Thread: Merkel Coalition Gets Overdue Spanking In Bavaria. 5 Years Too Late To Save Germany

Merkel Coalition Gets Overdue Spanking In Bavaria...But 5 Years Too Late To Save Germany



"Germany appears to be on a collision course between those who accept the idea of being the world’s welcome center for refugees, and those who think Germany must not only close its borders, but perhaps even send back many refugees."

Fri, 10/19/2018 - 02:00
7 SHARES
Authored by Robert Bridge via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

In Bavaria’s state elections, German voters sent a powerful message to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been harshly criticized for opening up Germany’s borders to the free flow of migration. But strangely enough the pro-immigrant Green Party took a solid second place.
Merkel and her fragile coalition, comprised of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Social Democrats Party (SPD) and Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered staggering losses in Bavaria on Sunday, losses not experienced by the two powerhouse conservative parties for many decades.



The CSU won just 37.3 percent of the vote, down 12.1 percent from 2013, thus failing to secure an absolute majority. It marked the worst showing conservative Christian Bavaria, where the CSU has ruled practically unilaterally since 1957. But the political mood in Germany has changed, and Merkel’s so-called sister party will now be forced to seek a coalition to cover its losses.
Meanwhile, the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD), in an awkward alliance with their conservative allies, secured just 9.5 percent of the Bavarian vote, down almost 10.9 percent from its 2013 showing.
The dismal results were not altogether unexpected. CSU leader Horst Seehofer has regularly clashed with Angela Merkel over the question of her loose refugee policies, which saw 1.5 million migrants pour into Germany unmolested in 2015 alone. In January 2016, when the number of arrivals had peaked, Bavaria grabbed headlines as Peter Dreier, mayor of the district of Landshut, sent a busload of refugees to Berlin, saying his city could not handle any more new arrivals.



Yet, despite such expressions of frustration, and even anger, Germany, perhaps out of some fear of reverting back to atavistic nationalistic tendencies that forever lurks in the background of the German psyche, has not come out in full force against the migrant invasion, which seems to have been forced upon the nation without their approval.
As with the young girl in the video below, however, some Germans have come forward to express their strong reservations with the trend.



Youtube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGfP8CyJAhg

In general, however, the German people, in direct contradiction to the stereotype of them being an orderly and logical people, do not seem overly concerned with the prospects of their tidy country being overrun by the chaos of undocumented and illegal migrants. This much seemed to be confirmed by the strong showing of the pro-immigration Green Party, which took second place with 18.3 percent of the votes, a 9 percent increase since the last elections.
Katharina Schulze, the 33-year old co-leader of the Bavarian Greens, told reporters “Bavaria needs a political party that solves the problems of the people and not create new ones over and over again.”
However, a political platform that seems fine with open borders seems to contradict Schulze’s claim to not creating new problems “over and over again.” Today, thanks to Merkel’s disastrous refugee non-plan, which the Greens applaud, every fifth person in Germany comes from immigration, a figure that will naturally increase over time, placing immense pressure on the country’s already overloaded social welfare programs, not to mention disrupting the country’s social cohesiveness.
Thus Schulze may find it an impossible challenge “solving the problems of the people,” one of the vaguest campaign pledges I have ever heard, while embracing a staunchly refugee-friendly platform that seems doomed to ultimate disaster.
Indeed, Germany appears to be on a collision course between those who accept the idea of being the world’s welcome center for refugees, and those who think Germany must not only close its borders, but perhaps even send back many refugees. After all, it has been proven that many of these new arrivals are in reality ‘economic migrants’ who arrived in Europe not due to any persecution back home, but rather from the hope of improving their lot in life. While it’s certainly no crime to seek out economic opportunities, it becomes a real problem when it comes at the expense of the domestic population.



From an outsider’s perspective, I cannot fathom how it is possible that Angela Merkel is still in power. Although there is no term limit on the chancellorship, people must still go to the polls and vote for this woman and the CDU, which the majority continues to do – despite everything.
In a search for answers, I found an explanation by one Arne Trautmann, a German lawyer from Munich.

