Latest news with #politicalbacklash
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Why Gen-Z is voting differently and what it means for global politics
South Korea's young women are expected to lead a broad political backlash against the main conservative party during the presidential elections on June 3, punishing it for months of chaos. Multitudes of young men, though, are unlikely to join them. In democracies worldwide, a political gender divide is intensifying among Gen Z voters, with young men voting for right-wing parties and young women leaning left, a break from pre-pandemic years when both tended to vote for progressives. Recent elections spanning North America, Europe, and Asia show this trend is either consolidating or accelerating, with angry, frustrated men in their 20s breaking to the right. First-time South Korean voter Lee Jeong-min is one of them. He says he will vote for the right-wing Reform Party's candidate, Lee Jun-seok, on June 3. The candidate vows to shut down the ministry of gender equality, speaking to an issue that resonates with men like Lee, who particularly resents that only men have to do military service. 'As a young man, I find this to be one of the most unfair realities of living in Korea. At the prime of their youth — at 21 or 22 years old — young men, unlike their female peers, are unable to fully engage in various activities in society because they have to serve 18 months in the military.' In South Korea, almost 30 per cent of men aged 18-29 plan to back the Reform Party compared with just 3 per cent of young women, according to a Gallup Korea poll this month. Overall, more than half of the men back right-wing parties while almost half the women want the left-wing Democratic Party candidate to win. The divergence shrinks for older age groups. Political economist Soohyun Lee, of King's College London, said many young South Korean men felt unable to meet society's expectations: find a good job, get married, buy a home, and start a family. And they blame feminism, many believing that women are preferred for jobs. With negligible immigration in South Korea, Lee said, 'women become the convenient scapegoat'. ANGRY YOUNG MEN In South Korea and other democracies, Gen Z men are seeing an erosion of their relative advantage, especially since the pandemic — to the point where in a few countries the gender pay gap among 20-somethings favours young women. European Union (EU) data shows one of them is France, where men aged 18-34 voted in larger numbers for Marine le Pen's far-right party than women in last year's legislative elections. In the UK, where more young men than women vote conservative, males aged 16-24 are more likely to be neither employed nor in education than their female counterparts, official data shows. In the West, young men blame immigration as well as diversity programmes for job competition. In Germany's general election in February, the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a record 20.8 per cent of the vote, tugged along by an undercurrent of support from young men — though the leader of the party is a woman. Men aged 18-24 voted 27 per cent for the AfD while young women ran to the other end of the political spectrum, voting 35 per cent for the far-left Linke party, according to official voting data. 'A lot of young men are falling for right-wing propaganda because they're upset, they have the feeling they're losing power,' said 18-year-old Molly Lynch, a Berliner who voted for Linke, drawn by its stand on climate change and economic inequality. 'But, it's actually losing power over women that wasn't actually equal in the first place.' The gender divide is not restricted to Gen Z, voters born since the mid-to-late 1990s. Millennials, who are in their 30s and early 40s, have felt the winds of change for longer. In Canada last month, men aged 35-54 voted 50 per cent for opposition conservatives in an election turned upside down by US President Donald Trump's tariffs on his northern neighbour. The Liberals, who had been braced for defeat, rode an anti-Trump wave back to power, thanks in large part to women voters. 'It tends to be men who have a bit more life experience and are now in that situation where they're saying, 'This isn't working out for me and I want change',' said Darrell Bricker, global chief executive of public affairs at polling firm Ipsos. Nik Nanos, founder of Canadian polling outfit Nanos Research, agreed, saying social media was accelerating democracy's 'angry young men symptom', especially in areas where blue collar jobs have dried up. A FOREVER WAR? Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, which promised a manufacturing renaissance and attacked diversity programmes, also resonated with young white and Hispanic men, but turned off young women, fuelling the country's big political gender gap. Roughly half of men aged 18-29 voted for Trump, while 61 per cent of young women went for his opponent, Kamala Harris. Young Black voters of both genders still overwhelmingly backed Harris. In Australia, which went to the polls this month, the Gen Z war did not play out at the ballot box. There was no clear divergence, with compulsory voting perhaps helping to explain why radicalised gender politics have not taken root. 'It tends to iron out extreme ideas, ideologies,' said political scientist Intifar Chowdury of Australian National University. So how does the Gen Z war end? Pollsters said it could drag on unless governments addressed core issues such as home affordability and precarious employment. One cited young men's health as another policy challenge, especially high suicide rates. Lee, of King's College, said the divide could make consensus on over-arching tax and welfare reforms harder to achieve. 'If the future generation is ever so divided along the lines of gender and then refuses to engage with each other to build social consensus, I do not think we can successfully tackle these huge issues,' she said. — Reuters
