German political parties and elections

[Phlegethon]

Originally Posted by Aeternitas

Just as Germans were starting to feel bored by their election campaign, a little-known anarchist party has outraged television viewers with a no-holds-barred political broadcast featuring bare-breasted women, raucous partying and alcohol-fuelled vandalism.

See it here:

http://publicplaces.macbay.de/appd/wahlspot.mov

http://www.punk-stuff.de/wahlspot.mp4

[Nerthus]

Shocking . But we should all wear those 'Arbeit ist Scheiße' T-shirts

[Nerthus]

Schröder claims he can win as Merkel falls back in polls

Gerhard Schröder says he is poised to win Germany's general election after opinion polls suggested his ruling Social Democrats were on the verge of a dramatic comeback against Angela Merkel's conservatives.

Full story

Some older statistics:

In an interview published today in Bild, Merkel dismissed being concerned about her party’s numbers, saying, "We know from the 2002 election experience that a lot can happen in the final metres of the race. That’s why we’re now sticking so close together as a party."


Polling Data


What party would you support in Germany’s next federal election?

Sept. 8
Sept. 1
Aug. 25
Christian-Democratic Union
Bavarian Christian-Social (CDU-CSU)
41%
43%
43%
Social Democratic Party (SPD)
34%
32%
30%
Left Party (Linke)
8%
8%
8%
Green Party (Grune)
7%
7%
8%
Free Democratic Party (FDP)
7%
7%
8%
Source: FG Wahlen / ZDF

Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,299 German adults, conducted from Sept. 6 to Sept. 8, 2005. Margin of error is 2.7 per cent

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/8894

[Nerthus]

All Eyes on Dresden in German Election

Germany's election on Sunday could face legal challenges amid allegations of unfairness: Voters in the eastern city of Dresden will head to the polls two weeks later due to the death of a parliamentary candidate.

The election in Dresden was postponed by Germany's federal election commissioner after Kerstin Lorenz, the candidate for the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) died of a stroke last week. A replacement has already been found in Franz Schönhuber, the former national leader of another right wing-extremist party, but there isn't enough time to reprint ballots before Sunday.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1707651,00.html

[Nerthus]

Schröder in surprise comeback to close poll gap with Merkel

· Likelihood of left-right 'grand coalition' grows
· Germany in danger of drift into political instability

Luke Harding in Berlin
Monday September 12, 2005
The Guardian

Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is closing the gap on his conservative rival, Angela Merkel, according to the latest opinion polls, making it increasingly possible that the challenger could be forced into a "grand coalition" with the ruling Social Democrats (SPD).

Tony Blair made a controversial intervention last night. In a statement released by the SDP he described Mr Schröder as "prudent and at the same time a statesman with strong leadership qualities."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1567699,00.html

[Nerthus]

German Election Enters Final Phase

Some commentators believe the campaign is turning into a circus

With five days to before Germany elects a new government, both Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and opposition frontrunner Angela Merkel are confident they can gain a majority and avoid a so-called grand coalition.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1708703,00.html

[Nerthus]

Merkel's Fans in Washington

What would a Merkel victory mean for transatlantic relations?

Washington is watching Sunday's election and, secretly, hoping for a Merkel victory. But the promise of better relations is off-set by areas of potential dispute

Should conservative Angela Merkel sweep to victory in Sunday's elections, it could mean a fresh start for strained US-German relations, according to analysts.

[...]

Merkel, 51, has said that one of her priorities if elected would be mending the poisoned relationship with the United States, while still not sending troops to Iraq. Washington is also interested in her aggressive pro-free market agenda.

[...]

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1711004,00.html

[Nerthus]

German Campaigning -- American-Style

Campaign theme songs, bus tours through the country, campaign call centers -- if these things sound familiar, it's because they are. Welcome to Germany's American-influenced election campaigns.

[...]

"The Americanization of German campaigning is, above all, a professionalization of the campaigns," said Michael Spreng.

[...]

The conservatives' party convention, held on August 21, featured a one and a half hour performance by singers from the musical "Queen" and the arrival of Merkel to raucous cheers and a sea of orange placards bearing the name "Angie," a very un-German nickname given the candidate by her campaign and likely designed to broaden her appeal.

