Hello, how are you? This year there are about a hundred electoral events, so here we are on another Monday to look at the results of important elections, such as those in the state of Brandenburg, in Germany. All the predictions predicted a victory for the far-right AfD, as happened a few weeks ago in Thuringia, also in the east of the country. But, perhaps precisely because it was predicted, The mobilisation of recent days has allowed the SPD to retain first place. in the region by a narrow margin, leaving the ultras in second place.
Thus ended a week also marked by the last chapter – for now – of the legislative elections held in July in France, which the Popular Front ended up winning in a new exercise of repression of the extreme right, in the case of Marine Le Pen. However, Emmanuel Macron preferred to entrust a government to Michel Barnier, a conservative from the party that came fourth in the legislative elections, to form a government turned towards the right and with a nod to Le Pen.
When the left wins in France but the right governs with a nod to the far right, and when social democratic leaders like Keir Stamer applaud Giorgia Meloni’s immigration policy – something that PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo also did this week – there may come a day when appealing to the lesser evil will no longer be enough to stop the far right.
Europe breathes in Brandenburg…
It’s a narrow victory.. But it represents a major setback for the German far right, which grew after its victory in Thuringia and after polls placed it as the leading force in Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin, the German capital. But no. The SPD managed to hold on to its stronghold after three decades and to stop the AfD’s extremists. The CDU got its worst result in the country, as did Die Linke, which is suffering a new hemorrhage in favor of the party of its former leader Sahra Wagenknecht, BSW.
The SPD will be able to keep the government thanks to post-election pacts that, in application of the cordon sanitaire, prevent the AfD from accessing power. And incidentally, this gives Olaf Scholz and his government a respite a year before the German federal elections.
Of course, next Sunday there will be parliamentary elections in neighbouring Austria, and the polls show a comfortable victory for the far-right FPÖ.
…but the ultras don’t stop breathing
The new British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, decided it was a good idea to go to Rome to applaud the immigration policy of the ultra Giorgia Meloni. Who also What the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, did. Migration amounted to first concern of the Spanish, according to the CEIin a context where, from British social democracy to the Spanish right, the leader of the European extreme right is given as an example of immigration management.
The electoral use of migration is present throughout Europe. This Sunday, in Brandenburg, the party of the former left-wing leader Die Linke, Sahra Wagenknechthas once again achieved an excellent electoral result (with 13% it entered as the third force above the CDU), also sweeping aside its former formation. And what is its main characteristic? The defense of the working class, but especially if it is German, leaving aside the principle “proletarians of the world, unite”.
Moreover, Brandenburg elections come after rise of ultras in Thuringia and Saxony. But also, after the The German government of Social Democrat Olaf Scholz will present a restrictive immigration plan.
Israel and the Death Gamble
It is a gamble on death. Israel still has the green light to kill civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, explains Olga RodriguezIt enjoys the approval not only of political support and military aid from the United States and European countries, but also of a chorus of voices in some media, always ready to legitimize even the most barbaric of its crimes.
The terror attacks that have spread across Lebanon this week are proof of this. During the two waves recorded last Tuesday and Wednesday, more than three thousand wireless devices – pagers and walkie-talkies – exploded and thirty-two people died, including an eight-year-old girl, an eleven-year-old boy and four health workers. In addition, about three thousand people were injured, four hundred of them seriously.
As long as pressure measures are not adopted – arms embargoes, sanctions, suspension of trade relations, etc. – the Netanyahu government will continue to benefit from the impunity granted to it by the United States and its allies. The massacre continues, after more than 41,000 dead and 97,000 injured. It is only in the last 72 hours that the Israeli army has killed More than 115 people in Gaza and attacked another children’s school.
Six months ago, the United Nations Rapporteur for Palestine, Francesca Albanese, warned that if measures are not taken “to severely punish the genocide in Gaza and the way it is being implemented, a way of waging war that treats masses of civilians as deserving of death will be accepted because they are close to the target – family or friends – or are collateral damage.” We are already there.
Eyes the color of the sun, from 13th Street.
The week ahead
MONDAY
🇩🇪 The leaders of the German parties Alternative for Germany (AfD), the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) and the Social Democrats (SPD) analyse the election result of Sunday’s regional elections in the state of Brandenburg.
🇧🇴 The 187-kilometer march of supporters of former President Evo Morales (2006-2019) reaches the city of La Paz, seat of the Bolivian government, to demand the former president’s presidential candidacy.
🇺🇳 Second day of the Future Summit, which looks back at the sustainable development goals.
TUESDAY
🇺🇳 Start of the United Nations High-Level Week, during which heads of state or government from around the world address the United Nations General Assembly.
🇬🇧 British Labour Party leader Keir Starmer delivers a speech at the party’s annual conference in Liverpool, northwest England.
THURSDAY
🇺🇳 Forum between the Security Council and the Arab League to discuss conflicts in the Middle East, with particular interest in the war in Gaza.
🇺🇸 US President Joe Biden receives his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the White House to discuss the state of the war with Russia.
🇩🇪 The Thuringian state parliament is formed after regional elections in September, marking the first time the far-right has entered a German chamber as the main political force.
🇻🇦 Pope Francis will visit Luxembourg on September 26, and Belgium from September 26 to 29, passing through Brussels, Leuven and New Leuven.
FRIDAY
🇯🇵 Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) elects its new leader in internal elections, replacing Fumio Kishida.
SUNDAY
🇦🇹 Parliamentary elections in Austria.
🇬🇧 The Conservative Party’s annual conference begins in Birmingham.
Until next Monday 👋🏻
Andre
