#mp election 2023

[techmagone]

Narsinghpur Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election Results 2023 Live: Can BJP Score a Hat Trick of Victory in Narsinghpur? Early trends will follow soon. https://techmagone.com/narsinghgarh-madhya-pradesh-assembly-election-results-2023-live/

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[stackumbrella1]

JAYAS: MP चुनावों से पहले जयस ने चला बड़ा दाव, कई सीट पर रहेंगी नजर, कॉंग्रेस-भाजपा की बढ़ी मुश्किलें।

JAYAS: मध्यप्रदेश में चुनाव से पहले हीरालाल अलावा की JAYAS ने अपनी कमर कसते हुए सं���ठन ने पूरे देश में आदिवासी अधिकार यात्रा निकाल रही है। जिससे की भाजपा और कांग्रेस की मुश्किलें बढ़ती जा रही है।

मध्यप्रदेश में विधानसभा चुनाव से पूर्व JAYAS ने भाजपा और कांग्रेस की मुश्किलें बढ़ा दी है। संगठन के अध्यक्ष और विधायक हीरालाल अलावा के निर्देशों के अनुसार सभी आदिवासी जिलों में आदिवासी अधिकार यात्रा निकाली जा रही है। इसके अंतर्गत आदिवासियों की मांग को बुलंद किया जा रहा है, इस यात्रा का आसार आगामी चुनावों में देखने को मिल सकता है।

आदिवासी अधिकार के लिए ये यात्रा JAYAS

JAYAS: पीछले कुछ दिन से ये यात्रा लगातार जारी है, इसमें प्रदेश के अलग अलग अंचलों खासतौर से उन जिलों में ज्यादा ध्यान दिया जा रहा है जिन इलाक़ों में आदिवासी समुदाय के लोग शामिल हैं। कल के दिन ही बड़वानी जिले मे इसकी शुरुआत हो गई है। इसमे यहां की स्थानीय मार्गों के साथ ही आदिवासियों के संवैधानिक अधिकार, और उनके विकास को लेकर आवाज बुलंद की जा रही है, और आने वाले चुनावों में भी इसका असर देखने को मिल सकता है।

कहां से शुरू हुई विकास यात्रा ?

JAYAS: कल से ही शुरू हुई विकास यात्रा बड़वानी जिले के पलसूद विधानसभा के ग्राम बिलवाणि से शुरू हुई है और यह अलग अलग आदिवासी क्षेत्रों में पहुंचेगी। यात्रा जहां से गुजरेगी स्थानीय लोग वहां शामिल होते जाएंगे। पहले हुई यात्रा में भी काफी भीड़ देखने को मिली थीं। संभावना ये भी बतायी जा रही है, इसमें काफी संख्या में बड़ी भीड़ जुटने के आसार हैं। यहीं कारण है की भाजपा और कांग्रेस की मुश्किलें बढ़ती जा रही है।

ये भी पढ़े: बीजेपी ने विकास यात्रा के दौरान दिया कॉंग्रेस को झटका, दतिया में दो कॉंग्रेस नेताओं ने थामा भाजपा का दामन

[apacnewsnetwork0]

New Delhi: The final tally of the state Assembly Elections 2023 in four states have been tallied. The state elections saw BJP win by a major margin in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. The final results for the state of Mizoram will be declared on Monday, December 4, 2023. As a Christian-majority state, Sunday is considered a special day in the north-eastern state.

[icnnetwork]

MP : भाजपा आलाकमान ने लगाई पूरी ताकत, बैक टू बैक रैलियां और रोड शो…

@BJP4Delhi @BJP4India @BJPMPBJP @narendramodi @AmitShah #bjpmp #BJP4IND #BJP4MP #MPElection_2023 #MPElections2023 #MP_के_मन_में_मोदी #MPElection #indiacorenews

[narmadanchal]

दशहरा मैदान में 30 हजार से अधिक नागरिकों को दिलाई मतदान की शपथ

– सीएमओ ने गांधी मैदान और वीर सावरकर मैदान पर दिलाई शपथ इटारसी। मप्र विधानसभा चुनाव 2023 (MP Assembly Elections 2023) के लिए निर्वाचन विभाग की ओर से इटारसी सीएमओ रितु मेहरा (Itarsi CMO Ritu Mehra) ने 30 हजार से अधिक नागरिकों को मतदान की शपथ दिलाई। मौका था, श्रीराम लीला दशहरा महोत्सव (Shri Ram Leela Dussehra Mahotsav) के तहत आयोजित कार्यक्रम का। यहां गांधी मैदान पर आयोजित हो रही रामलीला के मंच से…

[angelholme]

As biased and shameful reporting goes, this really is quite impressive.....

