Servir al Pueblo on the elections to the “European Parliament”
We publish an unofficial translation of the article of Servir al Pueblo.
More than half of the voters (51%) refuse to participate in the 9J electoral farce!
The crisis of the old Spanish State, a concrete expression of the crisis and decomposition of Spanish imperialism, is evident once again. This crisis of the old State is reflected in its militarization, reactionarization and fascistization; with the deepening of the crisis and bankruptcy of social democracy; with the tendency towards the delegitimization of bourgeois democracy; with the tendency towards the growth of the popular protest, etc. On this occasion, the crisis of the old State becomes evident with the very high abstention in the last bourgeois elections last Sunday, June 9, where the next MPs for the European Parliament were chosen. Despite the media propaganda, more than half of the voters have refused to go to vote! This means that more than half of those called to vote thought that casting their vote in a ballot box would change absolutely nothing.
Here we see how distrust in bourgeois democracy and bourgeois institutions is the main trend in today’s society. Even more so if we see the latest electoral results since 2019 where in each and every one of the elections (municipal, regional, general, European, repetition of generals…) abstention does not drop below 20%, reaching figures of 30% and even 40% depending on which elections. Let’s look at the results of last 9J in the Spanish constituency:
Abstention – 19,344,579
PP – 5.963.074
PSOE – 5.261.293
Ahora Repúblicas – 856.500
Sumar – 811.545
Se acabó la fiesta – 800.763
Podemos – 571.902
Junts – 443.275
CEUS – 281.064
PACMA – 134.425
Cs – 121.031
FO – 66.242
España Existe – 40.107
Izquierda Española – 32.717
PFAC – 28.778
As we said, abstention has been 51% (50.79% to be more exact). The number of voters this year amounted to 38,087,379, which means that more than 19 million people have not voted.
The average turnout across the EU has not been much higher, 51.01%. That is, an average abstention of 48.99% throughout the EU. Which indicates that the crisis of imperialism and the old State is something general and typical of the current political moment of the international class struggle.
The Turkish newspaper Yeni Demokrasi stated on the elections:
“Its “center right and left” position maintained in the European Parliament elections. In the elections where the Greens and liberals lost power, far-right groups and parties increased their number of seats. Euro saw its lowest value of the month.
The elections for the European Parliament (EP), the legislative body of the European Union (EU), have been completed. Unofficial results of the elections, in which hundreds of millions of voters cast their votes in 27 member countries of the Union, have been announced. The first elections held after England’s departure from the union were marked by the gain in power of the far right.
The ballot box marathon of European citizens, which started on June 6, ended yesterday (June 9). The first results showed that the political balances on the continent would change. According to unofficial results, the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) remained the largest group, according to preliminary results. The center-left “Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats” retained its second position in the parliament (S&D).
Two far-right groups, European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy, increased their seats. Far-right extremists also have a strong presence within national political parties that are not affiliated with any group.
The Euro, the common currency of most EU member states, hit its lowest level in the last month after the elections. In Asia, where the markets first opened, the euro lost 0.3 percent of its value against the US dollar, falling to 1.0764.”
The newspaper Brazilian A Nova Democracia points out the following:
“The far-right has grown in the European parliament, according to the first calculations of the votes in the election held between the 6th and 9th of June. Marked by a low turnout of 51% of the electorate, a fact linked to the electoral boycott campaign promoted by revolutionaries from several European countries, the elections brought together candidates from 27 countries, including Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Slovakia, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic.
The electoral process is carried out in each country, each one with its own rules. The citizens vote for parties in their countries, which form coalitions with groups from other countries to occupy the 720 seats in parliament.
In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party achieved the second place, behind Ursula von der Leyen’s reactionary Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union. The AfD saw a 5% increase regarding its last result in 2019. Germany’s Christian Democratic Party is expected to achieve a 29.5% of the vote.
In France, the far-right coalition called Identity and Democracy lead by the National Rally (RN) party, achieved the majority of votes. The RN accumulated more than twice the votes of the Renaissance party, owned by current president Emmanuel Macron. Renaissance came in second place with 14.60%, and RN achieved a total of 31.3% of the votes. After the results, Macron dissolved the French National Assembly and scheduled new elections for 30th of June and 7th of July.
In the south of the European continent, the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy, took the most of the votes (28.8%), winning 24 seats. The Identity and Democracy coalition also won 8 seats in the Italian elections.
Another leader who impulsed his own party was Viktor Órban, from Hungary, from the Fidesz group. Fidesz was in coalition with the Christian Democratic People’s Party and won 43.8% of the vote, or 10 seats in parliament. Despite the leadership, it is a drop of almost 10% compared to 2019.
In Belgium, the far-right Vlaams Belang party advanced, along with the reactionary New Flemish Alliance, the country’s largest party. The two associations won 3 seats each. In Austria, the Freedom Party, also far-right and a member of the international Identity and Democracy coalition, won the first place.
The election was not led by the far-right in countries such as Romania, Poland and Slovakia.
Across Europe, the elections were denounced by revolutionaries as an attempt to legitimize the reactionary order. “The European Union was born as an alliance of the imperialists, and remains so today. There is no possibility of a “social” or “democratic” Europe under imperialism. That is why they call for a high participation: they want to legitimize before public opinion the reactionary projects of imperialism.”, says a joint statement signed by organizations from Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.
The document also denounces imperialist domination projects, both against oppressed nations in European regions and the rest of the world, and the process of militarization in Europe, especially since the Russian imperialist war of aggression against Ukraine. On the other hand, revolutionaries uphold the revolutionary and popular struggles taking place in the world, such as the war of national liberation of the Palestinian people, the protests that took place in France and demonstrations by European farmers. These are the facts that leads activists to conclude the need to elevate the organization and revolutionary struggle of the masses. “The blue flag of the 12 stars is lower than ever. Let us fly the red flag high.”, they conclude.
Activists launched a campaign with the slogan Down with the alliance of imperialists! Boycott the ‘European Parliament’! elections. It was implemented in the form of agitations, protests, poster collages and graffiti.
In addition to the signatories of the document, organizations in Greece, Galicia and Ireland shared the position and took part in mobilizations to boycott the elections in the European parliament.”
