Random Politics 2

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md0
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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby md0 » 2019-05-14, 3:56

but not because I find the parties so convincing.


Same. I have a candidate in mind who I hope is elected, and I have a European Parliament grouping that I wouldn't mind seeing get an extra seat or two. But I am not at all convinced by the local party on whose list the candidate is, and I really don't want to vote for them.

vijayjohn wrote:That sounds kind of like how Americans hear a lot more about the federal election than about the more local ones that actually matter more.

This but in reverse? :hmm:
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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-05-14, 4:14

md0 wrote:
vijayjohn wrote:That sounds kind of like how Americans hear a lot more about the federal election than about the more local ones that actually matter more.

This but in reverse? :hmm:

You hear more about the more local elections than about the European ones that matter more?

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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby md0 » 2019-05-14, 4:20

Yes. I think that's true for most if not all EU countries too. Maybe Germany and France take them seriously, but most countries don't.

In Cyprus, European Parliament elections have the lowest voter turnout of all island-wide elections, and they are treated as proxy local elections with less constraints and party loyalty (the main topic in this campaign season has been whether the Republic of Cyprus still exists - we are truly back to the basics).
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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-05-14, 4:29

md0 wrote:Yes. I think that's true for most if not all EU countries too.

Oh, OK. Here, i.e. in Texas, they seem to deliberately withhold information about what's going on at the local level (so left-wingers won't know).

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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby md0 » 2019-05-14, 4:35

Also, I think it's not easy to say that this or that election matters more, because the competences are often shared between member states and the EU executive.
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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby Aurinĭa » 2019-05-14, 6:20

vijayjohn wrote:That sounds kind of like how Americans hear a lot more about the federal election than about the more local ones that actually matter more.

As md0 said, we certainly don't hear more about the EU elections. I think it's partially because I've always been interested in the EU and I prefer the way the European Parliament works (no set majority, who sides with whom differs depending on the topic); and partially because the party I'm considering voting for for the European elections has some ideas that I really disagree with on the Flemish and federal levels.

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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby Car » 2019-05-14, 12:52

md0 wrote:Yes. I think that's true for most if not all EU countries too. Maybe Germany and France take them seriously, but most countries don't.


Not really:
https://www.bpb.de/nachschlagen/zahlen- ... -1979-2014
https://www.bpb.de/dialog/europawahlblo ... ropawahlen

That's the turnout in the European Parliament elections. Just to give you some idea: the last communal elections here in NRW had a turnout of ~50% and that's an all-time low.

If you look at the elections in the different federal states, the turnout is even higher, not to mention the federal elections.
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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-05-17, 6:02

Ugh, are we really about to go to war in Iran, too? People seem to be afraid that we are, but please say no.

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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby Johanna » 2019-05-22, 0:15

I'm definitely voting in the EU parliament elections, just trying to find a candidate that doesn't only belong to a party I like well enough but who deserves my personal vote too. I'm still a member of the Swedish Pirate Party and there is at least one candidate that has both the experience and the same view as me on the stuff this party pushes (the right for privacy online and going about cyber crimes the smart way, mainly), problem is that getting in is a long shot, and I really want to keep the far right from gaining even more seats.

I actually don't think I've ever missed an election or referendum since I turned 18, btw.
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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby md0 » 2019-05-22, 4:01

roblem is that getting in is a long shot

What voting system does Sweden use? It has to be proportional, but maybe it has a high electoral threshold?
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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby Naava » 2019-05-22, 6:37

I'm surprised how little there's been news about the EU elections. I've seen maybe two debates (note: of course I can be very blind at times, so this doesn't mean there's been only two debates :) ) and yesterday I got three pamphlets from candidates (of which two were from the same party; one personal and one for the whole party). And that's it. I've seen more talk about Eurovision than the elections, and I have a feeling the latter should be more important...

The lack of, well, everything to do with the elections is quite noticeable if compared to the parliament elections we had some time ago. It was everywhere for weeks: there were debates on TV, there were interviews on TV, there were interviews in newspapers, the amount of pamphlets I got made me feel like Harry Potter receiving his Hogwarts letters, there were people on the streets giving you pamphlets whether you wanted it or not (the only way to get rid of them was to let someone else be their victim and then quickly pass, averting eye contact; or saying "I already voted") and the sides of the roads were filled with faces and numbers of the candidates. Even the most lonely in the middle of nowhere -roads had somebody's face there.

But the EU elections? Nope, hardly anything at all.

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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby md0 » 2019-05-22, 7:35

Those are the only topics about EU that made it into the elections discussion in Cyprus at all (but they are very low in the list):

- Common European Union Army
- Taxation as a Union competency
- RoC's Citizenship by Investment scheme qua EU opposition

The common army is seen positively from the centre-right and right wing parties in Cyprus. The leftist list (GUE/NGL) and the neonazis (no EU affiliation yet) reject it.

Taxation as an EU competency is rejected by everyone except one centre-right candidate (S&D) and a few under-1% candidates across ideological lines.

