EU Parliamentary elections: Day one of voting is over as polls close in the Netherlands and Britain

Day one of voting is over as polls close in the Netherlands and UK

Exit Polls show Dutch Labor Party the big winner in the elections as Ultra-Right-wing populists  of the Baudet and Wilders groupings did not do as well as expected  

Read more at:
https://www.euronews.com/2019/05/23/britain-and-netherlands-kick-off-eu-elections-votes

Britain - Brexit: Theresa May should start reading the Tea Leaves as 2.6 million Leave voters have abandoned support for Brexit since referendum, major new study finds - by Benjamin Kentish

The Brexit disaster

More than 2.6 million people have abandoned their support for Brexit and now back staying in the EU, a major study has concluded.

If the huge number of Britons who have changed their mind had voted to stay in the EU in 2016, the referendum would have delivered a clear Remain verdict.

The data will add to the debate about whether the country now needs a new referendum, with millions having second thoughts about their Leave vote amid growing fears about Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal.

In a key finding that will particularly intensify pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to take a tougher stance against Brexit, the study found the overwhelming majority of those changing minds are Labour voters in seats the party currently holds.

It comes as Conservative divisions over Brexit deepened, with Theresa May attempting to slap down Boris Johnson after he wrote another article attacking her approach.

The Independent has launched its own campaign for a Final Say referendum, with almost three quarters of a million people having signed our petition demanding one so far.

Read more: 2.6 million Leave voters have abandoned support for Brexit since referendum, major new study finds | The Independent

France: Tight race for the Elysee Palace - by Bernd Rieger

French voters will be going to the polls this Sunday with the memory of Thursday's deadly attack in Paris still fresh in their minds. All candidates, from left to right, cancelled their final campaign appearances following the incident. They are all calling for police and investigative authorities to be boosted.

The right-wing populist Marine Le Pen accused the Socialist government of having failed in the fight against Islamic terrorism. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve in his turn accused Le Pen of exploiting the terror threat for the purposes of her campaign.

Surveys indicate that, after the fear of economic decline, voters are most worried about security and the threat posed by terrorism. There are no opinion polls recent enough to have measured voter sentiment following the most recent attack, which targeted police officers in the heart of Paris.

The state of emergency imposed in France after the Islamist attacks in Paris in November 2015 is still in force.

The race for France's presidency is wide open. The latest polls predict that four candidates out of the 11 candidates have a realistic chance of advancing to the decisive May 7 runoff. Two candidates, far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, who founded a new party, have both been touted as favorites for the last several weeks. Some polls give Le Pen a slight edge; others give it to Macron. It is a neck-and-neck race. But far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon and conservative Francois Fillon, the only representative of an established party, also have a decent chance of advancing. The two are just 2 or 3 percentage points behind front-runners Le Pen and Macron. That is well within the margin of error for such polling.

Election researcher Stephane Wahnich warned in a recent DW interview that nothing was certain. "We have many undecided voters in France. About a quarter of all voters have said that they will not decide until election day. That means that we are asking people who they will vote for even though they have yet to make up their minds." Wahnrich complains that France's voting public is no longer stable. "Our society is radically changing. This makes it difficult to come up with reliable projections. When you consider that fact, you have to conclude that opinion polls for this election are completely overrated."

Far-right populist Le Pen lost out in the first round of France's last presidential election in 2012. This time it seems certain that she will advance to the runoff. The ruling Socialist party of departing - and extremely unpopular - President Francois Hollande is playing no role whatsoever in the election. That is also something completely new in French politics. The country's political left is more divided than ever before. On the other hand, the rise of far-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon, who is especially popular among young French voters for his radical anti-EU slogans and calls for 100 percent taxation on the rich, is rather astonishing. Melenchon utterly rejects globalization and free-trade: "All trade deals that devastate the signatory countries must be stopped."

Read more: Tight race for the Elysee Palace | Europe | DW.COM | 22.04.2017

France: French Election Polls Ahead of First Debate Show Le Pen, Macron Extending Lead- by Jason Le Miere

Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron have pulled further in front in opinion polls for next month’s French presidential election ahead of the first televised debate Monday. Macron, a centrist independent, and Le Pen, the far-right leader of the National Front, have extended their advantage over Republican François Fillon, whose campaign has been dogged by an investigation into alleged fraud.

Macron and Le Pen were tied with 26 percent of the vote, with Fillon falling back to 17 percent, in a poll conducted by Kantar Sofres released Sunday. There was a setback, too, for the candidate for the governing Socialist party, Benoît Hamon, who fell back to 12 percent, level with left-wing former Socialist party member Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Current President François  Hollande announced in December that he will not seek a second term.

