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On October 15 2013 02:04 Restrider wrote:Show nested quote +On October 15 2013 01:49 JustPassingBy wrote:On October 15 2013 01:45 Restrider wrote: Anyone wondering whether the SPD basis will actually accept another grand coalition? Of course the elites in the SPD secretly want a grand coalition, because they are droolingly trying to get positions in the next administration. But you cannot bribe the party members in the communities with this. And frankly, I do not think that Merkel and the Union can give in too much either, since they have 16 % more than the SPD. And since the SPD basis usually tends to be more left than the party elites... I would not be surprised, if the SPD basis rejects a coalition, when they are asked to voted for or against it. Bear in mind that they still remember the last grand coalition. I still don't get it. Why do people think that the losses of the SPD in the election after the grand coalition is primarily due to the CDU and not because of the failure of the people leading the SPD during the coalition? It does not matter whether the CDU is at fault or the SPD, what matters is what the SPD basis believes to be true when they vote for or against another grand coalition.
Which is why I asked WHY the spd basis believes it to be true, not whether it is true or not.
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On October 15 2013 04:28 JustPassingBy wrote:Show nested quote +On October 15 2013 02:04 Restrider wrote:On October 15 2013 01:49 JustPassingBy wrote:On October 15 2013 01:45 Restrider wrote: Anyone wondering whether the SPD basis will actually accept another grand coalition? Of course the elites in the SPD secretly want a grand coalition, because they are droolingly trying to get positions in the next administration. But you cannot bribe the party members in the communities with this. And frankly, I do not think that Merkel and the Union can give in too much either, since they have 16 % more than the SPD. And since the SPD basis usually tends to be more left than the party elites... I would not be surprised, if the SPD basis rejects a coalition, when they are asked to voted for or against it. Bear in mind that they still remember the last grand coalition. I still don't get it. Why do people think that the losses of the SPD in the election after the grand coalition is primarily due to the CDU and not because of the failure of the people leading the SPD during the coalition? It does not matter whether the CDU is at fault or the SPD, what matters is what the SPD basis believes to be true when they vote for or against another grand coalition. Which is why I asked WHY the spd basis believes it to be true, not whether it is true or not.
The SPD basis believes it because they lost so many voters after the last Grand-Coalition in 2005. And they're arguing that in public opinion, all positive things from said government were attributed towards the CDU while the SPD took all the blame for the bad decisions.
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On October 15 2013 04:42 Nyxisto wrote:Show nested quote +On October 15 2013 04:28 JustPassingBy wrote:On October 15 2013 02:04 Restrider wrote:On October 15 2013 01:49 JustPassingBy wrote:On October 15 2013 01:45 Restrider wrote: Anyone wondering whether the SPD basis will actually accept another grand coalition? Of course the elites in the SPD secretly want a grand coalition, because they are droolingly trying to get positions in the next administration. But you cannot bribe the party members in the communities with this. And frankly, I do not think that Merkel and the Union can give in too much either, since they have 16 % more than the SPD. And since the SPD basis usually tends to be more left than the party elites... I would not be surprised, if the SPD basis rejects a coalition, when they are asked to voted for or against it. Bear in mind that they still remember the last grand coalition. I still don't get it. Why do people think that the losses of the SPD in the election after the grand coalition is primarily due to the CDU and not because of the failure of the people leading the SPD during the coalition? It does not matter whether the CDU is at fault or the SPD, what matters is what the SPD basis believes to be true when they vote for or against another grand coalition. Which is why I asked WHY the spd basis believes it to be true, not whether it is true or not. The SPD basis believes it because they lost so many voters after the last Grand-Coalition in 2005. And they're arguing that in public opinion, all positive things from said government were attributed towards the CDU while the SPD took all the blame for the bad decisions.
Thanks for the answer.
Well, they are certainly right about that. They did lose many voters and that can only be the case if the positive things are attributed towards the CDU and not them. But I still don't understand why the general consensus amongst the SPD people is to decline another grand coalition. Obviously the grand coalition is a constant battle for the public opinion, which the SPD clearly lost last time. Not only did the SPD not do any self-reflection (at least none which was visible to me in the media), with this attitude they are entering the battle with a disadvantage should it come to another grand coalition.
