Last weeks parliamentary elections were held in Europe with some 736 seats up for grabs representing all 27 member states of the European Union. The European Union consists of 375 million eligible voters. The first troubling aspect was that only 43% of registered voters ended up voting. There is a lot at stake in Europe these days. Far-right parties are flourishing, using the economic crisis and the failings of banks as their platform. The economic crisis has not helped matters, only instilling fear, the fuel used by these far-right movements. Far right parties have been making great strides as the left is slowly fading away, lacking direction and a platform. Heather Grabbe states that "In a way, it's the legacy of 1989 catching up with the left." She is referring to the collapse of the Soviet bloc. "They don't have a clear ideology to offer." Being a conservative myself, I tend to agree. Long has Europe held on to left wing, Marxist views, views that offer nothing in a time of financial instabillity. The spread of Conservatism in the EU has been a slow process, and extremism (far-right) has reared its head because of the lack of progression by moderate conservatives.
In last week elections there were some rather brash wins by some rather brash people. Hungarian ultra-nationalist party Jobbik took 15% of the vote, equating to 3 of the countries 22 seats. In Holland, the Party for Freedom came in second in the election and took 17% of the vote. Their leader, Geert Wilders is known for his controversial short film that links terrorism with Islamic Doctrine. In his own country he faces prosecution for inciting hate and discrimination. He is also banned from entering the UK. Other wins for the far-right included the Greater Romania Party. Their leader, one Vadim Tudor is touted as a holocaust denier and a former member of the Communist secret police in Romania. Even the Fascist party in the UK, the British Nationalist Party won two seats. They have never won a seat in any election in the EU, let alone the UK. They snagged 6.2% of the vote, an historic event. This can be contributed to the lack of popularity surrounding Labor party leader and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is looking to save face before their national election, slated for sometime within the next year. Gordon Brown has taken a shellacking in the Commons, most notably for the Expense Scandal. British MP's were claiming expenses for what they call "costs related to their parliamentary duties." This included such things as second homes, which allowed MP's to live closer to work in London. One example of scandalous behavior came when one MP charged expenses for a home only 8 miles closer then his first home. Another charged British taxpayers for a home no where close to her constituency or London. Needless to say, If you didn't vote conservative, British people turned to the fascists. Browns Labor party came in third.
The EU elections have gone by the wayside, their legitimacy has been challenged in a couple places. One of them being the lack of interest shown by voters. Their motivated voters are making big strides. Most of these motivated voters are hailing from the far-right, sick of the left tendencies that have plagued Europe for decades. Most are labeled as extremists in their own right. Their leaders have shady pasts, some may not even be able to take their seats, such is the case for Gigi Becali. He took one of the seats in the aforementioned Greater Romania Parties victory. At this moment he is under investigation for kidnapping and is prohibited from leaving Romania.
Fear has taken over in Europe, Grabbe states that "these parties have managed to exploit the current economic crisis, the fact that people are worried about their jobs and their future, and convinced people that this will somehow all be worsened by the strangers in our midst." Lack of interest by the left-wing, especially in the last voting period saw most voters staying home. Lefties took a hard hit, losing major ground in almost every country. Center-right parties such as the UMP led by Nicolas Sarkozy, France PM, took 28.5 % of the French vote, and while it was the center-right who won the election, they saw little gains in popularity and more importanly seats. Left-wing parties fell off the map, losing many seats over the 27 states.
David Kynaston, a British historian points out that "People who, a generation ago, did not used to be cynical about politics now are. Worse still, people are not just indifferent to politics, they are ignorant about it." Time will tell on how the European political landscape plays out. Germany, Portugal and the UK will all go to the polls within the next year. A definite shift is happening, how far right it goes remains to be seen, but for now the left is all but irrelevant, finally.
