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Hezbollah and allies set for majority in Lebanon elections

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The Hezbollah group and its allies are expected to take just over half the seats in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections. Fights near polling stations marred Lebanon’s first parliamentary vote in nine years.

Preliminary results from Lebanon’s parliamentary elections on Monday suggested that the Hezbollah group and its political allies would secure a simple majority.

Such an outcome would not only cement the Shiite group’s dominance in Lebanon, but also underline Tehran’s growing influence in the area and likely draw ire from its regional rivals, namely Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Hezbollah has grown in strength and regional influence since joining the war in Syria in 2012 in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Its growing influence in turn reflect Iran’s territorial ascendancy in the Middle East, which stretches through and Iraq and Syria to Beirut.

Hezbollah, which was founded in the 1980s to fight against Israel, has been branded a terrorist group by the US. The European Union, meanwhile, only lists Hezbollah’s military wing as a terror group, differentiating between its militaristic and political activities.

If confirmed, the preliminary results could put at risk billions of dollars in US military help to Lebanon, as well as international aid and loans the country needs to revive its stagnant economy.

The election marks the first vote under the new proportional system, which replaced the structure where the winning party would carry all the seats in a particular district.

The final tally was set to be announced later on Monday.

‘Hezbollah equals Lebanon’

A member of the Israeli government said that the preliminary results confirmed the Israeli government’s perception; that Lebanon and Hezbollah were equals.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett said on Twitter that following these results, “the State of Israel will not differentiate between the sovereign State of Lebanon and Hezbollah.”

The right-leaning minister also said that Israel would hold Lebanon responsible for any possible Hezbollah action that would originate from its territory.

Hariri to keep his seat?

While Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his pro-Western Future Movement were expected to go down as the biggest losers from the elections, he is still set to emerge as the Sunni Muslim leader with the strongest bloc in Lebanon’s 128-seat parliament, making him a frontrunner to form the next government.

Lebanon’s sectarian power sharing system dictates that the prime minister must be a Sunni.

Experts also believe the complicated balance of power between various religious factions is set to remain mostly unchanged, with lawmakers representing Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and Maronite Christians likely to be re-elected.

‘Voting operations were very slow’

Following a day of voting on Sunday, the Lebanese government  said only 49.2 percent of voters took part in the long-delayed election for the country’s parliament. According to several political analysts, potential voters were discouraged by the stagnant economy and widespread corruption.

Observers  reported a higher turnout in some areas of Lebanon that are known as the strongholds of the Hezbollah movement.

Announcing the turnout figures on Sunday evening, the country’s interior minister, Nouhad Machnouk, said the new electoral system had caused difficulties at the polls.

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Vladimir Putin wins presidential elections by big margin

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Russia’s incumbent president Vladimir Putin has garnered 76.65% of the vote in the March 18 election with 99% of the ballots counted, the Central Election Commission said, according to TASS agency.

Director of the Lenin State Farm Pavel Grudinin, nominated by the Communist Party of Russia, is second with 11.82% of the vote, while leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) Vladimir Zhirinovsky is third with 5.68%.

More than 55.4 mln people voted for Putin, while over 8.54 mln supported Grudinin and around 4.1 mln voted in Zhirinovsky’s favor.

TV personality and socialite Ksenia Sobchak, nominated by the Civil Initiative party, is fourth with 1.66% (over 1.19 mln votes).

Next are head of the Yabloko Party’s federal political committee Grigory Yavlinsky (1.04%), chairman of the Party of Growth and Russian Presidential Envoy for Entrepreneurs’ Rights Boris Titov (0.75%), Maxim Suraikin, nominated by the Communists of Russia party (0.68%) and head of the Russian People’s Union party Sergei Baburin (0.65%).

Speaking at his campaign headquarters, Putin announced that all changes in Russian government will happen after the inauguration ceremony.

“All changes to the government must be performed by a president, who entered his new term, so now I will think about what needs to be done and how it should be done. All changes will happen after the inauguration,” Putin said, as quoted by Sputnik news agency.

