[A-List] What is the "center - right"?

Tue Jun 9 11:50:01 MDT 2009

We're bombarded with media reports that the "center right" has
taken over the European Union, whatever that is.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=European+"center+right"

EUROPE NEWS
JUNE 8, 2009, 5:07 A.M. ET
The European Elections, Country by Country

Voters across Europe went to the polls last week, 
in what is thought to be the biggest 
transnational vote in history. Votes are 
continuing to be tallied across the continent. 
Early results show a continent-wide shift to the right, with some exceptions.

See the breakdown of seats in the Parliament and country-by-country results.

Austria: The main rightist People's Party made 
big gains, while the ruling Social Democrats 
dropped nearly 10% to garner 23.8% of the vote.

Belgium: The conservative Christian Democrats 
won, reinforcing the party's victory in a 
parallel vote for assemblies of the country's 
Dutch and French-speaking regions.

Bulgaria: The governing Socialists faced defeat 
as the country's biggest right-wing opposition party won most of the votes.

Cyprus: The opposition conservatives narrowly 
defeated the governing communist-rooted party. 
Official results gave the Disy party 35.65% of 
the vote, 0.75% more than Akel, the party of President Dimitris Christofias.

Czech Republic: The center-right Civic Democrats 
of former Premier Mirek Topolanek were set for a 
close victory. With about 40% of the vote 
counted, Mr. Topolanek's party was leading the 
field with 29%, ahead of the center-left Social 
Democrats with 24%, with about 40% of the vote counted.

Denmark: An exit poll said the Danish People's 
Party, a government ally, will grab one seat in 
the European assembly. Another EU-skeptical 
group, the June Movement, will lose its single 
seat according to the poll, while other parties would maintain their seats.

Estonia: The Centre Party gained two seats, while 
the Social Democratic Party lost its three.

Finland: The center-right government coalition 
partners, the Conservatives and the Centre Party, 
and the main opposition Social Democrats, lost 
support in the election for Finland's 13 seats.

France: President Nicolas Sarkozy's governing 
conservatives trounced the Socialists, picking up 
almost 28% of the vote to the Socialists' 16.48%. 
The Green Party vaulted to a surprisingly strong 
third place finish with 16.28%, according to 
official results. Turnout, at 41%, was the lowest 
ever in a European election in France.

Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives 
won a lackluster victory, with Ms. Merkel's 
Christian Democratic Union and a regional sister 
party winning 37.8% of the vote. Their 
center-left rivals, the Social Democrats, 
suffered a heavy defeat only months before a 
national election, winning 20.8% of the vote -- 
their worst showing since World War II in any 
nationwide election. The result was enough to 
boost Ms. Merkel's hopes of ending the left-right 
"grand coalition" that has led Germany since 2005.

Greece: The governing conservatives suffered a 
defeat in the wake of corruption scandals and 
with a sharply slowing economy. The main 
opposition Socialists -- winning their first 
election battle in nine years -- renewed calls for early general elections.

Hungary: The far-right Jobbik party won three of 
22 seats. The National Election Office said the 
main center-right opposition party, Fidesz, won 
14 seats, while the governing Socialist Party 
gained four seats and the Hungarian Democratic Forum won one.

Italy: A nearly complete count showed the 
conservative party of scandal-plagued Premier 
Silvio Berlusconi lost support, while his 
anti-immigrant ally made gains in European 
Parliament voting. With some 97% of vote counted, 
Mr. Berlusconi's Freedom Party had 34.9%, down 
from 37.4% in the last European vote in 2004.

Ireland: Exit polls suggested government party 
Fianna Fail is likely to be pushed into second 
place. Ahead of formal results in all districts, 
a poll for RTE television projected that Fianna 
Fail would trail its rival Fine Gael by 23% to 30%.

Latvia: Voters looked to an ethnic Russian party 
to rescue the Baltic state from its economic 
crisis. Nearly complete results showed the 
center-left Harmony Party had won two of Latvia's 
eight seats in the next European Parliament and 
over one-third of the vote in municipal election 
in Riga. The result signaled a significant shift 
in voter sentiment in a country that expects to 
see its economy contract by 18% this year. 
Latvia's ethnic Russian parties have fared poorly 
since the country gained independence in 1991. 
Many center-right parties took a drubbing in Saturday's double ballot.

Lithuania: Exit polls said the conservative 
Homeland Union-Christian Democrats are leading 
the vote, with around 25%, followed by the Social 
Democratic Party, which had 19%.

Luxembourg: Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker's 
Christian Democrats looked set to take three 
seats, followed by the Socialists and Liberals, 
both of which would take one seat.

Malta: The opposition Labor Party scored a 
resounding victory, taking 57% of the vote.

Netherlands: Geert Wilders' anti-Islamic party 
took 17% of the vote, or four of 25 seats. Prime 
Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian 
Democrats held onto five seats, while the center-left Labor party took three.

Poland: An exit poll showed Prime Minister Donald 
Tusk's probusiness Civic Platform party had 45.3% 
of the vote and the nationalist and conservative 
opposition Law and Justice party was second with 
29.5% -- a shift to the center-right by voters.

Portugal: The opposition center-right PPD was 
predicted to take 10 seats, while Prime Minister 
Jose Socrates' Socialists were expected to take seven.

Romania: Partial results showed the two parties 
in the coalition government had won most of the 
votes in European Parliament elections, with the 
far right also gaining ground. Results from the 
election authorities released early Monday give 
the leftist Social Democracy Party about 30.6% of 
the vote and the centrist Liberal Democratic 
Party 29.7%. More than 91% of the vote had been 
counted. The far-right Greater Romania Party was 
projected as getting 8.7%. In 2008, it was voted 
out of the Romanian parliament.

Slovakia: The ruling Social Democrats won with 
32% of the vote. Official results give the 
center-left Social Democrats five seats, ahead of 
the opposition center-right Christian Democrats, 
who won two. Three smaller parties took the other six seats.

Slovenia: The center-right opposition won the 
most votes, dealing a blow to the governing Social Democrats.

Spain: The conservative Popular Party won two 
more seats than the ruling Socialists in preliminary vote tallies.

Sweden: Exit polls said the new populist Pirate 
Party would win a seat, while the main opposition 
Social Democrats took six seats. The conservative 
Moderate Party, Sweden's leading party in the 
center-right coalition government, was expected to take three seats.

U.K.: The ruling Labour Party suffered a major 
defeat, finishing third in the European poll. 
With nearly all results in on Monday morning, the 
main opposition Conservative Party won with 
roughly 29% of the vote. The U.K. Independence 
Party, which seeks withdrawal from the EU, took 
second place with about 17%. Labour's share of 
the vote was around 15%. For the first time, the 
far-right, anti-immigration British National 
Party picked up two seats in the European 
Parliament. Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown's 
political future is in doubt. Whether he is to be 
replaced could become clear after a meeting with Labour lawmakers Monday.
—Source: Associated Press

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