How the Bundestag election works. Guide to Germany's political parties. Possible outcomes. Latest polls: Stalemate expected.
Also because she does not tackle issues but just reacts to them, this election campaign wasn't about actual political positions, but just about feeling well. The relationship many of her voters have with her is that of a mother, not that of a head of state.
I see an Oedipus analogy somewhere in there... FDP wandering about blinded after going to bed with Mutti?
Well, it's always risky going to bed with a chameleon. After all, the FDP got what she deserved (sensational failure after the 15 % from 4 years ago) and won't be missed. Since Angie has lost her alleged "dream partner", she will be forced into a coalition with her "friends" from SPD or the Green Party if she doesn't reach an absolute majority. I'd prefer the SPD to stay in opposition and keep her in suspense after the painful experience from 2009 ... let's see if the Green Party will help her out. Fact is that she'll have to make a lot of concessions (dearly purchased victory) if she doesn't reach the absolute majority and wants to form a government. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/merkel-wins-third-term-in-general-election-a-923755.html If the Left Party wasn't that stubborn in many aspects (especially concerning foreign politics), Angela Merkel would be possibly history right now despite her win.
That's my takeaway from a distance, that is from the English and American coverage of Merkel. She's soothing and promises no changes. The comfort of mama's arms.
Technically speaking it is the successor of the Left Party, but the terms are used kind of interchangeably in English. To avoid benztown's wrath I'll just link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_for_Germany
Hey, I'm cool, I'll just respond to posts I disagree with BTW, it's not that the AfD is my personal Jesus now. I have no problem disagreeing with them on stuff like gay marriage. On some of these social issues they are too conservative for my taste and I'm still closer to the FDP in that regard. But I think their economic argument is an important one and needs to be raised. It's a disgrace that the two most important issues for Germany right now, the Euro and our energy policy hasn't been addressed at all in this campaign cycle by parties other than the AfD. Our energy policy currently costs Germans €15 billion every year, and not just tax payers, but everyone via their energy bill and it's only getting worse...next year we'll probably be closer to €20 billion. Similarly, German savers alone are paying €15 billion in 2013 via their artificially low interest rates, and that's just the tip of the iceberg, once countries start to default (although they will call it something other than "default"), costs will go up into the hundreds of billions. The amount of wealth that is destroyed through these policies is unfathomable. I'm especially baffled by the silence of the left parties on this, as both issues are particularly tough on their constituency. High electricity bills have the biggest impact on the poor and so does a weak Euro. A strong currency on the other hand would be equivalent to wage/welfare increases across the board, something the left parties like to demand. I mean I can understand why a pro business party like the FDP would endorse the Euro, as a weak Euro is indeed good for business. But it's terrible for the people. To go back to analyzing the election, I think this was also the downfall of the FDP. With their great 2009 result, they should have focused on selling their free-market policy to the average joe, trying to convince them that a free market will ultimately benefit them. Instead, they reverted to being pro-business and nothing else, which made them look like total sell-outs (and probably rightfully so).
Here's a map of how the various electoral districts voted: CDU/CSU: Black SPD: Red Linke: Purple Of course this map isn't as informative as in countries with a majority system where the winner of a district takes it all (i.e. the seat), but I think it's still rather interesting to see. I wouldn't have thought that the CDU would get that kind of support...
Looking forward, this is a poll done right after the election: It's about how Germans view the various options for a coalition government. On the left are the positive sentiments, on the right the negative ones. As one can easily see, a coalition between CDU/CSU and SPD would have the approval of 64% of the voters while the other two options aren't particularly popular.
At least the pirate party is on its way to become yet another left wing splinter faction...too bad, their digital policy platform was actually quite decent. On a different note, there really aren't any non-left parties anymore. The CDU has transformed into a black colored SPD, the FDP had pushed the self destruct button and the AfD also didn't make it into parliament. One might make a case for the CSU, but I'd argue that this would be more due to rhetoric than actual policy.
I agreed there is no left vs right In Germany it's two centrist parties one centre left (SDP) and one center-center (CDU) a two party system.