Germany: Incoming government prepares attacks on working class

[Hannah Bell]

Eleven years after the government of Helmut Kohl was voted out of office, a Conservative-Liberal alliance, far to the right of the Kohl government, is returning to power. Although only a third of those eligible to vote cast their ballots in favour of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Christian Social Union (CSU) or the Free Democratic Party (FDP), the incoming government has a comfortable 42-seat majority in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament. This is due to the low voter turnout and 24 excess mandates resulting from an anomaly in German electoral law. In the Bundesrat, the upper house of Parliament, the CDU/CSU and FDP will have a majority as well, as a result of the recent state elections in Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein.

In the upcoming coalition talks, the FDP will be able to exert much more influence than when it was part of the Kohl government. Then, the number of CDU/CSU members of Parliament was six times that of the FDP, whereas now it is just two and a half to one. Thus, the party of big business and the privileged, in close cooperation with the business faction of the CDU/CSU, will shape the politics of the future government.

In a press conference Monday, big business circles, celebrating the election outcome, spelled out what they expect from the government – a declaration of war on the working class, forcing the population to bear the full brunt of the economic crisis, the consequences of which had been softened before the election by reduced working hours and stimulus packages.

Hans Heinrich Driftmann, chairman of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), demanded the cutting of corporate taxes and estate taxes, more flexibility in the labour market and cuts in social spending. “It is time to review the budget. In a time of crisis, nothing is sacred,” he said. Germany could no longer afford a guaranteed pension, as promised by the outgoing government.

The leading economic adviser to the government, Wolfgang Franz, also demanded sharp cuts in social spending...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/sep2009/bund-s30.shtml

[fasttense]

1. And German citizens are going to stand around with their hands in their pockets

as their uber rich reduce their middle class to slaves?

Somehow, I doubt it.

[Hannah Bell]

3. why? they voted in the free traders. those who bothered to vote.

it's not just in the us that wages & bennies are under attack, it's a global offensive.

the capitalists are fighting with each other to come out on top at the end of this slump, & the global working class is going to pay for it.

why do you think the banks are consolidating & the governments are helping them?

big war chests of capital.

[cali]

2. wsw. take with a case of salt.

[harun]

4. Fox News was rejoicing in this development last night.

[Hannah Bell]

5. tells you something, doesn't it?