World

The surprise vote in Republican-heavy Kansas to repudiate a push for abortion bans fired shockwaves through the US political landscape ahead of November’s midterm elections, with President Joe Biden’s Democrats now seeing a glimmer of hope that they may avoid their predicted drubbing.

Ever since the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to terminate a pregnancy in June, US conservatives have been nervously asking whether their triumphant push to severely restrict access to the procedure — a decades-long dream — has gone too far in the run-up to the midterms.

In Kansas, they got an answer.

The state is a Republican stronghold, but in Tuesday’s referendum, a bid to remove abortion rights from the Kansas constitution was rejected by 59 to 41 percent, with unusually heavy turnout.

Given this was the first time Americans had an opportunity to vote on the issue since the conservative-dominated Supreme Court ruled to overturn the half-century-old Roe v. Wade decision enshrining abortion rights, Democrats are celebrating the result — and say a major backlash is only beginning.

“The court practically dared women in this country to go to the ballot box and restore the right to choose that the court had just ripped away after 50 years,” Biden said at the White House where he signed an executive order that aims to help Americans who travel to get an abortion when their own state makes it impossible.

“They don’t have a clue about the power of American women. Last night in Kansas, they found out.”

Later, he predicted that outrage over the issue would drive “record numbers” of voters.

Planned Parenthood, which lobbies for abortion access, called the Kansas vote “a clear warning to anti-abortion politicians.” The organization’s president, Alexis McGill Johnson, also called on voters to keep up the momentum into the midterms.

“We have the opportunity to protect abortion access at the ballot box in November. We know that Kansas will not be our last fight or our last victory.”

– Trump card –

The November midterms, which will decide which party controls Congress for the last two years of Biden’s first term, are shaping up as rough for Democrats who even now only control the legislature by a few votes.

Blamed by voters for soaring inflation — at a four-decade high — and widespread pessimism in the messy aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, Democrats are forecast to lose at least the House of Representatives and maybe the Senate. 

This would likely make Biden a lame duck, turning Washington into an even uglier political battlefield than it is today.

And abortion is not the only reason the midterms campaign will bring ideological tensions to a boil.

Donald Trump is pushing hardline right-wing candidates to boost his brand and possibly set the stage for his own attempted White House comeback in 2024.

Several candidates endorsed by Trump won primary votes held around the United States on Tuesday at the same time as the Kansas referendum, signaling that the disgraced ex-president remains a force.

In Michigan, one of the handful of House Republicans who dared join Democrats in impeaching Trump as president was tossed out, replaced by a former Trump administration official.

Trump’s candidate for the Senate, Blake Masters, won the Republican primary in the swing state of Arizona.

And Trump’s candidate for the sensitive post of Arizona secretary of state, a key figure in running elections, also won. Mark Finchem, a supporter of Trump’s lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, has ties to a far-right militia.

– ‘Extremists’ –

Increasingly, Democrats are seeking to link that Trump surge and the abortion dispute, arguing that the midterms will be a battle not just between two parties but generally between political moderates and growing extremism.

Across the country, Democrats have even gone so far as to pay for advertising boosting Trump’s primary candidates — the theory being that they will be easier to beat in November than more moderate Republicans.

For example, according to The New York Times, the Democratic side spent about $627,000 on advertising in Maryland to help Trump-endorsed candidate Dan Cox — another 2020 election lie supporter — win his Republican gubernatorial primary.

In a speech to the Democratic National Committee late Wednesday, Biden homed in on the emerging campaign message.

Referring to Trump’s Make America Great Again movement, Biden told Democratic organizers that democracy itself is “at risk from extremists in the MAGA Republican Party.”

“We need to make clear to this country this year just how critical and fundamental choices between us and the MAGA Republicans (are),” he said.

Powerful Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, whose bloc won the most seats in Iraq’s elections last year, demanded Wednesday that parliament be dissolved and new national polls be called.

Nearly 10 months on from the last elections, the country still has no government, new prime minister or new president, due to repeated squabbles between factions over forming a coalition.

In the latest political turmoil to strike the oil-rich but war-scarred nation, Sadr called for a “revolutionary and peaceful process, then early democratic elections after a dissolution of parliament”.

His televised speech came as calls for dialogue intensify after his supporters occupied parliament for a fifth consecutive day, in protest at a nomination for prime minister by a rival Shiite faction, the Iran-backed Coordination Framework.

However, parliament can only be dissolved by a majority vote, according to the constitution. Such a vote can take place at the request of a third of lawmakers, or by the prime minster with the president’s agreement.

“I am certain that the majority of the population is exasperated by the ruling class in its entirety, including some (politicians) belonging to my movement”, Sadr said.

“From now on there will be no more old-guard politicians, whatever their affiliation,” he added.

Sadr’s bloc emerged from elections in October as the biggest faction, but it was still far short of a majority. 

In June, his 73 lawmakers quit, ostensibly in a bid to break the political logjam.

Sadr, who once led an anti-US militia and who has millions of devoted followers, noted also that he had “no interest” in negotiating with his rivals.

– ‘Risk of escalation’ –

Along with their sit-in, the cleric’s supporters have set up an encampment outside parliament with tents and food stalls, and Sadr on Wednesday called on them to continue.

“The revolutionaries and protesters participating in the sit-in must stay and continue their camp until the demands are realised,” he said.

In multi-confessional and multi-ethnic Iraq, government formation has involved complex negotiations since a 2003 US-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

The resignation of Sadr’s lawmakers led to the pro-Iran bloc becoming the largest in parliament, but still there was no agreement on new top posts.

The Sadrist camp was outraged by the Coordination Framework last week nominating former minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as prime minister.

The Coordination Framework is a grouping that includes former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, a long-standing foe of Sadr, and the Hashed al-Shaabi, a former paramilitary network now integrated into the security forces.

