Greece Calls New Election After Coalition Talks Fail

REUTERS.COM: Greece abandoned a nine-day hunt for a government on Tuesday and called a new election that threatens to hasten the nation's slide towards bankruptcy and a future outside the euro zone.

An inconclusive election on May 6 left parliament split between supporters and opponents of a 130 billion euro bailout deal which is reviled by Greeks for imposing deep wage, pension and public spending cuts.

A second election is expected to produce a similarly divided parliament, with opponents of the EU/IMF rescue consolidating their gains and raising the likelihood of an anti-bailout coalition that reneges on the deal keeping Greece afloat.

"For God's sake, let's move towards something better and not something worse," Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos told reporters after a meeting of party leaders failed to agree on a government of technocrats. "Our motherland can find its way, we will fight for it to find its way."

European leaders have said they will halt the aid if promises given in return for the bailout are not kept. If so, Greece could go bankrupt as early as next month. Analysts say that this will almost certainly herald a Greek return to its drachma national currency. » | Lefteris Papadimas and Dina Kyriakidou | ATHENS | Tuesday, May 15, 2012

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Merkel's Party Routed in Big German State

REUTERS.COM: Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday in an election in Germany's most populous state, a result which could embolden the left opposition to step up its criticism of her European austerity policies.

The election in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), a western German state with a bigger population than the Netherlands and an economy the size of Turkey, was held 18 months before a national election in which Merkel is expected to fight for a third term.

She remains popular in Germany for her steady handling of the euro zone debt crisis, but the sheer scale of her party's defeat leaves her vulnerable at a time when a backlash against her insistence on fiscal discipline is building across Europe.

According to first projections, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) won 38.8 percent of the vote and will have enough to form a stable majority with the Greens, who scored 12.2 percent.

The two left-leaning parties had run a fragile minority government for the past two years under popular SPD leader Hannelore Kraft, whose decisive victory on Sunday could propel her to national prominence.

Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) saw their support plunge to just 25.8 percent, down from nearly 35 percent in 2010, and the worst result in the state since World War Two.

"This is not a good evening for Merkel," said Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. » | Stephen Brown | Reuters | (Reporting by Stephen Brown and Tom Kaeckenhoff in Duesseldorf; Writing by Noah Barkin,Madeline Chambers, Sarah Marsh in Berlin) | Sunday, May 13, 2012

REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Rot-Grün gewinnt in NRW - Debakel für die CDU » | Sonntag, 13. Mai 2012

Greek Immigrants Urge Parties to Isolate Far-Right Golden Dawn

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Greece's immigrant community on Monday urged political parties to work together to isolate a far-Right, virulently anti-immigrant party that won more than 20 seats in parliament for the first time.

Chrysi Avgi, or Golden Dawn, regarded as a fringe group only a year ago, stunned political observers by winning 6.97 per cent – 21 seats – in Sunday's election.

Leader Nikos Michaloliakos, who gave the fascist salute upon taking his seat in the Athens town council two years ago, said: "The time for fear has come for those who betrayed this homeland."

Flanked by menacing shaven-headed young men who form the party's core, he added: "No one should fear me if they are a good Greek citizen. If they are traitors – I don't know." » | Alex Spillius, Athens | Monday, May 07, 2012

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Angry Greeks Send a Message by Punishing Parties of Austerity
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Greek voters on Sunday delivered a resounding message to Europe's leaders that their tolerance for austerity has reached its limits by choosing a parliament with a majority of MPs from anti-bailout parties.


The two mainstream parties that approved the second international £110 billion rescue loan and its stringent requirements for cuts were heavily punished as support surged for the Left and Right.

The shattering of the political status quo threw into doubt Greece's commitment to meeting the terms of its debt and could spread instability throughout the euro zone. Weeks of uncertainty are likely to follow as numerous parties vie to cobble a majority coalition, with a fresh election within two months a distinct possibility.

