Silke Stockle, Freiburg
& Norman Brewer, Bremen
The results of the September 18 federal election in Germany have opened up heated talks over which parties will form a coalition government. Neither the centre-left government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, formed by the Social-democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens, nor the conservative Christian Democrats and their pro-business election ally, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), won enough votes to have a majority in the new parliament.
Schroeder's SPD received 34.3% of the votes, 4.2% less than in 2002, while the SPD's coalition partner, the Greens received 8.1%. Together the two parties will have 283 seats in the next parliament — 34 seats short of a majority.
The Christian Democrats, led by Angela Merkel, received 35.2%, while the FDP received 9.8%, leaving them short of majority in the new parliament as well.
The big winner in the election was the newly formed Left Party, which won 8.7%, becoming Germany's fourth largest parliamentary party.
The Left Party — an electoral alliance formed by the Electoral Alternative for Jobs and Social Justice (WASG, mainly based in western Germany) and the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS, mainly based in eastern Germany) — has been excluded from the negotiations between the Christian Democrats, the SPD, the FDP and the Greens — all of which support neoliberal "free market" policies and cutbacks in the country's social welfare system.
The Left Party more than doubled the PDS vote from 2002 and will have 54 members in the next federal parliament. Leaders of the party polled well in their electorates. Former SPD chairperson Oskar Lafontaine received 26% in his electorate, while PDS leader Gregor Gysi rewon his seat in East Berlin.
The rise in the Left Party's vote and the decline in the votes for the other four parties reflect growing discontent among German working people with the country's stagnant economy and the common neoliberal agenda of the Christian Democrats, SPD, FDP and the Greens.
There are 5 million unemployed workers in Germany (an official jobless rate of 11.4%) and the SPD-Greens government has introduced a package of cutbacks in social welfare spending, known as Hartz IV, which has left the majority of Germans financially worse off than before.
The 4.1 million people who voted for the Left Party voted for a political platform that advocated social justice, free education, free health care and a liveable minimal wage.
The Left Party received a significant number of votes from unemployed people, as well as from former SPD and Greens supporters. It has also given hope back to former non-voters especially in the economically depressed eastern part of the country.
Associated Press reported on September 19 that Jurgen Peters, SPD member and head of the metalworkers' union (IG Metall), said that the election result showed that "the majority of people in Germany have clearly rejected neoliberal political concepts".
However, according to a September 21 AP report, "Senior Social Democrats insist they will press ahead with the reforms begun under Schroeder as the only way to spark the economy and bring down unemployment without wrecking the welfare state completely".
In the week before the election, the Christian Democrats had been predicted to poll up to 41-43% — a significant drop from the 50% that they were polling in May. Merkel campaigned for a 25% flat rate of income tax and proposed laws that would make it easier for employers to sack workers.
Not surprisingly, the poor vote for the Christian Democrats brought expressions of deep disappointment from employer associations and the heads of big corporations.
The major sections of Germany's capitalist ruling class are pushing for a "grand coalition" of the SPD and the Christian Democrats to continue implementing the neoliberal "reforms".
"Despite the unclear vote, there is no alternative to further reforms", AP quoted Ludwig Georg Braun the head of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, as saying. "We will measure the new government not by its colours but by its reform agenda."
A "Jamaica coalition" — the Christian Democrats (which uses black for its party colour), FDP (yellow) and Greens — the colours of Jamaica's national flag — is favoured by Merkel.
A "traffic-light" coalition (red SPD with yellow FDP and the Greens is not the preferred option for the FDP, as it campaigned for ousting the SPD-Greens government.
A coalition of SPD, Greens and Left Party is unlikely given the Left Party's opposition to the shared neoliberal agenda of SPD and the Greens. AP reported that "Left Party leaders say they too see little common ground with the Social Democrats ... and have promised to oppose any policies that dismantle social security programs or foster inequality."
The leadership of the WASG said that "German left politic has changed and the new left fraction in parliament will actively work towards the abolition of Hartz IV, the termination of German troops' involvement in Afghanistan, ending support for the Iraq war by not allowing the US air bases on German soil to continue unlimited operations, and initiating a law for a liveable minimal wage".
The WASG and Left Party/PDS will now enter into a discussion at all levels of the new party aimed at merging their still separate party organisations, and uniting with smaller left parties. These discussions will take up to two years, according to the WASG, although the PDS wants to fast-track the unity process in order to avoid clashes between the party organisations in next year's state elections.
From Green Left Weekly, September 28, 2005.
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