Four more years: Merkel re-elected

[Valmy]

It looked for a while as if Merkel might gain more than half the seats in parliament, but it turns out she's 20 shy. She can now pick her coalition partner from Greens or SPD (with the SPD being much more likely), though I guess theoretically a minority government might work just as well.

Any particular reason the Greens/SPD/The Left people couldn't form a government?  Are the Socialists too establishement for the Greens and do not praise the memory of Erich Honecker enough for the ex-Commies?

[Syt]

It looked for a while as if Merkel might gain more than half the seats in parliament, but it turns out she's 20 shy. She can now pick her coalition partner from Greens or SPD (with the SPD being much more likely), though I guess theoretically a minority government might work just as well.

Any particular reason the Greens/SPD/The Left people couldn't form a government?  Are the Socialists too establishement for the Greens and do not praise the memory of Erich Honecker enough for the ex-Commies?

I think no one wants to go with The Left - they still carry the stigma of being the heirs of the SED, and they're too left/state socialist for the other parties.

[Syt]

Btw, a map showing where The Left gets their votes:



And two maps, showing which party won the direct mandate (left) and the party vote (right) - you have two votes; one for a direct candidate, one for a party list.

[Syt]

Comment by a guy in the German politics thread in the German forum on P'dox: "Now there's only social democrat/leftist parties left in parliament. I wonder where this will lead."

[Valmy]

Comment by a guy in the German politics thread in the German forum on P'dox: "Now there's only social democrat/leftist parties left in parliament. I wonder where this will lead."

Well they are the Christian Democrats and everybody knows Jesus was a socialist.

[Eddie Teach]

Give unto Caesar anything he wants.

[Agelastus]

The FDP is not in parliament for the first time in post-war Germany. It's not surprising; over the past decades it had become little more than an annex of the CDU on a federal level and, since the 90s, ruled out coalitions with anyone else.

Why is it not surprising? To an outsider simply looking at previous election results it's very surprising - they've gone from their highest ever vote share in 2009 to their lowest ever in 2013.

How did they fuck up that badly over the last four years?

[Malicious Intent]

The FDP relies very much on votes "loaned" by CDU voters. In 2009, there was a massive boost to the number of these votes to end the coalition between CDU and SPD.

Even the current abysmal showing of the FDP does not properly reflect their true clientel. Polls showed, that only 40% of the FDP votes actuelly came from true FDP supporters. 55% came from the CDU, 5% from supportes of various other parties.

[Syt]

It's a classic "secondary vote party" in many of the recent elections, where you have a party you want to be in power, but don't want them without a coalition partner, so you cast your primary vote on your preferred party, and the secondary to the one you would like to see in coalition with them.

[Ed Anger]

If only Merkel would smash the Poles. 

[CountDeMoney]

Btw, a map showing where The Left gets their votes:

Unified Germany maps still give me the heebie-jeebies.  GET IT HEEBIES ITS A GAG SON

[frunk]

Now I feel like playing Die Macher.

[KRonn]

Good for Merkel, well deserved.  I was hoping she'd win, though she won't get the coalition she wanted.

[derspiess]

I do like the black map color for the Christian Democrats.

[The Minsky Moment]

Comment by a guy in the German politics thread in the German forum on P'dox: "Now there's only social democrat/leftist parties left in parliament. I wonder where this will lead."

The SPD hasn't been a social democratic party in years.