2011 State Elections in Germany

[minionofmidas]

Parts of the SPD Left in open revolt about the decision now, of course...

[Franzl]

Parts of the SPD Left in open revolt about the decision now, of course...

Hooray chaos!!

[Middle-aged Europe]

Especially the Jusos (SPD youth wing). Their official statement almost sounded as if they're gonna switch party affiliation to the Greens now.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Obviously, any speculation regarding a future Chancellorship of Klaus Wowereit has finally died today.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

So... an SPD-CDU coalition is likely now? Or some other arrangement?

[Middle-aged Europe]

So... an SPD-CDU coalition is likely now? Or some other arrangement?

Extremely likely, considering that the SPD doesn't want early elections (and considering that Wowereit probably preferred SPD/CDU to SPD/Greens all along and just needed a pretext to do it).

[Middle-aged Europe]

"Vote Green, get Henkel" (= Berlin's CDU leader)

Distributed by the SPD during the recent election campaign, warning against a Green/CDU coalition.


For once, I agree with Franzl that this highely amusing.

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

"OMG, the Greens! The Conservatives! OMG Spooky! They are evil!"
"So, who are you debating going into a coalition with?"
"The Greens or the Conservatives"

[Middle-aged Europe]

"OMG, the Greens! The Conservatives! OMG Spooky! They are evil!"
"So, who are you debating going into a coalition with?"
"The Greens or the Conservatives"

The irony lies with the fact that SPD/Green voters don't like doing a coalition with the CDU, and the SPD tried to raise fear among Green voters that the Greens might just do that. Now the SPD did it itself.

(Of course, under the "right" cirumstances, the Greens would have done exactly what the SPD claimed they would do.)

[Insula Dei]

Good to see that disappointing Social Democratic politicians haven't disappeared from the world.

[Franzl]

Good to see that disappointing Social Democratic politicians haven't disappeared from the world.

Especially because I don't really see what Wowereit will gain out of it. Very weird.

[RodPresident]

Did Wowereit try a SPD-Linke-Pirate coalition. It would be a very good agreement.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Did Wowereit try a SPD-Linke-Pirate coalition. It would be a very good agreement.

He didn't and he won't. Less likely than SPD/Greens.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Pathetic, but not surprising. Blame it on those stupid voters who prefered to vote for useless parties.

[Franzl]

Pathetic, but not surprising. Blame it on those stupid voters who prefered to vote for useless parties.

No, blame it on the party (SPD) that destroyed the coalition.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

lol

In general I think it's fair to say that Berlin politics over the past year or so has been less than entirely edifying.

[Tender Branson]

Infratest dimap:

32% CDU-CSU
30% SPD
17% Greens
  8% Pirates
  6% Left
  3% FDP
  4% Others

Slight 47-46 majority for Red-Green over CDU-CSU-Pirates-Left.

[Franzl]

Hey as far as I'm concerned the Pirates can go into the double digits if they somehow take the Left below 5% by doing so.... Wishful thinking probably, but it'd be good to get anti-democratic forces out of parliament.

[Tender Branson]

Surprise ! They even have 1 woman:

[Tender Branson]

Is it just me or does she look a bit like Princess Leia from Star Wars ?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Is it just me or does she look a bit like Princess Leia from Star Wars ?

Wut ? Nah.

However, the guy to her left somewhat reminds me of Hurley from Lost.

[Peter the Lefty]

So no hope of SPD-Greens negotiations restarting, or is it hopeless?  And why would the left-wing of the party, like Wowereit, want to do a coalition with the CDU rather than the Greens?  Or has Künast taken the Berlin Greens so far to the right that they're now more right-wing than the CDU? 

[Middle-aged Europe]

So no hope of SPD-Greens negotiations restarting, or is it hopeless?  And why would the left-wing of the party, like Wowereit, want to do a coalition with the CDU rather than the Greens?  Or has Künast taken the Berlin Greens so far to the right that they're now more right-wing than the CDU?  

1. I suppose SPD/Green negotiations could be restarted if the SPD launches a coup against Wowereit and deposes him first. The chances of that happening are rather slim though. The only half-way realistic scenario where such a coup happens is when the negotiations with the CDU also fail for some reason. The chances fot that happening are also rather slim. In any case, it's unlikely that the Greens are going the negotiate with Wowereit again.

2. First of all, Wowereit is a pragmatic opportunist. He has no problems doing coalitions with the Left or the CDU if it serves his purposes (= staying in power). Strictly speaking, Wowereit was probably considered to be "left-wing" because he had governed in a coalition with the PDS/Left for the past decade. It's possible that we jumped to conclusions here, at least to some extent.


As for his motives, here's my take: A SPD/Green coalition would only have a slim majority of two seats or something. Wowereit is not only unpopular in some parts of his own party, the Kreuzberg Greens are also generally considered to be "unreliable" (most of the time the Kreuzberg Greens can't agree on something with the rest of the Berlin Greens, let alone the SPD). For Wowereit, that's too risky, or at least connected with too much trouble in daily government work. A grand coalition is much more... peaceful.

Well, and he can build his Autobahn.

Well, that and the fact that Wowereit doesn't like the Greens for some "personal" reasons anyway.

[Tender Branson]

Pirates are gaining further, according to the new Emnid poll:

32% CDU/CSU
28% SPD
17% Greens
  9% Pirates
  7% Left
  3% FDP
  4% Others

[MaxQue]

Atfer the techno bubble, the housing bubble, now there is the Pirates bubble.

It will hurt when it will burst.