Berlin Elections

[Edelweiss]

Just want to let you all know about the local elections in Berlin past weekend:
The PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism, former East-German communist party SED, ruled East Germany for over 40 years) has won nearly a quarter of all votes! In East-Berlin they got nearly 50% of the votes and in West-Berlin more than 6%!
Now it is likely that they will go in a coalition with the Social-Democrats.
So 10 years after the breakdown of the GDR, the socialists will be again in the goverment of our capital. :)

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011022/w...election_5.html (http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011022/wl/berlin_election_5.html)

[Kez]

I hope that under the new Berlin authoruties the whole world will see first hand that it is wrong to say:
"Communism is dead" followed by "my brain hurts"

Even in democracy , justice will prevail
Hope all the best for the commies of Berlin!

Comrade Kamo

[RedCeltic]

Wow! That's good news for sure Malte! Long live the New GDR!

[vox]

Malte,

I have heard, on capitalist radio, that the Communists are popular because of a protectionist and racist feeling in the East. Do you have any information about this?

I think that a Communist/Social-Democrat coalition may be good for both parties.

vox

[Edelweiss]

Of course the PDS is not a rascist party at all, it's an truely anti-fascist party.
In case that the radio stations means anti-americanism with rascism, then they are right, the war in Afganistan has awaken the old anti-American feelings of many East-Germans. (The PDS is opposing the war in Afganistan)

[vox]

Malte,

My concern is about nationalism. The station is public, and it was an NPR show, but, of course, NPR is funded by the capitalists.

I heard this report months ago, way before the current horror. It stated that the former East Germany was ensconced in race hatred, because Afrikaners were taking jobs from Germans, for they would work for far less than a German citizen. It's not unlike the argument the right uses in Texas and California. The capitalists breed race hatred in order to separate workers. My concern is that the Communists may do the same in order to bolster the party.

I sincerely hope that this is not true and that the party stands behind, and alongside, all workers, everywhere.

The labor unions (the pie cards) in the US did not stand beside racial minorities and thus exposed themselves as tools of capitalism, aiding in the creation of false divisions between workers.

vox

[Edelweiss]

It's true, there a huge nationalists feelings in the east. But the PDS is for shure not breeding race hatred and they are not a nationalist party at all. You can visit their homepage at http://www.sozialisten.de and you'll see an anti-fascist banner right on the front page.
The reasons for the success of the party were the US war in Afganistan, a very charismatic and popular mayoral candidate, the general disapointment with the new capitalist system of many east Germans and several other reasons.

[Moskitto]

I read that one of the candidates caused controversy by announcing he was a communist then announcing he was gay.

It's great to see annother city with a socialist mayor as well as London

[vox]

Hee!

You know what's funny?

Now that you've mentioned it, I recall the mayoral candidate and the "impatience" with capitalism being mentioned, though dismissed.

I'm going to have to do more research on this, of course, for I do not ever believe in making an uninformed opinion, but I'm happy to see the anti-fascist pic on their page.

vox

[Edelweiss]

It was the canditate of the Social Democrats Klaus Wowereit who annonced that he is gay, but he never said that he is a commie. Actually he has won the elections, and he will be the next mayor of Berlin.

[RedCeltic]

An openly gay man won the election? Wow... that's great. We've had an openly gay candadate for president twice... in 1982 and 2000... David McRennalds of the SP-USA... No true chance of winning anything, but still it was nice to see the old man out there again.