 

Source Panorama.am
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Yerevan municipality elections: opposition bloc urges CEC to annul Republican’s registration

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As the campaign for the Yerevan City Council elections continues, the opposition bloc Yelk (Way Out) has embarked on active efforts towards ruling out the Republican Party’s name from voter ballots.
It has prepared two appeals questioning the validity of the governing political force’s campaign.
In one of the appeals, already submitted to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), the bloc calls for annulling the RPA’s registration.
Two activists of Yelk, Artak Zeynalyan and Edmom Marukyan, took the appeals to the CEC, our correspondent reports from the scene.
“We have found out that [incumbent Mayor] Taron Margaryan distributes electoral bribes. So one of our appeals is a call for annuling the RPA’s registration for the elections and excluding them from the electoral campaign,” Marukyan said.
With their second appeal (which is to be submitted later today), the activists will try to rule out what they call the election check mechanisms to ensure that all the envelopes with ticked ballot papers contain no other unnecessary items after the voting.
“Sample ballots not matching the established standards, as well as those with colored pen marks must be declared invalid. Also, we will demand that all the ballot-papers be sealed by the election committee members,” said Nikol Pashinyan, the top candidate listed on the bloc’s electoral ballot.
He added that their team saw voters in Malatia-Sebastia administrative district being given electoral bribes in Margaryan’s campaign headquarters on Thursday.

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Serj Tankian arrives in Armenia, he will be observer during elections

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YEREVAN. – American Armenian rock musician and songwriter Serj Tankian, who is the co-founder and lead vocalist of renowned System of a Down band, arrived in Yerevan Wednesday.

He has arrived along with Armenian-American film director Eric Nazarian, and is going to be an observer during the upcoming parliamentary elections in the country.

Earlier, Canadian Armenian actress Arsinée Khanjian, noted that her husband, Canadian Armenian film director Atom Egoyan, and Serj Tankian would arrive in Armenia in late March.

“We will conduct observation mission during the parliamentary elections. Besides Tankian, Nazarian, Yegoyan and me, many people have responded to us and will be in Armenia on April 2,” she said.

A group of renowned Diaspora Armenians launched the Justice Within Armenia initiative, which aims to contribute to the democratic changes in Armenia. The initiative intends to train Diaspora Armenian observers, who will arrive in Armenia to observe the election process.

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Local elections in Armenia’s regions were free and transparent , says CEC chairman

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local-election-cecThe chairman of Armenia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) on Friday addressed September 18 local government polls which he described as absolutely free, fair and transparent.
Tigran Mukuchyan said that the CEC will publish the final outcomes on Saturday to name the elected (or re-elected) governors of around 317 communities.
In his words, they have so far received only 11 appeals for a vote recount.
Mukuchyan said that the CEC worked full-time on the voting day to follow all the violations and subsequent reports in the media, and on the observer organizations’ websites.

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Local elections start in five Armenian regions, Ombudsman’s office responds to election frauds

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local-electionsLocal elections are taking place in 317 communities of the Aragatsotn, Ararat, Armavir, Syunik and Tavush regions of Armenia. Polling stations opened at 8:00am.

In total, 408 candidates are running for the heads of rural communities, and 2,693 candidates are running for the councils of elders.

Armenia’s political forces are represented at 541 local election commissions as follows:

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) has 241 representatives

The Prosperous Armenia party, 168 representatives

The Armenian National Congress (ANC) party union, 42 representatives

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D), 30 representatives

The Rule of Law party, 30 representatives

The Heritage party, 30 representatives

 

The office of the Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia is working in special conditions on the occasion of local elections in Armenia.

The Ombudsman’s Office has receives signals about election frauds, obstruction of journalists and observers, violation of secrecy of the ballot and so on.

The Ombudsman’s staff are thoroughly examining media reports. Among them is obvious evidence of criminal offences.

After all the data are summed up, they will be submitted to law-enforcement agencies for probes to be launched.