First there is the repeated use the phrase “SHAMED MP Margaret Ferrier” — as if they are trying to drive home the idea that what she did was terrible and wrong.

Language that, from what I remember, they have never used about Rishi Sunak (who broke the law), Carrie Symonds (who broke the law) and Boris Johnson (who broke the law, lied to Parliament, and is being investigated for breaking the law)

And language they have rarely used over other MPs.

But they use it repeatedly and persistently to attack this MP — this female MP I might add.

Secondly — the graph to show the swing from the SNP to Labour is very badly done.

The votes are colours red/yellow/blue etc (as you would expect — party colours) and yet the swing for Labour is blue — a colour most people associate with the Tories.

If you were to just glance at that, you might (if you were not paying attention) take it to read that the swing was to the Tory party, not Labour.

I would argue that is more than a little misleading.

Third — the turnout was just about half of the general election.

So the “winning candidate” who got “such a commanding victory” that “everyone is hailing as a glorious triumph” got 17,845 votes. Which is fewer votes than the Labour candidate got during the 2019 election (18, 545).

Which, to me, suggests that no one in this constituency gave a shit about this election — if you can win with fewer votes than it takes to get second place in the previous vote then really what does that say about the people who are voting and more to the point the people who are not voting?

The combined total of first and second place was only a shade over the number of votes Ms Ferrier got in total in the 2019 election.

Which again suggests that no one gave a shit about this election.

x-x-x

The constituents know it is less than a year until the General Election.

They know that whichever fuckwhit gets into the seat is a caretaker — a seatwarmer. They are going to be there for eight, maybe nine months.

They are the substitute teacher of politics, and they damn well know it.

And yet the article is reporting it as if this is a GLORIOUS DAY FOR ENGLISH POLITICS — those DAMNED INDEPENDENTISTS HAVE BEEN CRUSHED BENEATH THE HEAL OF THE GOOD DECENT ENGLISH PARTY.

It’s fucking ridiculous, and the bias throughout the article is not something you expect from an allegedly independent news source.

[rashtrasancharnews]

The tone of displeasure in MP? Return for fourth Union Minister; 'These' veterans were brought down in the Vidhan Sabha ground...

Bhopal : : (MP Assembly Election 2023) Winds of elections are currently blowing strongly in Madhya Pradesh. Big news has come out from the Madhya Pradesh BJP faction on the backdrop of the assembly elections in the state. It is predicted that Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia may be given ticket in the party's third list. Therefore, there is a high possibility of displeasure in the BJP.

[insidecroydon]

Greens, residents and LibDems put squeeze on Tory Surrey

Follow the yellow brick road: political editor WALTER CRONXITE takes a flight of fancy over the new political map of south-east England after last week’s local elections, which have given the LibDems much encouragement Pathway to success?: the LibDems are targeting Tory ministers’ seats in Surrey after last week’s results The fields of Surrey, Sussex and Kent are awash in vibrant green and yellow…

[263adder]

Don't Lose Your Vote! UK Edition

Update: Tuesday 18th June 2024 is the deadline to register to vote for the general election.

A snap general election could be called any day. This will be the first general election that requires photo ID if you vote at the polls (postal votes 📫 are unaffected by the Election Act 2022).

If you don't have an approved form of identification (list here), you can apply for a FREE voter ID photo card. Find out more below or use these 5 minutes to register and get your ID sorted instead ❎ because, and this is important to know, the government really doesn't want young people to vote.

The Explanation

Rishi Sunak, UK Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, may call a snap election in 2023. (A snap election is a vote brought in earlier ��� than the one that’s scheduled 🕐) The UK’s next general election (for MPs and the PM) is meant to happen between December 2024 and January 2025.