The citizenship scheme is divisive. The right wing (EPP) list supports it. The leftist list (GUE/NGL) rejects it. Centre-right parties do not have a unified stance, and about as many candidates support it as they reject it.

The article I am sourcing this from also asked parties for "Brexit: Yes or No?" but I don't know what their answer should mean - "yes we should allow them to leave/no we should prevent them from leaving" or "yes I would brexit if I was British/no I wouldn't leave if I was British"?
The GUE/NGL party gave the only meaningful answer: "This is a decision for the British people to make".

If anything at all was discussed in your countries, what was it?
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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby Johanna » 2019-05-22, 17:50

md0 wrote:
problem is that getting in is a long shot

What voting system does Sweden use? It has to be proportional, but maybe it has a high electoral threshold?

Yeah, proportional, and at least in national elections, the threshold is 4% in a parliament of 349 MPs.

Sweden only has 20 MEPs, so even though I don't think there's a formal threshold, in reality, it's a lot higher than in national elections.
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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby Yasna » 2019-05-26, 19:11

Trump’s ‘Maximum Pressure’ Won’t Make Iran Yield

"To date, however, there is no sign that either Iran’s regional policies are shifting or its leaders are willing to come back to the negotiating table and submit to the Trump administration’s demands. Nor is there any hint that economic hardship has triggered popular unrest of a magnitude that would threaten the regime’s survival. In the absence of any visible shift in Tehran’s political calculus, Washington is presenting the sanctions’ impact by no metric other than their quantity and severity."

"The sanctions will reduce Iran’s pro-Western middle class to tatters at a time when the country stands in front of a major transition to a post-1979 leadership. Regime hard-liners, meanwhile, stand to benefit financially from sanctions through their control of the black market and politically through their control of a repressive apparatus to put down dissent. The net effect is a country with its economy in ruins but its regime intact—a political victory snatched from the jaws of economic defeat."

"Sanctions, the U.S. travel ban, and a lack of sensitivity to Iranians’ sense of dignity could combine to harden the perception that U.S. policy is indiscriminate and implacable. This is a formula for perpetuating enmity between the two countries for another generation."
Ein Buch muß die Axt sein für das gefrorene Meer in uns. - Kafka

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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby md0 » 2019-05-27, 4:16

First readings of the MEP elections:

Local results:
They couldn't be much better
* The ruling party had a pyrrhic victory and this should curb their arrogance.
* The neonazis came close and increased their voter base, but didn't manage to get the sixth MEP seat.
* The first Turkish Cypriot living in the southern part was elected, and he was the 3rd most popular candidate.
* A moderate centrist party, splinter from the main nationalist extreme-centrist party, did remarkably well despite not electing an MEP.
* Some other small nationalist and extreme-centrist parties did so poorly that I expected them to disappear soon.

Pan-European results are not looking good. One solid third of the seats is projected to go to far-right formations, EPP and ALDE is still strong. It's likely to be more of the same. The GUE/NGL will not have a lot of power to push a progressive agenda. The performance of Greens/EFA is the only positive thing.
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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby france-eesti » 2019-05-27, 15:23

hi there,
yes, French-speaking I know but I found it quite easy to read:
https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/ar ... 55770.html

go directly downwards to the European map
I am so ashamed so many people voted that way :( However I am kind of glad there's a respectable amount of green on some countries :)
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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby Aurinĭa » 2019-05-27, 17:52

md0 wrote:extreme-centrist

What is "extreme centrism" and how does it differ from "moderate centrism"?

Not happy at all with the results in Belgium, EU, federal, nor Flemish. The parties that won: both Green parties (yay), the marxist party, and the extreme-right Flemish nationalist party (they won most of all) (yuck). All pther parties lost on all levels. Forming governments is going to be very difficult.

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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby md0 » 2019-05-27, 18:22

Aurinĭa wrote:
md0 wrote:extreme-centrist

What is "extreme centrism" and how does it differ from "moderate centrism"?


It's a term very specific to Cyprus. It refers to the parties who present themselves as being between the right wing DISY (EPP) and the left wing AKEL (GUE/NGL), but have a very hard Greek ethno-nationalist stance in relation to the Cyprus Problem (that's what's extreme about them). They are DIKO (S&D), EDEK (S&D), KOSP (Greens/EFA), SIMPOL (EDP/ALDE) and Allilengii (ACRE/ECR). With the exception of Allilengii, they are all affiliated with anti-nationalist forces in the EU, and I think it shows that the European Parties don't do any due diligence before admitting local affiliates.

As much as I am happy for the European Greens then, I can never vote for them as long as they keep KOSP there.
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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby Aurinĭa » 2019-05-27, 18:26

I see, thanks for the explanation.

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Re: Random Politics 2

Postby linguoboy » 2019-05-28, 14:26

france-eesti wrote:hi there,
yes, French-speakingin French I know but I found it quite easy to read:
https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/ar ... 55770.html

I'm very happy with the Spanish results. Vox was held to only three seats and the ruling Socialists came out clearly in front.
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