Almost Done

Good morning from Berlin! The sun is shining today and so is Angela Merkel’s day.

Maybe.

Yesterday, CDU and SPD finally came to an agreement and reached a deal to form a coalition government, an option that SPD already said no to last September. Thanks to narcissistic FDP poster boy  Christian Lindner of FDP, the Jamaica Coallition that was planned (CDU, FDP, and the Greens) was no longer possible and SPD had to step up to prevent Germany from being government-less.

Oh yeah, Germany has not had a proper government since September. And it still doesn’t.

SPD members need to vote on whether or not they are in with another Grand Coalition for 4 years before they can seal the deal. Sounds easy since the party leaders have spoken right? Uh uh. SPD has been split since Schulz agree to form coalition with CDU. Half of the party want nothing to do with CDU anymore because historically (and also happened last term i.e. SPD experienced it first hand) any party in coalition with CDU became inexistent or got significantly smaller. The other half of the party want to get this done and over with and prevent AfD from gaining more momentum. Anyway, the deadline is in less than a month, March 4.

Until then, Germany will have a few more weeks of political limbo. Not so good with how tumultuous the international political arena with (again) emotionally unstable cheeto across the pond, dissolved parliamentary in Italy in preparation for the general election, and of course the good ol’ Kim.

But hey, at least there is an acting government working at the moment. Unlike the US government shutdown. Until then, we sit, wait, and hope for more better days like today in Berlin.

The Players

Name: CDU/CSU, known better (and unofficially) as the Union party

Leader: Chancellor Angela Merkel

Ideology: Liberal Conservatism

Stance: Pro-EU

Number of Seats on the current Bundestag: 310/630

Name: Social Democratic Party (SPD)

Leader: Martin Schulz

Ideology: Social Democracy

Stance: Pro-Europianism

Number of Seats on the current Bundestag: 193/630

Name: Die Linke or The Left

Leaders: Sahra Wagenknecht & Dietmar Bartsch

Ideology: Democratic Socialism/Left-wing populism

Stance: Anti-capitalism and anti-militarism

Number of seats on the current Bundestag: 64/630

**Note: Former East German populist party

Name: Alliance 90/The Green Party

Leaders: Simone Peter and Cem Özdemir

Ideology: Green politics and progressive

Stance: Environmentalism

Number of seats on the current Bundestag: 63/630

Name: Free Democratic Party (FDP)

Leader: Christian Lindner

Ideology: Classical liberalism

Stance: Pro-business

Number of seats on the current Bundestag: 0

Name: Alternative for Germany (AfD)

Leaders: Alice Weidel & Alexander Gauland

Ideology: Nationalism/Right-wing populism

Stance: Anti-immigration/anti-Europe

Number of seats on the current Bundestag: 0

Support for the parties

In the United States, the coasts are predominantly supportive of Democrats and the center and south are predominantly supportive of Republicans. In Germany, similar patterns are seen throughout the country, based off the former division between the East and West.*

* Quick history lesson: after World War II, Germany is divided into 4 territories occupied by France, the UK, the US, and Soviet Union. The allies (sans France) met up 4 years later in 1949 in Potsdam and divided Germany into two countries: Federal Republic of Germany (former western sectors zone territories), and German Democratic Republic (former Soviet Zone).

A helpful chart found on FiveThirtyEight shows the support of each party nationwide (based of the 2013 election).

• CDU support is overwhelming in Southern Germany, a traditionally conservative area. Their sister party, CSU, “rules” Bavaria.
• SPD support is consistent in the Northwest Germany, as is CDU.
• Die Linke (The Left) has most support in the former East Germany
• The Greens, an environmentalist and progressive party, has most support in around Freiburg, an environmentally conscious area of Germany.
• FDP, who is pro business, gain most support in former West Berlin, and West Germany, territories that are industrial driven.