What will happen between the Socialists, the Left Bloc and the Communists? An evaluation of the agreements between the socialist and the left parties in Portugal to support the socialist government.
Climate change is the most serious and acute threat currently faced by humanity. What is the left approach to the issue? Different aspects of ecosocialism were discussed in the international seminar “The Climate Change and Left Politics”, hold in Helsinki on 24 October. The seminar also functioned as a publication event of the book “The Politics of Ecosocialism – Transforming welfare”.
At first sight, according to mostly used indicators, the Czech Republic seems to be a very equal country with low poverty and inequality. However, the real situation is more complex as many citizens find themselves just close behind the poverty threshold.
The elections held on November 1, 2015 resulted in a huge success for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its “former” leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The AKP increased its votes almost all over the country and gained parliamentary majority which it had lost at the June 7 elections.
The Turkish governement opened a legal procedure against the Vice-President of the Party of the European Left, Maite Mola, for "insulting the president" Erdogan.
The recent parliamentary elections in Poland were historic, although unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. For the first time since 1989 a political party in Poland has won an overall majority in parliament, with the conservative nationalist Law and Justice Party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość – PiS) winning over 37% of the vote. Also for the first time in history, the left will have no representatives in parliament, meaning that Poland is presently the only country inside the European Union where there are no left MPs.
The refugee crisis and immigration has opened up old divisions and created new ones between “the West” and “the East” within the European Union. How can this be understood beyond superficial media-ascribed labels?
The Social Democrat Party was slightly weakened but not defeated. The far-right Freedom Party won almost one third of the vote, making it the city’s second most powerful party. The left-wing alliance saw a slight improvement in its results at ward level.
On 15 and 16 September transform! europe held its members’ meeting in Barcelona. In the course of this annual gathering, programmes, projects and the network’s budget are decided upon. The evaluation of political developments in Greece, Europe and the EU which have taken place since last autumn’s gathering was at the centre of debates.
The 10.2% Left Block (BE) election score, more than doubling its parliamentary representation, reveals a partial overlap of tactical voting, the other face of depoliticized fear that importantly needs overcoming.
‘Wien Anders’, a left-leaning alliance of Austrian parties inspired by the new European Left, aspired to get into the Viennese Parliament. Can their experience be compared to that of Podemos?
As the United Nations Conference on Climate (COP21) approaches, citizens’ organisations and social movements around the world are determined not to let the heads of states and governments make decisions behind closed doors on issues that affect us all without having a say. Two events were recently held in Paris to prepare the civil society’s mobilisation at the margins of the COP 21 – with a strong focus on alternatives.