Sweeping gains for right-wing parties in Euro polls
Conservatives scored victories in some of Europe’s largest economies as voters punished left-leaning parties in European parliament elections in France, Germany and other nations.
Some right-leaning parties said the results vindicated their reluctance to spend more on company bailouts and fiscal stimulus to combat the global economic crisis.
The European Union said centre-right parties were expected to take the most seats – 267 – in the 736-member parliament.
Centre-left parties were headed for 159 seats. The remainder were expected to go to smaller groupings.
Right-leaning governments led in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, while conservative opposition parties prospered in the UK and Spain.
Greece was a notable exception, where the governing conservatives were headed for defeat in the wake of corruption scandals and economic woes.
Germans handed a lacklustre victory to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and a historic defeat to their centre-left rivals in the European Parliament vote months before a national election.
The Social Democrats got an unexpectedly dismal 20.8% – the party’s worst showing since the Second World War in any nationwide election.
Ms Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and a regional sister party won 37.8%, down from 44.5% five years ago.
But the outcome was enough to boost Ms Merkel’s hopes of ending the tense left-right “grand coalition” that has led the European Union’s most populous nation since 2005, and replacing it with a centre-right government.
“We are the force that is acting level-headedly and correctly in this financial and economic crisis,” said Volker Kauder, the leader of Merkel’s party in the German parliament.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s governing conservatives trounced the Socialists, while an ecology-minded party vaulted to a surprisingly strong third place, according to official results.
The Socialists, who dominated the last vote in 2004, suffered a stinging defeat, barely clinging to the number two spot.
“Tonight is a very difficult evening for Socialists in many nations in Europe,” said Martin Schulz, the leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament. “(We will) continue to fight for social democracy in Europe.”
Far-right groups and other fringe parties gained in record low turnout estimated at 43.5% of 375 million eligible, reflecting widespread disenchantment with the continentwide legislature.
Near-final results showed Austria’s main rightist party gaining strongly while the ruling Social Democrats lost substantial ground.
But the big winner was the rightist Freedom Party, which more than doubled its strength over the 2004 elections to 13.1% of the vote. It campaigned on an anti-Islam platform.
In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ anti-Islamic party took 17% of the country’s votes, taking four of 25 seats.
The Hungarian far-right Jobbik party won three of 22 seats, with the main centre-right opposition party, Fidesz, capturing 14 seats and the governing Socialists only four.
Jobbik describes itself as Eurosceptic and anti-immigration and wants police to crack down on petty crimes committed by gypsies. Critics say the party is racist and anti-Semitic.
In Spain, the conservative Popular Party won two more seats than the ruling Socialists – 23 to 21 seats – with over 88% of the vote counted.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s Freedom People’s Party held a two-digit lead over his main centre-left rival in the most recent polling despite a deep recession and a scandal over allegations he had an inappropriate relationship with a young model. Italian results were being released today.