The Ombudsman’s office continues monitoring the local elections.

 

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TURKEY Kurdish leader finds it impossible for elections in the Kurdish areas

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arton115663-300x200The leader in the pro-Kurdish party in Turkey Selahattin Demirtas said Wednesday that the violence between the security forces and Kurdish rebels in the southeast of the country make it “impossible” organizing early parliamentary November 1.

“The conditions are not met in the East to hold elections (…) if the violence continues, the elections will not be held,” said Mr. Demirtas quoted by the Internet edition of the daily Hürriyet.

“Our comrades who returned from the region say anything good,” added Co-Chair ruling Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), referring to the recent observation missions sent by his movement in the southeast of the country mainly Kurdish .

The HDP was a resounding success in the parliamentary elections of June 7 by collecting 13% of the vote and 80 of 550 parliamentary seats. This score was instrumental in depriving the Justice and Development Party (AKP, the Islamic-conservative) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the absolute majority it had held since 2002.

The leader of the AKP and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu failed to form a coalition government, Erdogan called new elections for November 1st. The head of state hoped that his party will regain its absolute majority to govern alone and continue to create a strong presidency.

With its success in June, Mr. Demirtas confirmed his electoral pretensions by setting aims to grab 20% of the vote. Turkey launched late July 1st “war against terrorism” aimed jihadist group Islamic state (EI) but especially the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

For over a month, the military operations of the Turkish army and PKK attacks against security forces succeed on a daily basis in the country. According to a provisional toll cited by the pro-government press, the violence killed nearly 70 soldiers, police and gendarmes and a thousand rebels.

Ankara, 2 September 2015 (AFP) –

Thursday, September 3, 2015,
Ara © armenews.com
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US Elections: Over 95% Of ANCA Endorsed Candidates Win in Tuesday’s Election

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Armenian_Americans_Collage2014 Elections Bring Sweeping Victories for ANCA-WR Endorsed Candidates
WASHINGTON, GLENDALE—Months of intensive voter registration efforts and grassroots campaigning contributed to lead to significant Congressional victories for pro-Armenian American issues candidates during Tuesday’s mid-term elections, with over 95% of Armenian National Committee of America endorsed candidates being elected to office.

The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) also welcomed the results of the 2014 General Election, with over 90 percent of its endorsed candidates — both new and old friends – triumphant in their races.

Congressional Races
Top winners in Tuesday’s elections included Bob Dold (R-IL), a former Republican Vice-Chairman of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, who won one of the most closely contested U.S. House races in the country.

“It’s always gratifying for the ANCA to empower Armenian American voters, especially during highly competitive election seasons like this, when our efforts contribute meaningfully to the victory of so many Congressional friends,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “While we’re certainly proud that our nation-wide electoral participation this season hit an all-time high-water mark, we’re already planning to top this unprecedented effort during the coming 2016 election cycle.”

Among other wins in competitive races were those by Congressman Michael Grimm (R-NY), the current Co-Chairman of the Armenian Caucus, who won by 13% in a high profile campaign; and David Valadao (R-CA), the co-author of the Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Resolution, with a convincing 18 point victory in a race that was rated a toss-up earlier in the election cycle. Congressman Jim Costa’s (D-CA) race for reelection was still too close to call, as were those contested by three other candidates endorsed by the ANCA: Mike Honda (D-CA), Peter Aguilar (D-CA), and Raul Ruiz (D-CA).

Other high-profile victories by ANCA-endorsed candidates included those by David Brat (R-VA), who will take the Richmond U.S. House seat formerly held by Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). U.S. Representative Gary Peters (D-MI), an ANCA-backed candidate, won a seat in the Senate.

Both Americans of Armenian heritage who serve in the U.S. Congress, Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Jackie Speier (D-CA), won reelection, with a host of Armenian American state and local candidates following suit, including: Assemblymembers Adrin Nazarian and Katcho Achadjian, who won reelection to the California State Assembly; Assemblymember Katherine Kazarian who won reelection in Rhode Island; Scott Avedisian who was re-elected Mayor of Warwick, RI; and Richelle Noroyan, who secured a seat on the Santa Cruz, CA City Council.

