{"id":9227,"date":"2017-11-21T08:48:03","date_gmt":"2017-11-21T08:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=9227"},"modified":"2017-11-21T09:06:43","modified_gmt":"2017-11-21T09:06:43","slug":"formation-talks-failed-whats-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/formation-talks-failed-whats-next\/","title":{"rendered":"Formation Talks Failed – What’s Next?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Germany held elections earlier this year. Four parties came out on top and started talks to form a coalition to govern with a majority. However, just last weekend, those talks were ended – unprecedented in the quite stable political climate of the\u00a0Bundesrepublik\u00a0<\/em>Deutschland\u00a0<\/em>(Federal Republic of Germany). So, let’s have a closer look and scoop up some vocabulary on the way!<\/p>\n

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Can Merkel pull off Jamaica? (Image from Pixabay)<\/p><\/div>\n

How do elections work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

About two months ago, at the end of September, the results of the\u00a0Bundestagswahl\u00a0<\/em>(Parliamentary Elections) were announced. From the elected parties, a\u00a0Regierung\u00a0<\/em>has to be formed. Since there are many different\u00a0Parteien\u00a0<\/em>(parties), it is unlikely that one party will come out on top with a\u00a0Mehrheit\u00a0<\/em>(majority) of the\u00a0Stimmen\u00a0<\/em>(votes), and therefore with a\u00a0Mehrheit\u00a0<\/em>of\u00a0total\u00a0Abgeordnete\u00a0<\/em>(representatives) in the\u00a0Bundestag\u00a0<\/em>(Germany’s Second Parliamentary Chamber).<\/p>\n

Who won?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Ergebnis<\/em> (result) of the Bundestagswahl<\/em> 2017: Die Linke<\/em> (purple): 69 seats; SPD (red): 153 seats; Die Gr\u00fcnen<\/em> (green): 67 seats; FDP (yellow): 80 seats; CDU (black): 200 seats; CSU (dark blue): 46 seats; AfD (light blue): 94 seats. A total of 709 seats. (Image from Commons.wikimedia.org).<\/p><\/div>\n

CDU\/CSU, the right-centered party came out on top. Their color is black, so they are also called Schwarz\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0die Schwarzen<\/em>. Since it is a union of the party CDU, spread throughout Germany, and the party CSU, represented only in Bayern\u00a0<\/em>(Bavaria), CDU\/CSU is also known as\u00a0die Union\u00a0<\/em>(the Union), or just\u00a0Union<\/em>. The CDU is also\u00a0the party of\u00a0Bundeskanzlerin\u00a0<\/em>(Federal Chancellor) Angela Merkel.<\/p>\n

The second largest party was\u00a0SPD, the social-democratic party in Germany, typically left-centered. They are also called die Roten <\/em>(the reds), because their color is red.\u00a0Traditionally, it has been the worker’s party. Their new\u00a0Spitzenkandidat\u00a0<\/em>(“top candidate”, front runner) was Martin Schulz, who had been president of the European Parliament for a long time. The SPD had not done very well in recent years, and Schulz entering the\u00a0Kampagne\u00a0<\/em>(campaign) led to many new members, also young people. However, it was not enough to win, and they became the second largest party.<\/p>\n

These two large parties were followed by four smaller parties:\u00a0Die Linke\u00a0<\/em>(The Left, purple),\u00a0Die Gr\u00fcnen\u00a0<\/em>(The Greens, green),\u00a0FDP\u00a0<\/em>(The Liberals, yellow) and\u00a0AfD\u00a0<\/em>(Alternative for Germany, blue). Of these four parties,\u00a0Die Linke\u00a0<\/em>leans most left,\u00a0AfD\u00a0<\/em>most right, and the\u00a0Gr\u00fcnen\u00a0<\/em>are a bit more left than the SPD, while the FDP is a bit more right than the Union.<\/p>\n

Forming the Koalition<\/em><\/h2>\n
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Merkel with Obama in Hannover in 2016 (Image by WDKrause at Commons.wikimedia.org under license CC BY SA 4.0).<\/p><\/div>\n

Well, in order to have an effective\u00a0Regierung<\/em>, you want a\u00a0Mehrheit\u00a0<\/em>(majority). This is why parties work together in a\u00a0Koalition\u00a0<\/em>(coalition). They write up a\u00a0Koalitionsvertrag\u00a0<\/em>(coalition agreement), which contains compromises on the goals agreed upon by the parties in the\u00a0Koalition.\u00a0<\/em>Of course, it is easier to make a\u00a0Koalition\u00a0<\/em>with a party that shares many viewpoints with your own party, and this is why an often seen\u00a0Koalition\u00a0<\/em>in Germany is between\u00a0Union\u00a0<\/em>and SPD. Just those two parties usually hold more than 50% of the\u00a0Stimmen\u00a0<\/em>(votes), and so that is quite feasible. In fact, the current\u00a0Bundesregierung\u00a0<\/em>(Federal Government) is made up of a coalition between Union\/SPD. Such a\u00a0Koalition\u00a0<\/em>between the two parties with the strongest\u00a0Mandat\u00a0<\/em>(mandate) is also known as the\u00a0Gro\u00dfe Koalition\u00a0<\/em>(Great Coalition), or short:\u00a0GroKo<\/em>.<\/p>\n

