# What Foreign Political Parties Would You Support? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 18, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384 "2012-11-18T08:15:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/1 "2012-11-18T08:15:24Z")
As an American and a moderate conservative/conservative liberal… USA-Republican (but would have supported Obama this year) Canada-Conservative Mexico-PAN Brazil-Democrats Chile-National Renewal Party Argentina-Radical Civic Union or Republican Proposal UK-Conservative UK (Ulster)-Democratic Unionist (reluctantly) Ireland-Fianna Fail France-UMP Germany-CDU Netherlands-CDA or VVD (probably agree with CDA more except for marijuana legalization but would support VVD for tactical reasons) Belgium (Flanders)-CDV Belgium (Walloonia)-cdH Italy-PdL Sweden-Moderate Party Austria-OVP Switzerland-FDP Greece-New Democrats Turkey-CHP (Opposed to Erdogan’s extremely Islamist and anti-Israeli tendencies even if he seems to have good ideas regarding the economy) India-INC (Opposed to BJP’s Hindu nationalism) Japan-LDP Australia-Liberal-National New Zealand-National South Africa-Democratic Alliance ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/2 "2012-11-19T10:06:38Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > India-INC (Opposed to BJP’s Hindu nationalism) Btw it is believed by many that educated and politically aware people tend to vote more for BJP. If you accuse BJP of Hindu nationalism, INC could be accused of pseudo-secularism and minority(muslim) appeasement for votes. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/3 "2012-11-19T10:47:17Z")
I see it’s time yet again for Curtis’ [Annual Listing](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=582999) of Conservative parties of the world. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/4 "2012-11-19T11:01:19Z")
just glad to hear you stopped surporting the Dutch PVV If you want to do a test to help you pick a party in Holland try this link… > **[StemWijzer](https://home.stemwijzer.nl/)** > > Doe de StemWijzer Europees Parlementsverkiezings 2024! > [@](#): > > Votematch > > StemWijzer (Vote Match) tests your political preference by reference to propositions and statements from the election manifestos of the political parties contesting the elections to the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament on September 12 2012. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/5 "2012-11-19T11:23:01Z")
> [@blue\_infinity](#): > > I see it’s time yet again for Curtis’ [Annual Listing](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=582999) of Conservative parties of the world. Thought it seemed familiar. But: Argentina-Radical Civic Union - left Turkey-CHP - left, although he qualifies his answer as reluctance South Africa-Democratic Alliance - left, I think? Ireland-Fianna Fail - center right, but I think generally left of Fine Gael. Party of corruption, as of late For me: UK (Ulster)-Democratic Unionist - anyone but them Theoretically, liberal parties (in the European sense). But, I also agree with many libertarian ideas, but wouldn’t vote for many of their people due to wackiness. So I’m not sure what I’d do for many of these, it would have to be case-by-case. ---
**Author:** ![Cestrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Cestrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cestrian)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/6 "2012-11-19T11:50:36Z")
One country’s “left” is another country’s “right”. Case in point is Turkey’s CHP. This is left of the MHP (the other opposition party in the Turkish parliament), but really the CHP is a paternalistic right wing party. The party in power is the AKP, an Islamist party which does not fit into either left or right (or fits into both). ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/7 "2012-11-19T14:30:19Z")
> [@blue\_infinity](#): > > I see it’s time yet again for Curtis’ [Annual Listing](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=582999) of Conservative parties of the world. Awesome. In that other thread he said “Sweden Democrats”, who are currently imploding after one of their top guys was outed as a massive racist, being caught on camera (bizarrely by someone in his own party two and a half years ago and just released by … someone) using racist language and getting violent towards one of those foreign types. And to top it off when a (white, Swedish) woman told him that him and his mates shouldn’t be ganging up on one person he called her a “little whore”. And this would have been happening at exactly the time that Curtis would have been supporting them and saying things like “Again they aren’t fanatical right-wingers contrary to what some may think”. You certainly know how to pick 'em, Curtis. A bit of English background to it: [http://www.thelocal.se/44440/20121115/](http://www.thelocal.se/44440/20121115/) ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/8 "2012-11-19T19:27:06Z")
