Sober verdicts: election results from Australia, Singapore
The re-election of the centre-left Labor party in the Australian general election on Saturday is a shot in the arm for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who became the first Australian leader to win a second term in more than two decades. The centre-right Liberal-National coalition was trounced, with Labor winning 87 of the 151 seats in the Australian parliament's lower house, against its previously razor-thin edge of 77 seats. Welcoming Mr. Albanese's win, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him for an 'emphatic mandate' and a commitment to take India-Australia bilateral ties and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific forward. Both countries signed an 'early-harvest' partial FTA (ECTA) in 2022, and have agreed to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) by the end of this year. India will host the Quad summit later this year, and Mr. Albanese is expected to discuss closer cooperation on trade, resilient supply chains, and critical mineral and technology partnerships. The geopolitical changes wrought by China and the U.S. signal the need for Indo-Pacific region countries to diversify their economic interests and shore up each other's strategic needs.
His re-election comes despite a rocky three-year term since 2022, as he faced low ratings on issues such as the economy, inflation and immigration; a recent poll said he would either lose or face a hung parliament. Given the timing of the turnaround, just after U.S. President Donald Trump took office, his win is seen as mirroring the results in Canada, where a dark horse centre-left Liberal party candidate, Mark Carney, won. As with the Conservative leadership in Canada, the Australian opposition's 'Liberal' candidate Peter Dutton was seen as a Trump policy admirer, and had taken a tough 'anti-woke' stance, pillorying Mr. Albanese for allowing too many immigrants into the country, and vowing to stand with Israel on Gaza. However, as Mr. Trump unleashed a barrage of measures including tariffs on countries, his policies also appear to have had a negative impact on Mr. Dutton's chances. Despite being a staunch U.S. ally, Mr. Albanese's relatively tough stand against the tariffs was seen favourably by voters — much as Mr. Carney's tough stand against the U.S.'s tariffs and threats won him votes. Another election result this weekend, in Singapore, saw a win, albeit quite expected, for Lawrence Wong, whose party won its 14th term. Mr. Wong too made Mr. Trump's policies a rallying cry during his campaign, even suggesting that countries would simply 'stop exporting to USA' if the tariffs were not taken down. In each of the wins, voters chose sober candidates seen as more rational at the wheel, and not those seen as tough leaders with strong rhetoric. This is a trend among America's closest allies, and Mr. Trump will have to pay heed to sane voices from outside his circle of advisers.
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