Europe swings to the right
June 8, 2009
A record low voter turnout -- 43.4 percent -- in voting that ended Sunday pointed to enduring voter apathy about the European Union.
But Europe's conservatives held their own, with the European People's Party securing 267 seats in the 736-member Strasbourg-based European Parliament. The Socialists secured 159 seats with 81 seats for the Liberal Democrats, who came third in the polls, followed by the Greens with 51 seats.
Center-right parties in the largest EU member states registered large gains in France, Italy, Spain and Poland as well as in Belgium, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Cyprus.
EU Parliament Presidennt Hans-Gert Pöttering said the pro-European forces had stood their ground: "I expect all parties, who do not share this pro-European attitude, to work together in parliament in a productive manner," the German conservative politician said.
Some 388 million were eligible to vote for in elections for the European Union's only directly elected institution.
"I don't expect any major difficulties in decision-making. The composition of this parliament will not be significantly different from the previous one. Decisions on major issues were adopted in most cases by solid majorities," European Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.
After four days of elections across the 27-member European Union, voters did punish some national governments, but in the end, the socialists failed to capitalize on the perceived weakness of the conservatives.
Socialists ponder the future
"It's a sad evening for social democracy in Europe,” Martin Schulz, the leading candidate for the German socialists, said. “We are particularly disappointed; it is a bitter evening for us."
Addressing reporters, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso thanked voters for participating in the electoral process.
"Overall, the results are an undeniable victory for those parties and candidates that support the European project and want to see the European Union delivering policy responses to their everyday concerns,“ Barroso said.
Far-right gains in the UK
Pressure on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown intensified Sunday with a crushing defeat for his ruling Labour Party in European elections, which brought successes for anti-European and anti-immigration extremist parties.
The far-right British National Party, which campaigns for a halt to immigration, won its first two seats to the European Parliament.
Mainstream parties lamented the breakthrough made by a party they regard as racist.
"It's a sad moment for British politics," Health Secretary Andy Burnham said.
Provisional results gave the Labour Party 14 percent of the vote, compared with 22 per cent in the last European poll in 2004.
Analysts said the result was the worst for Labour in a nationwide poll since 1918. The ruling party was overtaken by UKIP, the anti-European UKIndependence Party, which scored around 17 percent of the vote.
The Conservatives led by David Cameron improved their share of the vote to 29 per cent, while the Liberal Democrats, gained 14 per cent. The full results for Scotland and Northern Ireland will be announced later on Monday.
There were also big gains for right-wing and Euro-sceptic parties, especially in south-eastern Europe, but also in The Netherlands, Austria and Denmark.
nrt/Reuters/AFP/dpa
Editor: Sonia Phalnikar