Recent elections and scandals

Russian Election

Vladimir Putin’s party looks set to lose its two thirds majority in the 450 seat State Duma, Russia’s lower house. The two thirds of seats had allowed United Russia to change the constitution so Putin can become president for two six year terms. The fall from 64% to fewer than 50% of the popular vote is particularly embarrassing given widespread allegations of fraud. However, since parties with fewer than 7% of votes cannot take seats, United Russia will still hold a majority in the parliament.

Egyptian Election

Results from Egypt’s first stage of Parliamentary elections suggests Islamist parties will take two thirds of seats. Though run offs will eventually determine distribution, the moderate Islamist Freedom and Justice Party and the radical Salafi Islamist Al Nour Party are clearly dominant. This means the new constitution and legal framework is likely to have strong Islamic influences including implementation of Shariah law. The results have caused alarm in Israel, where Egypt’s previous dictator, Mubarak, maintained good relations. Coptic Christians, who make up between 10-15% of the population, are particularly nervous that Egypt could become the new Iran and many are planning to leave the country.

The Euro

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy made it clear that the EU treaty would be changed at a meeting last Friday – regardless of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s opposition. Sarkozy had tried to convince Cameron to drop his insistence on repatriation of powers from Belgium in exchange for supporting a tighter fiscal union. However, the German leader has said that a new treaty will be signed, whether it be between all 27 members or just the Eurozone 17. This leaves Cameron the choice of being isolated from Europe or supporting the treaty and being isolated from his party, who are demanding a referendum on any changes to the EU treaty.

Public Sector Strikes

The BBC has received over 30,000 complaints about Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson’s comments on the One Show. Clarkson and the BBC have apologized for the comments, which included mention of people who commit suicide by jumping under trains being ‘selfish’ (which they kind of are, right?) and the most contentious point: Clarkson’s view that people striking should be shot (a prison sentence clearly being more appropriate). Despite leader of the opposition Ed Milliband also condemning him, intelligent people everywhere agreed that Clarkson is a bit of a douchebag but was clearly joking when making his remarks live on air.