Yet another interesting showing for the Pirate Party, getting 8% of the vote in North Rhine-Westphalia. The neo-Communist Left party got nudged below the 5% seat threshold.
The headline news was the Christian Democrats of Chancellor Merkel getting a 9% drop in their vote from the last election, but that's often to be expected when the economy is lousy and they take out their frustration on the ruling party. It's the turmoil at the bottom, where this new Pirate faction is showing up on radar. They've yet to be part of any coalition, but in a close race, they might be needed to put either a left-wing or right-wing coalition over the top.
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Is it too late to have Greek Pirates? Greek Pilates might be more like it, since getting a government is a big stretch.
My prediction about Syriza leading a re-vote seems to be bearing fruit-
Polls suggest that Syriza, which came second in voting last week, would come first if another round of elections is held.
It could be Jubilee time in southern Europe, as we get de-facto wipe-outs of foreign debt. Bankers won't like it, but it might be Greece's best move. It might make countries like Greece persona-non-grata in capital markets, but they can move to a more barter-based system if the drachma is not respected.
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