World Elections 2015

[Glaurung]

News from Turkey now. They had a general election yesterday; according to this BBC article, the previously ruling AKP has failed to gain a majority. It's not clear what happens next as regards forming a government (AKP minority government or coalition, or coalition of the former opposition parties), but it seems to have killed off any chance of AKP leader Erdogan gaining any more power as President. Also good news: the pro-Kurdish HDP has gained seats in parliament for the first time, so there's hope of policy-making on Kurdish matters becoming more rational.

[Jubal]

Huge Liberal win in Canada, ending a decade of Conservative rule and booting out Stephen Harper as Prime Minister. 

[Pentagathus]

Probably whoop whoop.

[comrade_general]

Are there any circumstances where you wouldn't vote liberal, Joob?

[Jubal]

It would depend on the country and circumstances hugely.

In the UK, I'd usually vote Lib Dem but would consider voting Labour or Green if it was necessary to keep the Conservatives, Scots Nationalists, or UKIP out of a seat. I'd also stop voting Lib Dem if the party swung heavily enough to the right that there definitely wasn't a place for people like me in it (basically if it just became a "centre party" rather than supporting liberal ideals that I care about). I have voted Labour in the past, though that was when the Lib Dems suspended their candidate in a council election.

As for other countries... in Canada I think I'd be in a similar position to the UK, though I'd probably be a little happier voting NDP there than Labour here. In the US, I think I'd usually vote Democrat, though I'd consider the Greens if they had a chance at winning something or possibly the Libertarians if I was in a GOP seat where only the Libs had a chance of breaking through (but I'm really quite a long way from the US Libertarians ideologically, so that would be purely a tactical vote, and I'm not sure any such seats exist). In Australia I'd never vote Liberal, given that I don't find their Liberal party, well, particularly liberal. Not sure who I would vote for.

I don't think there are many circumstances at all in which I'd consider casting a vote for a conservative or rightist party. Possibly if I was convinced they were the only way to vote to stop a straight-up fascist winning a seat, or if there was an extremely authoritarian pro-surveillance anti-human rights type leftist party versus a libertarian centre-right party I might be a bit split.

[comrade_general]

I'm liking Dr. Ben Carson. He seems like an intelligent, down to earth guy. And as a black conservative he really, REALLY pisses off the left.

[Jubal]

I'm surprised, given his views are a long long way from libertarian - by which I mean his religious beliefs are pretty much off the wall nuts, he's got the full suite of opposition to libertarian positions on most social issues, and moreover he supports federal monitoring of the political views being expressed in universities, which is textbook illiberal-end conservatism.

People like him do confuse me: he clearly is bright, given his excellent neuroscience career, but he's also in many cases someone who's clearly very willing to put unsubstantiated belief first and science second (he doesn't believe in evolution and thinks the world was literally created in seven days).

[comrade_general]

There isn't going to be any candidate who isn't a complete moron about something.

But I don't go blindly libertarian on everything. The Libertarian Party itself is pretty nuts. I am just myself.

Edit: Or should I say: "RACIST!"? The Dems kept pulling that card every time someone disagreed with Barama.

[Jubal]

I appreciate not going Libertarian on everything, I just assumed you would do on things like free speech because that's really bloody important.

Also how many instances can you find of the Democrats actually calling someone a racist who wasn't being racist? Citation needed.
(I appreciate you were joking and I'm being a miserable git, but I'm feeling grim and rather bitter about politics generally at the moment so wrong moment to needle me.)

[comrade_general]

[Glaurung]

As a reminder, we already have a US Presidential Election 2016 thread, wherein the merits and sanity of the declared candidates, potential candidates, undecideds and the rest of the population may be debated to your hearts' content.

[comrade_general]

I hate politics. Remind me to never bring it up again.

[Jubal]

Ditto earlier apologies :/

[Jubal]

Meanwhile and on a lighter note, in Ukraine:

Emperor Palpatine takes City Council seat in Ukraine's Odessa

This is neither a joke nor a Star Wars sequel: The series' villain, Emperor Palpatine, is set to continue his political career in Ukraine. Following Sunday's nationwide elections, Darth Sidious secured a seat on Odessa City Council.
This is according to Odessa mayoral candidate Aleksandr Borovik, who shared the news, as well as his extreme bewilderment, on Facebook.

"A cartoon comrade of Darth Vader – Palpatine – received 54.4 percent of votes in Poselok Kotovskogo [one of Odessa's neighborhoods]. Palpatin Dmitry, born in 1990, who works as an emperor at 'LLC Palpatine Finance Group' makes it to the city council on the Trust Affairs party list," Borovik said.

"This is beyond my understanding," the politician added, saying that he nevertheless respected the choice of those who voted. "People, what's wrong with you?" Borovik wondered, rhetorically.

https://www.rt.com/news/319792-star-wars-elections-ukraine/

[Jubal]

The conservatives have gained the Argentine presidency, in other news, which is a major shift from the populist centre-leftists who've tended to hold power for quite a lot of years.