All eyes were on the United Kingdom over the past week, as the first coalition government in seven decades was formed after the 6 May election. The Conservative Party, led by David Cameron, fell short of obtaining a majority of seats and had to team up with the Liberal Democrats of Nick Clegg to form a government, with Cameron as Prime Minister and Clegg as his deputy. In Malta, we are
halfway through the second Gonzi government. What is the political situation in the other European Union member states? STEPHEN CALLEJA reports
Austria
Austria is a Federal Republic. Legislative power is vested in a bicameral Federal Assembly. The Lower House, the Nationalrat, has 183 members elected for four-year terms. The Upper House, the Bundesrat, has 63 members elected by the provincial assemblies. The Head of State, the Federal President, is elected by popular vote for a six-year term. The current Federal President is Heinz Fischer, re-elected for a second term in April this year.
The 2008 election, after the collapse of the one-year coalition between the ÖVP and the SVP, resulted in losses for the major centre parties and Greens with a big swing to the smaller right parties. The SPÖ returned as the strongest party (29.3 per cent), followed by the ÖVP (26 per cent), the Freedom Party (FPO, 17.5 per cent), the Alliance for Austria’s Future (BZÖ, 10.7 per cent) and the Greens (10.4 per cent).
Following lengthy negotiations, the SPÖ and the ÖVP agreed to form a coalition government. Werner Faymann (SPÖ) was appointed Chancellor and Josef Pröll (ÖVP) Vice-Chancellor.
Belgium
Belgium is a constitutional monarchy with King Albert II as Head of State.
Belgium is divided into three regional government areas. Flanders has mainly a Dutch-speaking population while Wallonia and Brussels are French-speaking regions.
There are four main groups of mainstream political parties in Belgium, which are then split along linguistic lines: Christian Democrat (CD&V, CdH); Liberal (Open VLD, MR); Socialist (PS, SP.A); and Environment Groups (Ecolo-Groen). The far-right Vlaams Belang party is also a key player in Flanders.
In recent years, the Belgian federal government was in crisis, largely due to political and cultural divisions between the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders and francophone Wallonia. The political situation stabilised when Herman Van Rompuy (Flemish Christian Democrats or CD&V) became Prime Minister on 30 December 2008. The governing coalition of CD&V, Flemish Liberal Open-VLD, Francophone Liberal (MR), Francophone Socialists (PS) and Francophone Christian Democrats (CdH) remained in office.
On 19 November of last year, EU heads of government appointed Mr Van Rompuy as the inaugural permanent President of the European Council, a post he took up on 1 January. This appointment led to another reshuffle of portfolios in the Belgian government, with Yves Leterme replacing Mr Van Rompuy as Prime Minister. Mr Leterme resigned last month after a liberal Flemish party quit the government. He is now a caretaker Prime Minister.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic with a parliamentary executive. It has a single chamber that has a 240-member Parliament called the National Assembly, which is elected every five years by universal suffrage. Members are elected through a system of proportional representation, with a four per cent threshold for party representation.
The President is popularly elected once every five years for a maximum of two terms. The most recent Bulgarian presidential election took place in two rounds on 22 and 29 October 2006, where the incumbent since 2001, Georgi Parvanov, was returned for a second term.
In July 2009, Bulgarians elected a new government, ousting the Socialist-led coalition that had held power since 2005. The new coalition government is led by Boyko Borisov, leader of the centre-right party GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) and former mayor of Sofia. GERB took 39.71 per cent of the vote, entering Parliament and government for the first time and securing 116 of the 240 seats. The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) won only 17.7 per cent of the vote, equating to 40 seats. The Turkish minority party, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, came in third with 11.3 per cent of the vote and the ultra-nationalist Ataka party came fourth, with nine per cent. Mr Borissov’s preferred coalition partner, the Blue Coalition, won 7.7 per cent, followed by the Law Order and Justice Party (RTZ) with 4.13 per cent.
Cyprus
The government of Cyprus includes an executive President – who is directly elected for a five-year term – and a unicameral legislative arm, the House of Representatives. The current President, Dimitris Christofias, was elected in February 2008. The President appoints the Council of Ministers, who may not be members of the House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives consists of 80 members, elected by a form of proportional representation for a five-year term. Fifty-six seats are occupied by Greek Cypriots, with the remaining 24 reserved for representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community (although not occupied since 1963).