An ANCA Election Day on-line poll found that 73% of respondents believe that Armenian American voters are willing to cross U.S. party lines to support pro-Armenian candidates, results that are consistent with feedback from previous election cycles.

Western Region Races
“We welcome the re-election of statewide friends Governor Jerry Brown, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Kamala Harris and State Superintendent Tom Torlakson,” stated ANCA-WR Chair, Nora Hovsepian. “We’re also excited to see that Alex Padilla, John Chiang, and Betty Yee were successful in their races for new political office. They have all been supportive of the Armenian-American community in California and we look forward to building upon our relationship in their new term.”

While mid-term elections experienced record low voter turnout, Armenian-American participation was at an all-time high. Leading up to Election Day, the ANCA Western Region through its Hye Votes initiative, organized on the ground voter registration and Get-Out-the-Vote efforts that included a heavy field program, phone banking, direct mail, and voter education and mobilization through various media platforms. On Election Day, volunteers young and old, hit the ground running in key precincts, providing rides and guiding voters to ensure a high voter turnout.

“Building on our previous successes of registering thousands upon thousands of Armenian-Americans to vote, the ANCA-WR, in early 2014, expanded the program to key areas through the State of California, to register and engage community members in the electoral process,” commented ANCA-WR Executive Director, Elen Asatryan. “This unprecedented turnout was due to months of voter registration and on the ground efforts to make our community’s collective voice heard at the ballot box. We are grateful to all the community organizations and volunteers who aided in our efforts and look forward to doing the same for the 2015 and 2016 election cycles,” added Asatryan.

Learn about the ANCA WR Hye Votes initiative.

The ANCA-WR hailed the re-election of incumbents and freshman candidates alike to both houses of the California legislature. For the California Senate race, this year’s ANCA-WR legislator of the year, President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon enjoyed a sweeping win in his district, which encompasses Little Armenia and Silver Lake. He will be joined by freshman members Robert Hertzberg (D-18), Tony Mendoza (D-32), and Ben Allen (D-26). The ANCA-WR regrets that candidate Jose Solorio was not able to win his seat, but wishes him good luck in his future political endeavors. In the State Assembly 11 of 13 candidates won their elections, ten being re-elected to their seats, while Mike Gipson will be a member of the freshman class. State Assemblyman Ian Calderon(D-57), a very close friend to the Armenian community in the San Gabriel Valley and this year’s author of AJR 41, a resolution recognizing the powerful work of the Near East Relief, received strong support from his community and was able to win re-election after a very low turnout primary election left him in second place.

Finally, in the County of Los Angeles, all but one of the Western Region’s endorsed candidates enjoyed overwhelming support from voters. Sheriff elect-Jim McDonnell, enjoyed the support of the ANCA-WR early on in the general election, having met with the leadership and participated in a town hall hosted by the organization at Woodbury University. LA Supervisor Elect Hilda Solis won her election during the primary, as she received over 51% of the total vote. In the County of Los Angeles, when a candidate receives over 51% they officially win their election. Jeffrey Prang also won his bid for LA County Supervisor. Regrettably, ANCA-WR endorsed candidate Bobby Shriver was not successful in his race for the third district supervisor’s seat. He was up against former state lawmaker, Sheila Kuehl in a much contested battle for this open seat. The ANCA-WR congratulates Ms. Kuehl and looks forward to a positive working relationship during her tenure as supervisor. Likewise, we wish Mr. Shriver success in his political career.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

A complete listing of ANCA-WR Endorsed Candidates and their election results are provided below.