However, after the\u00a0Ergebnis\u00a0<\/em>of the\u00a0Bundestagswahl\u00a0<\/em>was announced, the strongest party, the CDU, has to form a Koalition<\/em>. Since Angela Merkel is the leader of the CDU, she is in charge of forming the Koalition<\/em>. Since CDU and CSU practically work together, they are always part of the same\u00a0Koalition<\/em>, however they also make compromises between each other in the\u00a0Koalitionsvertrag<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The SPD announced that it wanted to be\u00a0Oppositionsf\u00fchrer\u00a0<\/em>(opposition leader), and so did not want to participate in the\u00a0Sondierungen\u00a0<\/em>(“explorative” talks between the Parteien\u00a0<\/i>interested in a Koalition<\/em>).<\/p>\n

So what could Merkel do? The\u00a0AfD\u00a0<\/em>is too far right, it is not considered a feasible partner in a\u00a0Regierung<\/em>.\u00a0Die Linke\u00a0<\/em>is similarly too far on the left.\u00a0So\u00a0the rather moderate\u00a0Gr\u00fcnen\u00a0<\/em>and FDP are left.<\/p>\n

And that is how the\u00a0Sondierungen\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0between\u00a0Schwarz<\/em>,\u00a0Gr\u00fcn\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Gelb\u00a0<\/em>(yellow) started. Because of the colors of these three (technically four – CDU\/CSU, Greens, FDP) parties, such a\u00a0Koalition\u00a0<\/em>is also called\u00a0Jamaika-Koalition\u00a0<\/em>(Jamaica Coalition), because they are the same colors as the Jamaican flag. They could form a\u00a0Mehrheit\u00a0<\/em>together.<\/p>\n

It is actually quite interesting to figure out different possible party constellations for a\u00a0Koalition<\/em>. Check out this website<\/a> that allows you to put different ones together.<\/p>\n

So what happened?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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The Jamaican Flag (Image from Commons.wikimedia.org)<\/p><\/div>\n

Something unprecedented: The\u00a0Sondierungen\u00a0<\/em>failed on Sunday. The FDP under\u00a0Parteif\u00fchrer\u00a0<\/em>(party leader) Christian Lindner pulled the plug. They felt a lack of Vertrauen\u00a0<\/em>(trust) toward the other three parties.<\/p>\n

That a\u00a0Koalition\u00a0<\/em>could not be formed is completely new ground in the otherwise rather stable German political landscape. So what’s next?<\/p>\n

Neuwahlen<\/em><\/h2>\n
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Will there be Neuwahlen<\/em>? (Image by Arnaud Jaegers at Unsplash.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

Different possibilities and consequences are put forward. Is it the\u00a0politisches Aus\u00a0<\/em>(political end) for Angela Merkel, who failed to bring the\u00a0Parteien\u00a0<\/em>together? Does it mean that the SPD has to turn around and do consider a\u00a0Koalition<\/em>? Or will the FDP come around? Does a\u00a0Minderheitsregierung\u00a0<\/em>(minority government) work?\u00a0Or does it mean…\u00a0Neuwahlen\u00a0<\/em>(new elections)?<\/p>\n

By some, Merkel is held verantwortlich\u00a0<\/em>(responsible) for the failure. She\u00a0already stated that she wants to try and still make it happen, and she would like to run again, it seems, if\u00a0Neuwahlen\u00a0<\/em>would happen. She also prefers\u00a0Neuwahlen <\/em>over a\u00a0Minderheitsregierung<\/em>.\u00a0However, she has been at the helm of Germany since 2005. It could well be that the CDU\/CSU wants a fresh wind.<\/p>\n

The SPD reacted and said that they are willing to talk, but have not changed their mind on being in the\u00a0Opposition<\/em>. Schulz did say that they think Neuwahlen\u00a0<\/em>would be a good idea.\u00a0They feel like they did not get the\u00a0Mandat\u00a0<\/em>from the people to govern.<\/p>\n

Neuwahlen\u00a0<\/em>are a serious possibility.\u00a0Die Linke<\/em>,\u00a0AfD<\/em>,\u00a0SPD\u00a0<\/em>and even\u00a0Merkel\u00a0<\/em>do not think that it is a bad idea.\u00a0However, it would take\u00a0Monate\u00a0<\/em>(months) before those could be organized. It also means that all\u00a0Parteien\u00a0<\/em>would have to return to the campaign trail, which can all be quite disruptive for German Politik <\/em>(politics) and its\u00a0Wirtschaft\u00a0<\/em>(economy).<\/p>\n

Whatever happens, it is an interesting time to follow German news and politics!<\/p>\n

What do you think will happen? What would you like to happen? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Germany held elections earlier this year. Four parties came out on top and started talks to form a coalition to govern with a majority. However, just last weekend, those talks were ended – unprecedented in the quite stable political climate of the\u00a0Bundesrepublik\u00a0Deutschland\u00a0(Federal Republic of Germany). So, let’s have a closer look and scoop up some…<\/p>\n

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