A snap election happens in as little as 25 days 😨 between the announcement (aka the PM asking the House of Commons’ to approve the dissolution of Parliament) and the vote 🏃‍♀️

You must be registered to vote - currently over 8 million people are not. Unlike other a democratic countries, the UK doesn’t automatically register all eligible voters. You have to do this yourself. Here’s a quick reminder of how to register:

Over the past 15 years, it has gotten harder for British citizens to vote:

Families can no longer register to vote as a household 🏡 so young voters must register themselves (Cameron Govt)

Colleges and universities are barred from registering students 👨‍🎓 (Cameron Govt)

The Elections Act requires photo ID 🤳 for anyone voting in person (Johnson Govt)

Local elections (for city and town governments) in 2023 were the first votes that required VOTER ID. According to the Electoral Commission, over 14,000 people were turned away from the polls because they had not heard about the change.

The House of Lords tried to amend the Elections Act before it passed, to include more common types of ID, such as bank statements, bills, student ID, library cards and much more. This amendment was struck down in the House of Commons. A lot of the IDs included in the approved list are more likely to be owned by older voters than younger ones. For example, a 60+ Oyster Card is acceptable ID but an 18+ Oyster Card is not.

Here’s the important thing to know: voters who don’t have a driving licence or passport or other approved forms of ID, can apply for a free voter ID photo card. Watch the video below to find out how!

And finally, please, for the love of our democracy, vote.

"Democracy is not something you believe in or a place to hang your hat, but it's something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles." Abbie Hoffman

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

BORIS JOHNSON RESIGNS AS MP. Thoughts? The people howl for a new update to the Big Dog the Clown saga.

Yes this was not on my personal bingo card; my most recent Big Dog event was that a friend of mine works for air traffic control and recently had to delay BoJo's holiday flight by four hours, and on being told that this particular plane had to be prioritised for a runway slot because it contained an Important Clown promptly pushed it to the bottom of the priority list. Lol. And then all this! What larks.

Okay not a lot of detail yet still but LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE EVENTS OF 9TH JUNE, 2023 and you know what? It's been a while. Let's do it properly.

7.15am

Another day dawns in the reign of evil Grand Vizier-turned-PM Rishi Sunak. He's a very boring flavour of evil, tbh. Say what you will about Johnson, but at least there was spectacle and showmanship to his clownshow. Something for the children to boo and hiss. An animate ham in a villain's wig, something to really enjoy as you sit back, relax, and savour a tall, cool glass of schadenfreude.

By contrast Rishi just gets sycophants - who are no less ridiculous, but far more grey and boring - who pretend he's a tech bro because "he understands AI" and they think that will make him a visionary and a man of the future and maybe some sort of Elon Musk figure, because that's obviously a smashing template to be copied in a leader of a country.

This briefing was presumably drafted using ChatGPT.

Anyway, this is what we thought the day would be: another dreary overcast washout, livened up by Downing Street's latest attempt at making Sunak seem like a good idea to stave off the hulking spectre of Labour's inevitable GE win next year. How trite. How tedious. How mediocre.

What a shame it would be if... something were to liven it up.

8.39 am

Fun fact!

When a PM's term ends, as their last act in office, they get to present an Honours List. This means they write a list of all the people they reckon have been Jolly Good Sorts who have done Good Clowning and Supported The Community, and nominate those people for honours. Honours here can be anything from an MBE/OBE etc, to a Damehood/Knighthood, all the way up to entering the Peerage i.e. becoming a Lord. Traditionally, people have been fairly reasonable with these lists. Apart from anything else, the outgoing PM can only write the list - the new Prime Minister has to sign off on it, and it's usually the case, of course, that PMs are deposed by the opposition party.

Why am I mentioning this? Well: Boris, you see, has now presented his list to Sunak to validate. You may be unsurprised to learn that it contains quite a lot of clowns.

Another fun fact!

If a sitting MP is given a Peerage, they cannot continue to be an MP. MPs are elected. Lords are not. So an MP offered a lordship right now would have to stand down if they accepted, triggering a by-election in their seat that... well. That anyone could win, couldn't they? Ordinarily. Except Labour's shadow is growing, isn't it? I don't suppose Sunak would be all that happy about losing, for example, any Tory MPs nominated for a peerage right now.

