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☆ Spain’s far-right Vox party is targeting women’s rights. It may end up kingmaker in Sunday’s election
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Teaming up with Vox, which is projected to receive 36 seats, would give a right-wing coalition a slim working majority. Meanwhile, more than 1,200 Spanish women have been killed by current or former partners since 2003, according to data from the equality ministry. “As progress has been faster, the opposition to gender equality policies has also been more intense and animated,” she said. If the party were to come into government it could severely impact the lives of Spanish women, said Nuño. In local administrations where it has gained influence, Vox has been able to end equality initiatives and censure cultural events, she said.

Persons: CNN —, Spain’s, Pedro Sanchez, Paul Hanna, Vox, Francisco Franco, Paloma Román Marugan, Xuan Cueto, Santiago Abascal, ”, “, ” Vox, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Oscar del Pozo, Laura Nuño Gómez, King, King Juan Carlos, Franco, “ Vox, Jon Nazca, Clara Campoamor Organizations: CNN, Vox, Reuters, Popular Party, Spanish, Bloomberg, Getty, Socialist, PSOE, PP, Deputies, Complutense University of Madrid, Europa Press, Guardia Civil, King Juan, King Juan Carlos University, European Economic, European Union Locations: Europe, Spain, Madrid, Catalonia, Gijon, AFP, Ronda

☆ In Elections, Spain Is Going to Be Absolutely Fine - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Omar G. Encarnación | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Vox’s bombastic rhetoric and toxic policies pose a serious threat to Spanish democracy — but not as existential a threat as many presume it to be. Vox’s emergence — however eye-catching — did not signal any significant shift for the Spanish right and politics in Spain. Contrary to common wisdom, the far right did not disappear with Franco’s death. Lately, encouraged by the surge of right-wing, populist parties all over the world, Spain’s far right decided that it is safe to come out of hiding. Yet Spanish democracy, served by steady leadership, social and economic advances and a lively multiparty political culture, has held firm.

Persons: Vox, —, Manuel Fraga, Franco, Mariano Rajoy Organizations: Spanish, Popular Party, Alianza Popular Locations: Spanish, Spain, Europe, House’s, Catalonia, Basque, Madrid

☆ Britain’s Tories Expected to Face Election Losses - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Michelle Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A recent poll shows the Labour candidate ahead in Selby and Ainsty, where in 2019 Adams won more than 60 percent of the vote. In Somerton and Frome, the candidate of the centrist Liberal Democrat Party appears to have a strong chance of prevailing. Still, there’s a broad sense that, with national elections due sometime in the next 18 months, the Conservative Party is imploding. Yet in Britain, the right appears to be approaching something like free fall, with a recent poll showing Labour with a 21-point lead nationally. Less than four years ago, the party won its fourth consecutive national election by a staggering margin, leaving Labour, then led by the leftist Jeremy Corbyn, decimated.

Persons: Adams, ”, that’s, Joshua Simons, Emmanuel Macron, Le Pen, Jeremy Corbyn, Reed Organizations: Labour, Liberal Democrat, Conservative, BBC, Conservative Party, Financial, Conservatives, Labour Party, Tories Locations: Selby, Ainsty, Somerton, Frome, Europe, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Germany, Britain, Republic

☆ Far-Right Parties Are Rising to Power Around Europe. Is Spain Next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Jason Horowitz | More About Jason Horowitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last month, after Spain’s conservative and hard-right parties crushed the left in local elections, the winners in Elche, a small southeastern town known for an ancient sculpture and shoe exports, signed an agreement with consequences for the future of Spain — and the rest of Europe. The candidate from the conservative Popular Party had a chance to govern, but he needed the hard-right Vox party, which, in return for its support during council votes, received the deputy mayor position and a new administrative body to defend the traditional family. They inked their deal under the cross of the local church. “This coalition model could be a good model for the whole of Spain,” said Pablo Ruz Villanueva, Elche’s new mayor, referring to upcoming national elections on July 23, which most polls suggest will oust the liberal prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party. The new deputy mayor from Vox, Aurora Rodil Martínez, went further: “My party will do everything that’s necessary to make that happen.”If Ms. Rodil’s wish comes true, with Vox joining a coalition with more moderate conservatives, it would become the first right-wing party since the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to enter the national government.

Persons: Spain —, ”, Pablo Ruz Villanueva, Elche’s, Pedro Sánchez, Aurora Rodil Martínez, Rodil’s, Francisco Franco Organizations: Popular Party, Vox, Spanish Socialist Workers ’ Party, Aurora Locations: Elche, Europe, “, Spain

☆ Once Scorned, Far Right Secures Foothold in Spanish Cities
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Spain’s far right took office in a string of Spanish cities and in a powerful region over the weekend by forging coalition agreements with the moderate right, in a move that may foreshadow a broader alliance to govern the country after next month’s general elections. The agreements came about three weeks after the center-right Popular Party crushed Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s left-wing coalition in regional and local elections. To secure control of dozens of cities, the Popular Party struck coalition deals with the far-right Vox, which also performed well, embracing part of the party’s nationalist, anti-migrant agenda. Both parties will now govern together in some 25 cities of more than 30,000 residents, including five regional capitals, giving Vox, a party once considered anathema by most voters, crucial political leverage. They have also teamed up to run the wealthy Valencia region, which accounts for 10 percent of Spain’s population.