“I think the answer lies in German psychology. We do not like instability. We had our experience with it (hyperinflation, wars and such) and it did not work very well. Angela Merkel offers such stability. Simply because she has been around for so long.”

Still, that answer just drags up more questions that perhaps only the Germans can answer. After all, if the German people “do not like instability,” then the specter of their borders being violated on a daily basis such be simply unacceptable to them. Perhaps I am missing something.
In any case, there was a consolation prize of sorts in the Bavarian elections, as the anti-immigrant AfD party took fourth place (behind the Free Voters) with 10.2 percent of the votes, an increase of 10 percent from their 2013 performance.
This will give the AfD parliamentary power in the state assembly for the first time, which should work to put the brakes on illegal migrants entering the country. For the future of Germany, it may be the last hope.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...e-save-germany

More Than Half Of Germans Want To Leave The Country For A "More Stable Political Situation"

Fri, 10/19/2018 - 04:15
33 SHARES

More than half of Germans living under Merkel's open-border regime want to leave their homeland, according to Die Welt, citing a YouGov survey commissioned by financial services provider Transferwise.



It was conducted between September 19 and 21, and included 2109 adults who were asked the following questions;

• Would you like to live abroad sometime (outside Germany)?
• Compared to two years ago - is it more or less likely that you will live abroad, or is there no difference?
• Which of the following are reasons why you want to move abroad? (Multiple answers possible).

Approximately 1/3 of the respondents say they would like to leave forever, while thirteen percent said that they would prefer to leave for two to five years. Nine percent would stay away for no more than a year.
The main reason? Germans desire a more stable political situation, and want out.

Above all, those who can imagine emigration stated that they hoped for a calmer and more relaxed life in another country (38 percent).
Other reasons include the hope of a higher quality of life (33 percent) and better weather (31 percent). -Die Welt (translated)

No wonder Merkel and her CSU allies are suffering massive losses in state elections, while anti-migration populist movements are gaining traction not only in Germany, but across Europe in general.


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ical-situation

Germany: Two dead and two police officers ‘critically injured’ in stabbing attack

By Voice of Europe 19 October 2018



Jan Schneckenhaus / shutterstock.com

On Friday morning, a stabbing attack took place in the western German town of Kirchheim, police report.
At first the police were alarmed about a case of domestic violence or even a gunman on the loose. When arriving at the scene around 8:30 am things got out of hand.
Two people were killed and two police officers critically injured, German media say. According to them a 25-year-old man attacked his 56-year-old mother with scissors while being in a ‘psychotic episode’ probably as a result of drug abuse.
The mother called the police, but when they arrived the mother was already stabbed by her son and he attacked the police.
“There followed an exchange of gunfire. Two people were killed, a policewoman and a policeman were seriously injured. There is no further danger posed [by the situation]. As a result of the police operations, there are traffic disturbances around Kirchheim. Investigations continue. We will provide more information,” a police statement reads.
The son and his mother died as a result of their injuries and a female police officer and her male colleague were taken to hospital with stab wounds.
German police asked people not to spread false information:
“More and more false announcements regarding our operation in #Kirchheim. We ask you to keep your distance from speculation,” they wrote.

https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/10/ge...lAKITE.twitter

Merkel's CDU Suffers Crushing Losses In Hesse Election; Worst Result For SPD In 130 Years



In the latest blow for Germany's establishment parties, today's Hesse election saw the worst result for the ruling CDU in 50 years, while the Centre-left SPD suffered its worst result on record.

Sun, 10/28/2018 - 14:55
158 SHARES

Two weeks after the Christian Social Union, Merkel's Bavarian sister party, suffered a crushing blow in the Bavaria regional election, following the worst result for the ruling party since 1950, on Sunday Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats suffered another heavy loss in elections in Sunday's region election in Hesse, in a result that could further destabilize Angela Merkel’s grand coalition in Berlin.
Prime Minister Volker Bouffier's CDU remained the strongest party on Sunday, but according to forecasts by German TV, the party achieved its worst result in the state in more than 50 years. The election was also a major hit for the Social Democrat party, which received its worst ever result in Hesse and saw its share of the vote fall by one-third compared to the last election in 2013.
Meanwhile, like two weeks ago, the clear winners were the left-of-centre Greens, which saw their share of the vote nearly double, while the anti-immigrant AfD continues to ride the wave of populist dissatisfaction with Germany's political establishment. The Free Democrats (FDP) and Die Linke (Left Party) also remain in the federal state parliament in Hesse's capital of Wiesbaden. That means that Hessen has a six-party parliament for the first time.
Here are the exit polls from Infratest dimap:

