Wednesday, December 14, 2016

The Populist Wave



The Populist Wave

It is obvious to anyone even minimally informed that a populist wave is sweeping across the western world.  Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in the U.S., Brexit in Europe and populist parties gaining strength in most European countries, are recent examples of this populism.  This write up summarizes briefly who the parties and leaders of this movement are.

United States

Donald Trump won the election in face of massive media and opinion opposition against him.  He ran as a republican, but it is evident that he is really neither conventional republican nor democrat.  He is in process of choosing his cabinet in anticipation of resetting the country dramatically from where it has been the last decade.  His was an anti-establishment populist win of the first order, as evidenced by the massive crowds he drew during the campaign and the grass roots, rather than organized activity for him amongst the populace.
 Donald Trump


United Kingdom

As surprising as Trump’s win in the U.S., was Nigel Farage’s and UKIP’s successful campaign in England to leave the European Union.  In fact it came first and set the tone for the U.S. populist revolt, to anyone who would listen.  This was the elites in London and government telling “the great unwashed” what was good for them, and the chaps in Birmingham and Manchester responding with “up yours, mate”.

UKIP’s ideological approach is that of right-wing populism, employing populist rhetoric to distinguish itself from the political establishment. Promoting a British unionist and nationalist agenda, it characterizes the latter approach as a non-racial civic nationalism. UKIP's primary emphasis has been on hard Euroscepticism, calling for the UK's exit from the European Union, while it has also placed strong emphasis on lowering immigration. Economically describing itself as libertarian and influenced by classical liberalism and Thatcherism, it promotes economically liberal policies while appealing to traditional social values.  UKIP has one Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons and three representatives in the House of Lords. It has 20 Members of the European Parliament (MEP).

Nigel Paul Farage is a British politician who was the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and again from 2010 to 2016.[3] Since 1999 he has been a Member of the European Parliament for South East England. He co-chairs the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy.

   Nigel Farage




Ireland

Ireland, despite having some conditions favorable to the growth of a right wing populist party has no such party. This is because the ‘space’ usually occupied by such parties – for young, poor people disaffected by economic change – is taken up by Sinn Fein, which though it has similarities to radical right parties, differs markedly in its attitudes to immigrants.



France

The National Front (FN) was founded in 1972 by Jean-Marie Le Pen as an extremist neo Nazi party.  Under the leadership of Marine Le Pen, daughter, FN has pretty much lost its neo Nazi and pro Vichy orientation and is now a socially conservative, nationalist political party.  Its major policies include economic protectionism, a zero tolerance approach to law and order issues, and opposition to mass immigration. FN came out in first place in the last regional elections with a historic result of nearly 28% of the votes.  Marine Le Pen would lead the first round of the 2017 presidential elections, according to various polls. As of 2015, the FN has established itself as one of the largest political forces in France.  It currently has 2 seats in the French parliament and 24 seats in the European parliament, but seeks to improve substantially in the 2017 elections.

Marine Le Pen is the charismatic leader of FN.  Described as more democratic and republican than her nationalist father, she has led a movement of "de-demonization of the Front National" to detoxify it and soften its image, expelling controversial members accused of racism, antisemitism or pétainism (pro-Vichy beliefs). She also expelled her father from the party after his new controversial statements. She has relaxed some political and social positions of the party, such as advocating for civil unions for same-sex couples instead of her party's previous opposition to legal recognition of same-sex partnerships.
     Marine Le Pen

Germany

Germany has several populist parties/movements, both right and left wing.

 The Alternative for Germany (German: Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) is a right-wing populist and Eurosceptic political party in Germany.  In 2014 the party won 7.1% of the votes and 7 out of 96 German seats in the European election, and subsequently joined the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. As of September 2016, the AfD had gained representation in ten of the 16 German state parliaments. The party is currently led by Frauke Petry and Jörg Meuthen.  Afd is the ascendant populist party in Germany, and has been compared to UKIP in England and FN in France.

Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (Occident)), abbreviated Pegida, is a nationalist, anti-Islam, far-right political movement that aims to resist what it sees as a threat posed by Islamic extremism. It calls for the enforcement of existing laws to curb immigration. Pegida was founded in October 2014 by Lutz Bachmann, who continues to be active in the movement after some legal setbacks.  Bachmann, has set up a new political party, the Freiheitlich Direktdemokratische Volkspartei ("Liberal Direct Democratic People's Party", or "FDDV"). The FDDV was established on 13 June 2016.  Pegida is "a mixed group—known figures from the National Democratic Party of Germany, soccer hooligans, but also a sizable number of ordinary citizens. The movement is strongest where people have hardly any experience with foreigners, and among “easterners who never really arrived in the Federal Republic and who now feel they have no voice.

