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Merkel Narrowly Leads Schroeder in German Elections

 
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Rasker



Joined: 03 Feb 2005
Posts: 1455
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:01 pm    Post subject: Merkel Narrowly Leads Schroeder in German Elections Reply with quote

Likely Outcome would be either a 'grand coalition' between CDU and SPD which stands for nothing, but perhaps a bit more 'pro regime change' in Iran, or a CDU/FD/Green coalition, the Greens being more pro human rights-democracy activists, but much more against any military option in Iran, in my opinion.

Merkel Defeats Schroeder in German Elections
Sunday, September 18, 2005

German Election May Revive U.S. Relations

BERLIN — Conservative challenger Angela Merkel (search) won the most votes in German elections Sunday, according to official results, but fell short of a clear mandate to govern as Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (search) staged a dramatic comeback and proclaimed that he should head the next government.

The inconclusive results made it likely that Germany's next government could be weakened because of the narrow vote margin and difficulties in forming a coalition.

The vote centered on different visions of Germany's role in the world and how to fix its sputtering economy. Schroeder touted the country's role as a European leader and counterbalance to America, while Merkel pledged to reform the economy and strengthen relations with Washington.

Merkel's Christian Democrats (search) failed to win the majority needed to govern, even when combined with her preferred coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats.

The Christian Democrats and ally Christian Social Union won 35.2 percent of the vote, compared with 34.3 percent for the Social Democrats, according to the official results. Schroeder's coalition partner, the Greens, won 8.1 percent. The pro-business Free Democrats, with whom Merkel had hoped to form a center-right government, had 9.8 percent. The new Left Party, angered by Schroeder's efforts to trim the welfare state, had 8.7 percent.


The result reflected counting in 298 of 299 districts; voting in the final district, in the eastern city of Dresden, has been delayed until Oct. 2 because of the death of a candidate.

Germany's election authority did not immediately say how the results would translate into parliamentary seats. Turnout was 77.7 percent.

Supporters at Merkel headquarters were subdued after the party's poor performance. The Christian Democrats consistently polled above 40 percent during the campaign, with surveys giving it a double-digit lead.

If Merkel is to become Germany's first female chancellor, she has to find a coalition partner that would force her to water down plans to shake up the sluggish economy, Europe's biggest.

One leading possibility: a linkup between her Christian Democrats and Schroeder's Social Democrats, viewed by some as a recipe for paralysis in a country plagued by 11.4 percent unemployment.

The unclear result opened a scramble among the parties to see who could come up with a majority.

Schroeder, written off as a lame duck a few weeks ago, refused to concede defeat, saying he could still theoretically remain in power if talks with other parties were successful.

"I feel myself confirmed in ensuring on behalf of our country that there is in the next four years a stable government under my leadership," he said to cheering supporters at party headquarters, flashing the thumbs-up signal and holding his arms aloft like a victorious prizefighter.

But Merkel claimed a mandate from voters to form a new coalition government. Voters were choosing lawmakers for the 598-seat lower house of parliament, which elects the chancellor to head the government.

"What is important now is to form a stable government for the people in Germany, and we ... quite clearly have the mandate to do that," she said.

The result was a big comedown for Merkel, who smiled but twisted her fingers in apparent agitation as she argued that she had a mandate to be the next chancellor. A grinning Schroeder said the apparent outcome marked a failure for Merkel.

Both Merkel and Schroeder said they would talk to all parties except the Left Party. Free Democrats leader Guido Westerwelle said his party would not work with the current government pair, the Social Democrats and Greens.

Schroeder's performance was a reminder of the 2002 vote, when he came from behind to narrowly win re-election after his vociferous opposition to the war in Iraq received public approval.

A turning point was Schroeder's performance in their only head-to-head debate Sept. 4. He hammered her tax adviser, Paul Kirchhof, for having proposed a 25-percent flat tax, even though that is not part of Merkel's program.

Merkel also was hurt by a campaign gaffe by Edmund Stoiber, leader of the Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union. Stoiber disparaged voters in the economically struggling former East Germany, saying he did not want the "frustrated" east to decide the result.

Now, Merkel's plans to make it easier for small companies to fire people, cut payroll taxes and let companies opt out of regional wage bargaining agreements seem much farther away. Her foreign policy plans — among them, to oppose Turkish membership of the European Union — also were up in the air.

Juergen Thumann, head of the Federation of Germany Industry, said the result was "bitterly disappointing."

"This will making governing much more difficult," he said on N-TV television.

Schroeder defiantly taunted Merkel in a joint television appearance Sunday night, saying she would not receive the post of chancellor in any deal with the Social Democrats.

"If Mrs. Merkel manages to form a coalition with the Free Democrats and Greens, I can say nothing against it," Schroeder said. "But she will not win a coalition under her leadership with my Social Democratic Party."

Asked if he would be chancellor in a left-right coalition, Schroeder answered, "How else would it work?"

If the new parliament cannot elect a chancellor in three attempts, President Horst Koehler could appoint a minority government led by the candidate with a simple majority.

ZDF projected the following division of seats: Christian Democrats, 217; Social Democrats, 213; Free Democrats, 63; Left Party, 54; and Greens, 51. More seats can be added to the lower house of parliament in Germany's system of proportional representation.

Other possibilities were an all-left government of Social Democrats, Greens and the Left Party, but a Left Party leader, Oskar Lafontaine, ruled out joining such a coalition.

Another possibility would be the Christian Democrats, the Greens and the Free Democrats.
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