originally published in Currents, Sept 2002
by Jennifer M

On September 22, 2002, German voters will go to the polls to elect their federal government for the next four years. German elections are different from American ones in many ways, starting with the simple fact that there are more than two political parties represented on the ballot.

And this brings us to the next difference: in German federal elections, you get two votes. The first vote (Erststimme) is for the candidate in your voting district who will represent you in Parliament should his or her party win enough percentage points in the election. The second vote (Zweitstimme) is for the political party of your choice. After the percentages have been worked out and a coalition has been formed (rarely does a party win an outright majorty and, thus, the priviledge of governing without a coalition partner), the actual parliamentary representives are decided. The party with the largest percentage nominates their candidate for chancellor and the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) votes this person into office. Only parties reaching the 5 percent barrier win seats in Parliament.

Unlike in America, however, the German president is not elected by the people, but is chosen by the Bundesrat (upper house of parliament) and the Bundestag every five years. The current president, Johannes Rau, will remain in office until 2003.

The main political parties in Germany (on a scale from left to right politically) are:

• PDS (Partei des demokratischen Sozialismus--the ex-communists). The PDS (formerly the SED party from the ex-DDR) has its stronghold in eastern Germany and is currently part of a coalition government with the SPD in the state of Berlin.



• Bündnis '90/die Grünen (the Green Party). The Green Party usually collects the most votes from university-educated city dwellers. They have designated Joschka Fisher (current Secretary of State) as their main candidate. The Green Party is currently part of the federal coalition government with the SPD.



• SPD (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands--social democratic party). The SPD have named current chancellor Gerhard Schröder as their candidate for chancellor and are currently governing federally in a coalition with the Green Party.



• FDP (Freie demokratische Partei--liberal democratic party). The FDP have named Guido Westerwelle as their candidate for chancellor. They have the goal of attaining 18 percent of the votes in the September 22 election. Recent (in June 2002) anti-semitic statements by party vice-chairman Jürgen Möllermann have caused the party to loose credibility with voters.



• CDU/CSU (Christlich-demokratische Union or Christlich-soziale Union--christian democractic party). The CDU/CSU are actually two parties who function as one. The CSU is the official christian democartic party in Bavaria and the CDU is the christian democratic party for the rest of Germany. This election, for a change, the CSU has been allowed to designate the candidate for chancellor out of their own ranks. Their candidate is Edmund Stoiber.



• Although the NPD (National-demokratische Partei Deutschlands--neo-nazi party) is not a main political party in Germany, the right-extremist movement has been gaining votes in recent federal elections around Europe (France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy and Austria, to name a few). The NPD is the one of the biggest neo-nazi parties in Germany. In the past year, a motion has been made to declare the party unconstitutional, but the case is still before the supreme court.

Some issues which are causing heated debate in this year's election are immigration (the controversial immigration plan pushed through the Bundesrat earlier this year and signed into law by president Rau in June 2002), education (the dramatically poor results of Germany in the international educational study, Pisa), unemployment (which according to the Bundesanstalt für Arbeit for the month ending May 2002 is at 9.5%), health care reform (saving the social insurance system), social security reform (providing an alternative for the decreasing number of workers paying into the system) and the agro-industrial complex (BSE, foot and mouth disease and the Nitrofen scandal).

According to the Politbarometer poll taken by the media company ZDF, if the election were held on June 30, 2002, this is how the votes would add up: CDU/CSU 40%, SPD 38%, Green Party 8%, FDP 8%, PDS 5%, Misc. 4%. ZDF poll figures in July were: CDU/CSU 41%, SPD 36%, Green Party 6%, PDS 5%, FDP 9%, Other 3%.

Who will win on September 22? Just tune in your radio or tv at 18:00 on the 22nd for the first official announcement of how the election is going. It could still take weeks after the polls are closed, however, to determine exactly which parties will be part of the new government and in what percentages.

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