Persons: Spain’s, Pedro Sánchez’s, Vox, Sandra León, ” Organizations: Popular Party, Carlos III University Locations: Valencia, Madrid

☆ Berlusconi invented the entrepreneur as politician
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Though his Forza Italia party and business empire are already weakened and unlikely to regain much prominence after his death, his unorthodox political methods spawned imitators across the West. Italy’s four-time and longest-serving prime minister, who often quipped he would live until 120, passed away on Monday. Ex-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also became popular by portraying himself as an eccentric outsider. As Italy’s traditional parties collapsed under countless graft charges in the 1990s, he used his media popularity and image as a can-do entrepreneur to exploit Italy’s political void. Follow @LJucca on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSFormer Italian prime minister and broadcaster Mediaset founder Silvio Berlusconi died on June 12, aged 86.

Persons: Silvio Berlusconi, Donald Trump ., Boris Johnson, Berlusconi, Beppe Grillo outdid Berlusconi, Vladimir Putin, Giorgia Meloni, MediaForEurope, Neil Unmack, Oliver Taslic Organizations: MILAN, Reuters, Forza Italia, U.S, Donald Trump . Ex, British, Milan soccer, RAI, Star Movement, Thomson Locations: Italian, Italy

☆ Pedro Sanchez: Spanish PM calls snap elections after setbacks in local polls
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Al Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Madrid CNN —Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced snap parliamentary elections in July, hours after his ruling Socialists suffered major setbacks in regional and local elections. Sanchez, 51, became prime minister in 2018 after winning a vote of no confidence in parliament against then-conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. He formed a coalition government with the leftist Podemos party, which also suffered setbacks in Sunday’s local elections. The prime minister is making “a complex chess move,” Andres Villena, a professor at Madrid’s Complutense University, told CNN. “Sanchez’s decision to move up the elections could neutralize the honeymoon for the incoming conservative leaders” in the local elections, Villena said.

☆ Mexico rulers tipped to win historic state election as presidency race looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Dave Graham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] A banner of Delfina Gomez, candidate for Governor for the state of Mexico for the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) Party is pictured in Nezahualcoyotl, state of Mexico, Mexico May 26, 2023. Lopez Obrador routed the PRI in 2018 when he won the presidency. Erika Flores, a 50-year-old nurse who voted for Lopez Obrador in 2018, said she now felt disillusioned. LITMUS TESTIt is the first time the State of Mexico election will be a women-only contest. Gomez has vowed to put security first in the State of Mexico, pledging to clean up the police and improve their resources.

☆ Spanish Prime Minister Calls Snap Election for July
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Emma Bubola | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said Monday that he would dissolve Parliament and called a snap election for July after his Socialist Workers’ Party suffered several defeats in regional and local elections over the weekend. “I took this decision after looking at the results of the elections of yesterday,” Mr. Sánchez said in a speech in front of Spain’s presidential palace. The elections will take place on July 23, he said. The conservative Popular Party made substantial gains in regional and local elections held across Spain on Sunday. “Spain was dyed blue,” Cuca Gamarra, the secretary of the Popular Party, wrote on Twitter, referring to the party’s color, describing a “strong, clear and resounding result.”

☆ Mick Jagger's daughter Jade arrested in Ibiza
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, May 18 (Reuters) - Jade Jagger, the daughter of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, has been arrested on the Spanish island of Ibiza for attacking police officers, a police source said on Thursday without providing further details. She was arrested on Wednesday along with a man following an altercation at a restaurant in the island's capital Ibiza Town, Spain's largest newspaper El Pais reported, citing witnesses. The man became aggressive with waiters and the couple were thrown out, according to El Pais. When they arrived, the man resisted arrest and Jagger attacked police officers by scratching and punching, El Pais added. She will appear in court on Friday, according to El Pais.

[1/2] Anutin Charnvirakul, Bhumjaithai Party's leader and prime ministerial candidate, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Bangkok, Thailand, April 10, 2023. This time, new election rules favour bigger parties, and Bhumjaithai has strengthened its slate of candidates to compete with larger opponents. "Last time, Bhumjaithai Party won millions of votes from people who believed in the benefits of marijuana," he said. Some small parties have suggested amending it and Pheu Thai has raised the possibility of discussing it in parliament. "Protecting the monarchy is an inspiration for the party," Anutin said.

Bolsonaro's electoral outlook contrasts sharply with former U.S. President Donald Trump, another right-wing populist who challenged the results of his failed re-election campaign. Bolsonaro never conceded his narrow defeat in the October election and continues to question the reliability of Brazil's voting system. RISING CONSERVATIVE STARSStill, conservative powerbrokers allied with Bolsonaro are ready to reshuffle the deck for the next election cycle. He said a TSE decision to bar Bolsonaro from running would only boost the ex-president's political appeal. Any right-wing substitute could win with his endorsement, he added, while side-stepping the high rejection rates Bolsonaro faced as a candidate last year.

