Polls: Who are you voting for?

This is for my South African, American, British, and EU readers, and anyone with an interest in the politics of our countries which will shape the world.

The US, UK, EU and South African elections are among the most important this year.

I want us here to know more about us as a caring and worried collective of differing opinions. Your votes in the polls below are anonymous. There’s no wrong answer, and I’m not going to criticise. We’re not mad, the political system is!

Because this is about our community, and not one country, you’re encouraged to fill in polls for foreign regions if you know about their politics.

I’m keeping all the polls simple except for the first regarding my country. Here, there are many hells to choose from. This is a crazy year that’s far from unipolar/bipolar Western politics. It’ll probably become more insane.

If uninterested in my South African monologue, jump to the other polls further down.

Note that it may take a few seconds to show your vote after you click.

SOUTH AFRICA - 29 May

Instead of choosing the party you’re voting for, I want you to tell me what you think is the most likely election result?

The poll app limited me to 5 options so let me add further thought...

The ANC could stem its losses by bringing ex-members back into the fold (so watch for defections). The ANC could do better than expected, and then ‘buy’ a coalition of micro parties no one’s talking about, or barter with the IFP. The ANC and IFP are opposition, have been since Western powers ensured the ANC took over in 1994, but are the least traumatic fit. The IFP would consider it if MK eats too much of their Zulu share. It would be a trade for ANC national power and more IFP provincial power.

However, if the ANC drops a lot, then the game for who offers the most will be afoot, and it’ll be a fight to retain or remove President Cyril Ramaphosa. I cynically believe that Big Money will do everything it can to keep Ramaphosa alive as it would be more properly defined as socialist without him.

The more radical EFF has historically played a role as kingmaker in municipalities, cleverly ensuring that they’re less of a target for the Public’s wrath when water and electricity dies. They could do that again, without an official alliance. They could give the ANC the Presidency (not Ramaphosa) in return for ministerial posts and provincial powers. MK could do the same, or work with the EFF.

[Correction: I can’t change it now, as people are voting, but “MK & EFF or MK & PA play kingmakers” was meant to read as “MK & EFF or EFF & PA play kingmakers.”, in line with what I said below]

If the PA does well, they could unite with the EFF, either as kingmaker or to take control of local governments. Yes, they’re marketed as opposites but their leaders, Julius Malema and Gayton MacKenzie, have proven to be extremely adaptable. The War on Palestine will end, and then the only main disagreement would be the immigrant issue. Both want a State bank, and land for disadvantaged people.

If the DA and ANC, ‘liberals’ vs ‘communists’, unite, then ideology marketing would finally be dead, and big money would’ve kept control of our country. The DA would battle to not be swallowed by the ANC by the time the 2029 national election arrives. Additionally, the ANC would bleed politicians to the EFF and MK, and create an interesting scenario and lots of assassinations when municipal elections come round.

The ANC, MK and EFF could unite back into one party and sell itself as the New Revolution, no matter how true or false that is. That would mean President Ramaphosa given the boot, and the ANC split into two new and more honest factions - Ramaphosa’s folk heading to the DA (with or without Ramaphosa if he retires), and the rest towards MK (especially if Zuma remains a healthy octogenarian).

It’s possible that one outcome in the province/state of KwaZulu-Natal could become the first step towards Zululand secession.

My personal hope is that the DA declines so that Helen Zille’s faction is punished, and new blood can flow without Granny using it as lipstick.

No matter what I think, South Africa is in for a rough ride.

EU - 6 June

USA - 5 November

The top 3 options feels like a Uniparty vote but that’s not an option at the ballot box.

UNITED KINGDOM - 2024 or 2025

There could be a snap election, or the Tories could hold onto their salaries until 28 January 2025.

MY TRANSPARENCY

I’ve had intimate encounters with the DA’s corruption, and none of the famous parties tackled that evidence which makes me believe they were (or are still) in league with the same funders, and merely competing for managerial positions in Parliament.

The last time I voted, I protest videoed myself throwing pieces of paper with the parties names into a box, and then blindly choosing i.e., same shit, different government.

This time, I will not vote. But, for my overseas fantasy votes, I choose:

• USA: Trump - he’s a criminal, conman capitalist, guaranteed liar, and the opposite of his freedom marketing BUT his election will cause chaos and hopefully further damage the American imperialism project which kills so many globally. That said, I’d consider Biden and Trump having strokes, heart attacks, being jailed, being savagely bitten by pet dogs, or hit in the head (and into a coma) by a golf ball as consolation victories for the majority (whether they’re sane or not). A photo of the ‘power couple’ in bed together would be perfect.

• UK: Worker’s Party - The Labour Party, without Jeremy Corbyn, is just another version of the Tories. I’d make my token vote for the working class (and George Galloway).

• EU: Conservative - Once I would have called myself a ‘liberal’ but the DA killed that word for me. Then America went nuts and destroyed that description for the Western world. I’m also not a ‘conservative’, because, for example, taking away human rights from women and gays is abhorrent. But the Liberal wing’s eradication of people’s culture (that has taken millennia to build) is devolution resulting in societal instability. Furthermore, the Liberal wing has become illiberally war-thirsty. I choose the Conservative side as pushback, especially against the proxy war in Ukraine.