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| ©BZ |
Why do I write this blog? Two topics I previously dealt with need some comment in the aftermath of yesterday's Hamburg state elections: color coding and female qualities.
In fact, Germany's legislatures are becoming more colorful; despite the 5% threshold, smaller parties are increasingly represented in German parliaments. Yesterday's results are a good example:
Incumbent Erster Bürgermeister (governor) Olaf Scholz failed to regain the absolute majority of votes and seats with his SPD. Social Democrats are not socialists. They correspond instead to the Democrats in the U.S.
Angela Merkel's party, the Christian Democrats, suffered a crushing defeat, losing another 6% of votes compared with the last state elections. The CDU, Germany's Republicans, tried to palliate their candidate's failure for governor by circulating the following statement: The right candidate at the right place but at the wrong moment, whatever that means.
The Chancellor, however, described the disaster of her CDU in the
Hamburg election as dreadful, absolutely dreadful. Her Bavarian
minister of transportation retorted,
but at home, we pwned them, referring to the crushing defeat
(eight goals to zero) of the Hamburg SV against the Bayern of Munich
in a soccer match on Saturday.
The Greens gained ground after a slight drop in voter support in recent months.
Die Linke, the post-communists, also gained. This is because, especially in wealthy cities, the number of people in need is increasing. They vote for their party, while well-off citizens are more likely to abstain. In fact, voter turnout in the state election was only 54%, down three points from the last election.
The Free Democrats remain in the city parliament. Having fallen below 5% of the vote, they were ousted from many state parliaments in recent years. Three months ago, polls showed the Liberals in Hamburg at a mere 2 %, but not only Katja Suding's legs kicked her party to an astounding 7.4%. In election statistics, the FDP is still identified by the color yellow, although the party recently experimented with magenta.
Germany's tea party, the Alternative for Deutschland, has entered a
West German state parliament for the first time. The AfD calls itself
national and liberal.
In fact, Germany's legislatures are becoming more colorful; despite the 5% threshold, smaller parties are increasingly represented in German parliaments. Yesterday's results are a good example:
Incumbent Erster Bürgermeister (governor) Olaf Scholz failed to regain the absolute majority of votes and seats with his SPD. Social Democrats are not socialists. They correspond instead to the Democrats in the U.S.
Angela Merkel's party, the Christian Democrats, suffered a crushing defeat, losing another 6% of votes compared with the last state elections. The CDU, Germany's Republicans, tried to palliate their candidate's failure for governor by circulating the following statement: The right candidate at the right place but at the wrong moment, whatever that means.
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| ©Der Spiegel |
The Greens gained ground after a slight drop in voter support in recent months.
Die Linke, the post-communists, also gained. This is because, especially in wealthy cities, the number of people in need is increasing. They vote for their party, while well-off citizens are more likely to abstain. In fact, voter turnout in the state election was only 54%, down three points from the last election.
The Free Democrats remain in the city parliament. Having fallen below 5% of the vote, they were ousted from many state parliaments in recent years. Three months ago, polls showed the Liberals in Hamburg at a mere 2 %, but not only Katja Suding's legs kicked her party to an astounding 7.4%. In election statistics, the FDP is still identified by the color yellow, although the party recently experimented with magenta.
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Katja Suding. A Green Party rival tweeted: Muss man sich mal vorstellen: mit Titten und Beinen anstatt Inhalten (Imagine, with tits and legs instead of contents). What does the guy know about content? (©dpa) |
It nibbles its votes at the right wing of the Christian Democrats, like Die Linke does at the left wing of the Social Democrats. Red Baron hopes the AfD's
light blue won't turn brown over time.
Having lost the absolute majority, Olaf Scholz must find a partner to form a coalition government. Well, we are in Hamburg, not Casablanca, but Katja is looking at you, kid.
P.S.: Here's a cartoon about political dating by one of my favorite artists, published in the Badische Zeitung today (February 17). The port city of Hamburg is proud of its red-light district, Sankt Pauli, and its famous stretch, Reeperbahn. In the olden days, this long lane (Bahn) served as a production site for long mooring ropes (Reep in Lower German).
Olaf Scholz takes the Green girl into a "coalition" while
Die Linke calls him, "You old Bourgeois." The FDP lures
that coalescing would be easier (cheaper) with her. The CDU warns in
vain: Turn back.
Having lost the absolute majority, Olaf Scholz must find a partner to form a coalition government. Well, we are in Hamburg, not Casablanca, but Katja is looking at you, kid.
P.S.: Here's a cartoon about political dating by one of my favorite artists, published in the Badische Zeitung today (February 17). The port city of Hamburg is proud of its red-light district, Sankt Pauli, and its famous stretch, Reeperbahn. In the olden days, this long lane (Bahn) served as a production site for long mooring ropes (Reep in Lower German).
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| ©Haitzinger/BZ |
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