Election reforms in Germany
Sign up for myFT Daily Digest to be the first to know about German elections.
Germany, Armin Laschet said Sunday night, was in an undisclosed location. Choice means choice who will replace Angela Merkel, their 16-year-old leader has left this country – and the rest of the world – with no real answer.
Sunday’s vote in Laschet, a representative of Merkel’s IC-Democratic Democratic Union, Striving for the best work in Germany and Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats. The SPD has made a small progress in a highly competitive competition that now seems to be followed by many weeks of difficult negotiation negotiations.
“It simply came to our notice then. . . “It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.”
The danger now is that Berlin will continue to weaken, as was the case in the lengthy negotiations following the last Bundestag election in 2017, when it took almost six months for Merkel to form her fourth and final government. However this is the time Germany needs to be prepared his recovery from coronavirus problems and preparation for his G7 leadership in 2022.
The SPD was, in many ways, the winner of the election. It seems to have come first in the popular vote category and has changed dramatically since his nadir election in 2017, when he was supported by one in five people. In a party that for several months was only 15% of the vote, behind Christian Democrats and Greens, it looked good.
SPD leader and candidate for chancellor Olaf Scholz and party leader Saskia Esken take action in the first issue of Sunday © Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters
Meanwhile the CDU, in conjunction with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, appears to be leading the worst in its history, with almost 8% drop in the last election.
It was a bad omen for Laschet, whose approval was lagging behind Scholz, a prominent finance minister and deputy chancellor. But he insisted he had a responsibility to form a government. “[In Germany] it was not always the first coming parties that offered the chancellor, ”he said on TV.
However, the uncertain outcome – which comes as a result of the increasing number of elections in the country – means that the CDU / CSU or SPD will not be able to elect the next German chancellor. The election will be a big one for two smaller parties, the Greens and the Free Democrats, who need to know who they want to support.
There are two options in a deal that could rule most in the Bundestag – there is no repetitive “big deal” between the SPD and the CDU / CSU, which neither party wants. Greens and the FDP could join the CDU / CSU in the “Jamaica” agreement – named because their black, green and yellow colors are similar to the Jamaican flag. Alternatively, Greens and the FDP could join the “red” SPD in the “traffic-light” agreement.
This is the first time that two smaller parties – one of which has a quarter of the vote, roughly the same as the SPD or CDU / CSU – have both been able to exercise their monarchy.
“All eyes will now be on the Greens and the FDP – they have chosen everything,” said Karl-Rudolf Korte, a political scientist at the University of Duisburg-Essen. “All of them now have a chance to look for more – will it be the SPD or the CDU?”
Speaking in “elephants”, part of the nightly and televised election, Christian Lindner, FDP leader, was under pressure to emphasize the new importance and rejoice over the decline of the SPD and CDU / CSU, two political parties that have for years dominated German politics.
“No old party tents have earned more than 25-26%,” Lindner said. “About 75% of Germans have not voted for the next chancellor.”
In this regard, he said, “it could be” a good thing “for the FDP and the Greens – the two parties connected by their desire to deal with existing politics – to negotiate first, before negotiating with the SPD and CDU / CSU. Annalena Baerbock, chancellor’s Green Green representative, was not sure about the idea but did not rule out such discussions.
It will be a difficult dance. Lindner, who opposes tax hikes and any changes to German restrictions on new borrowing, has made it clear that he sees “many points in agreement” with the CDU / CSU.
Meanwhile, the Greens and SPDs, both of which seek to raise taxes and raise billions of euros in new businesses, have shown themselves to be good partners.
By contrast, negotiations for the treaty should last several weeks. There are speculations that Merkel will remain chancellor until 2022 – although Scholz has said it is her “wish” to form a new government soon “so that Ms Merkel can no longer run for office. [New Year’s] address ”.
“We have to do everything we can to end Christmas,” Scholz said. But while Merkel may not want her German counterparts in the new final year, it is only a matter of who decides who will.