What fun facts.

At 8.39am, Politics UK reveals an as-yet-unverified report that Nadine Dorries and Alok Sharma have been removed from Boris Johnson's honours list, and will go back to vetting.

(They also reveal that Big Dog's dad has been removed from the list, because nominating your dad for a Peerage is "inappropriate". Sorry, Bigger Dog. Apparently even corrupt ghoul Rishi Sunak has a limit to what open corruption he will allow, which is news to us all, most of all Rishi.)

10.41am

Nadine Dorries decides she will play to her strengths, and appear on TV to do some Public Speaking, which always goes well for her of course.

Nothing, let's remember, has been confirmed yet at all. But she's here to put people's minds at ease! No power-hungry status-chasing pink maniac, she! She is very clear in her aims.

“The last thing I would want to do would be to cause a by-election in my constituency.”

Quite right, Nadine. That would be disastrous.

11.20am

Oh, it’s Tory think tank NRG’s conference in Doncaster today.  Gideon George Osborne, pig-stupid former Grand Vizier and idiot fail-heir to David "pig-fucker" Cameron, gives a speech.  Let's see some quotes!

On the Tories’ choices of chancellors since he personally fell on his sword over Brexit left the role:

“You can see when the partnership doesn’t work. The government's paralysed and the politics is terrible.”

Fair, but also you are a government, George.

On Tories who attack the civil service:

“We’re in charge of our country’s destiny. We should stop blaming others if we don’t get things right." 

... right. But you just... Uh.

On Tory culture warriors:

“It’s really important that the Conservative Party is excited about the country we aspire to lead… and doesn’t get in to ‘we’re against all these groups of people’. We’re the inclusive people.”

Well, points for clearing that absurdly low bar, I guess. Christ, I cannot BELIEVE Suella Braverman is making George fucking Osborne look good-by-comparison.

1pm

Ooh. Nadine's attempts to put minds at ease have inexplicably not worked, can't think why not. She's such a reassuring and charismatic speaker normally.

But the rumour is now FLYING about that Nadine has indeed been dropped from the honours list, and specifically because Sunak wants to avoid a by-election that will lose him more seats at a time when he is desperate for even a mat on the floor as long as it's blue.

Sorry, Nads. Still; this morning you were very clear that the constituency comes first, so I suppose that's okay. The priority now is that she MUST stay in position, so the Tories can keep their numbers steady. It is VITAL she remains an MP. Let's remember her exact words!

“The last thing I would want to do would be to cause a by-election in my constituency.”

3.45pm

Nadine Dorries tweets her resignation.

The last thing she does as an MP is indeed to cause a by-election in her constituency.

3.50pm

Except this is Nadine Dorries we're talking about. She's found some flashy balls to juggle, look, and a boy to pour custard down her trousers.

Not five minutes after dropping the bombshell, she deletes the last tweet announcing her resignation, and tweets a new one.

The new tweet says, “it is now time for another to take the reins” as the MP for Mid-Bedfordshire.

The original tweet said, “it is now time for someone younger to take the reins.”

*

On Talk TV, Dorries says that "something significant did happen to change my mind", but doesn’t elaborate.

3.56pm

The whispers are whispering. The rumours are rumouring. The knives are sharpening.

Nadine's now-former seat is Mid-Bedfordshire, and has been Tory since 1929; a safe seat, which certainly explains how Nadine fucking Dorries managed to hold it for as long as she did.

An MP on the right of the Tory party says that if the Tories lose the Mid Bedfordshire by-election, it’ll open questions about Rishi Sunak's leadership CLOWNFALL 3: REVENGE OF BIG DOG LET'S GOOOOOO

3.57pm

Nadine Dorries is removed from the WhatsApp group.

I would love to know who leaked that image. I really should not have that image. Ah well. Now you do too.

4.12pm

Good tweet alert!

5.08pm

Phew! What a day. Let's see how Rishi's getting on.

He approves the rest of BoJo's honours list. Shall we take a look at our newly-honoured citizens? Shall we see what familiar names crop up?

Honours for staff at centre of Partygate Jack Doyle, Rosie Bate-Williams and Shelly Williams-Walker (and a lot of other terrible and disgraced people who were loyal to Johnson, and some of Carrie Antoinette’s friends).

Damehoods for Andrea Jenkyns and Priti Patel.

Knighthoods for Jacob Rees-Mogg, Conor Burns, and Michael Fabricant.

An OBE for Kelly Jo Dodge, Parliamentary hairdresser.

Also honours for Ben Houchen, currently at the heart of a media storm about dodgy property deals.  His huge regeneration project in Teesside is subject to a government investigation regarding the governance, finance and value for money.

*

(Interesting point – Tory MPs Allister Jack and Nigel Adams were offered peerages, but decided to wait, since accepting now would trigger by-elections.

Why were they offered at all, do you think?)

*

So … this means Michael Fabricant is now Sir Michael Fabricant.  Like, actually.  Genuinely.

Nice one, Rishi. Thank goodness you understand AIs.

5.44pm

The Guardian’s Pippa Crerar - journalist who brought down Big Dog one Partygate reveal at a time - tweets her guide to he honours list:

Martin Reynolds, former PPS, invited 200 officials to drinks in Downing St garden.  He told officials to "bring your own booze", later adding: "We seem to have got away with it".

Shelley Williams-Walker, getting a Damehood, was No 10 head of opps & now runs his office.  At No 10 party the night before Prince Philip's funeral she was dubbed "DJ SWW" for her banger playlist.

Jack Doyle & Rosie Bate-Williams, who get OBEs, were press spox who repeatedly denied the parties happened

Dan Rosenfield, who gets a peerage, quit in mass exodus of senior No 10 staff as anger over Partygate grew.  Former chief of staff faced reports he was among senior Downing Street officials who attended a Christmas quiz when restrictions were in place.

Shaun Bailey, who ran unsuccessfully for London mayor, gets a peerage, and Ben Mallett, a close friend of Carrie Antoinette's who ran Zac Goldsmith’s disastrous mayoral campaign, gets an OBE. Both are in this picture of a lockdown-flouting party at CCHQ:

What a sea of punchable faces.

7.58pm

But we've been so focused on Nadine! She's fucked up her juggling, look, but she's sliding around on the rollerskates, ever so distracting. But here's the thing, Tumblrs, here's the thing:

Among all of this, what's the Chief Clown doing?

The Privilege Committee reveals in their draft report that Boris Johnson misled Parliament, and recommends a sanction of more than 10 days.

Does that sound too little? Are you wishing it were smething more meaningful? Let me help put it in context.

This sanction would be enough to trigger a by-election in Johnson’s seat.

8.02pm

Boris Johnson

QUITS

as an MP

The committee said Johson had “impugned the integrity” of the House of Commons. Fascinating! I didn't know its honour had ever been pugned.

He accuses the inquiry of trying to “drive me out”!!!!

"It is very sad to be leaving parliament - at least for now - but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically, by a committee chaired and managed, by Harriet Harman, with such egregious bias".

Worth noting that the committee has a Conservative majority, mind. But you mustn't let things like facts get in the way of your feelings, BlowJo. You never have as a politician. Nor as a journalist, come to that.

(Also SIDE NOTE – “at least for now”??  What are you planning, Big Dog??  I suppose Nadine is leaving an empty seat...)

8.41pm

Christopher Hope of the Daily Telegraph reports he’s heard rumours of a THIRD Tory MP potentially resigning – and another Johnson loyalist at that. Lol. Trololol. Lmao, even. Perhaps rofl.

11.43pm

And finally, the day is wrapped up with the Guardian revealing their front cover for the following day:

Big Dog is OUT, hot trans bloke is IN.

Not a bad finish.

[pharawee]

If you are in Thailand or following Thai politics you probably already know that today Thailand's Constitutional Court has ruled to dissolve the Move Forward Party for "attempting to overthrow the Thai political system", barring current leader Chaithawat Tulathon and former leader Pita Limjaroenrat from participating in politics for the next ten years. [source]

This is, of course, some major bullshit (but what else is new). Move Forward is responsible for pushing for many if not most progressive policies in Thailand, including marriage equality. This is the party that won the 2023 general elections and, although not part of the current government (which is also bullshit), it's currently the biggest parliamentary party.