There will also be fears that ensuing political instability will see a return to the street violence that has scarred Athens since the debt crisis surfaced two years ago. » | Alex Spillius, Athens | Sunday, May 06, 2012

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Benjamin Netanyahu Calls Early Israel Election

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Israel was propelled into election season one year ahead of schedule on Sunday night with an announcement from Benjamin Netanyahu that the country will take to the polls in four months.

“I am not interested in a year and a half long election campaign that would damage the country. I would rather have a four-month swift election campaign that would bring political system to stability quickly,” Mr Netanyahu told fellow Likud party members during his opening address at their annual conference in Tel Aviv.

Mr Netanyahu praised leaders of rival parties, whom he conceded had “much to offer” but swiftly dismissed them as viable candidates to replace him as prime minister.

“The state of Israel cannot afford to have a prime minister without the economic, diplomatic and security experience necessary [for the job],” he said.

Mr Netanyahu's announcement had long been predicted by Israeli media and government officials. » | Phoebe Greenwood in Tel Aviv | Sunday, May 06, 2012

Syria Goes to Polls amid Deadly Unrest
For the first time in decades, Syria will hold multi-party elections on Monday. The parliamentary vote is seen by supporters of Bashar al-Assad as proof of his committment to political reform. But critics say it is anything but. Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reports on whether this election is likely to achieve any political change.

Pro-bailout Parties Weakened in Greece Vote
Greeks have voted heavily against austerity measures in Sunday's parliamentary poll. The country's two main political parties, both backers of the eurozone's stringent bailout scheme, suffered a dramatic fall in support. With no outright majority, the next government will most likely be a coalition. Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips reports from Athens.

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Greek Voters Punish Ruling Coalition Over Austerity
FRANCE 24: Voters delivered a blow to Greece's traditional ruling parties, the conservative New Democracy and the Pasok socialists, on Sunday as voters moved to anti-austerity parties on the far right and left. Nobody won enough votes to form a government.

AP: Furious Greeks punished the two parties that have dominated politics for decades in the crisis-battered country Sunday, leaving its multibillion dollar international bailout - and even its future in the euro currency - hanging in the balance.

With more than 83 percent of the vote counted, Greece appeared to be heading toward political stalemate. Nobody won enough votes to form a government, and the two parties that backed the bailout - the conservative New Democracy and socialist PASOK - conceded they need to win over adversaries to form a viable coalition.

“I understand the rage of the people, but our party will not leave Greece ungoverned,” said New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras.

New Democracy was leading with nearly 20 percent of the vote, which would give it 110 seats in the 300-member parliament. PASOK, which has spent 21 years in government since 1981 and stormed to victory with more than 43 percent in 2009, saw its support slashed to about 13.5 percent. It will have just 41 seats, compared to 160 in the last election.

The two parties saw their support plummet to the lowest level since 1974, when Greece emerged from a seven-year dictatorship. The outcome showed widespread public anger at the harsh austerity measures imposed over the past two years in return for rescue loans from other European Union countries and the International Monetary Fund. Without the funds, Greece faced a disastrous default that could have dragged down other financially troubled European countries and seen it leave the euro.

Voters who deserted the two mainstays of Greek politics in droves headed to a cluster of smaller parties on both the left and right, including the extremist Golden Dawn, which rejects the neo-Nazi label and insists it is nationalist patriotic. The movement has been blamed for violent attacks on immigrants and ran on an anti-immigrant platform, vowing to “clean up” Greece and calling for land mines to be planted along the country’s borders. The party looked set to win about 7 percent of the vote, giving it 21 deputies in parliament - a stunning rise for a group that earned just 0.29 percent of the vote in 2009. (+ video) » | News wires | Monday, May 07, 2012

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France, Greece and Germany Election Results Send Austerity Shockwaves Through Europe
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The stunning victory of the French Socialists and wipe-out of mainstream parties in Greece sent shock waves on Sunday night crashing throughout the continent of Europe.

