President Javier Milei of Argentina has hailed a stunning mid-term comeback after searing criticism of his policies.
His party saw its seat share in the Lower and Upper houses increase by around twice its 2023 result, backing its leader.
Democracy
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Long Report: Leaving Europe
The difficult relationship we had with the European Parliament just before our departure in 2016 is very well-known. It wasn’t a case of all MEP’s finding fault, but those with a platform to cancel our membership made a vocal point over the reasons why.
The strength of feeling was matched on the street and online by those fully behind a Vote Leave momentum. The winning result meant a great deal to those that had fought hard, and it showed in the jubilation at having finally cast off its shackles.
However, the legacy of a turnaround in UK politics is hard to fathom in a time of increasing uncertainty. Are our issues a direct result of the referendum, or is it a more complicated situation? Is it wholly to blame, or is there another problem at play?
Reality stakes
The politics of Middle England is riven with dark prophecies, foreboding, and omens that come around every corner. It appears in such places there is imminent decline in every industry, apart from news-making. There are journalists doing a roaring trade.
Yet the sentiments, thoughts, and beliefs of many build on a picture of empty shop fronts, antisocial streets, and ruined estates to bring about an impression of pessimism that’s more a heartbeat rather than a summing up of the pages of a paper.
It seems more and more that we believe things are wrong, that people have messed up, and that mistakes have been made. The direct insults, accusations, and laments are more academic than political. There’s a feeling politics is on a road to Hell.
Our membership of the EU is a large part of trying to work it out. It’s loomed large in a lot of our politics since the 70’s, and yet only in the 00’s did it top our priorities. A lot more serious points were made. Is it that we finally found the answer?
Healthy criticism
At best, we feel we can govern ourselves, and at worst, we’re sure that there’s cause for point at another power, or boldly laying the blame on one of our own. It brings into focus our institutions and probes each one for a solution to our conundrum.
The Church of England has been accused of ripping apart the fabric of the nation by letting abuse go unnoticed or unheard. It’s not alone in this, but as an established institution it takes pride of place as being a culprit worthy of rebuke.
It makes up a large part of our understanding of how things should work together, and takes a hit if it doesn’t. The same cannot be said of religious groups that play little to no part in the clerical leadership of the nation, being as diverse as we are.
These are pointed rebukes, because it strikes at the heart of a particular issue, rather than simply shaming a particular person. The inevitable sackings, reviews, and payouts are not meant to harm, but repair cracks in a leaking system.
Reasoning hope
Our progress as a country toward a new set of circumstances is evident in the many parts of it. Even in the worshipful groups that people come to either love or hate, there’s been a leap in understanding, practice, and standards, that have benefited us all.
The innovations in the political realm of different tools and options for ordinary citizens to use is also something to note. It makes it easier, more efficient, and more likely to be accessed than ever before. The debates are a minutiae of the overall experience.
The old stories rear their heads still, which is a part of the furniture in many respects. We suffer from the same sad stories as other democracies that pursue a freedom of speech, and hear some crazy and ridiculous things come out. It’s a risk we take.
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Scholz loses no-confidence vote
Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, lost a no-confidence vote in the German Parliament today. It marks the end of over three years at the helm of the EU state.
It will further startle Europeans, who saw the premature end of Michel Barnier’s premiership of France at the start of the month, following a vote in its own Parliament
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PM Barnier voted down
In a reversal of fortunes, the Prime Minister of France, Michel Barnier, has lost a vote of no confidence. It follows just under three months after his appointment by President Macron.
The turmoil in Europe continues, with much pressure and uncertainty over the future of various Parliament’s, which are under pressure from left-leaning and right-wing political factions.
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Long Report: Keeping society civil
The idea behind rulership of any kind is a noble one, it’s just in practice it doesn’t always meet expectations. This is true in the UK, where discontent is found everywhere. The sources of it are both expected and unanticipated. There are people who, surprisingly, don’t care at all.
It’s a sad situation, especially if your country is built around making sage decisions and believing in wisdom. The culture of England is such, and its history is ready fodder for debates in this way. However, there is a time for agreeing with one another, if not just to prosper ourselves.
The reality of late is not as clear as this, either. It’s a truth be told that despite a belief rule doesn’t matter, or the day of Kings has passed to give way to democracy, it still matters who we are. The press release hasn’t gone out overseas, and it proves in repeated calls for independence.
What we do wrong
The activities of Parliament for instance are no barometer for us to measure the truth by, since sentiment – public or otherwise – is simply not as consequential as historical moments in themselves. It doesn’t matter if we write a perfect sermon, speech, or slogan, as it counts for so little.
The genuine change is not coming because people said it so, but because we want it so. In some sense constitutions give a false impression of progress, because the past can be used to nudge things along in the present. The issue is the previous lot were not meant for this at all.
The false logic is that people today know what they want, and so it’s best to give it to them. The reality is politics is a science and getting to a compromise takes more than an act of protest. The result has to be in line with our human interest, based on rights, and so it’s not as slapdash.
The worry is we’ll make the same mistake we allege of others, with decisions too quick and harm created for others. The same can be said of legislatures today, because of a temptation to make snap judgements that lead to a repeat of historic offenses, wrongs, and controversies.
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The Muslim vote wat’ won it
In the recent local elections, a few ‘truths’ emerged; sometimes the Tories lose badly, other times Labour actually poll fairly well.
These are, of course, two extremely broad definitions of politics that almost defy definition, sometimes, in that they seem such a broad a church respectively that to even bother explaining them without just a sheer focus on Jesus is pointless.
Many of us beg to differ, of course.
We don’t see politics like that, and thanks to modern enlightenment we see things in a very different way between each other. We don’t see ‘truths’, we see ourselves.
This leads us to an organisation called The Muslim Vote, aptly titled and so-called aside, it looks to be a very engaging if only dynamic political group online, and off.
There has to be substance or weight to a political movement if it’s going to succeed and not just stick in our imaginations as a clever idea or some great new effort that won’t go anywhere. Take Momentum for example, and you get the point.
The group The Muslim Vote says that this year the Muslim community politically organised in its first ever coordinated effort to influence a set of elections. These would be local elections where Muslims tend to feel that things are not reflective of the way they want to live in local areas in England.
The import of the far-right (which is neither imported nor exported) in the UK is usually in local areas and has its effect in local neighbourhoods and around the sort of Mosque’s that don’t always invite trouble but get the addresses right if they do.
These are the more provocative times and moments that the Press in the UK want to ignore, but they happened, and they still do, I guess.
Yet, The Muslim Vote has trended in the same Press behind a ‘character’ in Leeds who won his seat on a local council through that old fashioned method of campaigning, and connecting with local voters through a blog about growing vegetables.
This is how ‘truths’ come up, now, but it’s not the way realities bear down on us.
Councillor Mothin Ali is certainly not an eccentric for wanting to grow his own food, and get a seat on a local authority, but anything else about his life may still fall into this unfortunate category.
It’s a fact that being Muslim is still not understood unless it’s there, in person, and not the subject of debate or controversy.
The feeling and reality of being Muslim is still not in the political mindset or public perception of what it’s like to feel and live like a Muslim. These two ways of describing the situation will never include my own thoughts unless I meet the criteria for being one.
Hence, our way of representative democracy.
The election of a candidate who is not you is not a cause for celebration, unless you voted for him or her, or that you missed hearing about them but their work will benefit you, anyway. It means though that there are at least a portion of the local population who definitely felt the need for someone else, rather than the preferred candidates of other residents.
This is democracy, and this is the way it works. It’s upsetting at times but it gets the initial job done. The rest is left to Mr Ali and what he decides to do with the time allotted to him.