Move Forward's remaining MPs have already announced that they will join a new party and continue in their efforts for democracy and reform in Thailand. This is what Move Forward MP Rangsiman Rome has to say (you can find his original tweet here - I'm only providing a somewhat clunky English translation because I think it's such a powerful and important message):

[No matter what the name of our new party will be, in 2027, the whole country will be orange.] Throughout the time from Future Forward Party to Move Forward Party, we have pushed for progressive agendas for the public, including advocating for the abolition of military conscription, marriage equality, a new constitution, as well as policies to promote freedom and protect human rights through various party policies. However, we have faced severe accusations such as overthrowing the government and subversion, culminating in today's Constitutional Court decision to "dissolve the Move Forward Party." In a democracy, each political party has a set of values, ideologies, and the hopes and dreams of the people who choose that party, conveyed through policy creation and implementation as the people desire. We affirm that the only acceptable way to dismantle a political party is through the verdict of the people in the election booth, according to democratic principles. The legal warfare process of dissolving a party erodes public confidence in democracy and does not strengthen democracy in Thailand. If we persist in pretending that the process of party dissolution, which is disconnected from the people, is normal, it will continually destroy the dreams of the people. This implies that if a group of people with similar dreams and ideas come together to form a political party and propose policies to the public but differ from the state or the elite, they will be destroyed mercilessly, right? We must affirm that the policies of the Move Forward Party are what society needs. We must affirm that what the Move Forward Party has done to solve problems is what Thai people need, whether it is exposing the patronage system, human rights violations, corruption, or various progressive policies. These are what Thailand needs, and we affirm that we, as citizens, will be the ones to fan the winds of change. We will ensure that the Move Forward Party is not just a political party but represents the people and the journey of all of us. No matter what the name of our new party will be, in 2027, the whole country will be orange.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

End of the line for corporate sovereignty

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me next weekend (Mar 30/31) in ANAHEIM at WONDERCON, then in Boston with Randall "XKCD" Munroe (Apr 11), then Providence (Apr 12), and beyond!

Back in the 1950s, a new, democratically elected Iranian government nationalized foreign oil interests. The UK and the US then backed a coup, deposing the progressive government with one more hospitable to foreign corporations:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalization_of_the_Iranian_oil_industry

This nasty piece of geopolitical skullduggery led to the mother-of-all-blowbacks: the Anglo-American puppet regime was toppled by the Ayatollah and his cronies, who have led Iran ever since.

For the US and the UK, the lesson was clear: they needed a less kinetic way to ensure that sovereign countries around the world steered clear of policies that undermined the profits of their oil companies and other commercial giants. Thus, the "investor-state dispute settlement" (ISDS) was born.

The modern ISDS was perfected in the 1990s with the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). The ECT was meant to foam the runway for western corporations seeking to take over ex-Soviet energy facilities, by making those new post-Glasnost governments promise to never pass laws that would undermine foreign companies' profits.

But as Nick Dearden writes for Jacobin, the western companies that pushed the east into the ECT failed to anticipate that ISDSes have their own form of blowback:

https://jacobin.com/2024/03/energy-charter-treaty-climate-change/

When the 2000s rolled around and countries like the Netherlands and Denmark started to pass rules to limit fossil fuels and promote renewables, German coal companies sued the shit out of these governments and forced them to either back off on their democratically negotiated policies, or to pay gigantic settlements to German corporations.

ISDS settlements are truly grotesque: they're not just a matter of buying out existing investments made by foreign companies and refunding them money spent on them. ISDS tribunals routinely order governments to pay foreign corporations all the profits they might have made from those investments.

For example, the UK company Rockhopper went after Italy for limiting offshore drilling in response to mass protests, and took $350m out of the Italian government. Now, Rockhopper only spent $50m on Adriatic oil exploration – the other $300m was to compensate Rockhopper for the profits it might have made if it actually got to pump oil off the Italian coast.

Governments, both left and right, grew steadily more outraged that ISDSes tied the hands of democratically elected lawmakers and subordinated their national sovereignty to corporate sovereignty. By 2023, nine EU countries were ready to pull out of the ECT.