French voters will go to the polls for the first round of the election on April 23, with the top two candidates then going onto a second round run-off on May 7.

It would take a major swing in the final month of the campaign for the run-off not to be between Macron and Le Pen. And it would take a similar momentum switch for Macron not to ultimately emerge victorious. Polls have consistently shown Macron beating Le Pen in the second round with around two-thirds of the vote.

Read More: France: French Election Polls Ahead of First Debate Show Le Pen, Macron Extending Lead- by  Jason Le Miere

Netherlands’ Wilders popularity waning- by Nick Ottens

When Donald Trump won the presidential election in November, Dutch nationalist party leader Geert Wilders hailed it as the beginning of an illiberal reaction that would inspire like-minded movements on the Atlantic's other shore.

But it doesn’t seem to be happening in his home country.

The national broadcaster NOS averaged the polls for the election in March and found that support for Wilders’ Freedom Party has fallen since the end of last year, from a high of 21 percent to 18 percent.

The party, which proposes to take the Netherlands out of the European Union and stop immigration from non-Western countries, could still become the single-largest. But the difference with Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s liberal VVD is now only a few seats.

If this trend continues, Rutte could come out on top, although he is likely anyway to remain in power at the head of a coalition of parties in the centre.

So far Freedom Party voters are not flocking to Rutte, who is closest to Wilders on immigration and security policy but also supports EU membership and free trade. His liberal party is stable at 16-17 percent support.

The question now is: where will they go?

"Lets hope they go to a fresh new face like Jesse Klaver from GroenLinks", said a Dutch farmer in Groningen. 

EU-Digest

Britain: EU referendum poll tracker: Is Britain heading for Brexit and what does the UK think of Europe? - by Ann Gripper

ICM, YouGov, Ipsos Mori, ORB, ComRes and other pollsters are keeping track of voters' intentions to Leave or Remain in the referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union - but will they get it right?

Read complete report: EU referendum poll tracker: Is Britain heading for Brexit and what does the UK think of Europe? - Mirror Online

EU: What is your opinion?

If you want to know what Europeans have been saying about a large number of question related to a the functioning of the EU click on "What is your opinion" .

You can find it on the right hand panel  of Almere-Digest.

Almere-Digest

EU Presidency: President EU Commission should be elected by popular EU-wide vote say 85.71% polled

In the most recent EU-Digest Poll where the question was asked if the EU president of rthe EU Commission should be appointed by the EU Parliament (as it is today), or elected by popular EU-wide vote,  a large majority 85.71% polled said said they preferred a popular EU-wide vote. (see insert).

This month poll deals with the possible reasons for the huge migrant stream coming into the EU from the Middle East and Northern Africa.

EU-Digest

Torture USA - Poll : Despite Report, US Voters Still (sadly) See Value in CIA Interrogation Tactics

On the heels of the Senate’s scathing report on the Central Intelligence Agency’s interrogation practices, nearly half of U.S. voters are in favor of the harsh tactics used and think they elicited valuable information that helped the United States.

Forty-seven percent (47%) of Likely U.S. Voters believe waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from suspected terrorists. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 33% do not think such methods should be used, but another 20% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Note EU-Digest::  the above Rasmussen poll  also shows,  that on  average, US voters are not  capable of being able to make intelligentand realistic judgements on moral issues. 

This sad state of affairs was also proven by a recent Pew Research report on "gun control" versus "gun rights", which stated: 

"For the first time in more than two decades of Pew Research Center surveys, there is more support for gun rights than gun control. Currently, 52% say it is more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns, while 46% say it is more important to control gun ownership. Support for gun rights has edged up from earlier this year, and marks a substantial shift in attitudes since shortly after the Newtown school shootings, which occurred two years ago this Sunday….Nearly six-in-ten Americans (57%) say gun ownership does more to protect people from becoming victims of crime, while 38% say it does more to endanger personal safety. In the days after Newtown, 48% said guns do more to protect people and 37% said they placed people at risk."

Read more: Despite Report, Voters Still See Value in CIA Interrogation Tactics - Rasmussen Reports™

EU: Poll shows 70% polled want citizenship of European ISIS sympathizers revoked

In a recent EU-Digest Poll 70 % of those polled want citizenship of European ISIS sympathizers revoked, while 20% want it revoked following legal extradition procedure, while 10% wanted to do nothing.

In our new poll the following question is asked : "Which country in your opinion is presently the principal conduit for ISIS supplies and finances recognizing that ISIS is a direct result of earlier Western efforts to bring down the Assad Regime in Syria, whereby not only exiled opposition but also Jihadist and splinter terrorist organizations were provided with weapons and financing ? "

1) Iran
2) Saudi Arabia
3) Turkey
4) Qatar

EU-Digest

Scottish referendum on a knife edge: Two polls put No at 52% - with undicided at 14%

Scotland is heading for a cliffhanger result in Thursday's independence referendum, two eve-of-vote surveys are indicating.

