THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH Parties, elections and political ideas across the globe from an Australian perspective JUNE 2021 – THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH 5 posts published by Charles Richardson during June 2021. My name is Charles Richardson, and this is my blog. It mostly records my efforts to understand the world of politics and ideas; check out the information pages for some more explanation. THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR NEW CALEDONIA? It passed almost without a mention in the Australian media, but one of the big stories in our part of the world last week was the announcement that New Caledonia would go to the polls later this year, on 12 December, for a third and final referendum on the question of independence from France.. Readers may remember that the first referendum, in November 2018, recorded a “yes” vote for MAY ELECTORAL ROUNDUP Time for another look at recent electoral news from around the world. Samoa. Last month we looked at Samoa’s parliamentary election, where the addition of an extra member due to affirmative action had produced a 26-all tie.Prime minister Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, whose Human Rights Protection Party has been in power for almost 40 years, advised the head of state to dissolve MORE TROUBLE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN More trouble in the Mediterranean. Earlier this year we looked at the changing situation of Gibraltar, Britain’s colony at the southern tip of Spain, which may be the only place to have done well out of Brexit. This week the focus has shifted to the corresponding possession on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar, the Spanish
city of Ceuta.
TASMANIA WRAPS UP
Tasmania wraps up. Tasmania’s state election, held on 1 May, was finalised yesterday with completion of the distribution of preferences in all electorates (see my earlier report here ). The government of premier Peter Gutwein has retained its majority, and becomes the first Liberal government in the state’s history to win a third term. DICTATOR OVER-REACH IN BELARUS It’s been quite a while since we looked at Belarus, where a fraudulent election lest year led to a revolutionary situation. Since then, a stalemate has prevailed: president Alexander Lukashenko has been unable to crush his opponents and return the country to normality, but those opponents have been unable to marshal the force necessary to overthrow him. REVISITING THE “FASCISM” DEBATE Revisiting the “fascism” debate. Charles Richardson Political issues, United States 21 May 2020. 19 July 2020. Three or four years ago, as Donald Trump was first a surprise presidential contender and then an even more surprisingly elected president, there was a lot of discussion about the applicability of the term “fascist” to modern HOW GOOD IS PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION? Labour reached 49.1% of the vote to National’s 26.8%, enough for 64 seats or a majority of eight against all comers. At the first election held under proportional representation, in 1996, the two major parties won just 62.1% of the vote between them. But after 2002 that figure rose sharply, peaking at 78.9% in 2008 and then 81.3% in 2017. MADRID & SCOTLAND
Madrid & Scotland. There are no national elections on this week, but two very interesting regional elections are being held in Europe. Madrid went to the polls on Tuesday, and Scotland does the same tonight. Madrid was an early election, called halfway through a four-year term by premier Isabel Díaz Ayuso, of the centre-right People’s Party.
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH Parties, elections and political ideas across the globe from an Australian perspective JUNE 2021 – THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH 5 posts published by Charles Richardson during June 2021. My name is Charles Richardson, and this is my blog. It mostly records my efforts to understand the world of politics and ideas; check out the information pages for some more explanation. THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR NEW CALEDONIA? It passed almost without a mention in the Australian media, but one of the big stories in our part of the world last week was the announcement that New Caledonia would go to the polls later this year, on 12 December, for a third and final referendum on the question of independence from France.. Readers may remember that the first referendum, in November 2018, recorded a “yes” vote for MAY ELECTORAL ROUNDUP Time for another look at recent electoral news from around the world. Samoa. Last month we looked at Samoa’s parliamentary election, where the addition of an extra member due to affirmative action had produced a 26-all tie.Prime minister Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, whose Human Rights Protection Party has been in power for almost 40 years, advised the head of state to dissolve MORE TROUBLE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN More trouble in the Mediterranean. Earlier this year we looked at the changing situation of Gibraltar, Britain’s colony at the southern tip of Spain, which may be the only place to have done well out of Brexit. This week the focus has shifted to the corresponding possession on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar, the Spanish city of Ceuta.
TASMANIA WRAPS UP
Tasmania wraps up. Tasmania’s state election, held on 1 May, was finalised yesterday with completion of the distribution of preferences in all electorates (see my earlier report here ). The government of premier Peter Gutwein has retained its majority, and becomes the first Liberal government in the state’s history to win a third term. DICTATOR OVER-REACH IN BELARUS It’s been quite a while since we looked at Belarus, where a fraudulent election lest year led to a revolutionary situation. Since then, a stalemate has prevailed: president Alexander Lukashenko has been unable to crush his opponents and return the country to normality, but those opponents have been unable to marshal the force necessary to overthrow him. REVISITING THE “FASCISM” DEBATE Revisiting the “fascism” debate. Charles Richardson Political issues, United States 21 May 2020. 19 July 2020. Three or four years ago, as Donald Trump was first a surprise presidential contender and then an even more surprisingly elected president, there was a lot of discussion about the applicability of the term “fascist” to modern HOW GOOD IS PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION? Labour reached 49.1% of the vote to National’s 26.8%, enough for 64 seats or a majority of eight against all comers. At the first election held under proportional representation, in 1996, the two major parties won just 62.1% of the vote between them. But after 2002 that figure rose sharply, peaking at 78.9% in 2008 and then 81.3% in 2017. MADRID & SCOTLAND
Madrid & Scotland. There are no national elections on this week, but two very interesting regional elections are being held in Europe. Madrid went to the polls on Tuesday, and Scotland does the same tonight. Madrid was an early election, called halfway through a four-year term by premier Isabel Díaz Ayuso, of the centre-right People’s Party.