• CDU-EPP: 28% (-10.5)
• GRÜNE-G/EFA (Greens): 19.5% (+8.5)
  
• SPD-S&D: 20% (-11.5)
• AfD-EFDD: 12% (+8
  
• FDP-ALDE: 7.5% (+2.5)
• LINKE-LEFT: 6.5% (+1.5)

According to projections on German TV, the CDU won 28%, down from 38.5% five years ago. The SPD won 20%, down a third or 11.5% from 2013, while the Green surged to 19.5%, up 8.5% from the last election with most young and university educated voters, or some 25% of those aged 18-29 and 29% of voters with a University degree voting for the Greens. Based on exit polls, it was too close to call if the SPD would end up third in the regional election, with the Greens potentially set to take second spot.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 12% of the vote, taking it into the Hesse regional assembly for the first time, and after today's election, the AfD will now be represented in all 16 of Germany’s regional parliaments




View image on Twitter

Europe Elects @EuropeElects

Germany (Hesse regional election), FGW exit poll:

+/-

AfD-EFDD: +8.9
GRÜNE-G/EFA: +8.9
FDP-ALDE: +2
LINKE-LEFT: +1.3
SPD-S&D: -10.7
CDU-EPP: -11.3#hessenwahl2018 #hessenwahl #ltwhe #ltwhessen #hessen
1:10 PM - Oct 28, 2018

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In the latest blow for Germany's establishment parties, this was the worst election result for the Centre-left SPD since 1887, according to Europe Elects, disregarding Nazi time 1933-45.




The CDU currently governs the state in coalition with the Greens. Today's result suggests this could continue, but doing so could further increase tensions between the CDU and the SPD in the German chancellor's ruling coalition in Berlin. Both parties have seen their support slip nationally in recent months.
The election outcome is a big defeat for Volker Bouffier, Hesse’s CDU prime minister, who is a close confidante of Chancellor Merkel and has ruled Hesse for the past eight years. He had complained that the election campaign was completely overshadowed by the long-running quarrels between the coalition partners.
According to the FT, the result will be seized on by those in the SPD who believe the only way the centre-left party, one of the two parties that has dominated Germany’s post-war politics, can avoid further losses is by quitting Ms Merkel’s grand coalition.
The Hesse elections were the latest indirect regional referendum on Berlin's policies, with campaigning in Hesse dominated by voter dissatisfaction with the government in Berlin, which has been racked by internal conflict.
The CDU has governed Hesse, Germany's fourth most prosperous region that includes Germany’s finance capital Frankfurt, for the past 19 years, the last five of them in an unusual coalition with the Greens. But as today's results suggest, the two parties cannot now rule alone, and will likely now try to form a three-way alliance with the pro-business Free Democrats to stay in power. The FDP has already indicated it would be prepared to form such a "Jamaica" coalition, so called because the colours of the three parties match those of the Jamaican flag.
That said, and given the roughly 10% losses each for CDU/SPD, it is hard to imagine a scenario where results don't shake up Berlin coalition.
Parties like the unconventional AfD and the Greens have grown in national support following Germany's 2017 general election, as support for the major centre parties has waned. And with the CDU's party conference scheduled for December, Merkel could lose her leadership re-election bid. Merkel has said previously she could not continue as chancellor were she to lose that role.
The recent losses have provided more ammunition for critics in Merkel's party who want to get rid of Merkel, but as BBC's Jenny Hill notes, "she may face a more immediate problem" - her Social Democrat coalition partners are in electoral freefall, haemorrhaging support at federal level. The SPD's poor performance tonight in Hesse follows a drubbing in Bavaria two weeks ago. And since many in the party blame the controversial coalition with Merkel's conservatives, the SPD's leaders may decide to pull out of the alliance and bring down her fragile government.
Germans are calling this a 'schicksalswahl', or vote of destiny. It may yet seal the fate of this country's government - and perhaps even its leader.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-spd-130-years

EXHILE HER TO THE MIDDLE EAST!