"It was completely new in the party's history," says the official. "Almost the entire party convention was designed with show and television in mind … it was pretty modern for a conservative, white-bread party like ours."

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1712345,00.html

[Nerthus]

Daniel Ziblatt, professor at Harvard in an interview about the view on German elections in America:

I think there's a sense that the Bush administration would prefer that (Christian Democratic Union challenger) Angela Merkel wins. The Bush administration can probably work with anybody, but Merkel wrote in an article for the Washington Post that (Social Democratic Chancellor Gerhard) Schröder doesn't speak for all Germans. I think there is a sense also that the Bush administration would have a slightly freer hand if Merkel were in power, with regard to Iran.

Ah yeah, as if Merkel did speak for all Germans...

[Phlegethon]

She speaks for all Israel, though.

[Menydh]

Merkel's Turkish Delight

Deutsche Welle
August 29, 2005

Chancellor candidate Angela Merkel has renewed her efforts to kibosh Turkey's bid to join the EU. The dangerously misguided campaign exposes the worst side of Germany's conservatives, says DW-WORLD's Marc Young.


Angela Merkel wants to offer Turkey a "privileged partnership"

With a victory by Germany's conservative opposition looking fairly certain when voters go to the polls next month, I've been trying to accentuate the positive.

I've never been convinced that Angela Merkel, the leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU), will be a more zealous reformer than Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has been, but I still hold out hope that the conservatives might be able to shake Germany out of its current economic funk.

I would have no problem with loosening some of the country's job protection measures or lowering non-wage labor costs in an attempt to slash unemployment, as the CDU has occasionally mooted. And at this point, I'm not sure whether Schröder -- even if he managed a surprise comeback win -- would be able to convince his Social Democratic Party (SPD) to back more radical measures to get Europe's largest economy back on track.

But just as I start thinking I can overlook some of the uglier aspects of her party's platform, Merkel decides to step up her campaign against Turkey's attempt eventually to join the European Union. On Friday, Merkel sent a letter to conservative EU heads of state ahead of a Sept. 1 summit. In it she renewed her call for the EU to offer Ankara a downgraded "privileged partnership" instead of full membership.

She wants to raise the issue at the meeting of European conservatives which will take place just before an informal meeting on Thursday of EU foreign ministers, where accession negotiations with Turkey -- expected to open membership negotiations on Oct. 3 -- will be discussed.

Anti-Islamic?

Besides having a nasty whiff of anti-Islamic sentiment -- which is as contemptible as it is misplaced -- the timing of Merkel's initiative smacks of pandering to darker anti-foreigner sentiment simply in order to fish for votes.

Sadly, this isn't the first time we've seen this "fortress Germany" mentality from the Christian Democrats. This is the same party that brought us the horrible Leitkultur debate about how Germany need some sort of guiding Teutonic culture instead of the healthy multiculturalism seen in most western democracies. It is the same vein of German conservatism that is opposed to immigration and refuses to comprehend that German citizenship should be a matter of where someone is born and not whether they have German blood.



The biggest irony, of course, is that Merkel doesn't seem to realize that the moderate Islamic AK party of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is simply a Muslim version of her Christian Democratic Union -- a conservative party with its moral compass rooted in religion.

Merkel and others opposed to Turkey joining the EU contend the country is too large and too poor to become a part of the 25-member bloc, which is already overstretched after its enlargement including most of Eastern Europe last year.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that the EU needs some time to consolidate its recent expansion. However, the current challenges facing Europe are no argument against Turkish membership. First of all, Turkish accession is realistically at least 15 years off. That's a long time and the prospect of eventual membership would be a driving force in pushing along the country's modernization.

The West needs Turkey

In the age of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, Europe -- and the rest of the world -- need Turkey as a prosperous, peaceful and democratic Muslim nation. So long as other Islamic nations are either politically oppressed or outright hostile to western ideals, the worst thing the EU could do is push Turkey away.

It shocks me that Merkel and others opposed to its bid don't seem to realize the potential danger a jilted Turkey could pose as reactionary and anti-reformist forces were strengthened. Does Europe really want a hostile nation supporting an extreme form of Islam at its doorstep?

