Posted on 09/18/2005 12:12:37 AM PDT by alessandrofiaschi
Voting began in Germany's closely fought election today with millions of undecided voters holding the key to a result that will have major implications for economic reform in Europe.
Angela Merkel, a Christian Democrat (CDU) chancellor, is expected to emerge as Germany's first woman chancellor, displacing Gerhard Schroeder who has led Germany for the past seven years at the head of a centre-left government of Social Democrats and Greens.
A provisional result is expected to be announced in the early hours of Monday morning. The final opinion polls published on Friday gave Merkel's centre-right coalition with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) a slim lead in a race it once dominated.
High stakes For Germany and the rest of Europe, the stakes in the election are high. Some five million Germans are out of work, the country's pensions system is in crisis, its public finances are overstretched and the economy that once drove growth in Europe is now acting as a drag on the rest of the continent.
Analysts say that if Germany succeeds in pushing through reforms, they could be a model for change in the rest of Europe. Surveys show that most Germans believe the system needs changing but they are deeply uncertain about how far the changes should go and how the burden should be shared.
Schroeder's own "Agenda 2010" reforms to welfare and labour market rules have been the most ambitious attempt to overhaul the social security system in decades. They have been attacked by the conservatives and by some commentators as not going far enough. The reforms were bitterly resented by voters. - Reuters
We´re dead. Ja wir wollten die MwSt um 2% erhöhen, aber dafür die Arbeitlosenversicherung um 2 Punkte (von 6 auf 4) senken.
A national tragedy, indeed.
A CDU member and campaigner
There are three lectures:
1. Never trust polls. NEVER!
2. Never praise a scientist for economics or taxes. Never allow independants to be central figures in your campaígn.
3. Never be honest to voters. NEVER!!
I didn´t believe it too. It´s a disaster. A catastrophe, a national tragedy. I´m stunned. I feel like being hit by several bullets.
I was counting votes when I heard the radio. I drunk a bottle of wine. Germany is dead. What has happened to these damned people? Yesterday night, when I stopped campaigning, the feeling was good, the people were in favor of a change. And now that. The CDU lost 2% to the FDP (no problem), 2% to the SPD and 1,5% each to the Commies and Greens according to the last polls. How could that happen?? We all don´t know yet.
Within a few days.... unbelievable. Unbelievable.
Yeah, even the journalists think - like us - that his mental health is not ok. But let´s wait whether we´re really the biggest party in the new parliament. What happened to the wind of change, to the accuracy of the polls? We campaigned well (except of Kirchhof). The people are just plain stupid, that´s all.
Thanks for the information. Let's hope that Merkel does well -- for the sake of your country and mine.
Hi Michael!!
Been following this off an on this evening - it doesn't look good at all - I have been afraid of this result all along! It seems that Schröder's Master Plan worked out just fine - of course hwe had the advantage of starting the campaign LONG before he even announced his plan to purposly loose the vote of confidence in parlaiment - I still fail to understand how your courts allowed that!!
Oh well - four more years of ultra left politics (I don't believe Munterfehring's denunciations of the Linkspartie for a minute!!) - hopefully Germany will fall so far, that even the most retarded leftist will realize that a mistake was made - I only hope it won't be too late to save the country!!
Godspeed to you my friend!!
I am truly sorry for you and especially Germany about this miserable outcome.
As I have said before, never say never and
desperate people do desperate things.
Common logic and sense can't follow.
Germany will have to accept what they themselves have voted on.
By the way, good idea, I need a drink after that desaster as well.
Never mind, just caught up on the thread. :(
LOL!! I don't know but maybe you have already read this (obviously tongue in cheek) article by Richard Herzinger in "Die Welt": Nur so gewinnen Sie
No I didn´t read it before. But IT AIN´T FUNNY!!
We need to analyze it. Looks like we lost everywhere the needed 4%, but especially in North-Rhine Westphalia and the East. HOW DUMB THE PEOPLE ARE.
Try this: http://www.n-tv.de/61215.html. The connection is a bit slow at the moment (for obvious reasons).
Yep. :( is the right impression. NOBODY expected that the polls were so wrong. But still, it´s likely that Merkel will be Chancellor. Let´s remember why we have had the early elections: Schröder officially seeked new trust from the voters after the lost NRW-state-election - and now he celebrates as the champion!! He really lost common sense - that´s what the commentators say at least.
I never though this could happen. I´m impressed that the hopes of the SPD-guys came true. This is so unreal for me.
*shaking my head*
Good night you all. I hope that we are at least the biggest party in the new Bundestag, so that we have good chances that Merkel will move to the Willy-Brandt-Allee 1 in Berlin. :-/
WTF has happened????
bttt
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