Economic worries overshadow the Australian election

Australians go to the polls on May 21 to elect a new government and prime minister, following a six-week campaign revolving around inflation, climate change and worries China might set up. military outpost less than 2,000 kilometers off the coast of Australia. According to the news agency Reutersnearly 6 million of the 17 million voters cast their ballots by mail or by going to the polls early.

Entering this Australian election, the two main opponents are the ruling Liberal-National coalition seeking a fourth consecutive term and the Labor Party looking to return to power after nine years in the opposite position. create. Opinion polls show Labor leading but the gap narrows in the final weeks of the campaign.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right) and opposition leader Anthony Albanese at a debate in Sydney on May 8. Photo: Reuters

Any party that wins at least 76 of the 151 seats in the lower house will have the right to form a government. The leader of the ruling party or coalition will become Australia’s next prime minister.

If this scenario does not happen, the major parties will have to negotiate and ally with smaller parties or seek the support of independents to secure the necessary seats.

Incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the ruling Liberal-National coalition aims to continue leading the country for another three-year term after successfully containing the spread of Covid-19 in the first year of the outbreak. . Mr Morrison’s leading opponent is Labor leader Anthony Albanese.

Analysts say the winner of this tight race will face a host of hot issues such as an escalating cost of living and rising borrowing costs after the country raised interest rates for the first time in more than a decade. .

Mr. Zareh Ghazarian, an expert at Monash University (Australia), emphasized that the new government will have to find solutions to economic problems, such as inflation, pressure on the cost of living… as well as impacts. negative from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Inflation in Australia in April 2022 hit a 20-year high, with the consumer price index up 5.1% year-on-year. Escalating inflation prompted the Reserve Bank of Australia to raise interest rates to higher-than-expected levels.

In addition, the new government faces the challenge of deteriorating relations with China since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rising tensions led to China sanctioning a range of Australian products. Mr. Stewart Jackson, an expert at the University of Sydney (Australia), said that this confrontation is not a positive development because the country’s economy will suffer more damage if Beijing increasingly turns away from Australian products. .

It is no wonder that, according to Mr Ghazarian, Labor’s campaign has focused on criticizing Mr Morrison’s government for what it sees as “mismanagement of the economy”.

The opposition also argues that Australia’s foreign policy has suffered a terrible setback in the Pacific after China and the Solomon Islands recently confirmed the completion of a bilateral security treaty.