François Hollande's election threws [sic] down the gauntlet to Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, who has railroaded the eurozone into agreeing a new "fiskalpakt" treaty enshrining Germany's austerity doctrine.

The economic doctrine of austerity, to cut the burden of state spending to free up the economy, has ruled supreme with the support all of Europe's leaders, the European Union and financial markets.

But political leaders were on Sunday night conceding the consensus had been shattered beyond repair.

With Europe's economies plunging further into recession and as unemployment in the eurozone breaks record levels, voters demands for a new approach had finally become to great to ignore.

The popular backlash to EU imposed austerity to the centrist New Democracy and Socialist parties in Greece threatens the existence of the euro itself.

Greece is potentially ungovernable as a minority government must try and pass a new raft of austerity measures next month which are a condition of an EU-IMF bailout and Greek membership of the euro.

In France, while Hollande, the Socialist President-elect is a centrist, he is sitting on a powder keg of resentment at measures that his government will have to pass if it is not spark a meltdown of financial markets.

He has refused to ratify the treaty unless the eurozone and EU also sign up to a "growth pact". » | Bruno Waterfield, Devorah Lauter in Paris and Matthew Day | Sunday, May 06, 2012

THE HUFFINGTON POST: Greece Elections 2012: Nikolaos Michaloliakos, Extreme Right Leader, Warns Greek 'Traitors': ATHENS, Greece -- The leader of an extreme-right, anti-immigrant party on course for shock success in Greece's general elections Sunday lashed out at those he described as "traitors" responsible for the country's financial crisis and said his party was ushering in a "revolution." ¶ The far-right Golden Dawn party is set to win 7 percent of the parliamentary vote, according to early projections, as Greeks punished the traditionally dominant parties who backed harsh austerity measures tied to debt-relief agreements. » | Nebi Qena | AP | Saturday, May 05, 2012

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Osborne Urges ‘100% Focus’ on Economy after Election Defeats
BBC: George Osborne has said his party will focus on what matters to the public amid criticism from Conservative MPs in the wake of local election defeats.

Some Tories have urged the coalition to drop plans for electing the House of Lords and legalising gay marriage in favour of more populist policies.

The chancellor told the BBC ministers should "focus 100%" on the economy and not get "distracted" by other issues.

But they would still do "socially progressive" things, he insisted.

He was responding to criticism of the coalition's direction and priorities from some Conservative-supporting newspapers and backbench Tory MPs.

On Wednesday, the coalition will outline its agenda for the next year in the Queen's Speech, as it tries to regain the initiative after both the Conservatives and the Lib Dems suffered heavy losses in local elections.

'Change direction'

Many Conservative MPs want ministers to use the occasion to assert more traditional Conservative priorities on issues such as welfare, crime and tax and either delay or abandon proposals to legalise gay marriage and reform the House of Lords, seen predominately as Liberal Democrat ideas.

Mr Osborne told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that "100% of our efforts need to be directed" at fixing the economy, which is back in recession. » | Sunday, May 06, 2012


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Battleplan to Avert Tory War

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron is planning a fightback to stop his party descending into civil war with a Queen’s Speech offering help to “striving” families and moves to create jobs.

The Prime Minister will produce a series of measures that he hopes will give “red meat” to Conservative backbenchers, who are calling for action to appeal to their core voters after poor local election results.

And he will offer an olive branch to his critics by avoiding Parliamentary legislation on the controversial High Speed 2 rail link and watering down plans to reform the House of Lords.

But he has faced criticism from MPs who said the party needed “sanity” — and Boris Johnson made a jibe at the Prime Minister’s misfortunes as he celebrated winning a second term as Mayor of London.

“We survived the rain, the BBC, the Budget and the endorsement of David Cameron,” Mr Johnson told supporters early on Saturday — then spoke of tax cuts and cutting waste as Mr Cameron went to London’s City Hall to congratulate him.

The joke emphasised the stark contrast between Mr Johnson’s victory and the Tories’ overall showing as one back-bench MP said he would be “very happy” to see the mayor as party leader.

