Germany's ruling conservatives suffer electoral defeat

[cyu]

Nothing major - just a tiny bit of good news.

http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=466968&lng=1

Germany's ruling CDU has suffered surprise and severe losses in the western state of Hesse.

Although he finished a whisker ahead of his Social Democrat rival, long-ruling premier Roland Koch was seen as the big loser after support for him dropped by 12 percent since the last election.

His debacle is bad news for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who backed his campaign based on crime and immigration, which was denounced by critics as xenophobic.

It is unclear whether Koch will be able to stay in power with such a slim majority. Both the conservatives and the Social Democrats will now have to start haggling with potential partners in what analysts believe could take weeks.

At the Social Democrats' headquarters, it was time for celebrations. Their candidate Andrea Ypsilanti is a little-known figure on the political scene. For the SPD, too, difficult talks lie ahead, particularly as their traditional partners, the Greens, lost nine seats in the ballot.

Meanwhile, in the northwestern state of Lower Saxony, CDU prime minister Christian Wulff retained power in a coalition with the liberal Free Democrats, although he, too, saw his support drop.

And, as in Hesse, the Left party, a far-left grouping of ex-communists and SPD members, won enough votes to enter parliament.

[Sleeping Dog]

good!

[Tower of Bebel]

And it seems Die Linke is breaking through in various places.

[Cheung Mo]

What a glorious day! Now the CSU/CDU will get to form another grand coalition with the pseudo-leftist party that plaigiarises their ideas.

[Kwisatz Haderach]

This is better news than it seems at first sight - Die Linke just made two major breakthroughs in West German states. It seems that they are successfully advancing outside their stronghold in the East. Excellent.

[BobKKKindle$]

This is good news. The electoral victory of Die Linke shows that Germany's largest parties are facing a crisis of legitimacy, as increasingly voters are turning to smaller parties which have emerged only recently, due the perceived failure of the "Grand Coalition" to address pressing social problems. Unfortunately, the far-right has also been able to secure electoral gains, especially in regions that were formerly part of the DDR and have suffered prolonged economic recession since reunification. The Far-right is able to draw support from alienated young males, and it remains to be seen whether the let will be able to engage with this vulnerable group and stop the Far-right from gaining parliamentary representation.

[Edelweiss]

nd, as in Hesse, the Left party, a far-left grouping of ex-communists and SPD members, won enough votes to enter parliament.

They did also break the 5% hurdle in the other election in Lower-Saxony. This a pretty essential change in the German bourgeois party system, because it means that the new party "Die Linke" (unification of the former PDS, ex DDR state party, and the WASG, leftist splinter of the SPD) has established themselves as a nation-wide party left from the social democracy. Something like this is normal in other European nations, but it didn't exist so far in Germany, if you let "the Greens" aside, which is nowadays hardly anything more than a bourgeois, left-liberal eco party, who did never really could gain any success within the German working class. The PDS used to be mainly successful in east Germany, and in west Germany hardly any leftist party, including the PDS, could gain more than 1% so far.

However, I'm assuming "die Linke" will go the same path as every leftist party did go so far who tried to so their way in parliamentary democracy, they will soon taste the sweet taste of power and will sell out, as they are already doing in the state of Berlin so far, where they are already in power together with the SPD.

[BobKKKindle$]

Here is a Socialist Worker article on this issue:


Breakthrough for left in German elections

Some 15,000 people protested against Nokia’s plans to close its Bochum plant earlier this month (Pic: » arbeiterfotografie.com )


Anger at the growing gap between rich and poor has increased support for the left in Germany – as shown in last week’s polls in West Germany
The left in Germany were celebrating this week after making a significant breakthrough in two regional elections.

The results are the first major election victories for the new left party, Die Linke, in the former West Germany.

The polls in Lower Saxony and Hesse saw representatives of Die Linke elected with 7.1 percent and 5.1 percent respectively.

The collapse of the vote for the governing right wing CDU reflects growing anger at the way Germany’s economic boom is failing to improve the lives of workers.

Roland Koch, the state premier of Hesse, had fought a dirty campaign that had centred on opposition to immigration, and urging a crack down on “youth crime”.

After seeing his party’s vote collapse by 12 percent, Koch is unlikely to be able to sneak back in as leader.

Meanwhile the New Labour-like SPD, which is in coalition with the CDU in the national government, has been forced to make a dramatic shift to the left in order to relate to the growing anger.

