Analysis: German vote inconclusive
Actually it's a conclusive win for the interests of business and the neo-con agenda.
Since the SPD the Social Democrats will have nothing to do with the Party of the Left, the only party besides the bosses party the FDP to gain in votes, neo-conservative reforms in Germany are the reality either coalition government will have to face. Workers are the losers in this election. Period.
Regardless of who makes up the coalition government. Its a move to the right.
German election brings political uncertainty
Theoretically there are now four possible coalitions, but all the four will realistically be very difficult.
-- Red-Green-Yellow: The current SPD-Green government set up a traffic-light with the FDP. But the FDP has rejected cooperation with the SPD-Green alliance.
-- Red-Red-Green: the SPD-Green cooperate with the Left Party. Schroeder ruled out a coalition with the party composed of former eastern German communists and renegade Social Democrats.
-- Black-Yellow-Green: The CDU/CSU and FDP alliance will form a government with the Green Party, which is now a ruling party with the SPD.
-- Grand coalition: The CDU/CSU and the SPD would sit together to form an absolute solid majority. Many pollsters said prior to the voting that such a coalition could be the outcome.
The fact that these same reforms have occured over a decade ago in North America, shows that social democratic governments in Europe are only good for slowing the inevitable. Not challenging it. So its a simple case of brutal cuts versus massive cuts, as the slogan of the Liberals in the provincial election in Alberta in 1993 was.
Germany's FDP Scores Best Election Result Since Reunification
Germany's pro-business Free Democratic Party, out of power since 1998, yesterday scored its best election result since the country's reunification 15 years ago. The success of the FDP, the only major grouping to gain votes in yesterday's election apart from the post-communist Left Party, may increase its influence in any coalition negotiations. German opposition leader Angela Merkel and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder each claimed the right to lead the government after an inconclusive election result. Merkel's Christian Democrats beat Schroeder's Social Democrats by 35.2 percent to 34.3 percent. Either party would need the FDP's support in any government except a ``grand coalition'' of CDU and SPD. ``I think a coalition of the CDU, the FDP and the Greens is likely,'' said Thorsten Polleit, an economist at Barclays Capital in Frankfurt, in an interview. ``The Greens as the party that may tip the scales would have an incentive to agree to that as otherwise they would be forced into opposition. The CDU will try by any means to avert a grand coalition.''
Germany's three main business lobby groups had backed a CDU- FDP administration, including the BDI industry federation, which represents 107,000 of the country's biggest companies including Siemens AG and DaimlerChrysler AG. BDI President Juergen Thumann said a grand coalition would ``lead to paralysis.'' ``A coalition of the CDU, the FDP and the Greens would be a more effective coalition than a grand coalition, but less effective than a coalition of the CDU and the FDP alone,'' Barclays' Polleit said.
The FDP wants to freeze pension contributions, force people to spend more on providing for their retirement, privatize the state-controlled health-insurance system and provide a choice between different health-insurance packages.
Captains of industry fret about reform stagnation
Chief executives had pinned their hopes on a Christian Democrat-led government under Angela Merkel to renew Germany's confidence and reinforce the reform process started by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
Yep whats good for workers in North America and Britain is good for workers in Germany and France and the rest of the European Union. Same prescription which only guarntees short term gain for long term pain as we have found out here. But what it will do is weaken the unions and their party giving genuine working class struggle and self organization a chance to come to birth in the fight against this class war agenda of business. Tis the end of the social contract and tripartiism in Germany, which while harsh will be a good thing for the international workers movement.
And finally the Truth is out about the Green Party, like its counterpart in Canada it is a right wing populist party, more interested in appealing to the small shop keeper, farmer and university student, than to the industrial workering class and mass proletarian working class. If they join the CDU and FPD coalition government their opportunist politics will finally doom what is just another phoney political party of the bosses.
German Vote Split, Parties Seek Coalition
Battles over trimming cradle-to-grave benefits have engulfed legislatures across Europe, including France and Italy, which recently imposed unpopular cuts in social and labor programs.
Corporations are demanding less government. In Germany, for example, nearly two-thirds of the $233 billion in annual tax revenue funds social entitlements.
"It's high time to bring all those unemployed lazybones and enlist them into something useful instead of the state just feeding them," said Katrin Link, a saleswoman in a tobacco shop who voted for the CDU. "There are too many people who just don't want to work and still they get by wonderfully."
Liberals' success leaves bitter taste
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: September 19 2005
Fiancial Times
Germany's liberal Free Democrats last night faced the bitter prospect of another four years on the opposition benches, despite securing their best result in 15 years.
If, as appears likely, the CDU/CSU and SPD form a grand coalition, the liberals, who were junior partners with chancellor Helmut Kohl's CDU from 1982 to 1998, will have to satisfy themselves with being the largest opposition party in parliament.
Pollsters said the FDP had won votes from the CDU. Conservative voters, believing Angela Merkel's party would win, gave their second votes to the market-friendly FDP. Some conservative voters uneasy with Ms Merkel could also have given votes to the party, some CDU members acknowledged last night.
Despite the strong showing, the result is a blow for Guido Westerwelle, the FDP leader, who also failed at the election in 2002 to return his party to government.
FDP leaders last night ruled out entering talks with the SPD and Greens on forming a three-way coalition.
Another winner among the smaller parties was the ex-communist Left party, formerly the Party of Democratic Socialism. It is to return to the lower house of parliament with a fully-fledged parliamentary group - since 2002 the party has had two parliamentary seats, not enough to qualify as a parliamentary group.
The party's success is partly due to Oskar Lafontaine. The former finance minister and SPD chairman abandoned Gerhard Schröder's government in 1999 and in May announced that he would support the Left party as a representative of a group of SPD dissidents set up last year.
After seven years in government, the environmental Greens said last night they were ready to join the opposition, and expressed relief the party's support was almost unchanged compared with 2002.
They ruled out entering a coalition with the CDU and FDP.
Joschka Fischer, foreign minister, is likely to become leader of the Greens' parliamentary group.
Analysts said the Greens would face internal battles over the party's direction
