Tale of two elections
- By Sumantra Maitra
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E-mail China.org.cn, October 31, 2015
On the other hand in Poland, the left-center activists and public are amazed at the fall of their government. In fact Poland was one of the countries that benefitted the most at the cost of the European Membership. Massive amount of Polish people now work in the west, and share their wealth back home, much to the consternation of local English/French/German population. Poland also recorded a GDP growth of 3.2 percent which is huge compared to other European countries.
Why did it all change in two drastically different ways in both the countries? First of all, I am skeptical of Canada having actual real change. Yes, superficially the Liberals are in power in Canada, however it is unlikely there will be much change in foreign policy. The Liberal victory of Canada is not like Jeremy Corbyn's left in U.K. or Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump in U.S. In fact, Trudeau is basically moving Canada back to the center, rather than the right, as Canada couldn't possibly go any further right than under Harper. The Canadians don't have a nationalist Tea party yet, thankfully…and the Conservative formula had run its course and was suffering from the incumbency factor.
Also, in the last fifteen years a whole new generation of Canadians grew up and got voting age, who are oblivious of the last decade wars against terror and Islamism, and are more concerned about their tuition fees in colleges being free. This election was a natural reflection to their aspiration, rather than the cynical realist grim world view Harper had to offer. In fact Canada is not even changing its foreign policy much, as evident from the latest interview of Trudeau who said he is ready to face off Russia in the arctic.
Poland on the other hand is fearful like every other east European country, from a massive threat of Russia in the east, from a stagnating and fluctuating import sector and a growing revulsion of the migrant crisis. It is ironic that East Europeans like Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, who enjoyed so many benefits from the free European movements, are now at the forefront of their opposition to preserving European values and of stopping war refugees, when just seventy years age, their forefathers fled war in Europe for better life in the Americas.
Poland is bipartisan and extremely anti-Russian hegemony and is constantly demanding NATO missiles bases in their country, but it is evident that they voted and are willing to prioritize being anti-EU when it comes to stopping Arab refugees, than opposition to Russia. As I mentioned a month back that Hungary will be followed soon by other East European countries, and Euro-scepticism and ultra-nationalism will continue to rise across Eastern Europe. Poland proves that hypothesis correct.
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