Mr Cameron will start his fightback this week with the Queen’s Speech. » | Patrick Hennessy and Robert Watts | Saturday, May 05, 2012

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The Price of Treating Us with Contempt
MAIL ONLINE: Many will remember Henry Kissinger’s joke about the 1980s Iran-Iraq war: ‘It is a pity they can’t both lose’. That is the way millions of British people felt as they trudged to the polls, as if to a gallows, for Britain’s rag-bag of elections.

Seldom in modern history has the electorate felt so disenchanted with all the parties vying for its support. Tories ask what is Tory about David Cameron. Labour voters inspect the rabble heading their own party as if they were greenfly on the roses. Many of the dwindling band of Lib Dems look on their representatives in the Coalition as traitors to every potty value they hold dear.

The election turnout and outcome – a triumph for the Apathy Party no matter how many seats Labour gained – highlights disenchantment with the political process.

Most conspicuous was the expected victory of Boris Johnson in the London mayoral election. He professes to be a Conservative, but in truth is the sole member and spokesperson of the Boris Party, a self-promotional vehicle of supertanker proportions.

It is dismaying that he has become the most popular Conservative in Britain. Johnson is an undisputed whizz as a TV quiz-show panellist. But it is crazy to speak of him as a prospective prime minister. If Boris reached Downing Street, government would become a permanent pier-end panto, probably with a strip show thrown in.

Johnson’s defenders say he upholds ‘proper’ Conservative values such as Euroscepticism, a small state and low taxation. This is true but surely the British people deserve better than a comic, cad and serial bonker, however entertaining. Read on and comment » | Max Hastings | Friday, May 04, 2012

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Local Elections 2012: Thatcherism with a Posh Accent Is a Toxic Proposition
THE GUARDIAN: The Tories aren't in existential crisis, but discontent among voters is focused on the leadership cabal and the issue of class

Cast your eyes over these results, and feel the Tory pain. Harlow, Great Yarmouth, Reading, Plymouth, Thurrock – all southern bywords for the kind of places that decide British elections, and all lost to Labour. Ukip polling an average of 13% wherever it stood. Those half-baked plans for directly elected mayors met with a mixture of hostility and complete indifference.

The low chatter of Conservative angst that has been simmering since the budget has now suddenly risen in volume and urgency. So far, listening to such voices rather suggests that the critique of the Tories' woes needs a bit more work, but one thing is beyond doubt: almighty rows have broken out within the Conservative family.

There may be something in the idea being put about by those on the right of the party that Tory loyalists have been dismayed by the leadership's embrace of bits of metropolitan liberalism, but there again, do more hard-bitten Conservatives really have that much to complain about?

The idea of any leftward pull from the Lib Dems usually turns out to be a canard. The cuts highlight the fact that Thatcherism is in rude health. The welfare state is under assault. The NHS is being subjected to the outsourcing and fragmentation of Tory dreams, and our schools are falling victim to much the same, with the added bonus of a supposed return to old-fashioned discipline and academic rigour. Moreover, large swaths of the public remain in full accord with the supposed need for crushing austerity, are happy to watch benefit claimants being thrown [to] the wolves, and are hardly sold on the idea of Labour coming back to power – with or without Ed Miliband's still cloudy vision of "responsible capitalism". So what is going on?

Three factors speak for themselves: the dreadful state of the economy, the rising cost of living, and the widespread impression of simple incompetence. But that third explanation blurs over into something even more troubling to the Tory soul: the shortcomings of the coterie who currently lead the party, and the torturous issue of class. » | John Harris | Friday, May 04, 2012

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Local Elections: Labour Make Gains in England and Wales
BBC: Labour have won a string of victories in English and Welsh local elections - with shadow ministers claiming Ed Miliband is now on course for No 10.

The party is set to add more than 700 seats and has taken control of councils including Birmingham and Cardiff.

Based on results so far, Labour are projected to end up with a 39% national share of the vote, up three points, with the Tories down four on 31%.

