A
Anonymous
Guest
OK, I just have to rant about this, and this is the only place where I still feel that I can do it.
For all those who are not familiar with the current political situation in Germany, here is a short introduction:
Germany is currently governed by a coalition of SPD (Social Democrats) and Greens, headed by chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD). The opposition is made up by the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), who are alligned with the Christian Socialists (CSU) in Bavaria, and the Liberals (FDP). The fifth-biggest party, which barely missed the necessary 5% that would give them a seat in the parliament (Bundestag) is the leftist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), formerly known as the follow up to the SED, the ruling party of Communist East Germany.
The current government was first elected in 1998, with a clear majority, and barely re-elected in 2002 (SPD and CDU both got 35%, it was the Green's 11% that made the difference).
Currently, I would describe Gerhard Schröder as the most inpopular chancellor in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Some recent studies claim that the opposing CDU would even get the absolute majority (49%) if elections were to be held right now.
Schröders inpopularity arises mostly from the inability of his government to keep the social system going. There are still about 5 million unemployed in Germany, and the system social security, backbone of the German society ever since the times of Bismarck, is failing; massive changes in the population structure, a differed political climate and last but certainly not least the re-unification have all had radical influence on the state of Germany. It can be argued, and I support that thesis, that the short-sightedness of the Kohl administration (1983-1998) is responsible for the sorry state of the country; it is certain that the Schröder administration has proven to be unable to change anything.
Just how inpopular Schröder and the SPD are in Germany becomes clear when you look at the governments of the Länder (provinces, states)- the vast, vast majority of them is governed by the CDU. In fact, only seven of sixteen have participation of the SPD; of those, only five have got the SPD as the party of majority; and only three are without participation of the conservatives (CDU/CSU). In turn, five governments are made up exclusively of CDU/CSU cabinets. Only three provinces (Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Rheinland-Pfalz) do not have the CDU/CSU in their government.
Now, this is where it becomes relevant.
A few weeks ago, there were elections in Nordrhein-Westfalen (Nothrhine-Westphalia). It was the last SPD/Green coalition of a Land. The SPD had already spectacularly lost the elections in Schleswig-Holstein earlier this year, and they spectacularly lost this election as well, to a CDU/FDP coalition.
Now, to continue the spectacularity, Schröder has proven himself spectacularly stupid by asking for re-elections, one year before the next federal elections would take place. It is dead certain that the current government will not be re-elected and that a CDU/FDP coalition led by Angela Merkel will come to power. You can say that Schröder committed political suicide. Why? I have no idea.
But that is not all.
Back in the 1990s, the premier politician of the SPD was not Schröder, but Oscar Lafontaine, a prominent figure of the left wing of the SPD, who was chairman of the SPD, and would have had good chances to become chancellor in '98. For some reason, he passed that to Schröder and became financial minister. About half a year into his term, he quit his job and retreated into privacy. So far, so good. He occasionally commented on the current political state, wrote a book, etc., all that kind of stuff a retired politician does.
Some more background: Recently, a few members of the SPDs left wing left the party to form their own, the WASG (Wahlalternative Arbeit und Soziale Gerechtigkeit, electoral alternative work and social justice).
So, in the course of events during the past couple of weeks, Oscar Lafontaine has proven himself to be a spineless arsehole, and joined the WASG, despite the fact that he found himself to be unable to tackle high government positions in the past. What is worse, now the WASG is fusioning with the PDS to form the ultimate leftist party. They even keep telling everybody who doesn't want to hear it how leftist they are (although they fail to deliver the message why they are so leftist).
What has happened in the meantime:
The Basic Law (constitution) of the Federal Republic of Germany does not foresee re-elections before the term is over. The only way to have such re-elections is by disbanding the Bundestag, which in turn can only be done by the Federal President (Horst Köhler, a puppet of the conservatives), when he finds a good reason for this. This reason would be mistrust of the Bundestag towards the chancellor. What Schröder did was to pose the so-called Vertrauensfrage (question of trust), which he incidentally did for the second time (the first time being after 9/11). It was planned, and it happened, that the Bundestag, despite supporting Schröder, said they mistrusted him, so the president has to disband it in order to have re-elections.
The big problem with this is that it was all carefully planned and executed that way, and this is definately a violation of the Basic Law. While it can be argued that it was for the better, it was not legal, and a government which violates the Basic Law, or one that knowingly gains profit of such a violation, is most untrustworthy. My big hope lies therein that the Supreme Court will not let this pass- but I doubt this will ever happen.
Now, my personal problem is, that if there are elections this autumn, which is more than likely now, there is no-one I can vote for with a clear conscience.
I strictly oppose the CDU/CSU and FDP for all they stand for and almost everything they have ever done and plan to do.
I also oppose the SPD for what they have done and what they plan to do.
I also oppose the Greens for the ineffectiveness of their policy within the last seven years of their government.
I oppose the WASG/PDS for both the policy the WASG has adopted and the presence of Lafontaine. Sadly, the PDS would have been the party I would have voted hadn't they fusioned with the WASG.
I have decided to vote for the Greens for several reasons:
-They have done good things in the past and it is not entirely uncertain that they might do good things in the future
-They are not the CDU/CSU, FDP, SPD or WASG.
-I'd rather have an SPD/Green government than a CDU/FDP one.
So, I'm deciding for the lesser of two evils. As you would say in Germany, I'm deciding between Plague and Cholera. I have to vote for one to prevent the other from gaining power- not because I want them there.
To draw the conclusion: This cannot be the purpose of democracy. You are supposed to vote for whom you want to have, not against whom you don't want to have. This is all just plain wrong.
Thanks for... listening.
