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
IMHO not very much. The CDU/CSU has 225 seats (3 more than the SPD) and as far as I can tell the voters in Dresden cannot influence the final outcome by more than 3 seats.
And the probability that they all vote for Schroeder is rather low.
There should be a Grand Coalition for no longer than a year. And both parties should reform our voting system: let´s get a majority parliament. Keep the number of seats, but double the districts. With that, we wouldn´t have to large "small parties" and clear majorities.
Right now, each voter has two votes: one for the local district candidate and one for a party list in the state.
The vote in Dresden is a farce: if the CDU gets more than 40,000 state list votes, we lose one seat. So the best result would be to win the district election, and give all the state list votes to the FDP. With that, we don´t lose seats, and the SPD is far from getting another.
I've never been a fan of MMP systems anyway.
Did she win? Explain? I haven't followed the thread. Thanks.
Luke Harding in Berlin
Monday September 19, 2005
The Guardian
Germany was plunged into uncertainty last night when the leaders of the two main parties claimed they could become chancellor after neither won a majority in the general election. The result was a blow to the conservative challenger, Angela Merkel, whose party started the campaign with a 21-point lead. Although Mrs Merkel could still become the country's new leader, she can now probably only do so as part of a "grand coalition" with Gerhard Schröder's Social Democratic party.
Thanks, I have been at work, and not able to catch up yet on the news.
So they have to get a coalition?
NEVER! This arrogant POS has completely lost the connection to reality and shall leave the Chancellery asap! Plus, it´s a principle of fairness that the stronger party in a coalition nominates the Chancellor.
Yes - somehow. :)
Nodding, thanks!
I like her already
Leftists don't believe in principles unless it happens to suit thier purpose at the time - remember the minority Landesregierung (Mecklenburg??) that could only assume power with the "quiet" support of the PDS?
Fischer already ruled out to be Minister under Chancellor Merkel.
Too bad, in a way. You could have sold tickets to the cabinet meetings. ;)
No, already ruled out. Although the SPD is in a coalition in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin.
Since the SPD is so ´stur´, it looks like they want new elections. That makes a Jamaica-coalition more likely.
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