Posted on 03/13/2016 9:37:22 AM PDT by Lorianne
Germans turned out in force to vote in three state elections on Sunday, with the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party looking to profit from popular angst about Chancellor Angela Merkel's welcome of more than a million migrants.
The election is the biggest test year of the German public response to the influx, totaling more than a million last year alone and showing no sign of halting, of refugees and other migrants from the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.
Merkel, who says Germany is a rich enough country to host desperate people and has a moral obligation to shelter those in danger, has staked her reputation on her management of the unprecedented influx, which has come to define her leadership.
Her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) have been losing support to the AfD, which has profited from the growing unease.
A poor CDU performance would weaken Merkel just as she tries to push through a deal to resolve the crisis in EU negotiations with Turkey, the country from which most migrants depart by sea to reach the EU through Greece.
The AfD argues that Germans have been denied a choice over a policy that could define their country for generations, with Merkel ruling in a "grand coalition" that includes her party's Socialist rivals.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
No more sausage for you!
I wonder if they are using electronic voting machines that will deliver the government’s preprogramed results or those old fashioned paper ballots that cause so much trouble when manipulating the counts.
Polls close in 20 min. All the news folks will say at present is that 10-to-15 percent more people showed up to vote, than expected. That might shift the predictions. Presently, I’d say a quarter of the population is frustrated and finished with the top five parties. This is three separate states, not a national election, but it really tells a story over anger in the country.
Voting in Germany is generally always paper. The ballot simply lists parties, and you mark which party you support. You don’t vote for country commissioners, dog-catchers, mayors, etc. So a small polling station with 4,000 voters...could count up votes in thirty minutes fairly easily.
Which can lead to some very unpleasant results. And if it does, Merkel will bear the brunt of the responsibility for it.
Regardless of how well the AfD (”Alternative for Germany”) Party does in these elections (I would expect 20 percent at best), the other parties will unite against them like Uniparties do forming coalition governments in the three German states excluding them.
Merkel, her party (CDU), and the coalition party (SPD). I should note that the three other significant parties (FDP, Green, and Linke Party) have taken similar positions and refused to listen their enthusiasm for immigration. For every three votes that the CDU has lost to AfD (anti-immigration)...the SPD has lost one vote. Even the Greens and other two parties have noticed some voter negativity.
The federal election is fall of 2017, and there’s five more state elections before that point. This episode today only sends up a red-flag. You’ve still got lots of time before it gets real interesting.
Oh I agree on that, and with the news gimmicks....it’ll all lead to more negative public attention for the two fall elections.
This is what they are missing....each month that goes by....there’s probably another 100,000 voters who say enough and slide toward the AfD. They are going straight down the 1929 to Nov 1932 path, in creating a national solution (the Nazi Party) where people have lost faith in the big parties to solve problems.
Can you corroborate this from where you live?
Angela Merkel had better hope that all the moslems she’s imported will arrange to vote for her.
I was just in Germany for a few days. I spoke with a very young hotel employee one evening while having a beer. His English was very good. He was not happy with Merkel. He recognized what was happening.
...then he quoted George Washington. I just about hit the floor.
HOPE!
It’s a false story for the most part.
What came up was a big discussion for gov’t agency cafe operations (in the big buildings, educational facilities, etc)...where some (not all or such) came to suggest a removal of pork from the daily menu.
These operations tend to offer an entire plate lunch for 6 Euro ($7) and it’s a pretty good deal if you happen to be around some court house or university operation. The claim was less meat was better for you, and because of some religious preferences....it was a better deal.
I think....after six months, and less customer usage, then the cafe operations will go back to pork.
I should note...it’s a growing trend for vegans in Germany, and they continually try to sell their no-meat message (even on state-run TV).
Incredible!
I remember this great little restaurant in Bamberg that served the best Saurbraten mit Kartoffelklossen (sp?) und Rot Kohl.
I enjoy your essays, thanks.
If the CDU is “conservative”, I’d hate to see the “liberals.”
Results in:
AfD took 12.5 percent in Baden-Wurttemberg, 10.5-percent in the Pfalz, and 23-percent in Sachsen.
Massive win Sachsen, but they still fell in second place. Merkel’s party did lousy in Pfalz.
Any word on how voting went in Hessen?I have family in Russelsheim.
Wow. Nice to hear that the unpleasantness with the Hessian mercenaries is water under the bridge. :-)
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