Posted on 09/18/2005 4:31:22 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
Conservative challenger Angela Merkel won the most votes in German elections Sunday, according to official results, but fell short of a clear mandate to govern as Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder staged a dramatic comeback and proclaimed that he should head the next government.
The outcome made it appear likely that Germany's next government could be weakened as a result of the narrow vote margin and difficulties of forming a coalition.
Merkel's Christian Democrats and ally party, the Christian Social Union, won 35.2 percent of the vote, compared with 34.3 percent for the Social Democrats. Schroeder's coalition partner, the Greens, won 8.1 percent. The pro-business Free Democrats, with whom Merkel had hoped to form a center-right government, had 9.8 percent.
I do not see how it can be any more weak than it is now.
Funny how this always gets thrown at "conservatives" that win elections. YOUR GUY LOST AP. No matter how you try to spin it, YOU LOST. These Dinosaurs really are too stupid to evolve.
Wait til the full impact of the American troop withdrawals takes effect...
From:
http://medienkritik.typepad.com/blog/
+++UPDATE+++: Because of the relatively close CDU-CSU results relative to the SPD, both Schroeder and Merkel are laying claim to the Chancellery. It still looks like the CDU-CSU has the better position, but anything is possible, with Schroeder pointing to the fact that he is far more popular than Merkel in a one-on-one comparison. It may be that the distribution of seats is a virtual tie between the CDU-CSU and SPD because of the direct election of candidates. In the case that the SPD ties or pulls slightly ahead in terms of overall seats, Schroeder may still be able to remain Chancellor.
(PRIOR TO UPDATE)-
Strongly looks like a "Grand Coalition" between CDU-CSU and SPD with Merkel at its head. (Update: Merkel as Chancellor is far from certain, the SPD may receive as many seats as the CDU-CSU because of direct election results, and Schroeder still has a clear chance.) The CDU-CSU appears to be far below the pre-election poll numbers, which had the party around 41%. One of the biggest losers in this election will be the pollsters as they clearly and dramatically failed to accurately predict the correct outcome.
Analysis: There remains a high degree of uncertainty at this point. Merkel may still be Chancellor, Schroeder may still be out, but the CDU-CSU's poorer than expected performance will almost certainly guarantee a gridlock prone "Grand Coalition" with a heavier SPD proportion than expected.
It looks like Angela Merkel completely failed to energize her base. The SPD did a much better job of campaigning with a sympathetic media at its side and turned in the expected performance despite Germany's massive domestic problems. Schroeder's strong debate performance further boosted the SPD and took the air out of Merkel. Many conservative voters appear to have voted FDP rather than CDU-CSU. This result is going to badly weaken Merkel in the Chancellery (if she makes it).
There also remains an outside chance of a three-way coalition between either SPD/Greens/LeftPDS or SPD/Greens/FDP or even CDU-CSU/FDP/Greens. Many prominent politicians categorically ruled-out these constellations before the election, but you just never know in politics...power can be tempting.
As we see it, things don't look particularly good for Germany or German-American relations. The key word at this point is: Gridlock. Expect to see a lot of it in Germany's future.
(source)
Notes for readers not familiar with German politics: SPD = Schroeder's Social-Democrats; CDU-CSU = Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and Bavarian Christian Social Democratic Union; Grüne = Greens; FDP = Free-Democrats (business and economically-minded party), Linke.PDS = Left-Wing ex-Communist party; Sonstige = Others.
Check out Davids pre-election analysis of the situation if you are unfamiliar with German politics and want to learn more.
"Can you give a quick thumbnail of what each party on your graft stands for?"
Now in post #7:
Notes for readers not familiar with German politics: SPD = Schroeder's Social-Democrats; CDU-CSU = Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and Bavarian Christian Social Democratic Union; Grüne = Greens; FDP = Free-Democrats (business and economically-minded party), Linke.PDS = Left-Wing ex-Communist party; Sonstige = Others.
The UPDATE in post #7 is the real bummer.
This is another Dewey Wins headline.
(9:23 p.m.) The Forsa Institute sees the SPD as the strongest faction in the German parliament. In a projection for the TV network N-TV it claims 223 seats for the SPD and only 220 for CDU/CSU
What chutzpah!!
He loses the election, but still thinks he deserves to rule. Must be taking 'tippers' from Gore. Can't wait for the recounts.
Never mind, found out in the AP story what each party is. She should let Schroeder stay in power. More econmic bumps along the way for him to take the fall for.
Can't wait for the "disenfranchised" senior citizens that intended to vote for Schroeder, but instead accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan. (Surely then, Corrine Brown and Bob Wexler will hop the next plane to Berlin and demand a revote.) < /s>
I'm thinking you are probably correct. If it is not a clear majority for Merkel and the pro-bus FDP's, it will be a nightmare to run (as well as it would be for Schroeder). I am not sure when the next election will be held, but by then Germany should be at 15% unemployment and Merkel/CDU should get a strong majority.
And meanwhile, CNN reports that the US is cool to the fact that Schroeder won. Sheesh. The press just can't do anything right.
That CNN report was from 2002.
That CNN report is from 2002.
The poster actually got that article from 3 years ago...false alarm!
Oh, thanks!
If the German people are going to wake up in time to save themselves, they're certainly taking their time about it.
Merkel will end up being in charge of forming the coalition and I believe they are much closer at 45% to being able to get a majority together in a coopalition than anything Shroeder can put together.
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