GW Discourse

During the past summer, the voters of Thüringen, Germany, elected a new government – or at least they thought they had. The election results revealed a new trend in politics when, after years of majority rule over the state legislature, the Christian Democrats (CDU) gained less than 50% of the vote. Although still the largest party proportionally elected to the government, the center-right CDU acquired only 30 out of 88 seats in parliament. Due to the lack of an absolute majority, it seemed as though the CDU would be ousted from government.

Die Linke, a far-left party reminiscent of the former Social Unity Party of East Germany, won a startling 27 seats and posed a real contender for a governing coalition. Although typically considered a pariah political party, Die Linke have been known to form coalition governments with the Social Democrats (SPD: 18 seats) on occasion. If both parties could have shaken hands at the negotiating table, then a majority of 45 seats could have been attained, the magic number that the CDU previously held. Should the coalition have felt weak, they could have invited the Green party and their additional 6 seats to form a strong majority coalition.

There were, however, some catches. The SPD state-boss, Christoph Matschie, demanded that Die Linke concede the position of Minister President to an SPD official. As the clear and distinct majority partner in the coalition, it is rather obvious why Die Linke were unwilling to make this concession. Nevertheless, Matschie showed consistent hesitation towards a coalition with a party, which he deems ‘untrustworthy,’ despite urges from within his own party to cooperate.

A sincere opposition within the SPD arose as a result of two considerations: 1. If a government is not formed with Die Linke, then it must be formed with the CDU. No other likely coalitions could reach a majority. 2. If the SPD formed a coalition with the CDU, then there would be no legitimate alteration in the style of government. Given their platform to bring change to Thüringen from the previous CDU dominance, the SPD would consequently betray their constituency if they ruled with the Christian Democrats. Despite these reservations, this past Sunday Matschie was able to convince his party to approve with a 75% majority the assumption of a formal coalition government with the CDU. Considering the astonishingly low representation of the SPD in the national Bundestag (23%) and elsewhere in Germany (often attributed to their former Grand Coalition politics with the CDU), now is certainly not the time for the SPD to squander their seemingly limited political capital. The Thüringen coalition may serve short-term goals for the Social Democrats, but the decision to abandon campaign promises may just inflict further, most likely long-term damage to voter confidence.

A majority of voters in Thüringen voted to elect a new government. What they have now received is practically what they had before.