The Left (German: Die Linke), also commonly referred to as the Left Party (German: Linkspartei), is a democratic socialist and left-wing populist political party. Since mid-2012, its co-chairs have been Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger. In the Bundestag the party has 64 out of 630 seats after polling 8.6% of the vote in the 2013 federal elections. Its parliamentary group is therefore the third largest among the four groups in the German Bundestag, The party has 7 seats in the European parliament


            
            Frauke Petry                         Lutz Bachmann                     Katja Kipping          




Italy

The Five Star Movement, M5S) is a political party in Italy started by Beppe Grillo, a popular comedian and blogger.

The M5S is considered populist, anti-establishment, environmentalist, anti-globalist and Eurosceptic. Grillo himself provocatively once referred to it as "populist". Its members stress that the M5S is not a party but a "movement" and it may not be included in the traditional left-right paradigm. The "five stars" are a reference to five key issues for the party: public water, sustainable transport, sustainable development, right to Internet access, and environmentalism.
At the 2013 general election the M5S won the second most popular votes for the Chamber of Deputies, but obtained just 109 deputies out of 630. In the European Parliament the M5S is part of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group, along with the UK Independence Party.

Renzi's recent resignation could sweep Grillo's left-leaning and anti-establishment Five Star Movement party into power — and throw Europe into an economic and potentially political crisis.
           
           Beppe Grillo



Spain
  
Podemos "We can” is a left wing populist party, which seeks to address the problems of inequality, unemployment and economic malaise that followed in the wake of the European debt crisis.  The party was founded in March 2014 by political scientist Pablo Iglesias.

Podemos is the second largest political party in Spain by number of members after the People's Party (PP

In the 2014 European Parliament elections, Podemos received 7.98% of the national vote, with 1,200,000 votes cast, electing five Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). At the elections for the national parliament on December 20, 2015, Podemos received 21% of the vote and became the third largest party in the parliament, with 69 out of 350 seats.

   Pablo Iglesias


Portugal

Portugal is held up as the poster child of austerity that works, having successfully exited its bailout program last year. Exports are rising and the economy expanding. Most notable, from the vantage of Brussels at least, it does not have a firebrand party like Syriza from Greece or Podemos in Spain attempting to redraw the political map.



Netherlands

The Party for Freedom (PVV) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands founded with variations under the auspices of Geert Wilders.  Wilders has a price on his head from an Al Qaeda fatwa as described in his book “Marked for Death”.  As an aside, Wilders was speaking in Garland, Texas when two Deash assassins from Arizona attempted to commit mass murder at the auditorium.  They were shot dead by two Garland cops.

In the 2010 general election PVV won 24 seats, making it the third-largest party. It in came third in the 2014 European Parliament election, winning four out of 26 seats.

The party is consistently anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic and it strongly advocates withdrawal from the EU.  However Wilders considers himself a “right wing liberal”

    Geert Wilders



Denmark

The Danish People's Party (DPP) is a political party in Denmark which is generally described as right-wing populist by academics and far-right by international media.  It has also been described in academia and the media as a nativist and anti-immigrant party. The party was founded in 1995 by Pia Kjærsgaard, who led the party until 2012, when she passed the leadership on to Kristian Thulesen Dahl.  The party considers itself to be anti-Moslem.

In 2014 the party won the European Parliament election in Denmark by a wide margin, securing 27% of the vote. After the election, it joined the European Conservatives and Reformists group alongside parties such as the United Kingdom's Conservative Party and Poland's Law and Justice. The DPP received 21% of the vote in the 2015 general election, becoming the second largest party in Denmark for the first time amid a plurality for the centre-right parties.

        
Kristian Thulesen Dahl                    Pia Kjærsgaard


Norway

The Progress Party (FrP) is a populist political party which identifies as classical liberal (libertarian) and conservative-liberal. Academics broadly categorize the party as neoliberal (moderate or non-radical) populist. The party was Founded by Anders Lange in 1973.  The current leader is Siv Jensen.

The party entered into a coalition with the Conservative Party, which from 2013 makes up the current Norwegian government (with parliamentary support from two smaller centrist parties).


     Siv Jensen



Sweden

Swedish Democrats (SD) is a political party in Sweden that describes itself as social conservative with a nationalist foundation, though it has been characterized by some as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative and anti-immigration. Since 2005 its party chairman has been Jimmie Åkesson.

