On May 18 a huge majority of the Danish Parliament voted for a statement saying that ”the question of Catalonian independence is a matter for peaceful and democratic dialogue between Catalonia and the Spanish government in Madrid”. All political parties - except the right wing xenophobic Danish Peoples’ Party – voted for the statement after a one hour long debate that took place May 12, while voting were postponed until Tuesday the 18th.
Election in the Spanish State, a change of rhythm
24 May 2015, byThe 24M elections mark a new stage in the protracted political crisis, just a year after Podemos erupted onto the scene in the European elections of 2014. It has been a crazy twelve months, sadly lacking in active social mobilizations, but extraordinarily intense in the political arena. The results of the elections will show just how far the ailing two party system has collapsed or been able to resist, as it fights tooth and nail to extend his reign. And they will show the real strength of its opponents: Ciudadanos, with its dual role as a crutch and an alternative, Podemos, and the broader local coalitions which Podemos takes part in, especially Barcelona en Comú and Ahora Madrid.
It’s time
22 May 2015, byThe fear of Greek exit from the euro should no longer cripple us. The Syriza government’s decision to transfer all available public sector funds to the Bank of Greece marks a political turning point. This high-risk move exposes in the clearest possible way the nature of the situation as it has evolved in the two and a half months since the February 20 agreement.
Is Merkel Being Irrational?
22 May 2015, byGerman elites are willing to let the euro crash to guarantee their own political survival. After the Eurogroup agreement in February, Germany’s position concerning the conditions Greece must meet seemed to have relaxed. The initial conditions were basically identical to those agreed to with the preceding Greek government: pension reductions, privatizations, tax increases on basic goods, and continued liberalization of the labor market.
Alberta’s Orange Crush
20 May 2015The New Democratic Party’s (NDP) surprise landslide victory in the provincial elections in Alberta on May 5 sent a shockwave through Canadian politics. With over 40 percent of the vote and an outright majority in the provincial legislature, the NDP has broken the Conservative Party’s decades-long dominance of Alberta politics and lifted hopes that Stephen Harper, Canada’s right-wing prime minister, might be ousted in this fall’s federal elections.
One hundred years after the Armenian genocide - negationist consensus and internationalist breaches
19 May 2015, by“The centenary of that which we cannot talk about”. That’s what the conference organized in April by the prestigious University of Bogazici (Istanbul) had to be called, since the term “genocide” had to be removed from the title which had been originally planned.
The Orange card trumps the Green: Austerity wins the election
18 May 2015, byA local writer once remarked that the new Northern Ireland reminded him of nothing so much as the old Northern Ireland.This truism was confirmed by May’s Westminster election, which could easily have been taking place in 1955.
The Saudi War on Democracy
18 May 2015, bySaudi Arabia and its Gulf allies are willing to devastate Yemen to forestall any democratic progress. The Saudi-led attack on Yemen has been relentless for more than a month. Despite promises from the Saudis of a new “political” phase to the struggle, the bombing campaign has continued. The Red Cross said recently that Yemen’s humanitarian situation is now “catastrophic.”
Platform for Renewal emerges from Irish anti water charges movement
17 May 2015, byShane Fitzgerald, a socialist based in Dublin, reports on the emergence of the Platform for Renewal from the water campaigns in Ireland
The Frameup of Purvi Patel
15 May 2015, byIN A CASE worthy of medieval Europe – or, it turns out, 21st century Indiana — a woman who suffered a miscarriage was sentenced on March 30 to a 20-year prison term. As reported by Jennifer Chowdhury, Purvi Patel, went to the emergency room at St. Joseph Hospital in Mishawaka in July 2013, bleeding heavily. She had miscarried at home, delivering a stillborn fetus at 23-24 weeks of pregnancy, panicked and threw the remains in the dumpster.