"The State Of The Government Is Unacceptable": German SPD Leader Gives Merkel An Ultimatum After Devastating Loss



Merkel’s ruling coalition "has lost the confidence of the electorate" said Josef Joffe, publisher-editor of weekly Die Zeit.

Sun, 10/28/2018 - 21:05
47 SHARES

Angela Merkel’s junior coalition partners gave her conservatives until next year to deliver more policy results, threatening to end their alliance if there is no improvement after both parties suffered another round of crushing losses in today's regional election in Hesse.
As reported earlier, Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) came home first in the election in the western state of Hesse, but took just 27.2% of the vote, a huge drop from the 38.3% the CDU won at the last Hesse election, in 2013 according to projections by German broadcaster ZDF. Meanwhile, Merkel's center-left coalition partner Social Democrats (SPD) fared even worse, winning just 19.6% of the vote, down from 30.7% and its worst result in the western state in history. The party was on a par with the Greens, also on 19.6%.
After the disastrous results, SPD leader Andrea Nahles said she would use a "roadmap" with which to measure the progress of the ruling coalition, which has been plagued by infighting, at a mid-term review next year according to Reuters.

"We could then gauge the implementation of this roadmap at the agreed mid-term review, when we would be able to clearly see if this government is the right place for us," Nahles told reporters. "The state of the government is unacceptable."

Her ultimatum to the embattled Chancellor was clear: the SPD needs to show tangible results to its supporters next year or else the party’s leaders will pull out of the coalition with Merkel, resulting in a government crisis in Europe's largest economy.
German Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Andrea Nahles Merkel’s ruling coalition “has lost the confidence of the electorate”, said Josef Joffe, publisher-editor of weekly Die Zeit. He also slammed the SPD, saying "a party on the way down cannot suddenly rise from the ashes by going into the opposition. So the party grandees will clench their teeth, stay in the coalition and wait for a better day."
Meanwhile, the incumbent CDU state premier in Hesse, Volker Bouffier and a Merkel ally, said his party had achieved its goal of being able to lead the next government in Hesse, but added: “We are in pain because of the losses”.
“The message to the parties ruling in Berlin is: People want fewer disputes and more focus on the important issues,” he said.
Shockingly, unlike various US politicians, he did not blame the Russians for the dramatic losses.
Today's latest loss will have international implications well: the CDU’s poor result in Hesse, after its sister party in the state of Bavaria, the CSU, suffered its worst result there since 1950 two weeks ago, will "turbo-charge a debate about who succeeds Merkel and when." Merkel’s weakness at home may limit her capacity to lead in the European Union at a time when the bloc is dealing with Brexit, a budget crisis in Italy and the prospect of populist parties making gains at European parliament elections next May.
While the CDU and the SPD suffered, the Greens and the AfD were delighted with another impressive result: the Greens strong performance in Hesse means Bouffier will likely be able to remain state premier at the helm of a CDU/Greens government. The other big winner was the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which entered the Hesse regional assembly for the first time with 12.8% of the vote. As we reported earlier, the result also means the anti-immigration party, which entered the federal parliament for the first time last year, will now be represented in all 16 German regional assemblies.
* * *
While Merkel’s fourth - and surely final - government has already come close to collapsing twice, Nahles’ comments show the SPD will put more pressure on the conservatives to deliver policy results for the center-left party. Recall that Merkel’s CDU only formed a bitter national partnership with the SPD in March after the collapse of talks on a three-way coalition of the conservatives, Greens and pro-business FDP. The alternative would have been a government crisis.
Merkel's historic collapse is the result of popular outcry to her disastrous "open door" policies: according to the ARD exit poll, only 13% of CDU voters believed Merkel had helped the party in Hesse, down from 70% at the last state election, which according to Reuters reflects "voter anger at her decision in 2015 to welcome almost one million, mainly Muslim asylum seekers."
Next on Germany's political agenda is the CDU's annual congress in December, when Merkel will seek re-election as party chairwoman. While she is still expected to be reappointed, a weak show of support for her would undermine her authority and accelerate the succession debate. Merkel has said previously she could not continue as chancellor were she to lose that role.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...vastating-loss

Merkel To Step Down As CDU Leader In Dramatic Move



Angela Merkel will not seek re-election as chair of Germany's ruling CDU party, effectively standing down as leader of the Christian Democratic Union, a post she has held for 18 years.

