Germans Vote in Cliffhanger Election

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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It looks like it is going to go right down to the wire? Will Germans opt for a rightward leap, like some other countries in Europe?

Germans Vote in Cliffhanger Election

Germans voted Sunday in a closely fought general election that is crucial for reviving Europe’s sluggish lead economy, its role in any Iraq war and a developing crisis in relations with the United States. In one of the closest elections in post-war German history, voters face the dilemma of liking charismatic center-left Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, but feeling dissatisfied with his Social Democrat party (SPD) and spiraling unemployment.

Schroeder’s conservative challenger, austere Bavarian state premier Edmund Stoiber, is far less popular, but opinion polls show his party is seen as a more capable manager of the economy. Final opinion polls have shown Schroeder’s SPD clinging to a slim lead over the conservatives but it is far from certain whether the SPD and junior coalition partners, the Greens of Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, will be able to stay in power. Polls opened with rain and heavy clouds over much of the country. They close at 6 p.m. (noon EDT) when first exit polls will be published.

Stoiber was the first of the chancellor candidates to vote, arriving in blazer and red-and-white striped tie and accompanied by his wife in his hometown Wolfratshausen, south of Munich. Schroeder arrived some hours later at a polling booth in Hanover, also with his wife and similar-colored tie.

“POISONED” U.S. RELATIONS

Schroeder’s opposition to a U.S. war in Iraq has dominated the final run-in. Along with his deft handling of floods that devastated parts of Germany last month, it has helped his party narrow the conservatives’ lead. However, the strategy, which critics say is devised to distract attention from unemployment, has strained relations with the United States. His justice minister, Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, stoked U.S. fury with alleged remarks – which she denied – likening George W. Bush’s stance on Iraq to Hitler’s use of foreign policy to hide domestic woes.

Bush’s national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said that U.S-German relations, already strained, had been “poisoned.” It was unclear what impact, if any, the last-minute furor would have on Sunday’s result.

COMMUNISTS KEY

The future of Europe’s largest economy will depend on the performance of the smaller parties – especially the reformed communists, successors to the party that built the Berlin Wall, whose crumbling support threatens their future in parliament. If the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) does win seats it could prevent a combination of the other parties – center-left SPD and Greens or center-right CDU/CSU and liberal Free Democrats – from forming a working majority. Germany may then have to form a grand coalition of SPD and conservatives for the first time since 1969.

Amid rain in the German capital, a mixture of mostly pensioners and joggers steadily streamed into polling stations. “It’s been a very interesting campaign with real clashes between the parties. I think turnout will be very high. This is a vital area for the PDS and I think they could do it,” said saleswoman Karin Vahl, 53, in one marginal Berlin district. Some 61.2 million people are eligible to vote and a huge postal vote suggested voter turnout would be a record since German reunification in 1990. Interest has been fueled by unprecedented TV debates in a campaign that has focused heavily on the personalities. Neither candidate has dared risk losing votes by pledging painful welfare and health care cutbacks economists see as vital to stop Germany becoming as chronically stagnant as Japan.

The promises have been surprisingly similar, focusing on modest labor market reforms. Both oppose turning Germany into a U.S. style “hire and fire” economy. Stoiber, who would be the first Bavarian ever to be elected chancellor if he wins, has pointed to his record of managing his wealthy southern state, where unemployment is just over half the national average of about 10 percent. He has highlighted Schroeder’s failure to honor a pledge to cut unemployment to below 3.5 million.

Differences on foreign policy are more marked, with Stoiber refusing to rule out German involvement in a U.N.-backed attack on Iraq, promising an end to Europe-bashing and planning closer Franco-German ties that cooled under Schroeder.

Schroeder’s position on Iraq has proved popular in a nation with a strong pacifist streak after its violent history.

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The polls have closed, but it seems its neck and neck and going down to the wire.

German Elections Too Close to Call

Projections by three television networks combining exit polls with early returns collected at key polling stations showed a slight lead for two Christian Democratic parties led by Stoiber, with about 39 percent, to about 38 percent for Schroeder’s Social Democrats. The first official government returns were expected after 6 p.m. EDT. The Greens, in coalition with the Social Democrats for the last four years, was polling at about 9 percent — which could be decisive in helping Schroeder stay in power. Early returns showed the liberal Free Democrats, Stoiber’s likely coalition partner, polling at 7 percent.

According to ZDF public television, the Social Democrats and Greens would win 300 seats to 297 for the Christian Democrats with their likely coalition partner, the liberal Free Democrats. Similarly, n-tv private television, using projections from the Forsa polling agency, gave 303 seats to a Social Democratic-Green coalition and 295 seats to the challengers. However, another public TV station, ARD, projected the seat distribution at 302 for Stoiber’s likely coalition and 296 for Schroeder’s.

Neither chancellor candidates showed any signs of conceding.

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True tis a intense battle. I wonder who will win. Either way it has very little difference over all. It is like the US elections, the parties are so similar there is really no difference. All parties now are Center, even though they say they are center right or center left. They stand on middle ground. Like Stoiber followed on the no Iraq plan of Schorder. There is no difference between the two. You vote on parties lines.

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Won by a slim majority.

Schroeder wins German election, BBC, 23 September 2002

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s Red-Green coalition has won the general elections with a razor-thin majority, after a night of drama which earlier saw his conservative opponent claiming the victory. Mr Schroeder and Green Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer made a triumphant appearance in front of the Social Democrat (SPD) faithful as results began to indicate the team had secured a new four-year term.

“We have hard times in front of us and we’re going to make it together,” Mr Schroeder said. Latest results from ARD television give them an 11-seat majority in the parliament, or Bundestag, with a total of 305 seats.

Conservative challenger, Edmund Stoiber, has indirectly conceded he will not be forming a government. “If we can’t form this government, the Schroeder government will only be able to govern for a very, very short time,” he said.

Earlier, he had claimed victory for his CDU/CSU alliance, with a large leap forward from 1998’s devastating defeat, but it now looks that he will not make it into power. “One thing is clear - the CDU/CSU has won the election… it is the strongest party,” he said in his first post-poll comments at his campaign headquarters in Berlin.

He has now returned to his home region of Bavaria where he was given a hero’s welcome and he praised the CSU’s “fantastic contribution” to the conservative vote. But as results came in, Mr Stoiber’s initial lead dropped away. He now stands neck and neck with the SPD with 38.5% of the vote and, according to current prognoses, will not be the largest party in parliament.

Meanwhile, Mr Schroeder’s smile has been growing wider over the course of the evening. In his first public appearance after the polls closed, a subdued Mr Schroeder told his supporters to keep their fingers crossed. “Sometimes those who celebrate early are celebrating too early,” he said presciently.

Later, he joked with Mr Fischer about their plans for the coming term. Correspondents say the Red-Green coalition faces at best a much reduced majority, whereas the centre-right has, if nothing else, made a big comeback after its humiliation in a party-funding scandal four years ago.

The nailbiting finish came after an election campaign, dominated in its closing stages by divisions over the US’s planned military action towards Iraq, and accusations from Mr Stoiber that his rival’s anti-war rhetoric was damaging relations with Washington. BBC Berlin correspondent Rob Broomby says that if Mr Schroeder is spared the fate of being the first chancellor since the war to fail to be re-elected, he has the Greens to thank for it. They performed better than expected, leading the FDP by more than 1%, and compensating for the SPD’s shortfall of less than 1%in its duel with the Christian Democrats.

The co-leader of the Green Party, Claudia Roth, said: “We are hugely, hugely happy.” Another party leader, Fritz Kuhn, said the SPD would have to take into account the Greens’ increased strength in any future government. FDP leader Guido Westerwelle said: “We all feel that this is a disappointing election night for us.” The party is thought to have suffered when, in the final days of the campaign, deputy leader Juergen Moellemann attacked the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, prompting accusations of anti-semitism.

Even before the polls closed, the party leadership asked for Mr Moellemann’s resignation. Mr Stoiber said were it not for the FDP’s result, his party might easily have formed a government.

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Not being an expert in German politics; can someone please tell me what these results mean in terms of recent Immigrants in Germany & Germany's relationship with the US?