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How well did the left go in the June 9 European election? – by Dick Nichols, Green Left (Australia)
A recommended article :
Source ;
How well did the left go in the June 9 European Election?
How well did the left go in the June 9 European election?
![graph of election results](https://www.greenleft.org.au/sites/default/files/styles/glw_full_content/public/408_-_eu_elections_2024_provision_results_as_at_june_19_cropped.jpg?itok=p9bZxtwd)
Provisional results of the 2024 European Elections, as at June 19. Source: results.elections.europa.eu
At first glance it looks as if the parties to the left of the social democracy held their ground against the surge of the far right and mainstream right that marked the June 9 European Union (EU) parliamentary elections (see here for results in detail).
Although the smallest of the European parliament’s seven groups, The Left managed to maintain its EU-wide vote at 5.4% and increase its seat tally from 37 to 39 in the 720-seat assembly.
In addition, left green Members of the European Parliaments (MEPs) and those representing stateless nations (part of the Greens group as the European Free Alliance) at least maintained their numbers in the chamber.
See also
Finland: Mass workers’ strike wave continues against gov’t attacks on workers, unions, welfare
Interview: Fascism and resistance in France today
Ukrainian unionists: Oligarchs, not Europe’s poor, should pay for weapons and aid to Ukraine
Workers’ Party of Belgium gains ground in European, national elections
Yet the Greens group as a whole shrank from 71 seats to 53 while that of the liberals (known as Renew) fell from 102 to 79. This drop reflected that the environmental issues that in part drove the big advance of these parties in the 2019 election were less important for many voters this time.
The campaign was dominated by insecurity about the future, the cost of living (particularly housing), the fear of war, the “immigration threat” and intolerance of difference.
In this grim atmosphere the biggest growth went to the mainstream right European People’s Party and the two far-right groups (Identity and Democracy and Conservatives and Reformists): taken together the right and far right won an extra 30 seats, bring it to 324.
Because it would take only 37 ungrouped MEPs to join them to from a reactionary majority, the June 9 result poses with new urgency two old questions about politics in the European parliament. How much, if at all, does the real balance of political forces in the chamber differ from that among its formal groupings? And how much does membership of a group represent disciplined commitment to its positions?
Left divisions over Ukraine
The questions are sharply relevant in the case of the Left group, where differences over what stance to take towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine were already pointing towards a split before June 9.
On May 31, Li Andersson, chairperson of the Finnish Left Alliance told the Helsinki Times that these differences could not be tolerated in the group in the new legislature. Referring to Clare Daly and Mick Wallace, Irish left independent opponents of military aid to Ukraine, Andersson said: “The Nordic Green Left as a whole [covering Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands] is of the opinion that if they manage to win re-election, they can’t join our group.”
For Andersson, the same went for the new Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance: For Reason and Justice (BSW), a split in Germany from leading Left group member Die Linke (The Left). BSW opposes military aid to Ukraine and supports resuming the gas trade with Russia, in common with most of Europe’s far-right parties.
Read the rest of this entry »Written by tomasoflatharta
Jun 22, 2024 at 12:51 pm
Posted in Anti War Movements, Australia, Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS), BSW (Wagenknecht) Germany, Campism, Clare Daly TD, Climate Change, Die Linke (the Left), Eastern Europe, Ecosocialism, Finland, France, Genocide, Global Warming, Green Left Weekly, Human Rights, International Political Analysis, Ireland, Israel, Israel Assault on Gaza, October 2023, Jean Luc Melenchon, Left Evasionism, Left Wing Opponents of Neoliberalism, Left Wing Organisations, Mick Wallace TD, Nordic Green Left, Party of the European Left, Racism, Red Green Alliance Denmark, Red Party (Rødt), Norway, Red-Green Alliance (Denmark), Russia, Sinn Féin, Sweden, Ukraine, Ukraine Russia War 2022, War
Tagged with Australia, Elections, europe, European Parliament Elections June 2024, european-and-local-elections-june-7-2024, Gaza, Human Rights, imperialism, Ireland, Middle East, NATO, open-borders, Palestine, politics, Racism, Russia, Sinn Féin, Ukraine, War
Swiss Grannies Win Historic Climate Change European Court of Human Rights Victory – Irish Green Party Minister Éamon Ryan Fought Them – and Lost
You could not make it up. The Irish Green Party Leader Éamon Ryan is a Minister for Climate Change in the FFFGGG (Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Greens and Gombeens) Dublin Coalition Government. In a display of pure gombeen politics, the Green Irish TD fought the “Swiss Grannies” (“Aînées pour le climat”) in the European Court of Human Rights (EHCR) – and lost.
The “Aînées pour le climat” won a historic victory.
![](https://tomasoflatharta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/img_4459-1.jpg?w=1024)
![](https://tomasoflatharta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/img_4458-1.jpg?w=850)
Heat-related deaths were at the heart of a recent landmark legal case taken by the so-called ‘Swiss Grannies’ in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The group, representing 2,400 older women, had argued that senior citizens were more likely to die in heatwaves. Earlier this month the court found that weak Swiss government climate policies had violated their human rights.
Jennifer Whitmore TD, Social Democrats, Wicklow
Marielle Budry describes the case :
Source : International Viewpoint,
Historic victory for the “Aînées pour le climat”
Link : Swiss Grannies – Historic victory for the “Aînées pour le climat”
On 9 April, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights handed down a historic verdict, ruling that Switzerland is violating the human rights of older women because the country is not taking the necessary measures to combat global warming. [Aînées pour le climat – Older Women for Climate]
Read the rest of this entry »Written by tomasoflatharta
Apr 24, 2024 at 12:28 am
Posted in 26 County State (Ireland), Climate Change, Dublin Governments, Eamon Ryan TD, Eco-Socialism, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), FFFGGG Coalition, Global Warming, Green Party, Health Issues, Healthcare, Human Rights, International Political Analysis, International Viewpoint, Ireland, Migration in Europe, Stefanie Prezioso, Swiss Grannies - “Aînées pour le climat”, Switzerland, World Health Organisation (WHO)
Tagged with Climate Change, Dublin Governments, Eamon Ryan TD, environment, european-court-of-human-rights, FFFGGG Coalition, Global Warming, green-party-ireland, news, swiss-grannies, Switzerland