Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg speaks on election night in Oslo, Norway, September 11, 2017 The centre-left failed in getting rid of the so-called ‘blue-blue’ government at the parliamentary elections in Norway on 11 September. The Labour Party was the main loser, while small parties on the centre-left advanced slightly.
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Canadian Dimension: Report from Germany: Merkel Clobbered While Rightists Threaten
Photo by opposition24.de The results of the German elections: Merkel and CDU/CSU clobbered, Social Democrats, clobbered, and although Merkel’s party will form a coalition and remain in power, the third key story, and the truly alarming one, is that one eighth of the voters, almost 13 percent, vented their anger
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Sunday’s French Election
Photo by Lorie Shaull The good news this May was that French voters rejected far-right Marine Le Pen by a two-to-one margin in the second round of the Presidential election. “At least the French are not schmucks as the Americans!” were the first words that passed the sweet lips of
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: A Tale of Two Elections
Two extraordinarily different elections occurred last week in Europe. The first, of course, was the 2017 UK general election, which was nothing short of historic. The second, was the French parliamentary elections in the wake of what appeared to be an equally historic presidential election earlier in May. Despite what
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Labour party’s plan to nationalise mail, rail and energy firms
Photo by Chatham House Jeremy Corbyn will lay out plans to take parts of Britain’s energy industry back into public ownership alongside the railways and the Royal Mail in a radical manifesto that promises an annual injection of £6bn for the NHS and £1.6bn for social care. A draft version
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Tom Parkin writes about the growing opposition to a Lib infrastructure bank designed to turn public needs into private profits at our expense: Paying higher fares, fees and tolls because of a political decision to use more expensive private capital would be
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Young Europeans Find Democracy Unconvincing
When Europeans lose their taste for democracy, bad things have been known to happen. Whether it’s Hungary or Poland, both of which have authoritarian, illiberal governments, or the rise of authoritarian movements in the Netherlands, France and Britain, good old liberal democracy is taking something of a beating in Europe.
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: “Things are serious”: Update on the French Presidential Election
Photo by Blandine Le Cain “C’est grave,” (things are serious) said the monsieur who sells me the papers every morning. A resident of Mantes-la-Jolie (a working class town at the western edge of the Paris region), he laments a lack of clarity on the dangers of the Front National (FN)
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Believe it’s a new French Revolution? Hold your horses
Photo by Leweb Most of the media were quick to hail a ‘New French Revolution’ following the results of the first round of voting in France’s 2017 Presidential election. Well, at a quick glance, the claim appears to have some substance. After all, it’s the first time since the founding
Continue readingMontreal Simon: How The Europeans Are Trolling Donald Trump
When you see the way some of Europe's most respectable magazines are portraying Donald Trump, you get a pretty good idea what many Europeans think of him.For their covers couldn't be more brutal or more incendiary.Read more »
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: French Socialists choose leftwing rebel Benoît Hamon for Élysée fight
Photo by Marion Germa Hamon’s trouncing of centrist Manuel Valls is damning verdict on failed presidency of pro-market François Hollande. The primary race had been a bitter and divisive fight between two warring factions of the Socialist party: the staunch left wing versus the the pro-business, Socialist party of government
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Referendums and Social Movements in Italy and Europe | The Bullet No. 1340
Matteo Renzi’s recent attempt to constitutionally embed neoliberalism and simultaneously legitimize and secure his tenure as Prime Minister via a refe Source: Referendums and Social Movements in Italy and Europe | The Bullet No. 1340 Filed under: Europe Tagged: Europe, Italy, Referendums, Social Movements
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Merkel wrongfoots Left opponents (again) – POLITICO
The center-left is holding off on naming its candidate for chancellor in next year’s election. Source: Merkel wrongfoots Left opponents (again) – POLITICO Filed under: Europe Tagged: Germany, Merkel
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Protesting the Capitalist University
Photo from UMFA.ca The University of Manitoba is on strike. Since 1st November, more than 1,200 faculty members took to the picket line to protest the lack of funding for education, a need for workload protection and safeguarding for fairer tenure and promotion procedures, in addition to addressing several job
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: How the Leader of the Free World Became the Leader of the Global Right Wing.
AmeriKa’s president, Donald Trump, will not be the leader of the free world. He will, however, be the leader of the global right wing. Across Europe, the radical right is embracing the next US leader as one of their own. Donald Trump validates their ugly bigotry, racism and xenophobia. He
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Catalan Independence Struggle Impedes Formation of Spanish Government
Filed under: Europe, Eurozone crisis, Uncategorized Tagged: Catalonia, Spain
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Tipping point for the German far right – POLITICO
Alternative for Germany vying for first place in regional election. Source: Tipping point for the German far right – POLITICOFiled under: Europe Tagged: far-right, German Elections, Germany
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Iceland: Exemplary Nation in a Troubled World
Photo by McKay Savage
A small land situated between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean, Iceland minds her own business and minds it very well. I was so impressed by what I saw and learned in a recent and fi…
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: The European Challenge | Jacobin
For all of its success, Podemos has refused to deal seriously with the European Union and what it would take to truly transform Spain. Source: The European Challenge | JacobinFiled under: Europe, Eurozone crisis Tagged: Austerity, Podemos, Spain
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Podcast: When the left takes the city
This week, the focus is on experience of left parties and organizations at the municipal level. Although the left has still exercised only limited political power in many places since the financial crisis, some cities have seen left projects come to power or build new institutions in interesting ways. My two guests shed light on […]
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