A stunned Heide Simonis packed up and went home wondering which one of her party members betrayed her.
Posted on 03/20/2005 3:30:54 PM PST by NCjim
An almost Biblical saga of disappointment and betrayal has stunned Germany, and has left everyone scrambling to find the traitor who unseated Germany's only female premier. Find out why two diamond thieves owe a big debt to Osama bin Laden and how Hong Kong may become the next Bilbao.
"Et Tu Brute!"
What should have been a perfunctory German state election on Thursday transformed into a gripping political "who dunnit" with a plot line that merges James Bond, Julius Caesar and the New Testament. The question is, who is Judas? Or Brutus? In other words, which one of the 69 parliamentarians in the northern, cow-dotted German state of Schleswig-Holstein is a traitor? The suspect list can be narrowed by about half. That's the number of parliamentarians who were lined up to re-elect Heide Simonis -- Germany's only female state premier -- to another term in office. The other 34 were expected to vote against her. Yet, when the secret ballots were tallied Thursday evening, Simonis only got 34 votes, one short of that needed for a hair-splitting majority. The opposition Christian Democratic Union party got 33 votes. Audaciously, two members had abstained. Stunned and certain there had been a mistake, Simonis, in an ultimate "Et tu Brute!" moment, eyed her troops suspiciously and insisted on a revote.
Just to put the whole thing into perspective, let's remember that Simonis and her Social Democratic-Greens coalition had already toughed out a brutal popular election on Feb. 20 and had eked out a victory. That race was so tight that newspapers across Germany wrote headlines announcing her defeat and a major blow to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's bedraggled Social Democratic Party. But the next day -- after all the votes were counted -- she learned her coalition had won 33 seats. Newspapers then proceeded to make red-faced apologies, while Schroeder beamed for the cameras and Simonis struggled to get enough seats to have a parliamentary majority. She did so by enlisting the support of a quirky pro-Danish party who happen to have the two parliamentary seats she needed to scratch out a 35-seat majority. After all that hard work, it's no wonder she thought she was a shoo-in.
But alas. It wasn't the fateful ides of March, (more like St. Patrick's Day) but the omens were against her. The second round of voting was tighter than the first. It turned up an absolute stalemate: 34 for Simonis, 34 for the opposition. There was still one obstinate, agonizing abstention. Who?
Again, Simonis was incredulous. And again she asked for a revote. In doing so, she managed to one-up Shakespeare and even James Bond author Ian Fleming in the thrill department: Essentially, she re-ran the cliff-hanger over and over again. Each revote produced more suspense than the last as everyone waited to see if the holdout with nerves of steel would tough it out or break. After four rounds of voting, parliament adjourned to give everyone some air. Simonis, clearly numbed and distraught, packed her oversized handbag and left. One day later, the premier threw in her political towel, saying she wouldn't risk a fifth failed vote. But if she's unable to resurrect her political career, perhaps she should consider a stint in Hollywood. She could revolutionize the thriller. (1 p.m. CET)
A stunned Heide Simonis packed up and went home wondering which one of her party members betrayed her.
Betrayal in German politics?????????????
Too cool.
Any Idea now what they are supposed to do next? Choose up sides again and try to get thirty five votes for someone?
Ping to the German ping list.
Boy, the German definition of a "thriller" is a little weak...
Couldn't a public vote be forced to settle it once and for all, like in the Canadian House of Commons???
It may force the "undecided" to take sides and either elect a Prime Minister or elect a new Parliament all over again...
Ahh, the beauty of parliamentary democracy!!!
No wonder lefties despise democracy.
Naw, Germans don't betray their friends. (snicker)
Ich bin ein Burnedwinner
longjack
Thanks for the ping.
I see NO betrayal, only some having the courage to vote their consciences . . . under cover of anonymity, but hey, so what? why not? Warum aber nicht?
The secret ballot protects against retribution -- political, or even physical.
Not to worry, there will be some big job for her among the tens of thousands of new bureucrat positions created under the European Consitution and, the best part, not one of them will be answerable to voters.
"Free Republic....Germany: Schleswig-Holstein premier quits after Kiel vote debacle
I originally thought that a CDU / SPD coalition could have led to Schroeder losing veto power and forcing new elections, but I was wrong. Michael81dus corrected me on that. Wishful thinking, I guess. The other info about what actually happened is accurate AFAIK, though.
The entire deal with the SSW was ridiculous, I thought, so these events are deserved.
longjack
Errr, may I remind you that many many FReepers called everyone who was NOT in support of the Iraq war a traitor?
I agree with your point, neither the "undecided" is a traitor nor were the war opponents. This is democracy, people have a right to their opinion.
"The Public" has no say in the matter. They are simply tasked, occasionally, to voice a general party preference. After that, it is up to the party to decide.
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