Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts

Thursday, 14 April 2016

Cameron Resignation

Before the end of 2016, will David Cameron resign or otherwise leave office as Prime Minister of the UK?
Yes: 10%

There have been calls for British PM David Cameron to resign, because of allegations that he profited from an offshore account  (see article here).  From what I can tell, this is a fairly low-level scandal that is unlikely to lead to Cameron's resignation on its own.  Still, in the remainder of 2016, Cameron could leave office for some other reason.

Thursday, 18 February 2016

Austrian Presidential Election

Who will win the Austrian Presidential Election?
Alexander Van der Bellen: 35%
Rudolf Hundstorfer: 20%
Irmgard Griss: 15%
Norbert Hofer: 15%
Someone Else: 15%

The Austrian Presidential Election will be held in April, with a second round in May (see Wikipedia Article here).  Alexander Van der Bellen seems to be currently leading in the polls, with Irmgard Griss in second and Rudolf Hundstorfer in third.  I'm giving Hundstorfer higher odds because he seems to be associated with a major party.

Monday, 16 November 2015

French State of Emergency

Will the French parliament decide to extend the current state of emergency beyond the end of 2015?
Yes: 90%

Following the terrorist attacks on Friday, the French government declared a temporary state of emergency (see articles here and here).  The government is asking the French parliament to extend the state of emergency for another three months.  As far as I can tell, parliament is very likely to agree to this request; I've seen no evidence that it is particularly controversial, although it does not seem to be in line with historical practice.

Sunday, 16 August 2015

Next Greek Election Date

Will Greece hold a legislative election before the end of 2015?
Yes: 65%
(A referendum or by-election would not count for purposes of this question)

The Greek PM, Alexis Tsipras, has called for a confidence vote next week (see story here).  If he loses the vote, elections will be held in September.  Many MPs in his own party voted against the recent bailout deal, which was supported by Tsipras.  The main opposition party, New Democracy, will not be supporting Tsipras in the confidence vote.

From what I can tell, Tsipiras will probably lose the upcoming confidence vote.  Even if he does win this vote, an election could be held later in the year due to another confidence vote.  Greece has held closely spaced elections before; it held two legislative elections in 2012 after the first election failed to lead to a stable government.

Monday, 15 June 2015

Spanish Election

Q153: Which party will win the most seats in the Congress of Deputies in the next Spanish General Election?
People's Party (PP): 30%
Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE): 30%
Podemos: 20%
Citizens: 10%
Some Other Party: 10%

The next Spanish election must be held before December 20th, and will likely be held in late October or November (see Wikipedia article here).  Current opinion polls give PP around 25% of the vote, PSOE around 23%, Podemos around 21%, and Citizens around 14%.  There have been a lot of changes in the polls in the past year, however, with significant gains for Podemos and Citizens, at the expense of the two other parties.  I think that the top three parties are about equally likely to win the most seats, while it is rather unlikely that Citizens will win the most seats (especially since they seem to be a somewhat regional Catalan party).

Wednesday, 27 May 2015

Swiss Election

Q135: What party will win the most seats in the next Swiss federal election?
Swiss People's: 60%
Social Democrats: 20%
FDP.The Liberals: 10%
Christian Democrats: 5%
Some other party: 5%

The next Swiss federal election is scheduled for October 18 (the day before the Canadian election).  Current polls place the Swiss People's party with about 25% of the vote, the Social Democrats at 20%, FDP.The Liberals at 16%, and the Christian Democrats at 12%.  Given those numbers, I think that the Swiss People's party is most likely to win.  I am not too certain of the outcome, given my lack of familiarity with Swiss politics.