FDP, a post-war fixture, is out of German parliament

[Recursion]

http://www.dw.de/fdp-a-post-war-fixture-is-out-of-parliament/a-17106509

(With the usual caveat that the term "liberal" doesn't really translate well as it crosses the Atlantic.)

No other party in Germany has governed as long as the Free Democrats. The FDP - economically and socially liberal has been in government 52 of the 64 years since the war. Now they are out of parliament.

The liberal Free Democratic Party's defeat on election night was resounding and painful. "It was the bitterest hour for the FDP," said Christian Lindner, the party's former general secretary, as the first projections were published.

With 4.7 percent, the party was well below the 5 percent needed to enter parliament, and 10 percent below their showing in 2009. For the first time since 1949, the liberals will not be represented nationally.

Lindner, an otherwise eloquent speaker, struggled through his first TV interview of the evening. Viewers could clearly see his disappointment. In 2009, the FDP had its best electoral showing in post-war German history, winning 14.6 percent of the vote. But now they have suffered an unparalleled defeat, going from a record high to a record low in just one election cycle.

[joshcryer]

1. Seems weird.

It's as if the EU is becoming more conservative (right wing; neo-liberalism) as the US is becoming more liberal (left wing; social liberalism). People don't believe that about the US but more and more progressive ideas are being implemented, even as the right wing claws from the abyss and tries to make itself relevant (through the use of Libertarianism). It's fascinating to me.

[Recursion]

2. The EU also has much greater inequality than the US

Mostly because we do massive transfers from, say, New York to Mississippi, while the EU refuses to do transfers between, say, Germany and Greece.

[joshcryer]

3. I was astonished to learn that a lot of EU is really racist, too.

It blew me away to learn this. Some of the most progressive states have really strong class divisions.

[Recursion]

4. Yeah, that really surprised me too

Austria was not a great place to be nonwhite...

[iamthebandfanman]

5. austria is a crazy place...

Austrians Believe Nazi Party Could Win Parliament Seats Today; Some Say Hitler's Rule 'Not All Bad'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/11/austrians-nazis-parliament-hitler-poll_n_2854812.html

The far right is on the march again: the rise of Fascism in Austria
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1160972/The-far-right-march-rise-Fascism-Austria.html

[redgreenandblue]

8. The FDP is not liberal. They are libertarians.

Last edited Mon Sep 23, 2013, 09:18 AM - Edit history (1)

Furthermore, they are probably the most arrogant of all the mainstream parties in Germany. It is good to see them go.

Interestingly, part of the reason why this happened is because a German "Tea Party", the AFD, snatched away a lot of their votes. The AFD however also failed to get any seats, by a small margin.

Overall, a great great election

[Recursion]

9. Yeah I think my caveat was not strong enough

"liberal" in a Continental context really has no bearing on "liberal" in a US context. "Right" or "libertarian" are both closer, but both of them also have problems.

[joshcryer]

10. Right, I know, the CDU however appears to be moving rightward.

What made me make my comment was that the FDP's loss to me indicated that the CDU had moved sufficiently rightward, however I didn't know the ADF had taken their votes, so perhaps it was ignorant to make that observation.

I still am not particularly happy with the CDU platform or Merkel in particular.

[LeftishBrit]

6. I hope this serves as a dreadful warning to Nick Clegg

[Recursion]

7. Well said (nt)

[Democracyinkind]

11. Liberal my ass.

A liberal party completely enthralled by the third way: economically libertarian, socially liberal in name only.

A "liberal" party, ruled by a gay man for years, that still runs homophobic candidates in 2013 should not be taken seriously. Their liberalism is only a lip service where no economic matters are concerned.

[Recursion]

14. Hence my caveat

"liberal" in a continental context is probably better translated as "conservative", though that also has problems. "Establishment" might be better. "Tory" would be best, but that term is pretty much dead here.

[Democracyinkind]

15. I've spent msny an hour figuring out how best to translate those terms.

My post was not to attack an assertion you made, I noticed the caveat. I'm just gloating after what happened to them yesterday. How Westerwelle survived in that party will always remain a mystery to me.

[Recursion]

18. That gloating is well-deserved

Everyone on the left can all take a bit of joy from the FDP's routing.

[davidpdx]

12. Can anyone figure out how many votes they missed the 5% by?

I'm just curious if it was a huge margin.

[Recursion]

13. I don't know, but the Christian Democrats' run of the table was the big surprise here

Every poll predicted a comfortable victory, but none predicted a thrashing like they just delivered.

[Democracyinkind]

16. Missed by 0.2%. (got 4.8% as of now)

Wouldn't know about the votes, though.

[jakeXT]

19. I would say about 90000 if it was 0.2%

~60000000 could vote, 71.5% voted

60000000*0.715= 42900000

42900000/1000 *2 = 85800

[davidpdx]

20. Thanks

I didn't have time to look all that up and figure it out. That's not very much. It's a shame one party will be shut out.

(yes, yes, I see the irony of that last comment so no rebuttal is needed).

[Celefin]

17. And good riddance!

This result alone is worth a contemplative glass of good red wine. And a LOL

As far as I see it, this will make the CDU more centrist again as they don't have to placate the neo-liberal free-market fetishists anymore. Could be a good thing, especially since Merkel's comfort zone is old-fashioned centrist conservative.
I'm hoping for a minority government but am afraid the SPD will be suckered into a 'grand coalition' with the CDU once more. They always lose in that and only strengthen the conservatives (well, those who are more conservative than the SPD themselves anyway).

Interesting election!