But the ECT had another trick up its sleeve: a 20-year "sunset" clause that bound countries to go on enforcing the ECT's provisions – including ISDS rulings – for two decades after pulling out of the treaty. This prompted European governments to hit on the strategy of a simultaneous, mass withdrawal from the ECT, which would prevent companies registered in any of the ex-ECT countries from suing under the ECT.

It will not surprise you to learn that the UK did not join this pan-European coalition to wriggle out of the ECT. On the one hand, there's the Tories' commitment to markets above all else (as the Trashfuture podcast often points out, the UK government is the only neoliberal state so committed to austerity that it's actually dismantling its own police force). On the other hand, there's Rishi Sunak's planet-immolating promise to "max out North Sea oil."

But as the rest of the world transitions to renewables, different blocs in the UK – from unions to Tory MPs – are realizing that the country's membership in ECT and its fossil fuel commitment is going to make it a world leader in an increasingly irrelevant boondoggle – and so now the UK is also planning to pull out of the ECT.

As Dearden writes, the oil-loving, market-worshipping UK's departure from the ECT means that the whole idea of ISDSes is in danger. After all, some of the world's poorest countries are also fed up to the eyeballs with ISDSes and threatening to leave treaties that impose them.

One country has already pulled out: Honduras. Honduras is home to Prospera, a libertarian autonomous zone on the island of Roatan. Prospera was born after a US-backed drug kingpin named Porfirio Lobo Sosa overthrew the democratic government of Manuel Zelaya in 2009.

The Lobo Sosa regime established a system of special economic zones (known by their Spanish acronym, "ZEDEs"). Foreign investors who established a ZEDE would be exempted from Honduran law, allowing them to create "charter cities" with their own private criminal and civil code and tax system.

This was so extreme that the Honduran supreme court rejected the plan, so Lobo Sosa fired the court and replaced them with cronies who'd back his play.

A group of crypto bros capitalized on this development, using various ruses to establish a ZEDE on the island of Roatan, a largely English-speaking, Afro-Carribean island known for its marine reserve, its SCUBA diving, and its cruise ship port. This "charter city" included every bizarre idea from the long history of doomed "libertarian exit" projects, so ably recounted in Raymond Craib's excellent 2022 book Adventure Capitalism:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/14/this-way-to-the-egress/#terra-nullius

Right from the start, Prospera was ill starred. Paul Romer, the Nobel-winning economist most closely associated with the idea of charter cities, disavowed the project. Locals hated it – the tourist shops and restaurants on Roatan all may sport dusty "Bitcoin accepted here" signs, but not one of those shops takes cryptocurrency.

But the real danger to Prospera came from democracy itself. When Xiomara Castro – wife of Manuel Zelaya – was elected president in 2021, she announced an end to the ZEDE program. Prospera countered by suing Honduras under the ISDS provisions of the Central America Free Trade Agreements, seeking $10b, a third of the country's GDP.

In response, President Castro announced her country's departure from CAFTA, and the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes:

https://theintercept.com/2024/03/19/honduras-crypto-investors-world-bank-prospera/

An open letter by progressive economists in support of President Castro condemns ISDSes for costing latinamerican countries $30b in corporate compensation, triggered by laws protecting labor rights, vulnerable ecosystems and the climate:

https://progressive.international/wire/2024-03-18-economists-the-era-of-corporate-supremacy-in-the-international-trade-system-is-coming-to-an-end/en

As Ryan Grim writes for The Intercept, the ZEDE law is wildly unpopular with the Honduran people, and Merrick Garland called the Lobo Sosa regime that created it "a narco-state where violent drug traffickers were allowed to operate with virtual impunity":

https://theintercept.com/2024/03/19/honduras-crypto-investors-world-bank-prospera/

The world's worst people are furious and terrified about Honduras's withdrawal from its ISDS. After 60+ years of wrapping democracy in chains to protect corporate profits, the collapse of the corporate kangaroo courts that override democratic laws represents a serious threat to oligarchy.

As Dearden writes, "elsewhere in the world, ISDS cases have been brought specifically on the basis that governments have not done enough to suppress protest movements in the interests of foreign capital."