Clearly, Turkey has a lot of work to do politically, economically and socially before it has a serious chance of joining Europe's elite club. The country must continue to improve its human rights record and it needs to strengthen its protection of minority rights for its large Kurdish population. But engagement by the EU is the best guarantor that the country will continue down the path of reform.


[source]

[Menydh]

Turkish-German Vote Anything But Certain

Deutsche Welle
September 1, 2005

German politicians are busy wooing Turkish-Germans. But, disenchanted with both the conservatives' anti-Turkish rhetoric and the Social Democrats' unpopular reforms, the group is proving politically unpredictable.


Social Democrat Müntefering gets chummy in Kreuzberg

In recent weeks, Kreuzberg -- Berlin's heavily Turkish and alternative district, marked by a laid-back air, entrepreneurial spirit, and the smell of kebabs and lattes -- has been witnessing a burst of activity.


German politicians in a Turkish restaurant in Kreuzberg

As federal elections loom, politicians of all stripes have been dropping in on the colorful neighborhood's numerous small shops and cafés, visiting kindergartens and schools where almost 90 percent of the children are of foreign origin.

Most Kreuzbergers are unfazed by the spectacle.

On a sunny morning this week, Gülcan Aydemir, a housewife and mother of three, who came to Germany from Turkey at the age of four, put her heavy shopping bags down in front of an election poster of Ahmet Iyidirli, the local Social Democratic (SPD) candidate.

"Never seen him before," the 41-year-old said. "It’s the same thing each time. The politicians only think of us Turks when elections are around the corner."

Turkish vote could prove decisive

But politicians do have good reason to woo Turkish-Germans. Of the 2.6 million Turks living in Germany -- the country's biggest group of immigrants -- an estimated 600,000 have been naturalized and are entitled to vote.


Turkish grocers in Cologne

Though that number may seem insignificant in a voting population of about 61.5 million, it is enough to tip the scales when the parties are neck-and-neck at the polls -- as happened during the last elections in 2002.

"We had a really slim majority at the time and the few thousand Turkish-German votes proved very valuable and helped us to win," said Ozan Ceyhun, in charge of organizing a campaign to get the "foreign vote" for Chancellor Schröder's SPD.

SPD traditionally popular

Political preferences among Germany's Turks have been clear-cut so far. The large majority has traditionally voted for the SPD. According to one study, upwards of 65 percent now back the SPD; the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) enjoy support of around 9 percent.

Those political leanings are reflected in the German parliament, which currently has one Turkish-German member each for the SPD and the Green party, but none from the CDU or the free-market liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP).


German Chancellor Schröder, right with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan

Dirk Halm of the Essen-based Center for Turkish Studies traces the SPD's popularity among Germany's Turks to the party's working-class origins.

"The first contact between the SPD and many Turks who came as guest workers to Germany in the 1950s and 60s was through trade unions, and it was a strong political and cultural connection that lasted generations," Halm said.

CDU's Turkey policy not popular

However, the CDU does attract some Turkish-Germans, especially members of the business community, to its ranks. According to some, the party's traditional support of family values and business-friendly policies do have the potential to resonate with the Turkish-German community.

"Most Turks in Germany are very conservative and the CDU would seem to be their natural choice. But the CDU continues to turn them off with its anti-Turkish politics and rhetoric," Özcan Mutlu, a Green party candidate from Kreuzberg and a member of the Berlin state parliament told Spiegel Online.


Angela Merkel is strongly opposed to Turkey's EU bid

This time seems to be no different. The conservatives under the leadership of Angela Merkel have taken a vehement stance against Turkey joining the European Union, offering it a so-called "privileged partnership" instead.

The position has predictably irked and further alienated many Turks in Germany, according to Ozan Ceyhun of the SPD.

"The thinking among Turks is that 'if they (the CDU) don't want my country of origin in the EU, then they don't want me here in Germany either.' It's definitely perceived as discriminatory," Ceyhun said.

Disillusioned by the SPD too

Despite the obvious political preferences, experts warn that Turkish-Germans are far from having made up their minds about which box to check on the ballot on Sept. 18.

Many are said to be disillusioned with the SPD on account of a new regulation in the naturalization law which has led to some 50,000 Turkish-Germans losing their German citizenship.

