Blair, Schroeder, Chirac Allies Tumble in EU Election

[Kellanved]

June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Allies of U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, French President Jacques Chirac and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi tumbled in European Parliament elections as voters across Europe protested everything from rising unemployment to the Iraq war.

Blair's Labour party won 22 percent, tying the opposition Conservatives and just ahead of the 20 percent of the U.K. Independence Party, which wants Britain to pull out of the European Union, a YouGov poll for Sky News showed. Schroeder's Social Democrats picked up 21.3 percent, the party's worst showing in a Germany-wide election since World War II, ARD television projections showed. The opposition Christian Democrats scored 45 percent, ARD said.

Exit polls from France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia pointed to setbacks for ruling parties there, as the European Union's first elections since it expanded to 25 nations last month shaped up as a continent-wide repudiation of a 9.1 percent jobless rate and the support of some countries for the Iraq war.

``It's clear that people are once again using the European election to send a message to their own government,'' Martin Schulz, the German Social Democrats' top candidate for the EU parliament, told German television. The European Parliament will announce the projected distribution of seats at 10:45 p.m. in Brussels. The EU-wide vote has no direct influence on the composition of national governments, though it acts as a barometer of public opinion.

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http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=asSQwqX1TqqU&refer=europe
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[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

1. Yes but I thought the CDU/CSU vote was more or less stagnant.

They recieved a almost the same or bit less in this vote for the Euro Parliament then the last Euro Parliament election.

So the SPD drop didnt go to the CDU/CSU. Where did it go? To the Greens and FDP?

[Kellanved]

4. nonvoters and greens

The SPD base stayed at home.

[Eloriel]

2. Uh, did they go more left or more right?

Sorry, but I'm not up on European political parties.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Both

It's the ruling parties that are suffering - Chirac (right) in France has done badly, Schroder (left) in Germany has too, etc.

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. It's a worldwide anti-incumbency reaction

It doesn't matter what party is in power, seems everyone is throwing the bums out.

[AP]

7. It doesn't matter whether they objected to Iraq War or participated. So...

...who are the bums?

The US screws the world with chaos and economic malaise, and the voters blame the parties in office and turn to isolationists and RW'ers.

Hmm. That couldn't be part of the plan to help the corporations win, could it?

[Kellanved]

6. Generally the left suffered more than the right

And the right had the majority to start with. The problem is that the Parliament is pretty weak, but without a high turnout there is no hope of strengthening the Parliament.