The Lib Dems' share of the vote is estimated to be unchanged at 16%.

But the party has lost more than 125 seats - taking its total number of councillors below 3,000 for the first time since the party was formed in 1988. » | Friday, May 04, 2012

My comment:

I think one of the main causes for the Conservatives' drubbing is the fact that this government is perceived to be run for the benefit of the rich. Rich little overgrown schoolboys out to help their own kind. Added to that, Cameron's government endorses greed, and makes ordinary folk pay the high price of all the austerity cuts. Clearly, we are NOT all in this austerity thing together.

Then one has to witness all the U-turns. This, in itself, shows lack of competence. Before Cameron proposes anything, he should first check out its viability. He should ask himself if this policy plan is really do-able.

Further, he throws money around abroad like a drunken sailor, while at the same time cutting everyone else's lifeline at home. Savers, too, are being severely punished for their lifelong sensible approach to living within their means. Interest rates are appallingly low. One isn't even able to safeguard one's capital against the ravages of inflation, still less generate an income to live from. Little wonder the pensioners want Cameron and his clique punished.

For far too long in this country, politicians have been elected into office on a mandate to do one thing, but when they get into office, they do something else. They ignore the people's wishes, and end up doing things for which they have no mandate whatsoever. This government is very guilty of this. It must stop. People are fed up of being ignored.

Then there are all the restrictions we have to put up with. Conservatives are supposed to believe in less government, not more. Cameron, in this regard, is not a true Conservative, since his instincts are more left-wing. He seems to favour more control of everything, just like Labour does.

And what happened to all those useless laws he and Clegg were going to repeal after Blair's useless terms in office? Cameron and Clegg made a big thing upon taking up office of asking the people to let them know which laws they wanted scrapped. We have heard nothing about that ever since. It was all show.

I could go on. I won't. I have written enough for people to 'get my drift'. Cameron has now got a very steep hill to climb. It will be interesting to observe whether he'll be able to climb it. – © Mark

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France Election 2012: Islam Takes Centre Stage in Battle for France
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The Toulouse shooting, arrest of 30 Islamic radicals and expulsion of 10 more has all shone an uncomfortable light on France's Muslim community. But, as Harriet Alexander finds out, the politicians are revelling in the spotlight.

Mounia Bassnaoui is living on the edge. Since the 23-year-old decided a year ago to wear an Islamic veil, cloaking her body and head but leaving her face visible, she has been spat at, chased down the road and endured shouts of "al Qaeda!" from gangs of youths in her Paris neighbourhood.

She lost her job as a junior accountant with the government, owing to French regulations banning religious clothing in state buildings. And, despite being born in France to Moroccan parents, she feels she may have to leave the country for Holland or the UK.

"It's frightening at the moment," she said. "France is the worst place in Europe to be a Muslim, because the government is so against us. And if Nicolas Sarkozy is re-elected, it can only get worse."

But the sense of fear is, for many French voters, mutual. Last week French police launched the latest of a series of raids on suspected Islamic militants, detaining 10 people across the country in predawn arrests. Five Islamic fundamentalists were also kicked out of France or told not to return, and concerns over Islamic fundamentalism have made security one of the key talking points with two weeks to go in the presidential election campaign.

Supporters of Mr Sarkozy, battling for re-election, claim that he is being tough on dangerous radicals and protecting France. His opponents point out that stirring up fear of Islamic fundamentalists is a very convenient way of appearing as a strong, dynamic president.

And, ironically for a country which takes great pride in upholding secular values, the question of religion – specifically Islam – is taking awkward centre stage in the campaign in a way that would be unthinkable in Britain.

The three elements of immigration, security and Islamic fundamentalism are frequently spoken of in the same breath – and have always been a favoured topic for Mr Sarkozy, who made his name as interior minister by taking on the angry young men in the mainly Muslim suburbs of Paris during the 2005 riots.

