BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party held its own in the closely watched Berlin regional election on Sunday. But her junior coalition partner is now in a political free fall, complicating her fight to contain the European debt crisis despite the infighting within her bloc.
As expected, Berlin’s popular mayor, Klaus Wowereit of the center-left Social Democrats, secured a third term, and his party received the most votes on Sunday for the Berlin city-state legislature with 28.3 percent, according to preliminary official results. That was down slightly from the 30.8 percent the party won in the previous election in 2006.
On a wild election night in Berlin, voters propelled the youth-friendly Pirate Party into a state legislature for the first time in Germany, while the pro-business Free Democrats were bounced out. The Green Party managed to build on recent successes with a strong showing in Berlin that will probably make it Mr. Wowereit’s new coalition partner, rather than the far-left Left Party.
Analysts in the capital had said before the voting that Mrs. Merkel and her Christian Democrats were highly unlikely to upset the Social Democrats in Berlin, however badly she needed a victory. The question they are asking now is how the Free Democrats, Mrs. Merkel’s restive partners in the national Parliament, will respond to the debacle they suffered in Berlin after a campaign marked by increasingly discordant attacks on the chancellor from their ranks as they slip in the polls.
The head of the Free Democrats, Philipp Rösler, has recently been critical of Mrs. Merkel’s approach to propping up Greece and other heavily indebted countries.
It was unclear whether the defeat in Berlin would dampen the criticism of the euro bailouts from Mr. Rösler and his party, or would only increase the pressure on the free market-oriented Free Democrats to rebuild their sagging poll ratings by breaking away from Mrs. Merkel. Surveys show that a majority of German voters are critical of using tax money to prop up more heavily indebted European countries.
“This should allow the chancellor to put pressure on the F.D.P.,” said Richard Stöss, professor of political science at the Free University in Berlin. The Christian Democrats, he said, “can point to this result and say, ‘You can’t act like the opposition when you’re in the government.’ ”
The Free Democrats plummeted to just 1.8 percent of the vote in Berlin on Sunday, compared with 7.6 percent in 2006; a minimum of 5 percent is required to win seats in the legislature. The Christian Democrats, on the other hand, improved their showing, winning 23.4 percent on Sunday compared with 21.3 percent in 2006.
The Christian Democrats had been on a bad streak in regional elections this year. They were shocked by how much ground they lost earlier this month in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. The biggest setback of the year came in March, when the conservatives lost control of Baden-Württemberg to the Green Party.
The Greens continued a march to national prominence by winning 17.6 percent of the vote in Berlin on Sunday, up from 13.1 percent last time. And in a sign of how dissatisfied many voters have become with the established parties, 8.9 percent cast ballots for the Pirate Party, which barely existed in 2006.
Source: www.nytimes.com
As expected, Berlin’s popular mayor, Klaus Wowereit of the center-left Social Democrats, secured a third term, and his party received the most votes on Sunday for the Berlin city-state legislature with 28.3 percent, according to preliminary official results. That was down slightly from the 30.8 percent the party won in the previous election in 2006.
On a wild election night in Berlin, voters propelled the youth-friendly Pirate Party into a state legislature for the first time in Germany, while the pro-business Free Democrats were bounced out. The Green Party managed to build on recent successes with a strong showing in Berlin that will probably make it Mr. Wowereit’s new coalition partner, rather than the far-left Left Party.
Analysts in the capital had said before the voting that Mrs. Merkel and her Christian Democrats were highly unlikely to upset the Social Democrats in Berlin, however badly she needed a victory. The question they are asking now is how the Free Democrats, Mrs. Merkel’s restive partners in the national Parliament, will respond to the debacle they suffered in Berlin after a campaign marked by increasingly discordant attacks on the chancellor from their ranks as they slip in the polls.
The head of the Free Democrats, Philipp Rösler, has recently been critical of Mrs. Merkel’s approach to propping up Greece and other heavily indebted countries.
It was unclear whether the defeat in Berlin would dampen the criticism of the euro bailouts from Mr. Rösler and his party, or would only increase the pressure on the free market-oriented Free Democrats to rebuild their sagging poll ratings by breaking away from Mrs. Merkel. Surveys show that a majority of German voters are critical of using tax money to prop up more heavily indebted European countries.
“This should allow the chancellor to put pressure on the F.D.P.,” said Richard Stöss, professor of political science at the Free University in Berlin. The Christian Democrats, he said, “can point to this result and say, ‘You can’t act like the opposition when you’re in the government.’ ”
The Free Democrats plummeted to just 1.8 percent of the vote in Berlin on Sunday, compared with 7.6 percent in 2006; a minimum of 5 percent is required to win seats in the legislature. The Christian Democrats, on the other hand, improved their showing, winning 23.4 percent on Sunday compared with 21.3 percent in 2006.
The Christian Democrats had been on a bad streak in regional elections this year. They were shocked by how much ground they lost earlier this month in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. The biggest setback of the year came in March, when the conservatives lost control of Baden-Württemberg to the Green Party.
The Greens continued a march to national prominence by winning 17.6 percent of the vote in Berlin on Sunday, up from 13.1 percent last time. And in a sign of how dissatisfied many voters have become with the established parties, 8.9 percent cast ballots for the Pirate Party, which barely existed in 2006.
Source: www.nytimes.com
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