Elections in Hesse: resistance test for Merkel



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Located in the center of Germany, Hesse is a region of great historical importance. Here, in the province of the city of Kbadel, was created the brand, the currency of the Federal Republic and one of the symbols of the German Renaissance after the Second World War. In a former Nazi barracks occupied by US forces, a group of American and German economists, literally isolated from the rest of the world (they had no right to any type of contact with the outside), realized in the spring of 1948 the legal and economic conditions of the introduction of money. An important part of twentieth-century German history has been written here. Today, in Hesse, Frankfurt, the powerful is based Bundesbank and the European Central Bank.

This region is famous all over the world because it hosts every five years the largest contemporary art exhibition in the world: the Documenta. In short, Hesse is the most international and most European region of Germany and it is no coincidence that on Sunday, together with the renewal of the regional parliament, fifteen referendums on the reform of the Land Constitution are planned and among these, the most important, strengthen the link of Hesse with the European Union.

It is precisely in this region where the past and the future of Germany meet that the fourth government of Merkel is playing its future. Unlike the election campaign that took place in Bavaria two weeks ago, the Chancellery was created to directly support the outgoing President, his loyal Volker Bouffier, who, however, governs with the Greens and not with the Social Democrats.

Hessen is not exactly a political laboratory, as one might think. This region has long been a social-democratic stronghold from the post-war period until 1999 (the only exception is a right-wing government from 1987 to 1991). From 1999, the Christian Democrats ruled without interruption, first with the Liberals (1999-2014) and the last legislature with the Greens, who in this region have always been strong enough to have already ruled with the Social Democrats from 1984 to 1987. from 1991 to 1999.

The polls currently give the CDU the first place with 26-28%, SPD and Verdi around 20-22, AfD on the far right at 12-13, the left (Die Linke) at 8am and the Liberals at 7-8 percent. With these results, the outgoing majority (CDU-Verdi) led by Volker Bouffier hangs by a single thread. The CDU's significant losses (11 to 12% in less than five years) would only be partially offset by the growth of the Greens (+ 10 to 11%) by Tarek al-Wazir, a Yemeni father and German mother. For the SPD, there is another disturbing haemorrhage of votes (minus 8-9%), all the others being increasing: Linke (+4), liberal (+ 2-3) and AfD (+8).

Sunday's elections are a real test for the big parties in the coalition. In addition, it will be difficult for the SPD to undergo another electoral debacle without rethinking its role in the Berlin government. The fate of Angela Merkel will also depend on the outcome of the elections. Although the chancellor has already announced her reappropriation at the head of the CDU at the next congress in Hamburg on 7 and 8 December, the result in Hesse could change the balance within the party. Meanwhile, Secretary General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has not ruled out the holding of early elections. On the other hand, if the current majority collapses, it would be difficult to think of a different scenario.

The succession to the Chancellor has already begun, but none of the heirs (Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, in fact heir appointed by the Chancellor, and the young Minister of Health Jens Spahn, historian Antimerkel) do not wish to act for the moment. The times are still premature and none seems ready to muster a huge and difficult legacy.

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