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
How a Gen Z gender divide is reshaping democracy
South Korea's young women are expected to lead a broad political backlash against the main conservative party during the presidential election on June 3, punishing it for months of chaos. Multitudes of young men, though, are unlikely to join them. In democracies worldwide, a political gender divide is intensifying among Generation Z voters, with young men voting for right-leaning parties and young women leaning left, a break from prepandemic years when both tended to vote for progressives. Recent elections spanning North America, Europe and Asia show this trend is either consolidating or accelerating, with angry, frustrated men in their 20s breaking to the right. First-time South Korean voter Lee Jeong-min is one of them. He says he will vote for the right-leaning Reform Party's candidate, Lee Jun-seok, on June 3. Lee, the candidate, vows to shut down the ministry of gender equality, speaking to an issue that resonates with men like Lee, the voter, who particularly resents that only men have to do military service. "As a young man, I find this to be one of the most unfair realities of living in Korea. At the prime of their youth — at 21 or 22 years old — young men, unlike their female peers, are unable to fully engage in various activities in society because they have to serve 18 months in the military." In South Korea, almost 30% of men age 18 to 29 plan to back the Reform Party compared with just 3% of young women, according to a Gallup Korea poll this month. Overall, more than half of the men back right-leaning parties while almost half the women want the left-leaning Democratic Party candidate to win. The divergence shrinks for older age groups. Political economist Soohyun Lee, of King's College London, said many young South Korean men felt unable to meet society's expectations: find a good job, get married, buy a home and start a family. And they blame feminism, many believing that women are preferred for jobs. With negligible immigration in South Korea, Lee said, "women become the convenient scapegoat." Angry young men In South Korea and other democracies, Gen Z men are seeing an erosion of their relative advantage, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic — to the point where in a few countries, the gender pay gap among 20-somethings favors young women. EU data shows one of them is France, where men age 18 to 34 voted in larger numbers for Marine le Pen's far-right party than women in last year's legislative elections. A carnival float depicting an exchange between Gen Z and baby boomers, is presented ahead of the traditional Rose Monday Carnival parade in Cologne, Germany, on Feb. 25. | REUTERS In the U.K., where more young men than women vote conservative, males age 16 to 24 are more likely to be neither employed, nor in education than female counterparts, official data shows. In the West, young men blame immigration as well as diversity programs for competition for jobs. In Germany's general election in February, the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a record 20.8% of the vote, tugged along by an undercurrent of support from young men — though the leader of the party is a woman. Men age 18 to 24 voted 27% for the AfD while young women ran to the other end of the political spectrum, voting 35% for the far-left Linke party, according to official voting data. "A lot of young men are falling for rightwing propaganda because they're upset, they have the feeling they're losing power," said Molly Lynch, 18, a Berliner who voted for Linke, drawn by its stand on climate change and economic inequality. "But it's actually losing power over women that wasn't actually equal in the first place." The gender divide is not restricted to Gen Z, or voters born since the mid-to-late 1990s. Millennials, who are in their 30s and early 40s, have felt the winds of change for longer. In Canada last month, men age 35 to 54 voted 50% for opposition conservatives in an election turned upside down by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on his northern neighbor. The Liberals, which had been braced for defeat, rode an anti-Trump wave back to power, thanks in large part to female voters. "It tends to be men who have a bit more life experience and are now in that situation where they're saying, 'This isn't working out for me, and I want change,'" said Darrell Bricker, global chief executive of public affairs at polling firm Ipsos. Nik Nanos, founder of Canadian polling outfit Nanos Research, agreed, saying social media was accelerating democracy's "angry young men symptom," especially in areas where blue collar jobs have dried up. A forever war? Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, which promised a manufacturing renaissance and attacked diversity programs, also resonated with young white and Hispanic men, but turned off young women, fueling the country's big political gender gap. Roughly half of men age 18 to 29 voted for Trump, while 61% of young women went for his opponent, Kamala Harris. Young Black voters of both genders still overwhelmingly backed Harris. In Australia, which went to the polls this month, the Gen Z war did not play out at the ballot box. There was no clear divergence, with compulsory voting perhaps helping to explain why radicalized gender politics have not taken root. "It tends to iron out extreme ideas, ideologies," said political scientist Intifar Chowdury of Australian National University. So how does the Gen Z war end? Pollsters said it could drag on unless governments addressed core issues such as home affordability and precarious employment. One cited young men's health as another policy challenge, especially high suicide rates. Lee, of King's College, said the divide could make consensus on over-arching tax and welfare reforms harder to achieve. "If the future generation is ever so divided along the lines of gender and then refuses to engage with each other to build social consensus, I do not think we can successfully tackle these huge issues," she said.
Bloomberg
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Swedish Ministers Face Pressure Over Undeclared Shareholdings
Sweden's government faces a political backlash after several ministers were found to own stock in sectors they decide on, further tarnishing the Nordic image of low corruption after a similar scandal in neighboring Norway. The involved ministers have had formal complains lodged against them in the parliament's powerful Committee on the Constitution and may potentially face a vote of no confidence by lawmakers. All have denied willful wrongdoing.
Times
17-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Chagos deal has been paused, but it should be abandoned
The UK government's agreement to grant Mauritius sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory, commonly known as the Chagos Islands, is 'ready to be signed' but has been put on hold. The problem is not a last minute crisis of confidence in the wisdom of the deal, justified as that would be. Nor is it blocked by the US on security grounds, which would also be understandable. No, the delay is because of ministerial fears that if the details of the Chagos financial settlement were published, it could lead to a 'toxic' political backlash just as Labour MPs are being asked to vote on reforms due to cut £5 billion from the UK welfare bill. If Labour MPs did find such a juxtaposition infuriating, they
Al Bawaba
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
Former FBI director under fire as '86/47' post sparks Trump threat investigation
ALBAWABA - Washington, D.C. Former FBI Director James Comey's ostensibly cryptic Instagram post has sparked a political backlash, with detractors accusing him of subtly encouraging violence against US President Donald Trump. A picture of seashells organized to show the numerals 86 and 47 was included in the post, which raised questions regarding its purpose and significance. The number 47 is generally linked to Trump, the 47th President of the United States, while 86 is frequently used in American slang to indicate "eliminate" or "get rid of," according to Kieran Southern, The Times' U.S. reporter. Comey claims he was not aware of any violent connotations in the picture and that it was meant as a "political message" before removing it soon after becoming live. Many, particularly in conservative circles, who saw the appointment as a covert threat, were not persuaded by his explanation, however. The fact that Trump fired Comey as FBI Director in 2017 is another factor fueling the dispute. Comey has taken down his '8647' post, after the White House and FBI said they are taking the threat seriously. Comey should be arrested as per 18 U.S.C. § 871, 'Threats against President and successors to the Presidency'. Five years in prison. Jail his ass. May 15, 2025 One of the first people to openly react was Donald Trump Jr., who claimed on X (now Twitter) that the message was "a call to kill my father." The photograph is being seen as a significant threat, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who also confirmed that the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security had opened investigations. Sign of Protest or Danger? The study points out that the "47-86" phrase has gained popularity online as a nonviolent protest against Trump, even while the reaction persists. The term is often promoted as political satire or dissent on T-shirts and stickers that are offered for sale on websites such as Amazon and Etsy. However, The Times notes that given prior assassination attempts during Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, such explanations are unlikely to allay the fears of Trump followers. A few months into Trump's second term, the event has further exacerbated the already divisive political environment.