**Ordered by State, then by Administration, Senate and House District
**Names are listed as follows: Name, Position (Party)

Arizona
Doug Ducey, Governor – ELECTED
Michele Reagan, Secretary of State – ELECTED

California Administration
Edmund “Jerry” Brown, Governor- ELECTED
Gavin Newsom, Lieutenant Governor – ELECTED
Alex Padilla, Secretary of State- ELECTED
Betty Yee, State Controller- ELECTED
John Chiang, State Treasurer- ELECTED
Kamala Harris, Attorney General – ELECTED
Tom Torlakson, Superintendent of Public Instruction- ELECTED

Senate
Tom Berryhill (R-14) – ELECTED
Robert Hertzberg (D-18) – ELECTED
Kevin De Leon (D-22) – ELECTED
Ben Allen (D-26) – ELECTED
Tony Mendoza (D-32) – ELECTED
Jose Solorio (D-34) – NOT ELECTED

Assembly
Kristin Olsen (R-12) – ELECTED
Jim Patterson (R-23) – ELECTED
Katcho Achadjian (R-35) – ELECTED
Scott Wilk (D-33) – ELECTED
Steve Fox (D-36) – NOT ELECTED
Chris Holden (D-41) – ELECTED
Mike Gatto (D-43) – ELECTED
Matt Dababneh (D-45) – ELECTED
Adrin Nazarian (D-46) – ELECTED
Cheryl Brown (D-47) – ELECTED
Ian Calderon (D-57) – ELECTED
Mike Gipson (D-64) – ELECTED
Al Muratsuchi (D-66) – NOT ELECTED

Los Angeles County
Bobby Shriver, District Three Supervisor – NOT ELECTED
Jim McDonnel, Sheriff – ELECTED
Hilda Solis, District 1 Supervisor – ELECTED in the Primary over 51%
Jeffrey Prang, Assessor- ELECTED

ANCA 2014 Congressional Endorsements and Election Results
** Ordered by State, then by Senate and House District
** Names are listed as follows: District Name (Party)

Arizona
3 Raul Grijalva (D) — elected

California
1 Doug LaMalfa (R) — elected
6 Doris Matsui (D) — elected
10 Jeff Denham (R) — elected
11 Mark DeSaulnier (D) — elected
12 Nancy Pelosi (D) — elected
13 Barbara Lee (D) — elected
14 Jackie Speier (D) — elected
16 Jim Costa (D) — too close to call
17 Michael Honda (D) — too close to call
18 Anna Eshoo (D) — elected
19 Zoe Lofgren (D) — elected
21 David Valadao (R) — elected
22 Devin Nunes (R) — elected
23 Kevin McCarthy (R) — elected
25 Steve Knight (R) — elected
27 Judy Chu (D) — elected
28 Adam Schiff (D) — elected
29 Tony Cardenas (D) — elected
30 Brad Sherman (D) — elected
31 Pete Aguilar (D) — too close to call
32 Grace Napolitano (D) — elected
33 Ted Lieu (D) — elected
35 Norma Torres (D) — elected
36 Raul Ruiz (D) — too close to call
38 Linda Sanchez (D) — elected
39 Edward Royce (R) — elected
44 Janice Hahn (D) — elected
46 Loretta Sanchez (D) — elected
47 Alan Lowenthal (D) — elected
48 Dana Rohrabacher (R) — elected

Colorado
2 Jared Polis (D) — elected
5 Douglas Lamborn (R) — elected
6 Andrew Romanoff (D) — defeated
7 Edwin Perlmutter (D) — elected

Connecticut
2 Joe Courtney (D) — elected

Delaware
Sen. Chris Coons (D) — elected

Florida
11 Richard Nugent (R) — elected
12 Gus Bilirakis (R) — elected
22 Lois Frankel (D) — elected

Illinois
Sen. Richard Durbin (D) — elected
3 Daniel Lipinski (D) — elected
7 Danny Davis (D) — elected
9 Janice Schakowsky (D) — elected
10 Robert Dold (R) — elected
18 Aaron Schock (R) — elected

Iowa
Rep. Bruce Braley (D) for Senate — defeated

Kentucky
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) — elected

Maryland
3 John Sarbanes (D) — elected
5 Steny Hoyer (D) — elected
8 Christopher Van Hollen (D) — elected