> [@truthSeeker2](#): > > Btw it is believed by many that educated and politically aware people tend to vote more for BJP. If you accuse BJP of Hindu nationalism, INC could be accused of pseudo-secularism and minority(muslim) appeasement for votes. Just curious but how could they be argued to be “appeasing” Muslims-INC PMs have maintained India’s rivalry with Pakistan and kept troops in Kashmir? > [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > just glad to hear you stopped surporting the Dutch PVV > If you want to do a test to help you pick a party in Holland try this link… > > [StemWijzer](http://www.stemwijzer.nl/VM2012/index.html) Well I’ve been shifting (from an European perspective) from an anti-EU, nationalist position to a pro-EU one. I’ve actually taken that test and gotten VVD, (largely by emphasizing economic issues and because they didn’t have any abortion-related question I think). > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Thought it seemed familiar. But: > > Argentina-Radical Civic Union - left > Turkey-CHP - left, although he qualifies his answer as reluctance > South Africa-Democratic Alliance - left, I think? Mostly because they’re the only viable opposition to Peronists, Islamists, and the ANC. I think DA’s socially liberal sort of like America’s Democrats BTW. For me: UK (Ulster)-Democratic Unionist - anyone but them Theoretically, liberal parties (in the European sense). But, I also agree with many libertarian ideas, but wouldn’t vote for many of their people due to wackiness. So I’m not sure what I’d do for many of these, it would have to be case-by-case. [/QUOTE] > [@amanset](#): > > Awesome. In that other thread he said “Sweden Democrats”, who are currently imploding after one of their top guys was outed as a massive racist, being caught on camera (bizarrely by someone in his own party two and a half years ago and just released by … someone) using racist language and getting violent towards one of those foreign types. And to top it off when a (white, Swedish) woman told him that him and his mates shouldn’t be ganging up on one person he called her a “little whore”. > > And this would have been happening at exactly the time that Curtis would have been supporting them and saying things like “Again they aren’t fanatical right-wingers contrary to what some may think”. > > You certainly know how to pick 'em, Curtis. > > A bit of English background to it: > [http://www.thelocal.se/44440/20121115/](http://www.thelocal.se/44440/20121115/) I apologize for not knowing about this information and reject any sentiment of support I may have had for them. I was at the time (as noted above) more Euroskeptical than I’m now and thought they were not racist considering according to Wikipedia they had a number of Iraqi Christians as candidates. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/9 "2012-11-19T19:38:59Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I’ve actually taken that test and gotten VVD Ouch. My condolences. You’re probably too young to be having sex, but at least use protection! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/10 "2012-11-20T08:22:42Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I apologize for not knowing about this information and reject any sentiment of support I may have had for them. I was at the time (as noted above) more Euroskeptical than I’m now and thought they were not racist considering according to Wikipedia they had a number of Iraqi Christians as candidates. Fair enough but … You can be racist and still accept certain ethnic groups. If I was to act anti-Semitic, that’d be racist. It wouldn’t matter how many friends of non-white ethnic groups I have, I’d still be a racist. Just a little bit more specific about where my racism lies. The Iraqi Christians thing was more about getting someone that is anti-Islam than them being Christian and/or foreign. Anyone but the Muslims. IIRC that was in Södertälje, a city just south of Stockholm that at one point during the Iraq war [had taken in more Iraqi refugees than the US and Canada combined](http://www.thelocal.se/11040/20080411/). There was a lot of bad feeling here about it being someone else’s war which we had to deal with the fallout from - and that extended in the minds of the racists as “the Foreign types taking over”. Also many seemed to hear “Iraqi” and think “Muslim”, not realising that the majority were Christian. ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/11 "2012-11-20T12:09:17Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Just curious but how could they be argued to be “appeasing” Muslims-INC PMs have maintained India’s rivalry with Pakistan and kept troops in Kashmir? Pakistan is [hated](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/160410bbcwspoll.pdf)even by Islamic states. And in India, its hated with passion by everyone. By appeasement I meant - reservations\quotas for Muslims, which was quashed by courts. Marriage laws are different for Muslims and for everyone else. A Muslim man, at any point, can have as many wives as he wants and be divorced just by saying ‘divorce’ 3 times. allowing illegal bangladeshi immigrants to flood into Assam who serve as vote banks, and that has changed entire demographics of tht state. There are many other significant examples of appeasement. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/12 "2012-11-20T12:35:57Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Just curious but how could they be argued to be “appeasing” Muslims-INC PMs have maintained India’s rivalry with Pakistan and kept troops in Kashmir? Just curious but why are you choosing up political sides when you don’t understand the basic political circumstances of these countries? AGAIN? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/13 "2012-11-20T13:42:15Z")