Elections held in February 2008 saw the left-wing Party of the Progressive Working People (AKEL – formerly known as the Communist Party) and the opposition Democratic Rally Party (DISY) emerge with the largest representation with 18 seats each, and the centre-right Democratic Party (DIKO) securing 11 seats. The Social Democrats (EDEK) won five seats, the European Party (EVROKO) three seats, and the Ecologists and Environmentalists one seat.
Czech Republic
The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic is Jan Fischer and the President is Vaclav Klaus. The President of the Czech Republic is elected by the National Assembly (at a joint session of both Chambers of the Parliament), for a five-year term (for a maximum of two subsequent terms). President Klaus narrowly won a second presidential election in the Parliament on 15 February 2008. He will retain office until 2013.
Legislative power is vested in a bicameral parliament: the Chamber of Deputies (Lower House) has 200 members elected for four years; the Senate (Upper House) has 81 members elected for six years, with one-third of senators replaced every two years.
The most recent parliamentary elections, held in June 2006, produced a tied result with right-leaning and left-leaning parties holding exactly 100 seats each in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies. On 19 January 2007, seven months after the election, Civic Democrats (ODS) leader Mirek Topolanek’s minority coalition government, comprising the ODS, the Greens and the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), won a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies due to the absence of two Social Democrats (CSSD). However, Topolanek’s government subsequently lost a vote of no confidence in the Chamber of Deputies on 24 March 2009, leading to its resignation. On 8 May, the President’s appointed interim government, led by Jan Fischer, replaced the Topolanek government. Elections are scheduled for mid-October.
Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark is a constitutional monarchy based on its 1953 Constitution. The reigning monarch is Queen Margrethe II.
Legislative powers are vested in a unicameral parliament (the Folketing). Its 179 members, including two each from the Faroe Islands and Greenland, are elected for four-year terms on the basis of proportional representation. There are eight parties in Parliament. The last general election was held in November 2007.
Denmark is governed by a Liberal-Conservative coalition under the leadership of Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen (leader of the Liberal Party), which is supported by the Danish People’s Party. The Liberal Party was the most successful party in national elections held in 2007, winning 26.2 per cent of the votes. The opposition Social Democratic Party is led by Helle Thorning-Schmidt – the first woman to attain this position.
Estonia
The Fourth Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, adopted on 28 June 1992, established a democratic system based on a presidency and a unicameral 101-seat parliament, known as the Riigikogu.
In the March 2007 elections, the mandate of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip’s centre-right Reform Party was renewed with 27.8 per cent of the vote, the highest level of electoral support for a governing party since independence was regained in 1991. The new governing coalition consists of the Estonian Reform Party, Pro Patria and Res Publica Union and the Social Democratic Party. The coalition controls 60 seats in the 101-seat Parliament. The next parliamentary election is due in 2011.
The President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, was elected in an Electoral College vote on 23 September 2006 for a five-year term.
Finland
The Republic of Finland is a parliamentary democracy with a republican constitution. The unicameral parliament (Eduskunta) has 200 members directly elected from 15 multi-member constituencies every four years.
The Finnish government came to power following the March 2007 election. The final results were close with the Centre Party, led by the incumbent Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, winning 23.1 per cent of votes and 51 seats in Parliament. The National Coalition came second with 22.3 per cent and 50 parliamentary seats. These two parties, and the smaller Swedish People’s Party and the Greens, then formed a centre-right government coalition led by Prime Minister Vanhanen. The former government partner, the Social Democrats, lost 3.1 per cent compared to the 2003 election. The coalition holds 125 of 200 seats in Parliament. The next parliamentary elections are due in March 2011.
The President is Tarja Halonen. Halonen was re-elected for a second term in an election held in February 2006.
France
The French political system is governed by the Constitution of 1958, which established the ‘Fifth Republic’, a presidential system. The President is elected by universal suffrage and serves a five-year term. The current President, Nicolas Sarkozy, was elected in May 2007. Following recent constitutional changes, French Presidents can serve a maximum of two terms. The national legislature is composed of two Houses: the Upper House or Senate and the Lower House or National Assembly. Senate elections were held on 21 September 2008. Elections for the National Assembly are held every five years.
