Nationalists win big in Germany

[demi-conservative]

The nationalist AfD has won its first seats and is set to be the third party, a result that sparked protests.

The result is disastrous for Mrs Merkel, BBC Berlin correspondent Jenny Hill says.

The chancellor is being punished, our correspondent adds, for opening Germany's door to almost 900,000 undocumented refugees and migrants.

The exit polls suggest the Social Democrats (SPD), led by Martin Schulz, have also had its worst election result since 1949. He said the outcome meant the end of the "grand coalition" with Mrs Merkel's alliance.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41376577

Tide is turning!!

[Darth Executor]

Pretty good results. Merkel may be a laughingstock for us but it's important to remember how pathetic and gay Germans are. She's actually conservative by their standards and if the SDs had their way they would import even more low IQ rapists than she's imported so far.

[Terraceth]

Pretty good results. Merkel may be a laughingstock for us but it's important to remember how pathetic and gay Germans are. She's actually conservative by their standards and if the SDs had their way they would import even more low IQ rapists than she's imported so far.

I don't know if Merkel is actually conservative by their standards. Someone I know in Germany says that her party used to be considered the conservative one, but she moved it to the left, which is why they've been losing support to other parties like the AFD (Alternative For Germany).

[rogue06]

The nationalist AfD has won its first seats and is set to be the third party, a result that sparked protests.

The result is disastrous for Mrs Merkel, BBC Berlin correspondent Jenny Hill says.

The chancellor is being punished, our correspondent adds, for opening Germany's door to almost 900,000 undocumented refugees and migrants.

The exit polls suggest the Social Democrats (SPD), led by Martin Schulz, have also had its worst election result since 1949. He said the outcome meant the end of the "grand coalition" with Mrs Merkel's alliance.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41376577

Tide is turning!!

Source: Weakened Merkel wins fourth term, hit by nationalist 'earthquake'

Berlin (AFP) - Chancellor Angela Merkel clinched a fourth term in Germany's election Sunday, but her victory was clouded by the entry into parliament of the hard-right AfD in the best showing for a nationalist force since World War II.

Merkel, who after 12 years in power held a double-digit lead for most of the campaign, scored around 33 percent of the vote with her conservative Christian Union (CDU/CSU) bloc, according to preliminary results. It was their worst score since 1949.

Its nearest rivals, the Social Democrats and their candidate Martin Schulz, came in a distant second, with a post-war record low of 21 percent.

But in a bombshell for the German establishment, the anti-Islam, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) captured around 13 percent, catapulting it to become the country's third biggest political force.

Commentators called the AfD's strong performance a "watershed moment" in the history of the German republic. The top-selling Bild daily spoke of a "political earthquake"...



Source

© Copyright Original Source

The story continues at the link above.


National Review is relying of Britain's The Guardian's coverage to comment upon

Source: Germany�s Election � Merkel Stumbles (But Still Wins)

The Guardian:

Source

© Copyright Original Source

[Terraceth]

So maybe someone can enlighten me on a few things I'm confused about. The German Prime Minister is elected by the parliament, right? The process is basically that of the Speaker of the House? But the new parliament hasn't been formed yet, coalitions haven't been figured out, etc. Did they actually all vote on prime minister already despite not knowing any of that? Or is it just assumed that Merkel will be re-elected when they do the vote? Anyone know?

[Starlight]

So maybe someone can enlighten me on a few things I'm confused about. The German Prime Minister is elected by the parliament, right? The process is basically that of the Speaker of the House? But the new parliament hasn't been formed yet, coalitions haven't been figured out, etc. Did they actually all vote on prime minister already despite not knowing any of that? Or is it just assumed that Merkel will be re-elected when they do the vote? Anyone know?

We have the same electoral system in NZ as in Germany (MMP).

No, the PM is not really elected by parliament. After an election happens, the politicians look at the breakdown of the seats among the parties, and work out which parties could combine together to form a government (> 50% of the seats). They then have 'coalition talks' with the other parties to strike a deal with regard to how they are going to work together - what policies from each of the coalition partners they will adopt, how many cabinet ministers (cabinet secretaries for you Americans) each party will get to appoint and to which positions including the position of PM, which might involve a ~50 page document outlining everything they're agreeing to. It is usually taken for granted that the leader of the largest of the coalition partners will become PM and the leader of the 2nd-largest will become deputy PM, but that is not set in stone and can be negotiated.