> [@Cestrian](#): > > One country’s “left” is another country’s “right”. And our beards have all grown longer overnight. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/14 "2012-11-22T08:08:14Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Just curious but why are you choosing up political sides when you don’t understand the basic political circumstances of these countries? AGAIN? Qin is a “Republican,” right? In fairness to him, it seems safe to assume that anyone siding with the American Republicans would take the most repressive right-wing side in any other debate, wishing it were even more so. As a centrist, I find it quite easy to choose the most “leftish” of America’s two big right-wing parties. I know almost nothing about any other countries’ politics but wonder if I’d side with the more “rightish” major party in some of Europe’s more socialistic countries. In Thailand the choice among political parties is easy: The one known in English as the Democrat Party is the least corrupt. … But, since the most competent governments have been those installed after a coup by military junta, I generally root for the Army. A big protest in Bangkok is coming up this weekend, but I’m afraid rumors of an impending military coup are just wishful thinking… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/15 "2012-11-22T13:59:09Z")
> [@](#): > > What Foreign Political Parties Would You Support? None. They are not from my country, I am not from theirs, and neither would be thanked for meddling. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/16 "2012-11-23T17:33:17Z")
I’d support Canada’s New Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/17 "2012-11-23T19:58:53Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Argentina-Radical Civic Union - left > Turkey-CHP - left, although he qualifies his answer as reluctance > South Africa-Democratic Alliance - left, I think? > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Mostly because they’re the only viable opposition to Peronists, Islamists, and the ANC. I think DA’s socially liberal sort of like America’s Democrats BTW. The DA is sort of namby-pamby on social issues, trying to adopt a “big tent” approach so as not to antagonize either its traditional progressive constituency (once upon a time it was the Progressive Party) or the more conservative voters it has picked up from the collapse of the National Party. For an example, see [this page on its website,](http://www.da.org.za/faq.htm?action=view-page&category=6615) which tries to equivocate about gay rights, abortion and the death penalty. It’s somewhat disingenuous of the party, though, because all of those issues are fully settled by the Constitution - there’s really no point in arguing about them. The DA is center-right in a South African context, though it would certainly be seen as left-wing compared to American politics. While to some extent classically liberal in its attitude towards the economy and business, the party also supports some things that would be considered ridiculously socialist in the US: notably a monthy “basic income grant” to be paid to all people who are earning less than a certain level, a universal state old age pension, and public-funded healthcare. If you were looking for a South African party that lines up with the Republicans in the US, it would be the [African Christian Democratic Party](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Christian_Democratic_Party). Although, lately they’ve backed off a little on social issues and tried to focus on corruption and inefficiency. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/18 "2012-11-23T23:32:48Z")
> [@ctnguy](#): > > The DA is sort of namby-pamby on social issues, trying to adopt a “big tent” approach so as not to antagonize either its traditional progressive constituency (once upon a time it was the Progressive Party) or the more conservative voters it has picked up from the collapse of the National Party. For an example, see [this page on its website,](http://www.da.org.za/faq.htm?action=view-page&category=6615) which tries to equivocate about gay rights, abortion and the death penalty. It’s somewhat disingenuous of the party, though, because all of those issues are fully settled by the Constitution - there’s really no point in arguing about them. > > The DA is center-right in a South African context, though it would certainly be seen as left-wing compared to American politics. While to some extent classically liberal in its attitude towards the economy and business, the party also supports some things that would be considered ridiculously socialist in the US: notably a monthy “basic income grant” to be paid to all people who are earning less than a certain level, a universal state old age pension, and public-funded healthcare. > > If you were looking for a South African party that lines up with the Republicans in the US, it would be the [African Christian Democratic Party](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Christian_Democratic_Party). Although, lately they’ve backed off a little on social issues and tried to focus on corruption and inefficiency. So, what are the ANC’s policies in all those areas? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/19 "2012-11-27T16:46:11Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > just glad to hear you stopped surporting the Dutch PVV > If you want to do a test to help you pick a party in Holland try this link… > > [StemWijzer](http://www.stemwijzer.nl/VM2012/index.html) Apparently I’d vote for the Tomato Party… please tell me they’re less in love with the US Republican Party and with the banks and with pork barrel policies than the Spanish Socialist Party… pretty please… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384/20 "2012-11-27T17:58:59Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > India-INC (Opposed to BJP’s Hindu nationalism) The BJP is (mostly) pretty moderate, really. Certainly it’s no more extremist than the US Republican Party, which I understand you are generally an enthusiastic supporter of. Some of its coalition partners, like Shiv Sena, are hardcore sectarian nutjobs, but that’s basically just a feature of India’s parliamentary system. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foreign-political-parties-would-you-support/641384.md?page=2)