The Sweden Democrats were successful in the 2014 general election, polling 12.9% and winning 49 seats in the Riksdag, a 14% share of the seats. The Sweden Democrats, however, remain isolated in the Riksdag because the other parties are staunchly maintaining a policy of refusing cooperation with them.

    Jimmie Åkesson





Finland

The Finns Party, PS, is a populist and nationalist-oriented Finnish political party.  Timo Soini has been the leader of the party since 1997. In the 2015 election the party got 17.7% of the votes, making them the parliament's second largest party.

The party combines left-wing economic policies with conservative social values, socio-cultural authoritarianism, and ethnic nationalism. Several researchers have described the party as fiscally centre-left, socially conservative, a "centre-based populist party" or the "most left-wing of the non-socialist parties", whereas other scholars have described them as radically right-wing populist. The Finns Party has been compared by international media to the other Nordic populist parties and other similar nationalist and right-wing populist movements in Europe that share euroscepticism and are critical of globalism, whilst noting its strong support for the Finnish welfare state.

In June 2014, the Finns Party joined the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament, where it co-operates with parties like the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom and Law and Justice of Poland.

    Timo Soini



Estonia

The Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) is a national conservative political party in Estonia. Current chairman of the party is Mart Helme. Ideologically, many political commentators place the EKRE on the right to far right.  It is also eurosceptic and wishes to implement Swiss-style direct democracy.

In the parliamentary election of 2015, it secured 8.1% of the votes and entered the Riigikogu with 7 seats. At the same time it had around 7600 members, being the fourth largest Estonian party by membership size.

     Mart Helme



Latvia

The National Alliance, NA, is a right-wing political party in Latvia. With seventeen seats in the Saeima, the National Alliance is the fourth-largest party in the parliament. The party is a coalition of conservatives, Latvian ethnonationalists, and economic liberals, under the leadership of Gaidis Bērziņš and Raivis Dzintars .

In the October 2014 election, it won seventeen seats, and entered a centre-right coalition, along with Unity and the Union of Greens and Farmers under Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma.

It is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe and its one MEP, Roberts Zīle, sits in the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament.

   Gaidis Bērziņš



Lithuania

Party Order and Justice (PTT), is a right-wing national liberal political party in Lithuania, though it self-identifies as 'left-of-centre'. It has eleven members of the Seimas, the unicameral Lithuanian parliament.

Formed as the 'Liberal Democratic Party' in 2002, the party achieved almost immediate success with the election of leader Rolandas Paksas as President of Lithuania within its first year. Paksas's impeachment led to the party reorganising itself as 'Order and Justice' to compete in the 2004 parliamentary election. Since then, it has been the fourth-largest party in the Seimas, and finished third in the elections to the European Parliament and to the presidency.

The party sits on the right, possesses a radical and anti-establishment identity, and is described as both socially conservative and 'liberal', in line with its original identity. The party's two MEPs sit in the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group in the European Parliament.

    Rolandas Paksas



Poland

Law and Justice (PiS), is a right-wing national-conservative, and Christian democratic political party, with 216 seats in the Sejm and 56 in the Senate.  Some call the party Neo-Nazi.  It is currently the largest party in the Polish parliament.  Andrzej Duda is current President.  Beata Szydlo is Prime Minister.

The party was founded in 2001 by the Kaczyński twins, Lech and Jarosław. The party won the 2005 election, while Lech Kaczyński won the presidency. Jarosław served as Prime Minister, Several leading party members, including Lech Kaczyński, died in a plane crash in 2010.

The party program is dominated by the Kaczyńskis' conservative and law and order agenda. It has embraced economic interventionism, while maintaining a socially conservative stance that in 2005 moved towards the Catholic Church; the party's Catholic-nationalist wing split off in 2011 to form Solidary Poland. The party is solidarist and mildly eurosceptic.

PiS is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) European political party. The current sixteen PiS MEPs sit, as well as three other people elected from the PiS register, in the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament.



       
Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński                        Andrzej Duda                     Beata Szydło



Czech Republic

Dawn - National Coalition is a right-wing populist and eurosceptic political party founded by Tomio Okamura, independent senator attached to the Christian Democratic parliamentary group. The party favours the implementation of direct democracy at all levels "as a solution to the corruption, nepotism, clientelism and kleptocracy," the use of referenda, the direct election of deputies, senators, mayors and regional governors, a presidential system and, consequently, a stronger separation of powers.

In the parliamentary election of 2013 the party obtained 342 339 votes (6.88%) and gained 14 seats.

    Tomio Okamura




Slovakia

Robert Fico is a Slovak politician who has been Prime Minister of Slovakia since 4 April 2012; previously he was Prime Minister from 4 July 2006 to 8 July 2010. He has been the leader of the Direction – Social Democracy (SMER-SD) party since 1999.  He has been a very popular Social Democrat, and not a true populist, although there have been overtones of populism in his early governments.