"This result consolidates the centre-right and strengthens the work of the government," Meloni wrote on Twitter. However, fears inside the coalition that support might crumble for Meloni's two main partners proved unfounded. The result offered no comfort to the centre-left camp, comprising the Democratic Party (PD), the 5-Star Movement and so-called Third Pole, which is riven by mutual loathing. Italy's electoral laws at both a national and regional level favour parties that combine forces meaning Meloni's opponents face years in the wilderness unless they learn to work together. Reporting by Crispian Balmer and Angelo Amante; Editing by Gavin Jones and Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Thousands join rightist rally against Spanish government
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] People protest against the government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at Cibeles Square in Madrid, Spain, January 21, 2023. REUTERS/Susana VeraMADRID, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Thousands of people packed into central Madrid on Saturday to protest against the Socialist government and accuse it of undermining the constitution, in a rally backed by rightist parties. Protesters massed in the Plaza de Cibeles in front of City Hall, waved Spanish flags, called on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to resign and shouted out "traitor". Around 200km (120 miles) away in the northwestern city of Valladolid, Sanchez told a Socialist rally that the protesters in Madrid were defending a "uniform" and therefore "discriminatory" Spain. Its recent decision to replace the crime of sedition with a lesser crime was opposed on the right.

[1/5] Health workers and their supporters protest against the public health care policy of the Madrid regional government, which they say is destroying primary care, in Madrid, Spain, January 15, 2023. REUTERS/Isabel InfantesMADRID, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of health workers protested in Madrid on Sunday over what they say is the destruction of the public health system by the conservative regional government. Dressed in white coats and banging drums, many chanted: "Cutting public health is criminal." Protesters say the regional government is dismantling public health services and favouring private health providers. In November, tens of thousands of people marched through central Madrid in support of health workers calling for better working conditions.

☆ Venezuela opposition removes interim President Guaido
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Mayela Armas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Supporters say opposition control of foreign assets is not at risk and the dissolution is necessary for unity ahead of the elections. "There are already tools to protect the assets in the United States, the United Kingdom, Portugal," said Justice First lawmaker Juan Miguel Matheus. Both the article eliminating the interim government and the article creating the assets commission passed with 72 votes in favor, 29 against and 8 abstentions. Guaido, whose Voluntad Popular party did not back the effort, had urged lawmakers to replace him instead of dissolving the interim government. The United States will continue to support the opposition, the assembly and the interim government "regardless of what form it takes," a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council said on Friday.

☆ Britain’s next leader will be on a short leash
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Peter Thal Larsen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The British leader announced her resignation on Thursday after just 44 days in charge, making her the country’s shortest-serving prime minister ever. Truss will stay in office until the Conservative Party chooses a replacement by the end of next week. However, her tenure effectively ended last Friday, when she was forced to replace her finance minister and reverse massive tax cuts which had triggered a self-imposed financial crisis. Truss said she would step down as leader and remain prime minister until a successor is chosen “in the next week”. “I recognise though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative party,” Truss said.

☆ British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after economic plan sparked turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Patrick-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Patrick Smith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON — British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced Thursday that she would resign after just six weeks in office, following a disastrous and rapidly reversed economic plan that sent the pound plunging and her government into chaos. Britain's Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside No. She ended the brief statement by saying: "I will remain as prime minister until a successor is chosen." Liz Truss is now the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. Her personal approval rating fell to minus 70, according to pollsters at YouGov, making her the most unpopular party leader in British history.

☆ Breakingviews: Britain’s next leader will be on a short leash
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Peter Thal Larsen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

☆ Factbox: Potential flashpoints in Italy's new rightist coalition
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here are some of the main potential sources of tension between Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI), Matteo Salvini's League and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia. The League leader has urged caution over sanctions while Berlusconi sparked outrage on Friday when he said Putin had invaded Ukraine to install a government of "decent people." Forza Italia, by contrast, has called for it to be increased, with a close Berlusconi aide saying it should be "doubled" for the poorest recipients. PERSONAL RIVALRIESRelations between Meloni and Salvini have often been strained as the fortunes of their parties have swung. If Salvini survives as party leader, he will have to find a way to counter Meloni's growing popularity, which is likely to cause friction.

Since publication of opinion polls was banned two weeks ago the left-leaning, unaligned 5-Star Movement appears to have made significant progress while the rightist League is struggling, according to seven pollsters interviewed by Reuters. "I would put the likelihood of a rightist majority at 60-65%, which has shrunk from about 80% three weeks ago." Their estimates on the probability of a conservative win ranged from 70% right up to 100% forecast by Federico Benini, head of the Winpoll agency. Nonetheless, most pollsters agreed the split between 5-Star and the PD will wreck both parties' chances in the third of the parliamentary seats assigned by a first-past-the-post system. "Even the growth of the 5-Star, unless it is phenomenal growth, appears insufficient to prevent the centre-right from winning," said Lorenzo Pregliasco, head of the YouTrend agency.

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