For all those who are not familiar with the current political situation in Germany, here is a short introduction:
Germany is currently governed by a coalition of SPD (Social Democrats) and Greens, headed by chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD). The opposition is made up by the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), who are alligned with the Christian Socialists (CSU) in Bavaria, and the Liberals (FDP). The fifth-biggest party, which barely missed the necessary 5% that would give them a seat in the parliament (Bundestag) is the leftist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), formerly known as the follow up to the SED, the ruling party of Communist East Germany.
The current government was first elected in 1998, with a clear majority, and barely re-elected in 2002 (SPD and CDU both got 35%, it was the Green's 11% that made the difference).
Currently, I would describe Gerhard Schröder as the most inpopular chancellor in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Some recent studies claim that the opposing CDU would even get the absolute majority (49%) if elections were to be held right now.
Schröders inpopularity arises mostly from the inability of his government to keep the social system going. There are still about 5 million unemployed in Germany, and the system social security, backbone of the German society ever since the times of Bismarck, is failing; massive changes in the population structure, a differed political climate and last but certainly not least the re-unification have all had radical influence on the state of Germany. It can be argued, and I support that thesis, that the short-sightedness of the Kohl administration (1983-1998) is responsible for the sorry state of the country; it is certain that the Schröder administration has proven to be unable to change anything.
Just how inpopular Schröder and the SPD are in Germany becomes clear when you look at the governments of the Länder (provinces, states)- the vast, vast majority of them is governed by the CDU. In fact, only seven of sixteen have participation of the SPD; of those, only five have got the SPD as the party of majority; and only three are without participation of the conservatives (CDU/CSU). In turn, five governments are made up exclusively of CDU/CSU cabinets. Only three provinces (Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Rheinland-Pfalz) do not have the CDU/CSU in their government.
Now, this is where it becomes relevant.
A few weeks ago, there were elections in Nordrhein-Westfalen (Nothrhine-Westphalia). It was the last SPD/Green coalition of a Land. The SPD had already spectacularly lost the elections in Schleswig-Holstein earlier this year, and they spectacularly lost this election as well, to a CDU/FDP coalition.
Now, to continue the spectacularity, Schröder has proven himself spectacularly stupid by asking for re-elections, one year before the next federal elections would take place. It is dead certain that the current government will not be re-elected and that a CDU/FDP coalition led by Angela Merkel will come to power. You can say that Schröder committed political suicide. Why? I have no idea.
But that is not all.
Back in the 1990s, the premier politician of the SPD was not Schröder, but Oscar Lafontaine, a prominent figure of the left wing of the SPD, who was chairman of the SPD, and would have had good chances to become chancellor in '98. For some reason, he passed that to Schröder and became financial minister. About half a year into his term, he quit his job and retreated into privacy. So far, so good. He occasionally commented on the current political state, wrote a book, etc., all that kind of stuff a retired politician does.
Some more background: Recently, a few members of the SPDs left wing left the party to form their own, the WASG (Wahlalternative Arbeit und Soziale Gerechtigkeit, electoral alternative work and social justice).
So, in the course of events during the past couple of weeks, Oscar Lafontaine has proven himself to be a spineless arsehole, and joined the WASG, despite the fact that he found himself to be unable to tackle high government positions in the past. What is worse, now the WASG is fusioning with the PDS to form the ultimate leftist party. They even keep telling everybody who doesn't want to hear it how leftist they are (although they fail to deliver the message why they are so leftist).
What has happened in the meantime:
The Basic Law (constitution) of the Federal Republic of Germany does not foresee re-elections before the term is over. The only way to have such re-elections is by disbanding the Bundestag, which in turn can only be done by the Federal President (Horst Köhler, a puppet of the conservatives), when he finds a good reason for this. This reason would be mistrust of the Bundestag towards the chancellor. What Schröder did was to pose the so-called Vertrauensfrage (question of trust), which he incidentally did for the second time (the first time being after 9/11). It was planned, and it happened, that the Bundestag, despite supporting Schröder, said they mistrusted him, so the president has to disband it in order to have re-elections.
The big problem with this is that it was all carefully planned and executed that way, and this is definately a violation of the Basic Law. While it can be argued that it was for the better, it was not legal, and a government which violates the Basic Law, or one that knowingly gains profit of such a violation, is most untrustworthy. My big hope lies therein that the Supreme Court will not let this pass- but I doubt this will ever happen.
Now, my personal problem is, that if there are elections this autumn, which is more than likely now, there is no-one I can vote for with a clear conscience.
I strictly oppose the CDU/CSU and FDP for all they stand for and almost everything they have ever done and plan to do.
I also oppose the SPD for what they have done and what they plan to do.
I also oppose the Greens for the ineffectiveness of their policy within the last seven years of their government.
I oppose the WASG/PDS for both the policy the WASG has adopted and the presence of Lafontaine. Sadly, the PDS would have been the party I would have voted hadn't they fusioned with the WASG.
I have decided to vote for the Greens for several reasons:
-They have done good things in the past and it is not entirely uncertain that they might do good things in the future
-They are not the CDU/CSU, FDP, SPD or WASG.
-I'd rather have an SPD/Green government than a CDU/FDP one.
So, I'm deciding for the lesser of two evils. As you would say in Germany, I'm deciding between Plague and Cholera. I have to vote for one to prevent the other from gaining power- not because I want them there.
To draw the conclusion: This cannot be the purpose of democracy. You are supposed to vote for whom you want to have, not against whom you don't want to have. This is all just plain wrong.
Thanks for... listening.
--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/huh.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'huh.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
mg:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/eek2.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'eek2.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/blink.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'blink.gif\' /][!--endemo--] . Go and vote.
--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