Maybe we should just vote again, until either CDU/CSU or SPD/Die Grünen have an absolute majority. It's like the German version of a governmental shutdown, because the politicians act like spoiled brats.
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it would actually be the best if the CDU got an absolute majority, because this way there would be no scapegoats from other parties Merkel could throw away to save herself. but most likely the idiots at the SPD top are so blinded by their greed and lust for power that they dont think further then the next paycheck
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On October 15 2013 06:53 Skilledblob wrote: it would actually be the best if the CDU got an absolute majority, because this way there would be no scapegoats from other parties Merkel could throw away to save herself. but most likely the idiots at the SPD top are so blinded by their greed and lust for power that they dont think further then the next paycheck This is correct. But in order to put more pressure on Merkel, they decided to let the SPD basis decide whether they want a new grand coalition or not. And as I stated earlier, those are more left than the elite, still remember the last grand coalition and they do not care for administrative positions that much. This decision could backfire very qickly for the SPD elites...
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Zurich15306 Posts
Update: Germany has a government!
Yesterday the Bundestag finally elected Angela Merkel as the new German Chancellor.
This past weekend the SPD internal vote resulted in a Yes to the grand coalition contract between SPD and CDU/CSU after almost three months of coalition talks.
Shortly after the SPD vote was announced, the personnel of the future cabinet was leaked one after another. Here is the future government (order by importance, my interpretation):
Angela Merkel (CDU) : Chancellor Sigmal Gabriel (SPD) : Vice-Chancellor, Minister for Economics and Energy Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) : Minister for Foreign Affairs Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) : Ministry of Finance Thomas de Maizière (CDU) : Minister of the Interior Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) : Minister of Defense Andrea Nahles (SPD) : Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Heiko Maas (SPD) : Minister of Justice Manuela Schwesig (CDU) : Minister of Family Affairs, Seniors, Youth Hermann Gröhe (CDU) : Minister of Health Johanna Wanka (CDU) : Minister for Education Hans-Peter Friedrich (CSU) : Minister of Food and Agriculture Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) : Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Barbara Hendricks (SPD) : Minister for Environment Gerd Müller (CSU) : Minister for Foreign Aid
One can read three important facts from how the three coalition parties make up the cabinet:
1. Angela Merkel retains her dominant position. She keeps her most trusted loyalists (Schäuble, de Maizière, von der Leyen) close and in important positions. Schäuble staying in the Treasury means she will have control over any spending the SPD plans in their social ministries. Von der Leyen made her ambitions for future chancellor candidacy clear with a spectacular move to the Ministry of Defense. And de Maizière does not get degraded at all for his almost complete failure in Defense last year but simply switches back into Interior, a position he held before.
2. On the other hand it is astounding to see how many key offices Merkel granted to the SPD. Considering the strong position Merkel came into the coalition talks from, the SPD basically got everything they could have wished for, and some. Particularly control over Economics, Labor, Energy, and Justice puts the SPD in a potentially powerful position to initiate left-leaning reform. It will be interesting to see if this means the final social-democratization of Merkel, or if she will - with help from her power over the treasury - endlessly delay SPD initiatives and reform, much like she has in previous coalitions with both the SPD and FDP.
3. Merkel duped the CSU in humiliating fashion. The CSU is the smaller, Bavarian-only sister party of the CDU. Looking at the cabinet they basically got the scraps after CDU and SPD had their pick. Transport, with the newly added digital infrastructure function might be the only ministry of some significance they will own. Friedrich, the current Minister of the Interior, gets massively downgraded to Agriculture, and to add insult to injury, that Ministry gets stripped off the consumer protection function, which moves to now SPD-owned Justice. Foreign Aid is basically a joke ministry.
In terms of foreign policy in general and European policy specifically, we can not expect anything but the status quo from Merkel. Steinmeier in Foreign Affairs means virtually nothing, as Merkel has stripped that Ministry of most of its power already. Important foreign politics are done by the Chancellors Office now.
For the rest of their program, a 200 page coalition contract gives some idea of where the new government intends to go. However, looking at the last Union-FDP coalition, that contract doesn't really mean anything. If Merkel changes her mind she won't care what was agreed on last weekend, and suffocate her partners in government in delays and non-commitment.
I guess time will tell - for now we will continue to have an administration free of ideology which will govern short-term and cautious, without taking any political risks.
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