what is the latest word on the German elections?

[Zuni]

apparently, the CDU (right wingers) have the most votes. But a left coalition may still hold a slim majority. Neither Schroeder or challenger Merkel are conceding, both claiming a mandate.

What is the latest?

[...of J.Temperance]

1. Check this thread

It was a thread I started earlier in the evening, as the votes started to be counted. There's some very good comments from all sorts of people.

The word is that Gerhard Schroder might get this, the SDP with the Greens now could have more seats than the nutjobs of the CDU/CSU:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4812091

[...of J.Temperance]

3. I've fixed the link now, so check out the thread n/t

[Zuni]

6. thank you

that is exactly what I was looking for. Like many others, it looks to me like the linkspartei screwed the German left just to spite schroeder. with neither side wanting to work with them, this puts the German GOP very close to the chancellorship

[...of J.Temperance]

7. Glad to be of help

I think the exact same thing about Linke, parties like them will never learn I guess.

The thing is, obviously a lot of horsetrading is going on right now, it could last for weeks. Angela Merkel is not popular, this result for the CDU/CSU is their worst result for a long time.

Gerhard Schroder might very well remain as Chancellor, I wouldn't be surprised. the SDP/Greens do seem to have the big MO at this juncture.

[marcus_b]

8. You couldn't be more wrong.

The Linkspartei.PDS saved us. Let me explain why.

Last time, the PDS (the successor of the SED in the former DDR), got 3 percent and didn't reach the 5 percent minimum you need to get into the Bundestag. This time, the PDS opened their party lists for people from other groups. The major group that joined was the WASG (Wahlalternative fuer Soziale Gerechtigkeit), which is a western, progressive, lefty party.

My judgement is that only because of this cooperation the Linkspartei.PDS was able to pull of an impressive stunt: Gain popularity in the western parts of Germany, despite the SED heritance of the PDS (which, by the way, is the only party which at least tried to work on its history, while the DDR-chapters of the CDU and SPD just went on as if nothing happened).

If the Linkspartei.PDS hadn't made it, we would now have a CDU-FDP conservative-liberal majority which would implant neoconservative ideology into Germany more than it already exists.

[Zuni]

9. so let me get this

the Linkspartei saved Germany by possibly getting the right wingers elected to the Chancellorship :shrug:

[marcus_b]

10. I don't understand you.

I don't get what your claim is. If the Linkspartei.PDS had not succeeded, we would definitely and with a 100% guarantee have the right wing government now, with no barriers hold.

[reorg]

12. I think most people in the US

don't realize that Germany's electoral system is very different from their own.

You can see from various articles quoted in these threads on the German election that even journalists from Canada and Britain don't seem to get it. Or maybe they don't want to? I have no idea.

It's a proportional system. Votes for small parties are not lost, they can enter into a coalition. ALL governments in the FRG have been coalition governments, fer chrissake ... unimaginable, it seems, for Anglos? Nobody really cares who is first past the post here. The CDU/CSU were for a long time and still didn't rule in the seventies. The FDP, on the other hand, never had any kind of significance in terms of numbers, but they have the longest record in government. We don't elect presidents and chancellors, merely representatives of parties whose job it is to figure out what combination will be able to form a government.

You are right on with your assessment of the significance of the Linkspartei. It is even more significant if you take into account that many protest votes could have gone to the far right loonies, had there not been a trustworthy left wing alternative.

[reorg]

11. link

for you - in case you are really interested and willing to read an in-depth analysis by a competent journalist (member of the SPD):

http://mondediplo.com/2005/09/02germany

...

The SPD can thank its leftwing capitalists, with their Brioni suits and Cohiba cigars, for the collapse of its electoral support. The unions have distanced themselves from the government. The parliamentary opposition is using its blocking majority in the Bundesrat, the upper chamber, to conduct a populist campaign against the destruction of the welfare state, while the bosses and financial media continue to demand more of the same: a 15% reduction in wages, a one-third reduction in unemployment benefit, more tax cuts, and a 45- or 50-hour working week.

...

[Maple]

2. Hung parliament

Confusion as both Merkel and Schröder claim chancellorship

http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1573263,00.html

[...of J.Temperance]

4. I think Schroder will take this one, he's got the big MO

Merkel's led the CDU/CSU to their worst result in a long time.

[skids]

5. Heheh.

(10:40 p.m.) Forty-two percent of Germans believe that a grand coalition between left and right -- the SPD and the CDU -- would be "best for Germany". That's according to the results of a poll conducted by ARD. Another 20 percent favor a so-called "Jamaica Coalition," consisting of the (black) CDU, (yellow, business-friendly) FDP, and the Green Party. Eighteen percent are in favor of a so-called "stoplight coalition" of the (red) SPD, (yellow) FDP, and Greens.

...however, since 42% is not a majority, respondents in the ARD poll must form coalitions to decide how we will report the results. :hide: