When Green fades to Gray

The German Government is formed by two coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Green Party (Buendnis 90/ Die Gruenen). For three years now this coalition has been in office, after having defeated the Conservative Party (CDU) of Helmut Kohl and its allied parties (CSU and FDP). To be sure, Germany has become a more benign country to live in and the general social decline generated by years of right-wing ideology unleashed, has basically been halted.

With federal elections now less than a year away, the political future of Germany is approaching a new stepping-stone. Will the current coalition be re-elected, will the disarrayed (and discredited opposition) regain control or will a new power constellation arise? The pollsters will certainly look into such questions soon, but what could be of greater interest to the electorate is whether or not there is any political rationale for Germans to vote for the Greens, in order to ensure a continuation of current Government policies. Plainly speaking, I think there isn't any such rationale. The Green party has long ago opted for a policy of "seek Government office and see what happens" with the result that it has adopted a policy of compromise for the sake of staying in office. On paper they may stand for certain progressive policies like environmental protection, safe and renewable energy, social inclusion and justice, yet for all practical reasons, their record in office is short on substantial achievements. In any case most of what has been politically accomplished could have been done so by the social democrats on their own. The Greens have tackled very few of the major issues they originally set out to address and change. Voting for them today is little more than an exercise in political self-massaging of those who once hoped for a SPD that could initiate far-reaching social and economic changes. The Green supporters, who once involved themselves in progressive politics with a view towards fundamental democratic changes, have left the party long ago. The power-clingers the party largely consists of today, fail to attract the imagination of a sizeable constituency; essentially the Greens linger around 6 to 8 percent of the portion of the electorate who nowadays still cares to vote, given the increasingly obvious absence of a genuine political alternative in Germany.

Next year, it may come as no surprise if the Greens fail to reach five percent of the popular vote, the required minimum in order to gain seats in Parliament. In the absence of a clear position on any major political issue, the Greens today are hardly distinguishable from their larger partner in Government. The rationale for voting them into parliament is quickly evaporating and many voters may simply choose to vote for the social democrats instead.

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