Election. election, referendum, referendum
There are a lot of interesting polls going on around the world just now.
Tomorrow (Saturday), there is a general election in New Zealand and the next day (Sunday) there is a federal election in Germany. In both cases, the incumbent party is a Right of Centre one: the National Party in NZ and the Christian Democrats in Germany. In both cases, a new leader for the Left of Centre party caused a jump in the party’s popularity which has now – more in Germany than NZ – subsided: Martin Schulz of the Social Democrats in Germany and Jacinda Ardern of the Labour Party in NZ.
Meanwhile on Monday (25 September), there will be a referendum in the Kurdish part of Iraq seeking support for an independent Kurdistan. Then, on 1 October, there is due to be a referendum in Catalonia seeking support for independence from Spain. In both cases, the national government and most of the international community are opposed to the very idea of a referendum, fearing that support for independence from parts of Iraq and Spain could lead to other parts of those nations and other countries wanting to break away.
Fascinating times.