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
Schroeder's out, regardless of how the election goes. :'D Yippee!!! Best of all, the reprehensible street thug, Joschka Fischer, is also out. See that now-superceded "Merkel" topic (linked above) for a few more odds and ends.
I think Merkel will win by a good margin...we know how polls are skewed to the press' favorites.
10 minutes until showtime BUMP!
CNN also has a poll we should all FReep. Right now it's 35 per cent Schroeder, 52 per cent Merkel. Heh... Schroeder's wife said (as they left the voting place), that her husband sez, when the sun is shining, the SDP wins it. That 25 per cent undecided bloc seems to be partly made up of people who know there needs to be change, but are not sure who can deliver it. Obviously, with Merkel's party in charge of the lower house, it sure isn't Schroeder et al.
Jürgen Trittin, Germany's minister of the environment, will soon be out of gov't, although not out of his seat in the parliament.
GERMAN CALLOUSNESS: Kicking Hurricane Victims While They're Down
SPIEGEL Online | August 31, 2005 | Claus Christian Malzahn
Posted on 08/31/2005 10:00:20 AM PDT by wolf78
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1474159/posts
33 posted on 08/31/2005 12:38:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1474159/posts?page=33#33
Come on Angie!!
bttt
thank you all
That would be Frau Merkel
it is looking as though the FDP has won more than expected in early numbers.... Let us hope. CDU FDP coalition is obviously what we all want...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4257010.stm
Exit Poll on DW:
CDU/CSU: 35.5%
SPD: 34%
Green: 8.5%
FDP: 10.5%
Links: 7.5%
Others: 4.0%
ZDF TV website has the numbers (exit poll, probably):
CDU/CSU 37%
SPD 33%
FDP 10.5%
Grune 8%
Linke/PDS 8%
Which one of those parties is Merkels?
CDU is Merkel's party.
DW TV Exit Poll:
CDU/CSU/FDP: 286 seats
Screw exit polls. All I care about are REAL numbers. Is there a site that has live results?
No problemo
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