So what do you know about Australia? Kangaroos. Vegemite. Koala
bears. Elle Macpherson. Crocodile Dundee. Foster's beer or Nicole
Kidman? The land from Down Under has always been a very close ally
of the United States during a crisis.
Well, while most of us slept on the night on Friday, October 8,
after digesting the riveting second presidential debate between the
incumbent George W. Bush and John Kerry, Australia went to the polls
to elect a new government.
While the election there hardly raised a ripple in the media here as
the electorate is polarized by the war in Iraq, terrorism and the
economy. The election was closely watched by the Bush Administration
because it could be a good indication how he will perform against
Kerry on November 2. The link is Iraq.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who leads the Liberal Party,
acknowledged as the conservatives, has fully backed President Bush
in Iraq and also sent troops there to topple Saddam Hussein. And
the White House eagerly wanted to know whether the Howard-led
conservatives would be reelected. Before the election President Bush
sent Howard a message wishing him the best before the country voted.
Howard's party was reelected and delivered a stunning loss to the
center left Labor Party led by Mark Latham. Bush, locked in a horse
race with Kerry, must be buoyed by the result with the US election
less than a month away. The White House's interest in the Australian
election was highlighted that a long time and loyal ally had not
flinched over Iraq. The Australian government backed Bush in Iraq by
sending combat troops at the start of the war and endorsed his views
that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. But as this
theory weakened over the past few months, Howard still stood firmly
behind the US while Latham, his opponent, was a staunch critic of
the conflict in Iraq.
In Australia, according to reports, analysts warned that the
election may not have been decided by the events in Iraq, but by the
rapidly improving economy. Nonetheless, the White House will
see this as a positive result for Bush. The US economy is also
improving, albeit not as robust as the administration would like,
but the President has repeatedly said it will get stronger after
coming out of a recession, the corporate scandals and the 9/11
terrorist attacks. Australia, according to reports, now has less
than 200 troops in Iraq, primarily as security for its Embassy.
For the politically minded, Australians do not vote for their Prime
Minister. Instead they vote for their preferred party and the one
with the most seats in the House of Representatives forms a
government. The party's cabinet members then vote for the Prime
Minister. It is safe to assume that Howard, who also had to win his
seat in Sydney, will not be challenged when his cabinet meets to
elect a new leader. For Bush the Australian election result was a
timely result.
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