The Greek parliamentary election of Alexis Tsipras as prime minister in January was reaffirmed in September with a second vote, putting the anti-EU leftwing Syriza Party strongly in charge.
On the Iberian Peninsula, in both Portugal’s and Spain’s parliamentary elections, the center-right ruling parties lost their majorities. The countries are struggling to find a new governing majority, and in both, a competitive left coalition has strong anti-EU and anti-austerity elements. Separatists won a narrow plurality in Catalonia, but the path of success is strewn with political and legal obstacles.
In Turkey, the autocratic President Erdoğan restored a parliamentary majority after losing it earlier in the year, but his rule and his country are racked with Kurdish separatists, ISIS terrorism, waves of refugees, and hostile secularists. Turkey is a NATO member and wants to join the EU.
But in Latin America, democracy and liberal capitalism won a presidency in Argentina and a parliamentary election in Venezuela. But in both countries, the new direction is being resisted with all the force of the reactionary left.
After a decade of dour conservative rule, Canada opted for a Gen X moderate liberal who seems most determined to legalize marijuana as a starting initiative.
Y Para Siempre (And Forever) National Assembly employees remove photos of late President Hugo Chavez in Caracas, Jan. 6, 2016 Photo: AFP/Getty Images |
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