GER elections
Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 8:08 pm
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union- 33, down 8
Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)- 21, down 4
Xenophobic racist fascist fucktards, masquerading as Alternative "for" Germany (AfD) - 13, up 8+, enter parliament for the first time
Free Democratic Party (FDP) - 11, up 6+, making a sweeping re-entry after crashing out for the first time in '13
Greens - 9, up 1 or so
The Left - 9, more or less stable
Assorted rubble - <5
The outgoing coalition of CDU and SPD could theoretically just carry on, marshalling a 54 % total. However the SPD chairman has already said that they intend to cool their wounds on the opposition benches. That leaves a so-called "Jamaica" coalition (Black - CD/SU, Yellow - FDP, Green - Greens) as the only option that is mathematically possible as well as politically conceivable. The SPD, however, could wait for the Jamica coalition talks to trainwreck in order to then say, we'll enter this new government with a heavy heart out of responsibility gor the country, and any coalition is better than no coalition and new elections.
For anyone interested, here is a good overview over the German political system that suffers from one major flaw (and we previously discussed this on this board): To think that the American "Conservative - Liberal" dichotomy is the God-given naturals state of affairs, and all parties, everywhere, always, have to line up according to that scheme. It ignores the fact that there is a broad consensus in the country that the market economy should be a "social" one (even for the conservative/Christian party - see here for Catholic social teaching); that the Free Democrats are "liberal" (American "liberal", that is) on social matters, somewhat libertarian in economic matters but also fiscally conservative; that the Green Party, throughout its history, has been a "left" or "liberal" party on many issues but is not (orn not anymore) strongly bound to leftist policies; instead, they also have a strong Christian wing that sees environmentalism as an outflow of "good stewardship", "respect for Creation", etc.; and that NO political party would proclaim that you aren't a citizen if you don't tote your gun or things like that very peculiar to the U.S.
The Left (the legal and ideological successor to the East German Socialist Unity Party, SED) however, is straightforward: They are real Socialists, lobbying for the dissolution of NATO, socialization of key industries and wanting to abolish capitalism. They don't always act like it and behave more like some leftie members of the SPD might, they are in coalition governments on the State level. Personally, I don't trust them for a moment, but they generally refrain from wanting to overthrow the government and "the system by violent means.
The great, great disaster, of course is the AfD win. They a re a motley band of very conservative conservatives, Trumpian populists, and outright Nazis.Today, you should all know, is a very, very sad day for my country. But hey, they didn't become President, they didn't finish as runner-up, we didn't vote to leave the EU, and we didn't sign off on an Enabling Act-like constitution like the Turks. And we still don't have Putin, or Kim. We have Mutti, so I guess we shouldn't clutch our pearls too violently.
Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)- 21, down 4
Xenophobic racist fascist fucktards, masquerading as Alternative "for" Germany (AfD) - 13, up 8+, enter parliament for the first time
Free Democratic Party (FDP) - 11, up 6+, making a sweeping re-entry after crashing out for the first time in '13
Greens - 9, up 1 or so
The Left - 9, more or less stable
Assorted rubble - <5
The outgoing coalition of CDU and SPD could theoretically just carry on, marshalling a 54 % total. However the SPD chairman has already said that they intend to cool their wounds on the opposition benches. That leaves a so-called "Jamaica" coalition (Black - CD/SU, Yellow - FDP, Green - Greens) as the only option that is mathematically possible as well as politically conceivable. The SPD, however, could wait for the Jamica coalition talks to trainwreck in order to then say, we'll enter this new government with a heavy heart out of responsibility gor the country, and any coalition is better than no coalition and new elections.
For anyone interested, here is a good overview over the German political system that suffers from one major flaw (and we previously discussed this on this board): To think that the American "Conservative - Liberal" dichotomy is the God-given naturals state of affairs, and all parties, everywhere, always, have to line up according to that scheme. It ignores the fact that there is a broad consensus in the country that the market economy should be a "social" one (even for the conservative/Christian party - see here for Catholic social teaching); that the Free Democrats are "liberal" (American "liberal", that is) on social matters, somewhat libertarian in economic matters but also fiscally conservative; that the Green Party, throughout its history, has been a "left" or "liberal" party on many issues but is not (orn not anymore) strongly bound to leftist policies; instead, they also have a strong Christian wing that sees environmentalism as an outflow of "good stewardship", "respect for Creation", etc.; and that NO political party would proclaim that you aren't a citizen if you don't tote your gun or things like that very peculiar to the U.S.
The Left (the legal and ideological successor to the East German Socialist Unity Party, SED) however, is straightforward: They are real Socialists, lobbying for the dissolution of NATO, socialization of key industries and wanting to abolish capitalism. They don't always act like it and behave more like some leftie members of the SPD might, they are in coalition governments on the State level. Personally, I don't trust them for a moment, but they generally refrain from wanting to overthrow the government and "the system by violent means.
The great, great disaster, of course is the AfD win. They a re a motley band of very conservative conservatives, Trumpian populists, and outright Nazis.Today, you should all know, is a very, very sad day for my country. But hey, they didn't become President, they didn't finish as runner-up, we didn't vote to leave the EU, and we didn't sign off on an Enabling Act-like constitution like the Turks. And we still don't have Putin, or Kim. We have Mutti, so I guess we shouldn't clutch our pearls too violently.