It's not just poor countries in the global south, either. When Australia passed a plain-packaging law for tobacco, Philip Morris relocated offshore in order to bring an ISDS case against the Australian government in a bid to remove impediments to tobacco sales:

https://isds.bilaterals.org/?philip-morris-vs-australia-isds

And in 2015, the WTO sanctioned the US government for its "dolphin-safe" tuna labeling, arguing that this eroded the profits of corporations that fished for tuna in ways that killed a lot of dolphins:

https://theintercept.com/2015/11/24/wto-ruling-on-dolphin-safe-tuna-labeling-illustrates-supremacy-of-trade-agreements/

In Canada, the Conservative hero Steven Harper entered into the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, which banned Canada from passing laws that undermined the profits of Chinese corporations for 31 years (the rule expires in 2045):

https://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/harper-oks-potentially-unconstitutional-china-canada-fipa-deal-coming-force-october-1

Harper's successor, Justin Trudeau, went on to sign the Canada-EU Trade Agreement that Harper negotiated, including its ISDS provisions that let EU corporations override Canadian laws:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-eu-parliament-schulz-ceta-1.3415689

There was a time when any challenge to ISDS was a political third rail. Back in 2015, even hinting that ISDSes should be slightly modified would send corporate thinktanks into a frenzy:

https://www.techdirt.com/2015/07/20/eu-proposes-to-reform-corporate-sovereignty-slightly-us-think-tank-goes-into-panic-mode/

But over the years, there's been a growing consensus that nations can only be sovereign if corporations aren't. It's one thing to treat corporations as "persons," but another thing altogether to elevate them above personhood and subordinate entire nations to their whims.

With the world's richest countries pulling out of ISDSes alongside the world's poorest ones, it's feeling like the end of the road for this particularly nasty form of corporate corruption.

And not a moment too soon.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/27/korporate-kangaroo-kourts/#corporate-sovereignty

Image: ChrisErbach (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UnitedNations_GeneralAssemblyChamber.jpg

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

[mariacallous]

Following the legalization of same-sex civil marriage in Greece in February, the head of the left-wing SYRIZA party, Stefanos Kasselakis, exchanged vows on Friday with his American partner Tyler McBeth at a ceremony in Chania on the island of Crete.

Kasselakis and McBeth are the first openly LGBTQ+ couple in Greek politics. They first married in October 2023 in New York but decided to also marry in Greece following the legalisation of civil marriage for same-sex couples earlier this year.

The marriage took place at 5 pm local time at the Botanical Garden, amid fruit trees, herbs, spices and medicinal and ornamental plants gathered from all over the world. Over the previous four days, the couple organised various events for their guests. A farewell party is planned at a beach bar on Saturday.

Greece’s parliament, despite strong opposition, recognised same-sex civil marriages in February, granting full parental rights to same-sex couples that already have children and allowing such couples to adopt. It stopped short of allowing same-sex couples to have children via surrogacy in future.

Surrogacy is currently allowed only for single or married women who are unable to have children on health grounds. Heterosexual couples and single men and women are allowed to adopt.

Opponents of the bill gathered at Athens’ Syntagma Square ahead of the passing of the law, holding crosses, Orthodox icons and placards with the slogan “Homeland – Religion – Family” written on them.

The Greek Orthodox Church criticised the law change, claiming it was step towards the abolition of traditional perenting and the “disappearance” of gender roles.

Kasselakis, in a TV interview in October 2023, said he and his partner wanted to have two children with a surrogate mother.

In 2015, the then SYRIZA-ANEL government brought in civil partnerships for same-sex couples. The bill extended civil partnership rights to same-sex couples, expanding their rights concerning the family, inheritance and insurance. The earlier lack of legal provision for same-sex couples had resulted in Greece being condemned in 2013 by the European Court of Human Rights.

Kasselakis’ marriage has taken place during a turbulent period for his SYRIZA party. On Friday, the party announced the exclusion of MP Athina Linou and asked her to resign from her parliamentary seat, which she has refused to do. Linou, founder of Prolepsis, a non-profit organisation active in medical research, health promotion and environmental and occupational health, is accused of involvement in murky funding.

Earlier, Sokratis Famellos, former president of SYRIZA’s parliamentary group, was replaced in an attempt to overcome the internal feuding. Another faction, “the group of 87”, supporters of the previous SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, is calling for internal presidential elections in the party to defuse the crisis.