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Wikimedia Commons Jack Peterson looks at the world’s ninth-largest economy ahead of Tuesday’s election On Monday September 29, as the campaign reached its halfway point, Conservative PM Stephen Harper had reason to be satisfied with his party’s progress towards a majority government. A slew of negative advertisements had succeeded in portraying Liberal leader Stéphane Dion as a weak and indecisive figure, whose flagship Green Shift tax plan posed a threat to economic growth and national unity. As Conservative poll numbers…

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Merkel announces private savings to be guaranteed in Germany Angela Merkel has announced today that Germany will guarantee all private savings accounts in the country. This follows the news that Hypo Real Estate, Germany’s second biggest commercial property lender, is in trouble after a 35bn euro rescue package fell through. Ireland and Greece have already taken their own action to protect savers’ deposits, moves that had received criticism from within the EU – including Merkel herself and the French Finance…

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Molterer (ÖVP), Van der Bellen (Greens), Strache (FPÖ), Haider (BZÖ), Faymann (SPÖ) Will the far-right surge result in another Grand Coalition? Welcome to live coverage on PB of the 2008 Austrian election results. The snap election was called after the Grand Coalition collapsed after only 18 months in office. More background is available here from the earlier PB article and here from Wikipedia. Early indications are that there has been a surge in support for the two far-right parties, the…

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Wikimedia Commons But Taro Aso is the strong favourite to be the LDP’s fourth leader this term Following Tzipi Livni’s 431-vote victory in the Kadima leadership this week, five contenders are lined up to take over the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) in Japan tomorrow. Unlike Livni, who has her work cut out trying to put a coalition together (maybe a 50% chance at best) before she can become Israel’s PM, whoever follows Yasuo Fukuda at the LDP helm will certainly…

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Livni 47-49, Mofaz 37, Dichter 7, Sheetrit 7 – but could she form a government? The polls closed in the Kadima leadership primary at 8.30 UK time, with turnout reportedly above 50% and voting extended by 30 minutes. Exit polls released by Channels 1, 2, and 10 in Israel gave the Foreign Minister at least a 10-point lead over Shaul Mofaz. However, the BBC correspondent in Tel Aviv has urged caution as Israel’s exit polls have not got a strong…

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Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer … and Haider is back, as an unstable Austria prepares to vote This is going to be an extremely busy autumn everywhere – whether in the US, here at home, or in the rest of the world. The Canadian election will be held on 14th October and was previewed in an excellent guest article by Jack Peterson last Sunday, and New Zealand, although we await a firm date, is less than ten weeks away. Two countries are…

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Will Canadian Liberals benefit from the Obama buzz? A guest article by Jack Peterson This week, the eyes of the free world will shift from Denver, where Morus has been keeping tabs on the Democrats for PB, to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St Paul, where John McCain will accept the Republican nomination and try to distance himself from President Bush. However, political punters would be well advised to keep an eye on events a few hundred miles to the north,…

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