In September, he decided to ban praying in the streets, after photos of Friday prayers spilling out onto the pavements were seized upon by far-Right candidate Marine Le Pen as evidence of a supposed Muslim takeover.

Early on in his presidential campaign this year, he decided that halal meat was "the issue that most preoccupies French voters", and promised to introduce a law enforcing the labelling of all meat killed in accordance with Islamic traditions.

And three weeks ago, when al-Qaeda admirer Mohamed Merah murdered seven people in a nine-day terrorist rampage through Toulouse, Mr Sarkozy was quick to return once again to his favoured themes of security, immigration and dangerous extremists. » | Harriet Alexander | Paris | Sunday, April 08, 2012

France Election 2012: Nicolas Sarkozy Promises to Protect France as He Unveils Manifesto

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to protect France from financial markets, terrorism, and uncontrolled immigration, arguing he is the best[-]placed candidate to defend the country against economic crises and globalisation.

Mr Sarkozy today unveiled a 32-point campaign platform for his second and final five-year term, much of which he has laid out previously in campaign speeches. The president also presented a 32-page letter to voters.

Speaking at the launch of his manifesto, he announced that France will seek to freeze its contirbution to the EU budget if Mr Sarkozy is re-elected.

"I announce to you that France will ask that its contribution to the EU budget be frozen, which will represent savings of around 600 million euros per year," he said.

In the letter, he focused on issues that he has been hammering away at for the past month, including cutting the number of immigrants to France by half, asking the European Union to demand more reciprocity in trade, and demanding that the unemployed seek job training. He repeated his goal to balance the budget by 2016, saying France would suffer the fate of southern European countries such as Spain if it's delayed. » | Source: Bloomberg | Thursday, April 05, 2012

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Sarkozy: François Hollande Would Destroy the French Economy within Two Days! »

Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi 'Wins Seat' in Historic Election

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Aung San Suu Kyi's party claims she has won a seat in Burma's parliament after Sunday's historic election, setting the stage for her to hold public office for the first time.

The victory, if confirmed, marks a major milestone in the Southeast Asian nation, where the military has ruled almost exclusively for a half-century and where the government is now seeking legitimacy and a lifting of Western sanctions.

The victory claim was displayed on a digital signboard above the opposition National League for Democracy's headquarters in Rangoon.

Earlier, the party said in unofficial figures that Ms Suu Kyi was ahead with 65 per cent of the vote in 82 of her constituency's 129 polling stations. Read on and comment » | Dean Nelson | Rangoon | Sunday, April 01, 2012

My comment:

If anyone deserves to win in this election, this lady does. She has suffered and struggled. My heartfelt congratulations to her. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Inside Story – Putin: Tsar or Reformer?
As Putin returns to serve a third term as president, we ask if Russia is heading in the right direction.

Conservative Wins Finland Presidential Vote
abc NEWS: A former finance minister won Finland's presidential election Sunday and will become the country's first conservative head of state in five decades.

Sauli Niinisto won 63 percent of the votes, compared to 37 percent for his rival, Greens candidate Pekka Haavisto, official results showed with 100 percent of ballots counted.

The 63-year-old Niinisto will become the first president from the conservative National Coalition Party since 1956, and the first in 30 years from a party other than the center-left Social Democrats.

He will replace Tarja Halonen, one of Finland's most popular heads of state, who has served the maximum two six-year terms.

"The president in Finland has to understand that there are many different thoughts and opinions and that they must be taken into account so that he could be the president of the whole nation," Niinisto said in his victory speech.

Finland's president has a largely ceremonial role with fewer powers now than in previous decades, and is not directly involved in daily politics. However, the head of state takes the lead on non-EU matters of foreign policy, is seen as an important shaper of public opinion, and plays a role as a "brand ambassador" of Finland overseas. » | Matti Huutanen, Associated Press | HELSINKI | Sunday, February 05, 2012

Egypt's Islamists: Threat or Opportunity?
As Islamists emerge from elections as the country's leading political force, we ask if Egyptians should be concerned.