The National Assembly is the principal legislative body. Its 577 deputies are directly elected for five-year terms in local majority votes, and all seats are voted on in each election. The last election was held in June 2007.
Germany
Germany is a Federal Republic. The Federal Government consists of the Federal Chancellor and the Cabinet of Federal Ministers. Federal elections are held every four years.
The federal legislative authority is the Bundestag whose members are elected through a combination of direct election and proportional representation. Angela Merkel was re-elected Chancellor for a second term on 28 October last year. The Bundesrat represents the 16 state governments and has 69 seats. Based on population size, a state has between three and six votes.
The Federal President is elected every five years by the Bundesversammlung (Federal Assembly), a body comprising all Bundestag members plus an equal number of state representatives. Presidents can serve up to two terms. The current President, Horst Köhler, was re-elected for a second term on 23 May 2009.
Germany has five major political parties: the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), including the Christian Social Union, the CDU’s sister party; the Social Democratic Party (SPD); the Free Democratic Party (FDP); the Green Party; and the Left Party.
The German federal election was held on 27 September 2009. The CDU secured the highest percentage of the votes (33.8 per cent), followed by the SPD (22.9 per cent), FDP (14.6 per cent), the Left Party (12 per cent), and the Greens (10.7 per cent). The CDU and FDP have agreed to form a coalition government (with 332 seats out of a total of 622 in the Bundestag). The new German Cabinet was sworn in on 28 October 2009. The next federal election is expected in September 2013.
Greece
The current President, Karolos Papoulias, was sworn in as Greece’s sixth President on 12 March 2005. The President has no powers to initiate legislation and is required to appoint as Prime Minister the leader of the political party with an absolute majority of seats in Parliament. The President must be elected by two-thirds majority of MPs or, on the third ballot, by a three-fifths majority.
The unicameral parliament consists of 300 members, elected under a system of reinforced proportional representation. Each Parliament is elected for a maximum of four years. Greece elected a new government on 4 October 2009, with the centre-left opposition party, Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), winning a strong majority over the conservative New Democracy government and claiming 160 seats of the 300 seats in Parliament.
The new government is led by George Papandreou.
Hungary
Hungary has a democratically-elected, unicameral parliament, the National Assembly.
Hungary’s new 386-seat Parliament formed after the April elections held its founding session last week.
Viktor Orban, leader of the election-winner centre-right Fidesz party is the new prime minister.
Orban’s Fidesz gained with its Christian Democrat allies 263 seats in the new Parliament. The outgoing government party, the Socialists, won 59 seats, while new entrants, the radical nationalist Jobbik and the green-liberal Politics Can Be Different (LMP) won 47 and 16 mandates, respectively. One deputy will serve as an independent MP.
The President of the Republic of Hungary is elected by the Parliament every five years. The current President, Dr László Sólyom, took office in August 2005.
Ireland
Ireland is a republic, with a system of parliamentary democracy. Under the Constitution, legislative power is vested in the Parliament (Oireachtas). This consists of a President, who is head of state; the Lower House (Dail); and the upper house (Seanad or Senate).
The Dail, consisting of 166 seats, is the primary legislative body, and it selects the government. It is directly elected once every five years by a system of proportional representation. The Senate, which has 60 members, is elected through a system of electoral colleges and its periods of office correspond with those of the Dail. The next parliamentary elections are due in 2012 and the next presidential election in 2011.
On 7 May 2008, the leader of Fianna Fail Party, Brian Cowen, became Prime Minister of Ireland, following the resignation of Bertie Ahern. The two main parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, do not divide on a right/left basis on political, economic or social issues. Both are centre-right and have their roots in differing community attitudes to the 1921 Treaty of Independence (from the UK). Fine Gael represents the tradition that accepted the treaty as a stepping stone to an eventual republic of the whole island. Fianna Fail represents the tradition that rejected the treaty because the present six counties of Northern Ireland were excluded from the outset.
Part II will be published next Sunday