The Economist (December 6)
“Shinzo Abe’s expected victory in next week’s snap election will leave him no excuse for further backsliding on structural reform.” He has yet to demonstrate enough “vigour in pushing through the tough, market-oriented reforms that he has repeatedly promised.”
Tags: Abe, Backsliding, Election, Excuse, Japan, Market-oriented reforms, Structural reform, Victory
New York Times (November 12)
Only 36.3% of U.S. voters even bothered to vote in last week’s election. “The abysmally low turnout in last week’s midterm elections — the lowest in more than seven decades — was bad for Democrats, but it was even worse for democracy. In 43 states, less than half the eligible population bothered to vote, and no state broke 60 percent.”
New York Times (November 12)
Only 36.3% of U.S. voters even bothered to vote in last week’s election. “The abysmally low turnout in last week’s midterm elections — the lowest in more than seven decades — was bad for Democrats, but it was even worse for democracy. In 43 states, less than half the eligible population bothered to vote, and no state broke 60 percent.”
Washington Post (September 17)
“Afghanistan is teetering between a political implosion that could ignite civil war in Kabul and a power-sharing deal that could give the country another chance for stability.” Official election results will soon be announced, but due to voting irregularities a “winner-takes-all approach” is unsustainable. “It is up to Mr. Abdullah and Mr. Ghani [the two candidates] to show that Afghanistan can have a future under moderate, pragmatic leaders who are able to compromise.”
Tags: Abdullah, Afghanistan, Civil war, Compromise, Election, Ghani, Implosion, Kabul, Leaders, Moderate, Power sharing, Pragmatic, Results, Stability, Voting
The Economist (July 5)
Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo are facing off in Indonesia’s July 9 presidential election. While both candidates support protectionist policies, “Jokowi’s appears milder. Foreign investors certainly prefer him: Deutsche Bank reports that if Mr Prabowo wins, 56% of investors surveyed would sell their Indonesian assets and just 13% would buy, while a Jokowi win would cause 74% to buy and just 6% to sell.”
Tags: Assets, Candidates, Election, Indonesia, Investors, Joko Widodo, Prabowo Subianto, President, Protectionist
New York Times (May 30)
Following the recent coup in Thailand, “the military is operating an increasingly authoritarian government intent on silencing all forms of dissent or disobedience.” If the military truly intends to deliver a “genuine democracy,” it needs to “provide a plan for a return to civilian rule, including setting a date for an election.”
Tags: Authoritarian, Civilian rule, Democracy, Disobedience, Dissent, Election, Government, Military, oup, Silencing, Thailand
Wall Street Journal (May 26)
Populist, anti-EU candidates did well in the recent election for European Parliament. Nowhere more so than France where Marine Le Pen’s National Front party swept by both the Socialists and the Gaullists. Compared with “the milder populist advances elsewhere in the European vote, France produced a spectacle of nihilism that damages the West and delights Vladimir Putin.”
Tags: Anti-EU, Candidates, Damage, Election, European Parliament, France, Gaullists, Marine Le Pen, National Front, Nihilism, Populist, Socialists, Vladimir Putin, West
Los Angeles Times (December 22, 2013)
Following previous battles, one of which recently shut down the U.S. Government, many were encouraged that both parties cooperated in Congress to smoothly pass a budget before the New Year. It would, however, be naive to assume this heralds a new spirit of bipartisan cooperation. “Next year is unlikely to get better, for one simple reason: It’s a congressional election year…. Getting Democrats and Republicans to agree on anything will be harder than ever.”
Tags: Bipartisan, Budget, Congress, Cooperation, Democrats, Election, Government, Republicans, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (September 20)
“What will German voters be choosing when they go to the polls on Sunday? A new Parliament, definitely, but not likely a new direction for their government. In this year’s federal election campaign, the parties’ platforms could have been written two years ago, the candidates for Chancellor are allergic to bold ideas, and opinion polls have been flat for months, only tightening a little in the last few weeks. Europe’s most important election since the financial crisis is an election about nothing.”
Tags: Bold ideas, Campaign, Chancellor, Election, Europe, Financial Crisis, Germany, Government, Opinion polls, Parliament, Polls, Voters
Financial Times (September 10)
“The sheer triviality of the German election campaign is a tribute to the success of the country. Only a nation that is secure and prosperous could afford to have a political debate that is so focused on the little things of life.” The big debate in Germany is not intervention in Syria or safeguarding the future of Europe. “The moral issue that has divided Germans this election” is vegetarianism. A proposal from the Green party that public cafeterias quit serving meat, one day a week, “has stirred up an impassioned debate about whether politicians have the right to get between Germans and their sausages.”
Tags: Cafeterias, Campaign, Debate, Election, Europe, Germans, Green party, Meat, Politicians, Sausages, Syria, Vegetarianism