Outgoing prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi has called for a “national dialogue” in a bid to bring all sides together to talk, and on Wednesday he spoke with President Barham Saleh.

Both men stressed the importance of “guaranteeing security and stability” in the country, according to the Iraqi News Agency.

Sadr’s foe Maliki said late Wednesday “serious dialogue giving hope for resolving differences… begins with respect for constitutional inistitutions”. 

Thousands of Coordination Framework supporters have held counter-protests in Baghdad against the occupation of parliament.

“Don’t believe the rumours that I don’t want dialogue,” Sadr said on Wednesday. 

“But we have already tried and experienced dialogue with them,” he added. “It has brought nothing to us and to the nation — only ruin and corruption.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the United Nations mission in Iraq called on leaders to “prioritise (the) national interest” and end the long-running power struggle.

“Meaningful dialogue among all Iraqi parties is now more urgent than ever, as recent events have demonstrated the rapid risk of escalation in this tense political climate,” the UN mission warned.

French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke with political leaders on Wednesday, saying that “dialogue and consultation” was the only way out of the crisis.

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Just months after Chileans elected a leftist president in a mass rejection of establishment politics, they appear to stand deeply divided on overhauling the country’s dictatorship-era constitution, an opinion poll showed Wednesday.

A proposed new constitution, drafted over a year by a specially-elected assembly of 154 members, comes up for approval in a referendum on September 4.

More than 15 million people are eligible to participate in Chile’s first mandatory vote in 10 years — choosing essentially between the rights-driven “welfare state” promised by President Gabriel Boric and the neo-liberal status quo he had vowed to repeal.

According to recent polls, supporters of change are in the minority despite the recent revolutionary mood in Chile which saw mass anti-establishment protests in 2019 and calls for a more equitable society.

Rewriting the constitution adopted during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) was a key demand of demonstrators.

But Chile has also long been one of Latin America’s most conservative countries, and abortion is high on the list of provisions that opponents of the draft constitution point to as objectionable.

If it is approved, Chile will become one of few countries in the world, and the first in majority Catholic Latin America, to guarantee the right to “voluntary termination of pregnancy” in its founding law.

– Almost a fifth undecided –

Many in Catholic-majority Chile, however, are against legalizing a procedure that was banned outright until 2017 and is allowed today only in cases of rape or a threat to the life of the woman or if the fetus is unviable.

“As Christians we are against… abortion,” Hernan Reyes, a 22-year-old student and opponent of the draft constitution, told AFP. 

A survey conducted by pollster Criteria showed Wednesday that 45 percent of respondents were against the new constitution, with only 36 percent in favor — though this percentage has been climbing.

Nineteen percent were undecided.

The political agreement that allowed the drafting of a new constitution in response to the protests, said that if rejected, the existing constitution would remain in place.

That understanding appears to have  been thrown in doubt by Boric himself, who said a rejection could trigger a brand-new drafting process.

The “anti” camp also object to the draft’s overt mention of different indigenous groups in the country, which they say undermines national unity.

“That they divide us into different nations, different laws which are not the same for everyone, seems to me aberrant”, voter Isabel Rodriguez, 42, told AFP.

On the pro-change side are many who welcome protections for the environment, women’s rights and guarantees for basic health care, education, water and housing for all.

Powerful Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, whose bloc won the most seats in Iraq’s elections last year, demanded Wednesday that parliament be dissolved and new elections be called.

Nearly 10 months on from the last elections, the country still has no government and no new prime minister or president after repeated squabbles between factions over forming a coalition.

In the latest political turmoil to strike the oil-rich but war-scarred country, Sadr called for a “revolutionary and peaceful process, then early democratic elections after a dissolution of parliament”.

“I am certain that the majority of the population is exasperated by the ruling class in its entirety, including some (politicians) belonging to my movement”, Sadr said.

His televised speech came as his supporters occupied parliament for a fifth consecutive day, in protest at a nomination for prime minister by a rival Shiite faction, the Iran-backed Coordination Framework.

Supporters of that rival faction have in recent days accused Sadr of attempting to launch a coup. 

“From now on there will be no more old-guard politicians, whatever their affiliation,” Sadr added. 

Sadr, who once led an anti-US militia and who has millions of devoted followers, noted that he also had “no interest” in negotiating with his rivals.

– ‘Risk of escalation’ –

Surrounding parliament, the cleric’s supporters have set up an encampment with tents and food stalls, and Sadr on Wednesday called on them to continue.

“The revolutionaries and protesters participating in the sit-in must stay and continue their camp until the demands are realised,” he said.

The Sadrist camp was outraged by the Coordination Framework faction last week nominating former minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as prime minister.

The Coordination Framework is a grouping that includes former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, a long-standing foe of Sadr, and the Hashed al-Shaabi, a former paramilitary network now integrated into the security forces.

Outgoing prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi has called for a “national dialogue” in a bid to bring all sides together to talk, and on Wednesday he spoke with President Barham Saleh.

Both men stressed the importance of “guaranteeing security and stability” in the country, according to the Iraqi News Agency.

Thousands of Coordination Framework supporters have held counter-protests in Baghdad against the occupation of parliament.

“Don’t believe the rumours that I don’t want dialogue,” Sadr said Wednesday. 

“But we have already tried and experienced dialogue with them,” he added. “It has brought nothing to us and to the nation — only ruin and corruption.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the United Nations mission in Iraq called on leaders to put their country first and end the long-running power struggle.

“Meaningful dialogue among all Iraqi parties is now more urgent than ever, as recent events have demonstrated the rapid risk of escalation in this tense political climate,” the UN mission warned.

“We appeal to all actors to commit, actively engage and agree on solutions without delay”, it added, warning that “leaders must prioritise (the) national interest”.

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