Massachusetts
Sen. Edward Markey (D) — elected
2 James McGovern (D) — elected
3 Niki Tsongas (D) — elected
4 Joe Kennedy (D) — elected
5 Katherine Clark (D) — elected
7 Michael Capuano (D) — elected
8 Stephen Lynch (D) — elected

Michigan
Rep. Gary Peters (D) for Senate — elected
9 Sander Levin (D) — elected
11 David Trott (R) — elected
13 John Conyers (D) — elected

Minnesota
7 Collin Peterson (D) — elected

Missouri
4 Vicky Hartzler (R) — elected

Nebraska
1 Jeff Fortenberry (R) — elected

Nevada
1 Dina Titus (D) — elected

New Jersey
3 Tom MacArthur (R) — elected
4 Christopher Smith (R) — elected
5 Scott Garrett (R) — elected
6 Frank Pallone (D) — elected
8 Albio Sires (D) — elected

New Mexico
Sen. Tom Udall (D) — elected

New York
1 Tim Bishop (D) — defeated
3 Steve Israel (D) — elected
6 Grace Meng (D) — elected
11 Michael Grimm (R) — elected
12 Carolyn Maloney (D) — elected
14 Joseph Crowley (D) — elected
16 Eliot Engel (D) — elected
17 Nita Lowey (D) — elected
27 Chris Collins (R) — elected

Pennsylvania
2 Chaka Fattah (D) — elected
7 Patrick Meehan (R) — elected

Rhode Island
Sen. Jack Reed (D) — elected
1 David Cicilline (D) — elected
2 James Langevin (D) — elected

Texas
2 Ted Poe (R) — elected

Virginia
7 Dave Brat (R) — elected

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Big wins for French far right, Britain’s UKIP rock EU elections

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May 26, 2014, Monday/ 10:05:20/ REUTERS / BRUSSELS

Eurosceptic nationalists scored stunning victories in European Parliament elections in France and Britain on Sunday as critics of the European Union more than doubled their seats in a continent-wide protest vote against austerity and unemployment.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls called the breakthrough by Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, anti-euro National Front in one of the EU’s founding nations a political “earthquake”.

Anti-establishment parties of the far right and hard left, their scores amplified by a low turnout, made gains in many countries although in Germany, the EU’s biggest member state with the largest number of seats, and Italy, the pro-European centre ground held firm.

In a vote that raised more doubts about Britain’s long-term future in the EU, Nigel Farage’s UK Independence Party, which advocates immediate withdrawal, led the opposition Labour party and Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives comfortably with almost half the results declared.

A jubilant Le Pen, whose party beat President Francois Hollande’s ruling Socialists into third place, told supporters: “The people have spoken loud and clear … they no longer want to be led by those outside our borders, by EU commissioners and technocrats who are unelected.

“They want to be protected from globalisation and take back the reins of their destiny.”

With 80 percent of votes counted, the National Front had won 26 percent of the vote, comfortably ahead of the conservative opposition UMP on 20.6 percent, with the Socialists on 13.8, their second heavy defeat in two months after losing dozens of town halls in March.

First official results from around the 28-nation bloc showed the pro-European centre-left and centre-right parties will keep control of around 70 percent of the 751-seat EU legislature, but the number of Eurosceptic members will more than double.

The centre-right European People’s Party, led by former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, was set to win 212 seats, preliminary results issued by the parliament showed.

“As the EPP has a strong lead … I am ready to accept the mandate of the European Commission president,” Juncker told reporters in parliament. “We will have a clear pro-European majority in this house.”

The centre-left Socialists, led by outgoing European Parliament President Martin Schulz of Germany, were in second place with 186 seats followed by the centrist liberals on 70 and the Greens on 55. Eurosceptic groups were expected to win about 141 seats, according to a Reuters estimate, the far left 43 and conservatives 44.

A glum looking Schulz would not concede defeat, telling reporters he would negotiate with other parties.

