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| Europe | |
| Angela Merkel's coalition loses majority in upper house | |
| 2010-05-09 | |
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition has suffered defeat in a state election costing it its majority in the upper house, according to exit polls.
Mrs Merkel's Christian Democrats won around 34 percent with coalition allies the Free Democrats (FDP) polling 6.5 percent, leaving them well short of a majority in the state legislature. Meanwhile, the opposition centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) also polled around 34 percent, the Greens 12.5 percent and the relatively new political outfit, the far-left Linke party, scored six percent. The centre-right's loss means the coalition will be deprived of its majority in the Bundesrat upper house, hobbling Mrs Merkel's ability to push through key reforms in Europe's top economy. “I can only warn the CDU against trying to put a positive spin on this result. It is a huge disappointment,' said Wolfgang Bosbach, a leading member of her party. “We have clearly fallen short of our goal of maintaining our coalition in NRW.' The timing of the election could hardly have been worse for Merkel's Christian Democrats, who have ruled NRW in an alliance with the pro-business FDP since 2005. Most Germans oppose the 22.4 billion euros (£19.3 billion) in loans over three years to debt-wracked Greece as Germany grapples with its own dire fiscal straits. NRW was ruled by the same centre-right coalition Mrs Merkel has in Berlin, making the poll a damaging referendum on her government eight months after she won re-election. The state is also home to the Ruhr rust belt region whose economic misery has deepened in the recession. A poll published Saturday showed that 21 percent of NRW voters said the Greek bail-out would affect their ballot decision, according to a YouGov survey for the daily Bild. Beyond control of the NRW state legislature, the dominance of Mrs Merkel's coalition in the Bundesrat upper house is now no more. Currently, the conservatives and the FDP hold 37 of the 69 seats in the Bundesrat, just over the 35 votes needed for an absolute majority. Losing NRW deprives the centre-right of six seats. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 Barbara: I would like to think of it as the EU getting ready to vault over a chasm with a flying leap, not realizing that one of their shoes is untied. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-05-09 19:49 |
| #3 "The timing is also awful, because right now, the EU is talking about what amounts to "nationalizing" all the sovereign debt in the EU." Strikes me what's "awful" is what the EU appears to be planning (but that's an automatic fall-back position regarding the EU), 'moose. What am I missing? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-05-09 17:53 |
| #2 It's much like as if the US President had a 51 vote majority in the senate, and his party also controlled the house, then due to a midterm election lost control of the senate. The opposing party can stop his agenda dead. But because Merkel's big issue right now is supporting Greece, though it is very unpopular in Germany, the assumption will be that any politician who supports Greece may get thrown out. So German support for a Greek bailout may soon be dead. The timing is also awful, because right now, the EU is talking about what amounts to "nationalizing" all the sovereign debt in the EU. This is breaking right now. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNvRfcFRIgsU There is also great concern that tomorrow, the Asian markets are going to tank horribly, which could cause the Euro to crash.: http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices?e=asia |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-05-09 17:37 |
| #1 Anyone with a decent understanding of Germany able to comment on this? I'm assuming it's largely a case of Merkel being punished for being seen to be using Germans' money to bail out the feckless Greeks, in spite of the fact that her opponents would probably have been doing the same, if not worse? Am I wrong? |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2010-05-09 16:23 |