Hakki Keskin, the first Turkish-born German to be elected to the German parliament and who left the SPD after 30 years and is now campaigning for the fledgling Left Party, said many were also "bitterly disappointed" by the SPD's "neo-liberal" social and economic reforms which have hit poorer Turks.

"The reforms are far removed from the social justice that the SPD is supposed to stand for. I'm not the only one turning away from the party," Keskin said.

Jobs the crunch factor

Disenchantment with both the big mainstream political parties in Germany may have made the Turkish-Germans politically unpredictable this election.

But in the end the crunch issues of jobs and economy will decide the vote, according to some.

"So much has changed since the last general election. Work is the key concern now and the Turkish community is particularly affected by unemployment," said Dirk Halm.

In Kreuzberg, where the jobless rate is more than 20 percent and every third teenager drops out of school, that theory seems to hold especially true.

Mesut Yatci, 22, who works in a travel agency, said he couldn't care less about politics.

"Whether Turkey makes it into the EU or not isn’t important to me," said Yatci, who is of Turkish origin and born in Germany.

"I'll vote for the party that really does something to fight unemployment and create more jobs," he said.


[source]

[Menydh]

Thousands of Turks Barred From Voting

Deutsche Welle
September 17, 2005

More than 20,000 Turks who have become German citizens will not be able to vote in Sunday's general election because they still have a Turkish passport, officials said, even as parties scrambled to woo the community.


Many Turks will be disenfranchised this time round

Under German law, citizens may only carry a German passport. Holding dual nationality automatically disqualifies a person from German citizenship and thus the right to vote. The only exceptions are when the second passport is from another European Union country or if a citizen has obtained special permission.

The interior ministries of Germany's 16 states said this week that nearly 20,500 of the some 600,000 Turkish-German voters were affected by the new rules passed by parliament five years ago and would not be able to vote Sunday.

But Turkish associations in Germany said the figure could be as high as 50,000 nationwide.

Kenan Kolat, vice president of the Turkish Community in Germany said many Turks had been completely ignorant of the regulation and weren't aware that the Turkish consulates in Germany had continued to register them as "Turkish nationals" after they had acquired German passports.

But interior ministries in several German states are not buying the argument, stressing that Turks who were naturalized, were aware they couldn't take on dual citizenship.

In the conservative-led southern state of Bavaria alone, some 6,700 Turkish-Germans were believed to have two passports.

"Those who vote anyway will be breaking the law," state Interior Minister Günther Beckstein said.

Turkish vote important for Schröder


German politicians attempt to woo Turkish-German voters in Kreuzberg, Berlin

With polls showing a tight race, the Turkish vote has emerged as a potentially important factor, particularly for Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's Social Democrats (SPD) and their coalition partners, the Greens. Germany's Turks have traditionally been loyal to Schröder's party.

Though the number of Turkish voters may seem insignificant in an overall voting population of around 62 million, the Turkish-German vote could prove crucial in the event of a close electoral outcome. In the last election in 2002, Turkish votes came in handy when just 6,027 votes saved Schröder from defeat.

It's little surprise then that Schröder -- whose Social Democrats are strong backers of Ankara's bid to join the European Union -- has been actively wooing the Turkish-German community in the weeks leading up to the election.

This week Schröder visited the publishing house of Hürriyet, one of the Turkish-German community's most influential newspapers, praising Turks' contribution to German society and stressing the importance of bringing Turkey into the EU.

Reflecting the SPD's attempts to attract Turkish-German votes, Germany's top-selling newspaper, Bild, this week splashed a photo of Schröder speaking beneath a giant Turkish flag and asked "Will Turks decide the election?"

A survey released by Hürriyet showed that 77 percent of Turkish-Germans plan to vote for the Social Democrats against just 4.8 percent for Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats, who have firmly ruled out accepting Turkey in the EU and offered it a so-called "privileged partnership" instead.

The Greens tallied 9.2 percent versus 7.8 percent for the Left Party, a new alliance comprising disgruntled Social Democrats and former communists. The free-market liberal FDP, Merkel's preferred coalition partners, polled 1.2 percent.



[source]