Elections in Germany: New Swing with Schröder

The Green Party has won 47 seats with 6,7 % (-0,6 %) and the Liberal Democrats (FDP) 44 seats with 6,2 % (-0,7) of consensus. The good performance of the post-communist PDS (former SED) was a surprise. Thanks to a 19,5 % consensus in the former DDR the PDS crossed for the first time the 5-%-hurdle, passing form 4,4 % to 5,1 % (35 seats). No seat was gained by the three parties of the extreme right who fell extremely short of the hurdle (Republikaner 1,8 %, DVU 1,2 %, NPD 0,3 %).

The new Bundestag (Seats) :

"First of all we need a stable majority", said the winner Gerhard Schroeder after the first results. His hope was fulfilled to an unexpected extent. "The people want a clear change," was the reply of his potential partner Joschka Fischer, leader of the Greens and candidate for the Foreign Office.The last doubts passed and all speculations about a great coalition between SPD and CDU/CSU came to an end with the publication of the final election results which assigned the "Red-Green-coalition" a majority of 21 seats at the Bundestag (10 above an absolute majority). In contrast to Kohl's last government the new coalition has also a stable majority in the second Chamber, the Bundesrat. This means that Germany's new governors have now no more alibis if they don't succeed in realizing the substantial change demanded by the voters.

First the economy

One of the major unknowns is how the Greens will perform in their first experience in government. There could be some inevitable conflicts between the demands of party members and the hard circumstances of economic and social reality faced by their ministers. German voters could react quite severely if the new government parties appeared to jeopardize political and economic stability, although this does not seem very probable, as the sense of responsibility among the Green leaders has constantly grown. Even among the opposition Christian Democrats the prevailing opinion is now that the new coalition should govern for at least four years.

Neither the fundamental ecologists nor the left wing social democrats should have too many illusions about a left turn in German society, as it could be suggested by a quick and superficial glimpse at mere election results. The Social Democrats returned to being Germany's first party thanks to their appeal on the

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