As the USA slides into ultra right wing despotism, with the rule of law being abandoned and billionaires allowed free rein, one surprising benefactor has been centrist and more progressive political parties elsewhere in the world.
Since Donald Trump was elected and started talking about annexing the country to his north, the leftish Liberal Party of Canada has gone from prospective wipeout territory to an election-winning position, with 178 seats now projected according to 338Canada. This is a statistical model based on a combination of opinion polls, electoral history and demographic data. 172 seats are needed to win. Other polls also favour the Liberals.
The Canadian governing party switched leaders recently, from the charismatic but widely hated Justin Trudeau, to former banker Mark Carney, but this trend appears to be independent of that. An election has just been called in Canada.
Meanwhile, the progressive government of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum shows no signs of losing its honeymoon bounce since last year’s election as her country stands up to tariff threats from the big bully to the north. Sheinbaum’s approval is over 75 per cent in most recent polls – the kind of figure US political leaders can only dream of.
Europe and beyond
Massive political protests are challenging the rule of autocrat President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, President Aleksandar Vucic in Serbia and Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Hungary, all men who share Donald Trump’s disdain for democracy and human rights.
In the UK, the ultra right wing Reform Party continues to surge against the ruling Labour Party as traditional conservatives fade, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s public support for Ukraine and Europe in the face of American aggression appears to have stabilised his fall.
France, Italy and Netherlands continue to lean right, but there have been big protests against the rise of racism, fascism and far right policies, with more than 10,000 people gathering in Amsterdam on the weekend in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
In Israel, the far right government of Benjamin Netanyahu is under siege from its own people, with thousands gathering around the prime minister’s house and outside the Ministry of Defence in recent days following the return of attacks on Gaza and the dismissal of the head of the domestic intelligence service, who was about to resume corruption investigations into the prime minister.
Protester Moshe Haaharony told Reuters, ‘The most dangerous enemy of Israel is Benjamin Netanyahu.’
Despite the best efforts of Elon Musk, Germany has held off the threat of the neo-Nazi AfD, for now, and former Filipino strongman, president and alleged mass-killer Rodrigo ‘The Punisher’ Duterte has been arrested by the ICC in Manila, for crimes against humanity.
What about Australia?
At home, as Australians have seen the chaos, dysfunction and cruelty unfolding across the Pacific, Peter Dutton has been forced to back pedal from his earlier all-in support for Donald Trump and Trump-like policies, which have included racist dog whistling and attacks on the public service.
Unfortunately for him, supporting things like the PBS hasn’t been enough to save him in the popularity stakes.
In recent weeks, in an echo of what’s happened in Canada, Anthony Albanese’s downward slide and Peter Dutton’s rise in the polls have reversed. Respected pollster Roy Morgan Research says that if an election were held now, the ALP would be returned with an increased majority. The government is enjoying its largest lead in over eighteen months. Even the most partisan polls are showing no election-winning lead for the Coalition at this stage.
Unlike the situation in the USA, Dutton can’t rely on calling out a last minute cohort of sexists and racists who don’t normally vote – that demographic is known and measured here.
Anthony Albanese is due to call an election very soon.
Back in the not-so-United States of America, the Democrats appear to be in disarray, even as the democratic world beyond its borders reconsiders its relationships with what was once an ally. The only glimmer of hope appears to be the consumer boycotts of the billionaires driving the takeover of the federal government, and the massive rallies being held across the country by progressive champions and outsiders Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
How long until these two find themselves on a plane to El Salvador though, is anyone’s guess.
Originally from Canberra, David Lowe is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and photographer with particular interests in the environment and politics. He’s known for his campaigning work with Cloudcatcher Media.
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