Both opinion polls put the No campaign on 52 per cent, with support for Yes on 48 per cent, setting the scene for a highly-charged final 24 hours of campaigning.

The final result could lie in the hands of voters who are yet to make up their minds.

An ICM poll for the Scotsman put the undecided vote at 14 per cent, but suggested the Yes campaign was gaining ground.
 
Read more: Scottish referendum on a knife edge: Two polls put No at 52% - Scottish independence - UK - The Independent

European Parliamentary Elections: Polls show Europe's centre-right leads by a sliver before next weeks EU elections

EU-Digest Poll shows close race

The center-right is set to win the most seats in European Parliament elections next week, but its wafer-thin poll lead suggests the chances of securing the presidency of the European Commission are uncertain.

The European People's Party (EPP) will take 212 seats in the May 22-25 vote, according to an analysis of national polls on Wednesday by PollWatch 2014, only three more seats than its center-left rivals, the Socialists and Democrats (S&D).

There are 751 seats in the parliament, around 70 percent of which are expected to go to Europe's four mainstream groups - the center-right, center-left, Liberals and Greens.

Around a quarter of seats look likely to be won by anti-EU or protest parties on the far-right and far-left, almost double their standing at the last election in 2009. That's largely because of voter frustration with high unemployment and low growth.

Under EU rules introduced in 2009, the party that wins the election is best placed to have its top candidate become the president of the European Commission, one of Brussels' most powerful jobs, with far-reaching influence over legislation.

But while the EPP may just edge out the Socialists in the vote, according to Wednesday's survey, the Socialists are better placed to secure allegiances with other parties on the left, potentially helping them secure a majority in parliament.

Since the nominee for Commission president must be approved by parliamentary majority, the Socialists may be able to argue that their candidate has greater legitimacy than the center-right EPP's.
The nomination for Commission president will be made by EU leaders, who are required to "take into account" the results of the election in making their choice.

The EPP has chosen Jean-Claude Juncker, 59, the former prime minister of Luxembourg and a central broker during the euro zone debt crisis, as their candidate to succeed Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso, who has led the Commission since 2004.

The Socialists are backing Germany's Martin Schulz, 58, the current head of the European Parliament and an ardent campaigner for more money to be spent helping young people get jobs.

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, known as ALDE, have chosen former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt as their candidate for Commission president. But PollWatch's latest survey sees the Liberals taking just 63 seats.

The European Parliamentary elections will be held throughout the 28 EU member states from 22 to 25 May 2014 - let your voice be heard - VOTE -  IT IS OUR EUROPEAN UNION.

Read more: Europe's centre-right leads by a sliver before EU election: poll | Reuters

Turkey: AKP faces tough test in Turkey's local polls - by Osman Kaytazoglu

Turkey is going to the polls in local elections on March 30. The vote comes amid allegations of government corruption and bribery, debates about a so-called "parallel state", and with government moves to block Twitter and YouTube heavily criticized.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party [AKP] have come out of each general election since the party was first elected to power in 2002 with more votes than before, securing nearly 50 percent of the vote in 2011 general elections.

But this election may represent the AKP’s biggest challenge to date, and is being described as a litmus test for upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. The main parties fielding candidates are Erdogan’s AKP, the main opposition party Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the pro-Kurdish Justice and Development Party (BDP).

The local elections first garnered attention with anti-government Gezi Park protests in June 2013, when thousands of people descended on a park in central Istanbul against the municipality’s gentrification plans.

The elections have been dominated by a new scandal that began on December 17 last year, when three AKP cabinet ministers’ children were arrested on corruption charges, and several government figures were implicated in graft probes.

Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republic People’s Party (CHP), has tried to make sure the graft probe remains at the centre of the election process. "The state’s conscience woke up on December 17," CHP leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said, referring to when the first arrests were made.

Erdogan blamed rival Fethullah Gulen, the US-based head of the Gulen movement, for the recent controversies, and their feud has dominated the headlines. Erdogan described the Gulen movement as "a threat to national security" and called the Gulen movement "a terrorist organisation".

Recent opinion polls show that people are confused about the public AKP-Gulen feud. While 60 percent of Turkish people believe the corruption allegations are true, 57 percent also think that the graft probe is a coup attempt targeting Erdogan.

Ahead of the polls, various audio recordings have also leaked, with the latest reportedly showing top government and security officials discussing launching military operations into Syria. The Turkish government banned Twitter and YouTube over these leaks.

Read more: AKP faces tough test in Turkey's local polls - Europe - Al Jazeera English