The Follow-up

Smudged election poster

Ministerpräsident (governor) Mappus got the nuke issue right in his face. Last Sunday, Fukushima in distant Japan decided the state elections in Baden-Württemberg with the Greens more than doubling their votes.

Distribution of seats in the state assembly. In percentage: Christian Democrats 39.0%,
Greens 24.2%, Social Democrats 23.1%, and Liberals 5.3%

Look at the new distribution of seats in Baden-Württemberg's state assembly. Not only did many base voters switch to green, but people who had never cast their votes in the past put their ballot paper into the box. The turnout of voters in 2011 was 66.2% compared to 53.4% in 2006. Note that the Liberals, with 5.3%, had nearly missed their entry into the legislature, a fate that happened to the right and left-wing parties, for they missed the minimum quorum of 5% of the votes necessary to be presented in the state assembly.

The intention of the Social Democrats had been to form a coalition with the Greens to oust the present black-yellow government. However, the Greens having more than doubled their seats and gained one more than the Reds, will form a green-red government with their leader becoming the new Ministerpräsident.

Suddenly the existing schedule for phasing out nuclear power in Germany in the coming years without jeopardizing our electrical supply is questioned. Even the past pro-nuke Liberals now try to jump on the "Abandon Nuclear" bandwagon. And there are those for whom Angst transforms into a panic when they demand: Stop all nuclear power stations now!

Will they still be satisfied when Germany has to import "nuclear" electricity from France with prices per kilowatt-hour going up? As long as the Japanese do not come to grips with their reactor disaster, the issue of nuclear power in Germany will overshadow all other problems.

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