yeah, who said any of that? The fact that on polling day, with millions left to vote and record numbers of undecideds, there's a flash of headlines about one of the lead candidates mucking up his vote, is not exactly the best look. That is all.

Itssoeasy

well that exit poll is as clear as mud. The two main parties are tied on 25% each.

Nody

On a different note Switzerland has voted by a heavy margin yes to same sex marriages; preliminary vote at 64% yes. They have had partnerships since 2007 but not marriage which has meant no possibility for adopting, issues with non EU spouses etc.

According to results provided by the Swiss federal chancellery, 64.1 per cent of the electorate voted in favour of same-sex marriage in the nationwide referendum that was conducted under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy.

The nation’s federal government and parliament had already approved the amended “Marriage for All” legislation, but opponents led by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) forced a referendum on the issue.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117941999#Comment_117941999

sorry i dont get it at all, its only a mistake, and a media source is making something out of nothing, that really is nothing at all

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942218#Comment_117942218

Funny how this keeps happening; ask the people and surprise surprise, they favour equal marriage, despite any waffle from those pleading Silent Majorities. They're not in the EU but it's an interesting parallel to the situation in Hungary, whose own upcoming referendum is so blatantly stacked and leading, it's hard to see that scenario getting better any time soon

Joe_ Public

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942270#Comment_117942270

It's not just one mistake, though, is it, but one in a catalogue of gaffes and blunders that have dogged his campaign from the outset, including that time he was caught laughing off camera as his president was addressing flood victims. If today had been just one isolated error, it wouldn't be so newsworthy. He may yet be chancellor, but the guy seems incredibly gaffe prone and that I would say is why the ballot faux pas generated such attention.

Joe_ Public

Looks like the SPD has won Merkels former voting district. I don't think that was ever on the cards. Some speculation too that Laschet might not even make it to the bundesstag, which would be astonishing if accurate.

Wonder if there's any prospect of an SPD/Green/Linke alliance? Don't really see much talk about it so may be a long shot, but would seem a decent fit to me anyway. Possibly short of a majority way figures are looking, though.

Itssoeasy

The ruling government in the Czech Republic have lost the election held yesterday and today.

The Austrian chancellor has resigned during a televised speech over corruption allegations.

Itssoeasy

And now the Czech president has been taken to intensive care after talks about forming a government after the election result yesterday. Do the Czech Republic have a Vice President ?

pixelburp

I have no idea whether in Brazilian politics, this is standard Bread & Circuses showboating, but looks like Bolosnaro could be in hot water over his mishandling of the CoVid crisis. Though as the article points out, proceeding with charges would require approval from an appointee by Bolsonaro, so it's probably unlikely.

A Brazilian Senate committee recommended that president Jair Bolsonaro face a series of criminal indictments for actions and omissions related to the world’s second highest Covid-19 death toll.

The seven-to-four vote on Tuesday was the culmination of a six-month committee investigation of the government’s handling of the pandemic. It formally approved a report calling for prosecutors to try Bolsonaro on charges ranging from charlatanism and inciting crime to misuse of public funds and crimes against humanity, and in doing so hold him responsible for many of Brazil’s more than 600,000 Covid-19 deaths.

The president has denied wrongdoing, and the decision on whether to file most of the charges will be up to prosecutor general Augusto Aras, a Bolsonaro appointee who is widely viewed as protecting him. The allegation of crimes against humanity would need to be pursued by the international criminal court.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/27/brazil-senators-support-criminal-charges-for-jair-bolsonaro-over-covid-crisis

Joe_ Public

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118079226#Comment_118079226

No real idea what kind of charges they can make stick against him, but the wave of anger against Bolsonaro seems pretty deep and genuine anyway. Awful human being, i hope they make him fully accountable for his actions (or lack of them, as the case may be!).