“There is a huge political radicalisation going on,” says Stefan Bornost, editor of the Marx21 magazine. “It is being fed by the feeling that the boom is only benefiting the rich.

“Around 1.3 million people are on a scheme that sees them working a 45 hour week, with pay that is subsidised by the government – but only to the level of unemployment benefit.

“There are regular announcements of factory closures, like that of Nokia in the town of Bochum, which are then followed by record profit figures from the companies making the closures.

“Die Linke was very successful at tapping into that mood of anger, but so was the SPD.”

The SPD adopted a number of Die Linke’s policies in a failed attempt to stop the left from being elected, and it is now worried that the left party’s breakthrough will see it threatened in coming elections in the city of Hamburg.

The party is also frightened that being forced to shift to the left will cause severe problems in national coalition government.

“The public sector pay round is just beginning, and the Verdi trade union is pushing for rises of around 8.5 percent,” says Stefan.

“Across Germany there is huge support for the unions’ demand for higher pay, and ‘warning strikes’ are set to start in just a few weeks.

“At the same time the bosses are leaning on the CDU in order to get them to keep a lid on pay, and the SPD is caught between its pledges in regional elections and its actions in the national government. The result is complete government paralysis.”

Die Linke is now hoping to capitalise on its election success by recruiting thousands of new members and building strong party organisation in all areas.

It is also hoping to translate some of its election policies into broad-based movements against privatisation and in support of strikes.

“The effect of this election success should not be underestimated,” says Stefan. “The left has been given an historic opportunity that we must grasp by developing genuine mass campaigns.”

[BobKKKindle$]

However, I'm assuming "die Linke" will go the same path as every leftist party did go so far who tried to so their way in parliamentary democracy, they will soon taste the sweet taste of power and will sell out, as they are already doing in the state of Berlin so far, where they are already in power together with the SPD.

Participating in elections does not always mean that a party will "sell out". By attaining office, in legislative assemblies, it is possible to draw attention to important issues and make transitional demands, which will expose capitalism's inability to meet basic needs due to the practical constraints of the market system, and so create a base for class consciousness. "Selling out" occurs when parties decide to enter into (popular) fronts with other organizations which don't draw their support from the working class, as this forces socialists to moderate their message in order to maintain unity within the front.

This is a tactic most closely associated with Stalinists who have consistently failed to take advantage of revolutionary opportunities, most notably in the case of May 1968, when the Stalinist-dominated trade unions pushed for workers to accept pay demands and a reduction in working hours, instead of challenging state power.

[chebol]

While it's true that participating in elections does not equal "selling out", there are significant temptations to do so. This is especially the case with Die Linke, which has as one of its key constituent parts the WASG, which was formed largely out of a split from the SPD. Worse, the ex-PDS leadership seems quite happy to enter into coalitions with e SPD (in the East, where the SPD doesn't have the same psychopathy against anything to do with Lafontaine), which have implemented some pretty rotten policies (the example of Berlin springs to mind).

Don't get me wrong, I'm basically going nuts with excitement about the rise of Die Linke (I'm even trying to convince my uncle, who is an SPD councillor in Bayern, to jump ship), but we need to be level-headed.

Statements by the like of Gysi that Die Linke is just part of dragging the political spectrum leftwards again, and the willingness by Die Linke (or at least the leadership) to enter into coalitions with the SPD may just be clever wedge politics. I hope they are, and it would make sense. But I rather suspect that, given the chance, a lot of the leadership would jump into bed with Beck and co. for a handful of silver.

In a sense, Die Linke is lucky in the west as the SPD refuses to let them sell out (or try to sell out, or be tempted to sell out. I want to make it clear that I'm not predicting or making final comments here)

I might be wrong of course, but this is where the other - vital - part of the process around Die Linke comes into play. Can the party - the rank-and-file - get their shit together and make it their party, rather than that of the the leaders (however good they might be - or not).

I'm in no position to comment, of course, but I have questions over the manner in which van Ooyen was imposed on the Hesse branch after they elected someone who was perhaps less "acceptable" because he was an outspoken communist. It might have been the right decision, but questions of internal party democracy are still outstanding.

What will also be interesting (apart from the internal development of Die Linke) are the elections in Hamburg (Feb 24) and Bayern in September. More importantly, there are upcoming rounds of wage negotiations, and everyone should keep an eye on the union Ver.di, who are calling for an 8.5 percent wage increase.