    Robert Fico




Hungary

Viktor Mihály Orbán is a Hungarian politician and jurist. He has been Prime Minister of Hungary twice: currently, since 2010; and from 1998 to 2002. He is also the present leader of the national conservative Fidesz party, a post he has held since 2003 and, previously, from 1993 to 2000.

Under his leadership, Orbán shifted Fidesz away from its original classical liberal, integrationist platform toward center-right national conservatism. After Fidesz attained a parliamentary plurality in the 1998 elections, Orbán governed the country for four years at the head of a right-wing coalition government.  He is also considered by some to be Neo-Nazi.

Orbán's social conservatism, Eurosceptic nationalism, constitutional reforms, and advocacy of what he calls "illiberal democracy" have attracted significant international attention. Politico states that his political philosophy "echoes the resentments of what were once the peasant and working classes" by promoting an "uncompromising defense of national sovereignty and a transparent distrust of Europe's ruling establishments". He is considered one of the most influential leaders in the European Union, and a "talisman of Europe's mainstream right".

   Viktor Orban



Austria

The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) is a right-wing populist political party in Austria. The party, led by Heinz-Christian Strache, is a member of the Europe of Nations and Freedom group in the European Parliament.

Under Strache's leadership, the party has again attracted an increase in its popular support. In the 2016 presidential election, FPÖ member Norbert Hofer won the first round, receiving 35.1%, but was narrowly defeated by Green Party's candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, 49.7% against 50.3%, in the run-off. However, on 1 July 2016, the results were invalidated by the Constitutional Court of Austria due to possible procedural irregularities, after an appeal by the party's leader, Heinz-Christian Strache. The party lost again on 4 December, this time by a larger margin of 7%.

     
Heinz-Christian Strache                   Norbert Hofer



Switzerland

The Swiss People's (PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre, is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Albert Rösti, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 65 members of the National Council and 5 of the Council of States.

The party is focussed increasingly on issues such as euroscepticism and opposition to mass immigration. As of 2015 the SVP has 54 seats in the Federal Assembly, and its vote share of 29% in the 2007 Federal Council election was the highest vote ever recorded for a single party in Switzerland.

      Albert Rosti



Slovenia

The Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) is liberal-conservative political party in Slovenia. The party's leader is Janez Janša, The party's radical populism, nationalistic and xenophobic rhetoric is apparent.  It holds 21 of 90 seats in the national assembly and 3 of 8 seats in the European parliament.

    Janez Janša



Croatia

Croatia does not seem to have a viable national populist party.  What comes close is a regional party, Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja (HDSSB), a regionalist and right wing populist political party in the Eastern Croatian region of Slavonia.  The leader is Ivo Sanader.  They improved their position in Croatian Parliament in the last election by winning 6 seats.  They have no seats in the European parliament.

    Ivo Sanader



Bosnia Herzegovina

Bosnia Herzegovina does not seem to have a viable national populist party.  Their politics seems related to Croatian, Serbian and Bosnian (Muslim) parties vying for representation and power.




Serbia

The Serbian Radical Party (SRS) is a far right, Serbian nationalist political party in Serbia. The party was founded in 1991 by Vojislav Šešelj.  The party's core ideology is based on Serbian nationalism and the goal of creating a Greater Serbia. The party is also strongly opposed to European integration (Euroscepticism) and globalization, advocating for closer ties with Russia instead. The party regards former general Ratko Mladić and former Republika Srpska president Radovan Karadžić as "Serbian heroes".  The party has 22 of 250 seats in the national assembly.

    Vojislav Šešelj




Montenegro

The People's Party (NS) is an opposition populist political party in Montenegro. Until 2009 it was the main conservative party in Montenegro, as opposed to ruling party and its main opposition, both of which were socialist oriented.

At the last legislative elections in Montenegro, in March 2009, NS formed a pre-election coalition with Democratic Serb Party, but the coalition failed to gain parliamentary status.

The party is led by Predrag Popović.

            Predrag Popović


Macedonia

Macedonia does not seem to have a populist movement.  Political parties reflect national identities – Albanian, Bosnian, Turkish, Serbian, etc.


Kosovo

Macedonia does not seem to have a populist movement.  See Albania.


Albania

The party of the Albanian National Front (PBK) is a nationalist political party in Albania and Kosovo. The National Front is an independent political formation, whose goals are to unite the Albanian people residing within and outside the borders of Albania regardless of gender, religion and social status. The party strives to create the conditions of spiritual, cultural and political unity of the Albanian people within and outside of Albania.  Leader is Abas Ermenji.