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH The World is Not Enough. Parties, elections and political ideas across the globe from an Australian perspective EXTREMES ON THE RETREAT IN GERMANY There’s been a thriving debate over the last year or so on whether (and to what extent) the Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a blow to the fortunes of far-right politics – or, as the media love to call it, “populism”. The jury is still out, but a state election in Germany yesterday provided a highly encouraging data point. The previous election in Saxony-Anhalt was in April 2016. MAY ELECTORAL ROUNDUP Time for another look at recent electoral news from around the world. Samoa. Last month we looked at Samoa’s parliamentary election, where the addition of an extra member due to affirmative action had produced a 26-all tie.Prime minister Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, whose Human Rights Protection Party has been in power for almost 40 years, advised the head of state to dissolve MORE TROUBLE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN More trouble in the Mediterranean. Earlier this year we looked at the changing situation of Gibraltar, Britain’s colony at the southern tip of Spain, which may be the only place to have done well out of Brexit. This week the focus has shifted to the corresponding possession on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar, the Spanish city of Ceuta.
CHILE SHIFTS LEFT
Chile went to the polls on Sunday to elect a constitutional convention, as mandated by a referendum last October in which a large majority voted to draft a new constitution. The results (available in Spanish here) show a pronounced swing to the left, although what effect this will have – either on the constitution or on Chilean politics in the future – is far from certain. MADRID & SCOTLAND
Madrid & Scotland. There are no national elections on this week, but two very interesting regional elections are being held in Europe. Madrid went to the polls on Tuesday, and Scotland does the same tonight. Madrid was an early election, called halfway through a four-year term by premier Isabel Díaz Ayuso, of the centre-right People’s Party.
FRANCE’S FAR RIGHT PLAYS TO THE BASE A year out from France's presidential election, Emmanuel Macron's strongest card is once again the disunity of his opponents, and especially the fact that the far right is at the head of the pack. LIZ CHENEY GOES DOWN Liz Cheney goes down. As expected, Republican members of the United States House of Representatives voted last night to remove Liz Cheney from her position as chair of the party conference, the third-ranking position (after minority leader and minority whip) in the party’s House leadership. Cheney’s offence, in her colleagues’ eyes, is WHAT DO THE “LIBERTARIANS” WANT? Ie, put another way, imagine one of those multi-panel memes HOW LIBERTARIANS SEE THEMSELVES: Peacefully minding their own business on their own land; carrying weapons they can brandish or even fire if absolutely necessary to stop lazy thugs attacking them or looting them (and if the police are too bureaucratic, too inefficient and/or too politically correct to help). BRITAIN DEBATES PREFERENTIAL VOTING, AGAIN Britain debates preferential voting, again. I mentioned earlier this month that the significance of local elections in Britain was “even less than usual,” due to Boris Johnson’s government being only 18 months into a five-year term. That hasn’t stopped a great deal of pundit ink being spilt on them, and a great deal of navel-gazing in Skip to content
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BRANDENBURG AND SAXONY Elections in two German states this weekend provide another opportunity for pundits to fret about the rise of the far right. So far, however, the centre-right is holding firm. SHARE THIS:
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STALIN’S CHOICE
An ominous anniversary in Europe, in a year rather full of them. There may still be lessons to learn. SHARE THIS:
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DEATH OF A DENIALIST The paradox of David Koch, who died last week, is that his political activism ended up empowering forces that were deeply hostile to his libertarian convictions. SHARE THIS:
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ON CHANGING A CONSTITUTION Australia's constitution is difficult to amend, and that's not a bad thing. But resistance to change is far from uniform. SHARE THIS:
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23 August 2019
CENTRE-LEFT COMES TO THE PARTY IN ITALY Italy looks to be heading towards a coalition of some sort between the populists and the centre-left. Will Silvio Berlusconi join in? SHARE THIS:
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22 August 2019
OH NO, NOT 1975 AGAIN! Britain could be headed for a constitutional crisis that can be likened to that of 1975 in Australia. But the differences are more revealing than the similarities. SHARE THIS:
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19 August 2019
BREXIT REVISITS THE CIVIL WAR Like its Italian counterpart, the British parliament faces big decisions about whether to bring down a government and what to put in its place, but it does so under somewhat different constitutional rules.
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15 August 201916 August 2019 PARLIAMENT VS EXECUTIVE IN ITALY The Italian far right is making its bid for power, and it will take an unlikely degree of unity among its opponents to stop it. SHARE THIS:
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12 August 2019
FROM BRISBANE TO KASHMIR The world may yet pay a dreadful price for having failed to address the issue of Kashmir when it might have been resolved peacefully. SHARE THIS:
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8 August 2019
BETTING ON BREXIT
Betting odds on the Brexit options reveal a rather unexpected conjunction of opinions. SHARE THIS:
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