Once those agreements are made, the new government is announced, and a vote is immediately put to the parliament called "confidence and supply" which seeks to answer the question of "does a viable government exist?" The parties forming the government vote yes, and the opposition parties vote no, and if the yes-vote is greater than 50% then a viable government exists and you're good to go. If the vote fails, or if the coalition talks break down and it doesn't even reach the point of a vote on confidence and supply, then a new election is held, and the process repeats itself but that is pretty rare. So the confidence and supply vote isn't a vote for the PM per se, it's a vote for the entire agreed upon government arrangement which includes all the cabinet positions and a set of policies they have agreed to pass in the coming term. If something goes wrong during the term you just have a new election - e.g. in Iceland last week there was a scandal connected to the PM with regard to a misuse of the pardon power, so the coalition partner announced they were no longer supporting the government, thus causing an new election, which is happening there next month.

Since in Germany this election, the parties forming the current government got >50% of the vote between them, there likely isn't going to be much to discuss or many changes to make. They have seemingly worked together successfully over their last term and their coalition talks will be likely fairly brief. Merkel will not technically be reconfirmed as PM until a vote of confidence and supply goes through at the start of the next official government term, which usually is about 3 months after the election just as in the US. Merkel's party won more votes than their coalition partner, so she will presumably remain PM, unless her coalition partner throws a tantrum on the subject and AFAIK they haven't indicated they will do so. Also bear in mind that in a parliamentary system, parties can replace their own leaders any time they feel the need and for any reason or none - so depending on exactly how Merkel's party's internal processes work, the MPs in her party could hold a meeting at any day and vote to immediately replace Merkel with somebody else - it's not like the US Presidency where Republicans trying to replace their own president would take a multi-month impeachment process.

[Starlight]

Tide is turning!!

Are you a fan of German nationalism? Last time the Germans got really nationalistic a lot of your fellow Russians died.

[mikewhitney]

Are you a fan of German nationalism? Last time the Germans got really nationalistic a lot of your fellow Russians died.

Do you prefer that the Germans be the dominant rule over the European Union or that they, instead, are interested in preserving some identity and some peace from excessive immigration from Islamic nations?

I doubt that the German people are any more susceptible to a takeover by a racist regime than New Zealand is.

[demi-conservative]

Are you a fan of German nationalism?

I'm fine with globalist progs crying!

Last time the Germans got really nationalistic a lot of your fellow Russians died.

Doubt they'll make same mistake again, after how they lost so badly!!!

[Darth Executor]

merkel is already using low IQ rapists as biological weapons against the rest of europe and couldn't care less about the collateral damage to her own country, and today's far right isn't particularly imperialist, it's highly unlikely that a nationalist takeover would result in anything short of the end of the 4th Reich.

[Terraceth]

Since in Germany this election, the parties forming the current government got >50% of the vote between them, there likely isn't going to be much to discuss or many changes to make. They have seemingly worked together successfully over their last term and their coalition talks will be likely fairly brief. Merkel will not technically be reconfirmed as PM until a vote of confidence and supply goes through at the start of the next official government term, which usually is about 3 months after the election just as in the US. Merkel's party won more votes than their coalition partner, so she will presumably remain PM, unless her coalition partner throws a tantrum on the subject and AFAIK they haven't indicated they will do so. Also bear in mind that in a parliamentary system, parties can replace their own leaders any time they feel the need and for any reason or none - so depending on exactly how Merkel's party's internal processes work, the MPs in her party could hold a meeting at any day and vote to immediately replace Merkel with somebody else - it's not like the US Presidency where Republicans trying to replace their own president would take a multi-month impeachment process.

That's not the case, though. Pretty much as soon as the election results were out, the SPD (the coalition partner of Merkel's party) announced they were heading into opposition. Merkel's party (CDU/CSU) could definitely form a coalition with some other parties, but the current coalition is gone.

[demi-conservative]

That's not the case, though. Pretty much as soon as the election results were out, the SPD (the coalition partner of Merkel's party) announced they were heading into opposition. Merkel's party (CDU/CSU) could definitely form a coalition with some other parties, but the current coalition is gone.

Progs like Starlight have fantasy, 'things will be keep going and be normal!!' But real life is different. Sad!!!

[Starlight]

That's not the case, though. Pretty much as soon as the election results were out, the SPD (the coalition partner of Merkel's party) announced they were heading into opposition. Merkel's party (CDU/CSU) could definitely form a coalition with some other parties, but the current coalition is gone.

Ah okay.

I talked to a German friend about the results tonight. They said Merkel's going to go into coalition with the Greens and FDP.

[rogue06]

Ah okay.

I talked to a German friend about the results tonight. They said Merkel's going to go into coalition with the Greens and FDP.

Sounds pretty close to what the writer for National Review predicts

[Terraceth]

Reading about the situation, it looks like a coalition with the FDP and Greens might be tough to finagle, because the Greens and the FDP are diametrically opposed on some major issues, and have never been in a coalition with each other. Now from what I've read, the three will probably form an awkward coalition anyway, but again it's not assured. This is why I'm puzzled as to why news articles all talked about Merkel winning re-election when it's not a certainty she can get a coalition going to stay prime minister.