Mon, 10/29/2018 - 06:05
581 SHARES

Angela Merkel will not seek re-election as chair of Germany's ruling CDU party, effectively standing down as leader of the Christian Democratic Union, a post she has held for 18 years, after a disastrous performance by her party in regional elections in the German state of Hesse on Sunday badly dented her authority, and followed an ultimatum by her junior coalition partner, the SPD which also suffered a devastating loss in latest elections.
According to Spiegel and Bild, Merkel, who has chaired the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2000, was expected to compete again at the party congress in Hamburg in early December. however in what many are calling "the end of an era" during which her command of Germany put its stamp on Europe and beyond for more than a decade, on Monday morning she told senior party executives that she would not stand again.
Merkel is scheduled to speak to the media at 1 p.m. local time on Berlin.
The Chancellor will reportedly retire after the end of her current term in 2021, which will give the CDU time to groom a successor. Though she remains one of Germany’s most popular politicians, her fellow Christian Democrats have long been demanding that she clear a path for her successor. After leaving German politics, Merkel has reportedly said she won't consider any EU-wide posts.
As we reported on Sunday, the CDU won the election in Hesse, but its share of the vote fell by more than 11 points, while the junior partner in her governing grand coalition, the Social Democrats, also slumped. The party’s poor showing reignited calls for the SPD to quit the government.
While Merkel can assume she'll have the support to remain chancellor, "she's broken the game for her succession wide open" according to Bloomberg, although doing it in a dramatic fashion, a surprise, as she has here, may help throw her competitors off balance. That would help her hand-picked successor, CDU General Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. But others are waiting in the wings. Bild reports that Friedrich Merz, her main antagonist in the first years after she took over the CDU in 2000, has thrown his hat in the ring.
Other possible contenders include Health Minister Jens Spahn, who has publicly criticized her open-doors refugee policy and is championed by the CDU’s social conservatives and Ralph Brinkhaus, a fiscal hawk who unexpectedly ousted Merkel’s longtime parliamentary caucus leader. Others include two state premiers Armin Laschet and Daniel Guenther, who carry weight after recently leading the CDU to victory in regional elections.
However, as Bloomberg notes, the potential for change in Germany is hemmed in by the country’s constitution and relatively strong political center.
“Even if Merkel were to be replaced and/or if a new government were to take power in Berlin, with or without new elections, it would not make a major difference once the dust has settled,” Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, said in a note. “Any conceivable coalition in Berlin would still be dominated by the mainstream parties CDU/CSU, SPD, Greens and the smaller Liberals.”
The repercussions of her decision will resonate far and wide, not least in the U.K., where Brexit is the all-consuming topic. As Bloomberg notes, there might be dismay at the prospect of someone so influential disappearing from the scene.

She has the ability to tip the scales and she has taken a more conciliatory approach than say, France's Macron. But if Merkel does stay on as chancellor, could this free her up to throw some caution to the wind and steer the ship safely without having to worry about burning political capital?

The news sent the Euro sliding to session lows, down as much as 0.3% to 1.1360 before staging a modest rebound. Meanwhile, Germany's DAX30 has extended gains to more than 1% since the first media reports of Merkel not seeking to continue as CDU leader, largely on the back of the weaker euro.



https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ection-results

Breitbart London

Claim: Germany’s Angela Merkel To Step Down From Party Leadership After Humiliating Elections



breitbart.com

Germany's Merkel To Step Down After Humiliating Elections

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is to relinquish control of the…

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One America News Network

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is stepping down from her party’s chairwoman position.



oann.com

German Chancellor Angela Merkel stepping down as party leader | One America News Network

440 Comments

Voice of Europe

Dear friends, Happy Halloween!

Merkel as the Black Widow