This Week in Politics
Polish election
After nearly a decade of power they are out – Poland’s controversial far-right party Law and Justice bid for a remarkable third term failed. Despite PiS (the Polish acronym for Law and Justice) garnering the most votes in the election they didn’t reach a majority in the Sejm (Poland’s parliament). Donald Tusk, the opposition leader who led the Civic Coalition party in the campaign proclaimed success to a happy crowd of supporters. This is a big blow to Law and Justice alongside the broader far-right community in Europe, with Hungary losing one of its staunchest allies in the fight against the European Union. It’s a win for Ukraine and its allies as PiS started to show a hardening stance against the country on the campaign trail. The question that remains to be answered is will Donald Tusk manage to lead Poland on the mandate he was elected to, if not next election will be an open and shut case.
A New New Zealand
Jacinda Ardern was elected Prime Minister in New Zealand in 2017, her hope and sense of community shined bright in the minds of the voters. Her perceived kindness and genuineness appealed to the masses, with many feeling hopeful about change. Mrs Ardern became somewhat of a political icon throughout the world setting off the trend of Jacinda-mania, which would come to define many’s perception of the isolated island nation. Fast Forward to 2023 and Mrs Ardern is still popular but signs of change are looming, a sense of Ardern’s promises not being fulfilled runs rampant through the hearts and minds of New Zealanders. Rural communities feel as if the government is killing off the agricultural sector with environmental policies. This sets the stage for when Jacinda Ardern resigns and is replaced by Chris Hipkins when she resigns. Mr Hipkin whilst an experienced politician, having been one of Mrs Ardern’s ministers, doesn’t share the same talent as his former boss at rallying support.
This ultimately led to the annihilation of the Labour Party (which Mr. Hipkins leads) in last Sunday’s elections with the party losing 23.11% of the vote. A big loss for Mr. Hipkins whose leadership is under question by many and a danger to Jacinda Ardern’s legacy.
US House speaker
On October 3 the House ousted then speaker Kevin McCarthy. Since then it has been a long process to find a new speaker – no one has been found yet. Jim Jordan, a representative from Ohio looked promising, however, after three failed attempts to be voted House speaker the Republicans have seemingly pushed him aside. Representative Tom Emmer supposedly started positioning himself for the speakership. However, the Republican party is staunchly divided and finding a candidate that the entire party will consolidate behind will be hard. The only question is will a speaker be found and will this chaos haunt the GOP in the presidential election?
