Just some food for thought.

[lilTommy]

... to help, it looks like Suriname and Guyana would be Red (since the ruling party includes the former dictator who in the 80s set up a socalist republic?... but i don't know much about Suriname, best guess here) but Guyana heads to the polls this month so that might change. Meaning only Columbia and Chile have Right & Centre-right governments

[Insula Dei]

Suriname now has a left-wing, populist President in Desi Bouterse (,though both of these terms are relative in the case of the former dictator).

2000 saw incompetent, undemocratically elected Jules Wijdenbosch being replaced by Ronald Venetiaan, who may be described as a centrist liberal.

Surinamian politics aren't really a left-right affair, though. The main breakline is between the incompetent populism of the Mega-Combinatie and the competence and democratic values of the NFDO.


(Also, I'm not a specialist on Surinamian elections, merely a somewhat interested outsider! I trust Freek for example could tell us a lot more about it.)

[Formerly Californian Tony]

Also, French Guyana should be red in 2000 and blue in 2011 (see France in the OP's map).

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

Anyway, as I said "You can't compare loser countries to real countries" which vanished for some reason without any noted moderator action noted in my log, so I will say what I mean using less colourful language.

You can not compare the "right/left" wingidness of a government in a country that is struggling in the middle of bottom of the "developing country" list, to that of a country that is "developed". Developed and Developing countries have very very different needs and trying to compare places like Guyana (on this map) to Luxembourg (on the previous map) is just plain silly.

[Sibboleth]

Oh, but this moderator doesn't generally bother with such bureaucratic geegaws.

[YL]

Fine Gael would have a contingent of the same sort, but might tend more towards country-club Republicanism, although there is a very economically right-wing and authoritarian element lurking in the youth wing and in parts of the backwoods (see here for a current example).

Is that character still in the party/has there been any move to throw him out?

[Leftbehind]

I know he's resigned from his role as mayor.

[ObserverIE]

He has resigned from the ceremonial post of Mayor but is still a town and county councillor and still a member of Fine Gael, who are probably hoping that people forget about the episode and move on.

[Jens]

Oh, but this moderator doesn't generally bother with such bureaucratic geegaws.

I know that it is completely off topic but this makes me smile

[JulioMadrid]

People saying rightist parties in Europe would be considered liberals in the USA don't know Esperanza Aguirre, Cospedal, Arias Cañete, Vidal Quadras, Mayor Oreja, AZNAR, Maria San Gil, Francisco Camps, Carlos Fabra, Alvarez Casco (formerly), Ana Botella, Valcárcel, Javier Arenas, Alicia Sánchez Camacho... There are many who would support David Duke I think (MayorOrejAguirre)

[Kuu ülevaade olulisematest]

People saying rightist parties in Europe would be considered liberals in the USA don't know Esperanza Aguirre, Cospedal, Arias Cañete, Vidal Quadras, Mayor Oreja, AZNAR, Maria San Gil, Francisco Camps, Carlos Fabra, Alvarez Casco (formerly), Ana Botella, Valcárcel, Javier Arenas, Alicia Sánchez Camacho... There are many who would support David Duke I think (MayorOrejAguirre)

David Duke is hardly representative of the American right, though.

[Tender Branson]

Next month, these 2 people will be the last remaining PM's from Social Democratic Parties:

[Keystone Phil]

People saying rightist parties in Europe would be considered liberals in the USA don't know Esperanza Aguirre, Cospedal, Arias Cañete, Vidal Quadras, Mayor Oreja, AZNAR, Maria San Gil, Francisco Camps, Carlos Fabra, Alvarez Casco (formerly), Ana Botella, Valcárcel, Javier Arenas, Alicia Sánchez Camacho... There are many who would support David Duke I think (MayorOrejAguirre)

Agreed. I try explaining that to Americans that think all of Europe is to our left. It can be a difficult task. Then again, as Xahar points out, sometimes we need to explain to Europeans that the European extreme Right wouldn't fit into the GOP.