In the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the Greens increased their share of the vote to 15.4% (triple their share in the last state election). The Social Democrats finished with 35.7% of the vote and the Christian Democrats had 35.2%. That puts the Social Democrats in control of that state, but they will need to share power with the Greens.
But the biggest upset was in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The Christian Democrats had ruled that state since 1953 (nearly 60 years), but they will now have to give up power there. The Christian Democrats got 39% of the vote and their natural allies, the Free Democrats, got about 5.3% -- giving them a combined total of 44.3%. Meanwhile the Greens set a new record with 24.2% of the vote, while their natural allies, the Social Democrats got about 23.1% of the vote.
It is likely the Greens will form a coalition government with the Social Democrats (marking the first time the Greens will form a state government in Germany -- even though it is a coalition government and power will be shared with the Social Dems).
The real importance of this election is the Christian Democrats losing control of a state they had controlled for over half a century -- a state they counted on as a power base. This could mean that the Christian Democrats might be in trouble in the next national election.
Your post is a good summary of the current political climate in Germany. I subscribe to two daily podcasts of the news from Germany (one 15-minute summary and a half-hour in depth coverage, sort of like ABC News Nightline), so I thought I'd add a few more details.
ReplyDeleteIn Baden-Wuerttemburg, the Christian-Democrat (conservative) governor Mappus had already been hurt by something called "Stuttgart 21," a billion Euro boondoggle to convert the main train station from a stub stattion (where trains have to pull in and then back out) to an underground "through" station. The cost far outweighs the benefits, and it meant tearing up some old trees in the adjacent city park. There were several big demonstrations against Stuttgart 21a few months ago, and the authorities overreacted with water cannons and pepper spray. Some people thought Mappus had put this behind him when the Japan nuclear disaster happened (Baden-Wuerttemburg has a number of nuclear power plants, and there's a big debate nationwide about extending the life of some of the older ones.)
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Another party that took it in the shorts on Sunday was the Free Democrats (FDP). They're also referred to as "die Liberalen," but their political bent would probably be best described in American English as libertarian: economically conservative, but culturally more liberal than the Christian Democrats. Never a big party, their strength comes from forming coalitions with the Christian Democrats (as is the case with the current federal government in Berlin). Whether it's because the German economy is doing so much better than many of the other Europrean countries and people aren't as concerned about economic issues, or perhaps other factors at play, but so few people voted for the FDP in the recent state elections, they may not make the 5 percent threshold needed to hold seats in the state parliament.
ReplyDeleteI generally tend to believe that there's a political "Zeitgeist" - a spirit of the times - that shapes politics beyond any one country's borders. Some say that Maraget Thatcher and the Tories taking power in 1979 set the stage for Reagan the next year. What's going on in the Middle East could be viewed as a Zeitgeist of sorts. It remains to be seen whether the latest events in Germany will have a broader implication in Europe (or even here in the US in 2012), but I wouldn't rule it out.