“It is a bad day for the European Union when a party with such a racist, xenophobic and anti-Semite programme gets 24-25 percent of the vote in France,” he said. “But these voters aren’t extremists, they have lost trust, they have lost hope.”

UKIP make big gains

The political fallout may be felt more strongly in national politics than at EU level, pulling mainstream conservative parties further to the right and raising pressure to crack down on immigration.

In Britain, where voting took place last Thursday, UKIP won 27.5 percent of the vote, with the Labour opposition on 25.4 percent and the Conservatives on 24 percent, although results from Scotland were still to be factored in.

That will pile pressure on Cameron, who has promised Britons an in/out referendum on EU membership in 2017 if he is re-elected next year, to take an even tougher line in Europe. His pro-European Liberal Democrat coalition partners were set to hold just one seat, a loss of nine seats.

“The whole European project has been a lie,” Farage said on a television link-up with Brussels. “I don’t just want Britain to leave the European Union, I want Europe to leave the European Union.”

In Italy, pro-European Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s centre-left Democratic Party was on course for a resounding win, building a huge lead over the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of former comic Beppe Grillo, near complete results showed.

The anti-immigration far right People’s Party topped the poll in Denmark and the extreme-right Jobbik, widely accused of racism and anti-Semitism, finished second in Hungary.

In the Netherlands, the anti-Islam, Eurosceptic Dutch Freedom Party of Geert Wilders – which plans an alliance with Le Pen – underperformed but still finished joint second in terms of seats behind a pro-European centrist opposition party.

Although 388 million Europeans were eligible to vote, fewer than half cast ballots. The turnout was officially 43.1 percent, barely higher than the 2009 nadir of 43 percent, despite efforts to personalise the election with the main political families putting forward a leading candidate, or “Spitzenkandidat”.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats secured 35.3 percent of the vote, down from a 23-year-high of 41.5 percent in last year’s federal election but still a clear victory. The centre-left Social Democrats, her coalition partners, took 27.3 percent.

185559_newsdetailThe anti-euro Alternative for Germany won seats for the first time with 7 percent, the best result so far for a conservative party created only last year to oppose bailouts and call for weaker states to be ejected from the single currency.

Greek far right gains

In Greece, epicentre of the euro zone’s debt crisis, the radical left anti-austerity Syriza movement of Alexis Tsipras won the vote but failed to deliver a knockout blow to the government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

An official projection gave Syriza 26.7 percent, ahead of Samaras’s conservative New Democracy on 22.8 percent, reflecting popular anger at harsh spending cuts adopted in recent years to meet the terms of Athens’s EU/IMF bailout programme.

“Europeans are celebrating the defeat of the bailout and austerity in the country the European leadership turned into the guinea pig of the crisis,” Tsipras said.

The two parties in the coalition, New Democracy and PASOK, won a combined vote larger than that of Syriza, and political analyst Theodore Couloumbis said the government’s survival was not at stake despite its narrow two-seat majority.

Sunday was the fourth and final day of voting in elections to the European Parliament, which is an equal co-legislator with member states on most EU laws.

Far-right and radical left groups will have roughly a quarter of the seats, enough to gain a much louder voice but probably not to block EU legislation.

Officials said final results and seat allotments would probably be finalised later on Monday.

The record low turnout was in Slovakia, with just 13 percent. The highest was 90 percent in Belgium, where voting is compulsory and there was a general election the same day.

Sweden appeared to have elected the only feminist party member of the EU assembly.

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Clashes during Turkey local elections kill eight

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At least eight people have been killed in clashes between groups supporting rival candidates in Turkey’s local elections.

Security sources said on Sunday that at least six people lost their lives in a gunfight between two families in the village of Yuvacik in the eastern province of Sanliurfa.

Two other people were also killed in a gun battle between the relatives of two candidates in Golbasi village of the Hatay province.

Thirteen people are also said to be wounded in the clashes.

The elections, which have turned into a referendum on the rule of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan after several months of street protests, corruption scandals and Internet blocks, began on Sunday.

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