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By Election Blog
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Monday, 19 September 2005 |
Jamaica, the traffic light, or a grand coalition - each of these is a feasible outcome of Germany's federal elections. Though his governing coalition was clearly voted out of office, Gerhard Schröder boldly claims to remain chancellor.
 Shortly before six o'clock anchorman Jörg Schönenborn heralded a surprising result: With 35.2% the CDU has failed to bring about the promised change. Contrary to earlier predictions her party actually lost 3.3% of its share in 2002. The unexpected yet also unlucky winners of the evening are the Liberals, who earned 9.8%.
Neither of the two most likely blocks, Union/FDP and SPD/Greens, managed to get a sufficient number of seats in the Bundestag. Several other options are thus on the table. A combination of Blacks, Yellow, and Greens, affectively called Jamaica coalition, and the SPD/FDP/Greens traffic light are less probable. Liberal leader Westerwelle declared his FDP is not open for such coalitions and seems unlikely to change his mind in the next few days.
Another possibility, the so-called majority on the left, has likewise been ruled out. Neither SPD nor Greens want to engage with the new Left party, which earned 8.7%. Therefore a grand coalition is looming large. Despite his SPD being the biggest loser (down 4.3% to 34.3%) Gerhard Schröder quickly moved to claim the chancellery. In a more than odd talk show performance he predicted Ms. Merkel will not be able to form a coalition and lead the next government.
 About 25 IUB students gathered to witness these events on two screens in the Mercator TV room. Cheering upon first hearing the meager CDU results, they anxiously followed all ensuing analyses, predictions, and interviews. The meaning of this outcome was hotly debated, but remains unclear up to this point.
Sebastian Hirsch |
