Posted on 09/19/2005 4:18:09 AM PDT by ex-Texan
Not necessarily. Both the present government and the CDU/FDP are agreed that things have to change. It's the tempo and the weighting that are at issue. If the Germans had been against reform, more would have voted for Lafontaine and Gysi.
Looks like Merkel has already started to reach out to the SPD, this article was just posted on cnn's site:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/09/19/germany.election/index.html
Am I not reading the news correctly or am I having trouble with arithmetic? I thought that now party got more than thirty-four percent. Hardly a "majority" as I remember.
OTOH, To form a government he must have her cooperation...
If she tells him to go fish, there is a stand off. The small parties will have to be courted.
Putin has been been using the "cheap oil" and pipelines slant to get countries in east and west europe to kiss his butt and support his policies. Same way Saddam pedaled influence.
Its a golden carrot he keeps hanging in front of Schroeder to get him keep promoting anti-americanism and promote "socialistic" policies.
Notice that Putin cancelled the planned development of an oil pipeline through the Ukraine to western Europe once Yuschenko took office.
This is how it will play out. Schroeder wants it to appear that he went down fighting.
I hope he ends up like Gore.
I think it will come down to whether Schroeder can keep his party's bosses happy with his stewardship. If the SPD leadership stands with him then Merkel will have a difficult time forming any kind of coalition. But, the reality is Schroeder lost and Merkel won (although an unconvincing victory), and in the end I think the SPD will toss Schroeder in order to form a grand coalition with CDU. The real losers are the German people, regardless of who they voted for. Germany will continue down a path of small, incremental, almost meaningless steps towards reform.
Schroeder = another Liberal S.O.B.! I can hear the hiss. What they can't do with their big mouths they can't do at all.
Go, Angela!
Might want to clarify for those who may not know that "liberal" in Germany in this sense doesn't mean the same thing it does here. The FDP is the closest thing Germany has to the Republican party.
I don't agree. Schroeder has said he will not work with the Left Party (Merkel has said the same), and they have made it quite clear they will not work with him. Schroeder and Merkel (and a majority of the country) know change and reform must happen in order to cure Germany's many economic ills, while the Left Party was formed by ex-commies and disaffected SPD members who want no change. In fact the Left Party advocates a larger state controlled/influenced economy. I don't see any flexibility in any talks that would be held between the SPD and Left Party.
But how can that happen? Are you saying Schroeder is so arrogant and ambitious that he would toss his entire campaign platform out the window and say to Germans he had to form a coalition with the Left Party in order to save Germany from political chaos? He would support the Left Party's ideals of bigger and more intrusive government? If Schroeder thinks he can coax them to accept even minimal cuts in taxes and other important economic reforms he's dreaming. That goes against everything the Left Party stands for and campaigned for. Lastly, if your second scenario comes true the SDP will be so unpopular that they won't have the clout and power to govern effectively. I wonder if the leadership of the SPD is so eager and obsessed with clinging to power (no matter what the cost) that they would form a coalition with the Left Party thus destroy their credibility with German voters for years to come?
"He doesn't. He's more convinced he can get the German public to hold its collective nose and accept him as the only person who CAN form a govt. He doesn't care what he has to chuck overboard to preserve himself."
I can't believe the German people would accept this premise, that if both Merkel (without green support) and Schroeder (without FDP support) cannot form governing majorities that it's better for Schroeder to form a worthless impotent government with the Left Party that won't/can't get anything done versus having the President form a government or schedule another election. Schroeder and Merkel have both stated before and AFTER the election that they will not speak with the Left Party. The FDP has firmly stated (www.spiegel.de) they will not help SPD form the next government. Conversely the Left Party has stated they will not work with Schroeder. The horribly liberal and biased German press is saying the FDP may be pressured or forced into working with Schroeder. Forced by who, the press themselves? I would listen to CSU's Edmond Stoiber who's talking about bringing the Greens into a CDU lead coalition. The Greens are in the same position as the FDP, both in a state of limbo. Maybe there is a possibility for a CDU/FDP/Green coalition.
when we set up there government aftr WWII, why did we use a parliament form of govt? anybody know?
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