With all domestic votes from Italy's election counted, Pier Luigi Bersani's centre-left bloc won the lower house vote but has failed to secure a majority in the Senate. Control of both houses is needed to govern. A protest movement led by comedian Beppe Grillo won 25%, but the centrist bloc led by current Prime Minister Mario Monti came a poor fourth, with about 10%.
The Senate is split between left and right, causing more anxiety in the eurozone. There may be an attempt to form a wider coalition to govern the country but it is unlikely to survive.
The election has come at a pressing time for not only the eurozone but Italy itself. They are amid a deep recession and tough austerity measures.
The rest of the EU are worried that a stable government cannot be formed from the results and that another election will be in needed within months. This could in turn lead to paralysis for the country's economy like seen in Greece. Greece itself has a wide range of elected political parties, from far-right Greek nationalists to Marxist-Leninist communists. This growing split in the electorate's ideology hasn't been seen in Europe for years. With Europe in such a weak state, many voters are turning to more extreme policies to provide solutions to their country's problems. With trying times, radical action is sometimes needed...political history can show us that.
In France, the Constitutional Council rejected a 75 per cent upper income tax rate to be introduced in 2013 in a setback to newly elected Socialist President François Hollande’s push to make the rich contribute more to cutting the public deficit. The fact that politicians are proposing such drastic measures is refreshing to see, especially when that's what their supporters want. With mass rallies and populations expecting a real change, the time for the people of Europe to have their say is upon us!
No comments:
Post a Comment