    Abas Ermenji


Greece

The Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) (a Greek adverb meaning "from the roots" is a left-wing populist political party in Greece, originally founded in 2004 as a coalition of left-wing and radical left parties. It is the largest party in the Hellenic Parliament, with party chairman Alexis Tsipras serving as Prime Minister of Greece from 26 January 2015 to 20 August 2015 and from 21 September 2015 to present.  It holds 144 of 300 seats in the Hellenic parliament and 4 of 21 seats in the European parliament.  The party is essentially anti austerity measures imposed on Greece by creditor countries, particularly Germany.

    Alexis Tsipras




Turkey

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) is a conservative political party in Turkey. Developed from the tradition of moderate Islamism, the party is the largest in Turkey. The current party leader Binali Yıldırım is the Prime Minister of Turkey, while former party leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan serves as the President.  Erdogan has been the charismatic titular leader of Turkey since the early 2000’s

Although the party is described as an Islamist party in some media, party officials reject those claims. "The AK Party is a conservative democratic party. The AK Party's conservatism is limited to moral and social issues. Also in a separate speech made in 2005, Prime Minister Erdoğan stated, "We are not an Islamic party, and we also refuse labels such as Muslim-democrat." Erdoğan went on to say that the AK Party's agenda is limited to "conservative democracy".

The party's foreign policy has also been widely described as Neo-Ottomanist, an ideology that promotes renewed Turkish political engagement in the former territories of its predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire. However, the party's leadership has also rejected this label.

     Recep Tayyip Erdoğan




Bulgaria

Attack party, founded by Volen Siderov in 2005. There are different opinions on where to place the party in the political spectrum: according to most scholars it is extreme right,
according to others extreme left, or a synthesis of left- and right-wing. The leadership of the party asserts that their party is "neither left nor right, but Bulgarian". It advocates the re-nationalisation of privatised companies and seeks to prioritize spending on education, healthcare and welfare. The party is considered ultranationalist and racist, especially antisemitic and anti-Roma, as well as xenophobic, especially anti-Muslim and anti-Turkish.  The party has 11 of 240 seats in the national assembly and no seats in the European parliament.

    Volen Siderov



Romania

The People's Party – abbreviated PP-DD) a left wing populist political party in Romania created in 2011 by television presenter Dan Diaconescu. In June 2015 it merged into the National Union for the Progress of Romania.  The ideology of the PP-DD expressed nationalist and socialist sentiments. The party supported progressive measures like higher retirement pensions and salaries, and a lower VAT. The party also supported the collectivization of agriculture and sought a People's Tribunal, the foundation of state companies with directly elected leadership.  It has no present representation in national or European politics.

    Dan Diaconescu




Moldova

Moldova does not seem to have a populist party per se.  It’s political patires seem to relflect pro and anti communism and pro and anti Russia factions.



Ukraine

There is no obvious emergent populist party in Ukraine.  Ukraine has a multi-party system with numerous political parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. In the (October 2015 Ukrainian parliamentary election 132 political parties nominated candidates.  Many parties in Ukraine have very small memberships and are unknown to the general public.

 Ukrainian parties tend not to have a clear ideology but to contain different political groups with diverging ideological outlooks. Unlike in Western politics, civilizational and geostrategic orientations play a more important role than economic and socio-political agendas for parties. This has led to coalition governments that would be unusual from a Western point of view.

Current President: Petro Poroshenko.  Current Prime minister: Volodymyr Groysman

      
            Petro Poroshenko                              Volodymyr Groysman



Belarus

Belarus is effectively a communist dictatorship under the rule of Alexander Lukashenko.  Lip service is given to political parties but they have no real power.

     Alexander Lukashenko



Russia

United Russia (IPA) is as of 2016 the ruling political party in Russia. United Russia is the largest party in the Russian Federation; as of 2016 it holds 343 (or 76.22%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma.  It is populist in the sense that Putin is Russia’s populist, charismatic leader

The United Russia Party formed in December 2001 through a merger of the Unity Party and the Fatherland – All Russia Party. As of 2016 the United Russia Party supports the policies of the presidential administration. The Party's association with President and former Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (a former leader of the Party) has been the key to its success. There is also evidence that the electorate credits the Party for improvements to the economy.

United Russia remains the most popular party in the country, ahead of the second-placed Communist Party at 19.19%.

The Party has no coherent ideology; however in 2009 the United Russia Party proclaimed "Russian Conservatism" as its official ideology.

     Vladimir Putin