Monday 27 May 2019 10:30
From Belgium:
On 26/5 there were elections in Belgium 🇧🇪 for several Parliaments:
- Belgian national Parliament
- Flemish regional Parliament (northern part of the country)
- Walloon regional Parliament (southern part of the country)
- Brussels regional Parliament (center of the country)
➡ The fascist party Vlaams Belang won 12% of the votes in the federal elections (+8,4% since 2014).
N-VA (=alt-right) got 16%.
The Marxist party PVDA got 8,6% (+6,6 since 2014)
➡ The fascist party Vlaams Belang won 18,5% of the votes for the Flemish elections. (+12,6% since 2014)
N-VA got 24,8% (-7,1% since 2014).
PVDA got 5,3% (+2,8% since 2014)
O:30
Far right Europe of Nations and Freedom group set to win 57 seats, up from 30
From the Guardian:
The far-right Europe of Nations and Freedom group is on course to win 57 seats, up from 30 a few years ago, a surge driven partly by the stunning success of Matteo Salvini’s League. That result is not the breakthrough of more than 70 seats many had forecast – although we still await final results and the makeup of the group. There has been speculation that Hungary’s Fidesz party, which won an easy victory in these elections, could quit the EPP for the far right.
Robinson humiliated. No place in mainstream for fascists, says SUTR’s Nahella Ashraf
https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/27/tommy-robinson-blames-facebook-ban-admits-defeat-european-elections-9695004/
…Speaking as the North West result came in, Nahella Ashraf from Manchester Stand Up To Racism said: ‘We have shown that there is no place in mainstream politics for a fascist.
‘I’d like to thank the hundreds of activists that came out across the North West to make this happen.
‘The campaign Stand Up To Racism ran shows that we can pull people together regardless of how they voted in the referendum.
‘However, we cannot be complacent. We know that all the candidates running for the Tory leadership campaign will use racism to score political points. ‘We also know that the Tory austerity agenda gives the far right space to grow. We will continue to stand up to racism wherever it rears its ugly head.’
Robinson humiliated
Robinson fails – gets 38,908 in North West, just 2.2% of the total vote. He lost his £5,000 deposit as well.
Hungary’s anti-migrant Fidesz dominant
Viktor Orban’s racist ruling party Fidesz gets 52% of the vote in Hungary. Fascist Jobbik falls to 6.4%
Poland’s racist Law & Justice Party scores high
Poland exit poll projection: high 42% for racist right-wing government Law and Justice, 39% for opposition coalition of neoliberals, postcommunist socialdemocrats, peasant party, greens, 6,6% for Spring a new liberal pro LGBT+ and anticlerical party, Confederation (coalition of fascists and racists) 6,1%. Left Together did badly on 1,3%
Spanish state update
Report from anti-racists in the Spanish state:
The far right Vox got 6.5%, 3 Euro MPs. This compares to over 10% four weeks ago.
Municipal and Regional elections: Complex.
VOX got hundreds of councillors and quite a few regional MPs. The problem is that in some important places the right and far right can do a pact and govern, like they did in Andalucía in December.
The positive point is that in Catalunya VOX did badly. 1.9% in the EU elections, and so far I’ve only seen 3 VOX councillors in Catalunya.
These were in a town where the far right won councillors in 2011 and 2015, and where the left and the movements have not built UCFR, preferring more “radical” strategies.
Carl Benjamin fails in South West
Racist misogynist Carl Benjamin standing for UKIP gets 53,739 votes – loses its two seats in the South West.
Loser Robinson throws in the towel
Gerard Batten out
Gerard Batten loses his London seat as UKIP vote crashes nationwide
Robinson “Pessimistic”
Sky News says Tommy Robinson is “pessimistic” about his chances. That chimes with comments from people close to the count.
France exit poll
Le Pen’s National Rally, formerly the National Front, predicted vote looks dangerously high for a fascist and racist populist party.
…view from Spain and Catalonia
Here the far right that could get seats is VOX. Though the last opinion polls show a fall compared to the parliamentary elections of 28 April. If they get over 5% they get seats. On 28 April [general election] they got more than 10%.
Greece exit poll
Golden Dawn down sharply on 2014. Tories up by 11 percentage points, Syriza static.
…view from the Netherlands
The Netherlands voted on Thursday.
Most probably the neofascist Forum voor Democratie (FvD) at 3 seats (15%) and the racist PVV at 1 – maybe even 0 (down from 4)
FvD won the last senate elections two months ago, this time they didn’t win, but they do enter EP, largely winning the voters from the PVV. The Social Democrats had a surprise win because of a very visible leader and an internationalist sentiment.
German exit poll has far right AfD on 10%
17:13
17:05
Austria’s Fascist Freedom Party (ENF in chart below) vote fell 2.2%
Video scandal hurts the Freedom Party. The Austrian conservatives appear to be the beneficiary, predicted to increase seat count by 2, according to exit polling
16:55
Patients not passports!
Great news has come in from Tooting – Thanks to Jeremy Weinstein
Unite union at St George’s hospital Tooting has passed a motion to defend workers who refuse to comply with ID/Passport checks on patients. This is now being taken to other unions inside the hospital. It is all part of Wandsworth SUTR campaign which has included a successful public meeting, links with Patients Not Passports group inside the hospital and a petition with approx 900 signatures on a petition to be presented to hospital board on Thursday.
Let’s hope Dan Kelemen, Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, is right, but there’s no room for complacency
16:38
Europe Elects Ignasi Subirà Ingla says turnout is up in the big Spanish cities:
Madrid: 35.2% (+11)
Barcelona: 35.2% (+8)
Valencia: 38.2% (+8)
Austria’s Fascist Freedom Party (FPO) predicted to lose one seat on 2014 showing
15:53
This just in from Nahella Ashraf, Manchester Stand Up To Racism:
“We ran a fantastic campaign that the hundreds of activists across the North West can be proud of.”
“We need to continue to build a mass movement against racism and fascism that can ensure his politics of hate and fear are pushed back and never allowed to become normalised. This work, which has already begun during the campaign, must be built on so that all immigrants, muslims and other minorities feel save.”
15:11 (BST)
Manchester SUTR election night We Stand Together rally
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2073863709389222/?ti=icl
Join us for a multicultural rally outside the Election Count – next to Manchester Convention Centre.
7pm – 8pm Sunday 26 May.
We Stand Together Rally – A region united against racism and fascism. We celebrate the diversity of our communities, our towns and cities. We will remain united in the struggle against those who seek to divide us.