Berlin elections loom, but is another setback on the horizon for Angela Merkel?

[rooster59]

Berlin elections loom, but is another setback on the horizon for Angela Merkel?

 

 

Berlin is set to vote on Sunday in Germany’s second regional elections in as many weeks and all signs are pointing to another blow for Chancellor Angela Merkel.

 

Her so-called open door refugee policy has hit her and her Christian Democrat (CDU) party hard and at the same time boosted support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

 

A slump in support for the CDU could deepen a growing rift with its coalition partners, the centre left Social Democrats (SPD).

 

SPD politician and Mayor of Berlin Michael Mueller is expected to retain his position.

 

“I remember when Pegida protests took place there was a strong resistance in Berlin and therefore I think that the results of the elections two weeks ago in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania mobilised people here (against the AfD – Alternative for Germany, right wing party),” he said. “They say we don’t want this in our city, we don’t tolerate it.”

 

Despite being the SPD’s junior partner in local government, the CDU has historically had weak support in the capital. Polls suggest Merkel’s party’s mayoral contender, Frank Henkel, is considered equally shaky.

 

Mueller says if he wins he wants to ditch the existing coalition for a more left-leaning one, which is likely to include the Greens and Die Linke (the Left).

 

 

-- © Copyright Euronews 2016-09-17

[SgtRock]

3 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Berlin elections loom, but is another setback on the horizon for Angela Merkel?

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-election-idUSKCN11L1B0

 

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/711243/Angela-Merkel-ballots-weekend-Berliners-polls-Germany-world

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/16/berlin-mayor-pleads-against-return-of-far-right-and-nazis-as-ant/

 

This could well be the weekend that Merkel is guided to a dimly lit room and the future spelled out to her very clearly by CDU. 

 

For the sake of CDU it is time for you to go.

[trogers]

Quick. Change the Constitution. Let the immigrants vote...

[thaibeachlovers]

I certainly hope so.

[Mosha]

Sarkozy wants to deny automatic citizenship, to children born in France of foreign parents. That was on BBC earlier.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

[SgtRock]

Quote

The Die Zeit weekly newspaper reports that party rebels have given Merkel a deadline: if she does not to perform a public U-turn by Tuesday, some MPs will rise up in open rebellion.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/17/berlin-elections-angela-merkel-christian-democrats-cdu-leadership

 

There will be no U-Turn from Merkel.

 

I hope she sees sense, realises that for her, it is all over and goes quickly.

[thaihome]

The article did fail to mention the poor showing of the AfD in in local council elections in the western region of Lower Saxony last week.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7bdc749a-78c9-11e6-97ae-647294649b28.html#axzz4KUwCyAi9

The contrast between the Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg Vorpommern votes highlights the political gap between western Germany, with its political stability, and the former Communist east, where economically-insecure voters have often backed new parties, such as the AfD. 

TH

[elgordo38]

4 hours ago, SgtRock said:

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-election-idUSKCN11L1B0

 

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/711243/Angela-Merkel-ballots-weekend-Berliners-polls-Germany-world

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/16/berlin-mayor-pleads-against-return-of-far-right-and-nazis-as-ant/

 

This could well be the weekend that Merkel is guided to a dimly lit room and the future spelled out to her very clearly by CDU. 

 

For the sake of CDU it is time for you to go.

Is the CDU like the dark state that controls American governance??

[dunroaming]

Bad news for the UK if Merkel goes.  She was one positive voice for Britain over brexit.

 

The EU is in crisis as some predicted, not only over Brexit but also over the terrorist threats.  Lot's of knee jerk responses at the moment and we are certainly in "interesting" times.

[SgtRock]

7 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

Bad news for the UK if Merkel goes.  She was one positive voice for Britain over brexit.

 

The EU is in crisis as some predicted, not only over Brexit but also over the terrorist threats.  Lot's of knee jerk responses at the moment and we are certainly in "interesting" times.

 

Forget the UK.

 

It will be bad news for the EU if she goes. She is the one that is holding the wobbling EU together.

 

will be an understatement.

[soalbundy]

41 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

Is the CDU like the dark state that controls American governance??

No. they are a bunch of money worshiping Christians. Got to give them their due though, they changed Bavaria from a poor agricultural state to a rich high tech powerhouse within two decades while still maintaining the charming Bavarian way of life

[dunroaming]

15 minutes ago, SgtRock said:

 

Forget the UK.

 

It will be bad news for the EU if she goes. She is the one that is holding the wobbling EU together.

 

will be an understatement.

 

I fear you are right.  But if it does see the end of the EU then maybe that would be an opportunity?  The possibility of the EU collapsing and being re-structured was why I hesitated so much when voting in the referendum.

[soalbundy]

6 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

No. they are a bunch of money worshiping Christians. Got to give them their due though, they changed Bavaria from a poor agricultural state to a rich high tech powerhouse within two decades while still maintaining the charming Bavarian way of life

Sorry, my bad, i was referring to the CSU, not the CDU.

[CharlieK]

38 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

Bad news for the UK if Merkel goes.  She was one positive voice for Britain over brexit.

 

The EU is in crisis as some predicted, not only over Brexit but also over the terrorist threats.  Lot's of knee jerk responses at the moment and we are certainly in "interesting" times.

 

 

There may not be an EU to negotiate with! Even if Article 50 was enacted early 2017, how long before they sit around a table and negotiate. Look at what is happening in the EU now. They are no closer to resolving the mess that is the Euro, Then there is the migration issue. Most if not all do not want to deal with quotas for migrants.  The EU basically being blackmailed by Turkey to stem that flow. Then they talk of an EU army, and more integration.

 

They can't even deal with the problems they have and they want more problems? 

 

The UK needs to negotiate with interested parties now not wait till after leaving the EU to have trade deals. There may not be an EU to deal with!     

 

[williamgeorgeallen]

this is why democracy is good. at least when things go bad you can vote the policy makers out. or in thailands case have another coup. free and fair elections are the best system we have. 

[Haunebu]

Hopefully Merkel will get what she deserves this time.

[dunroaming]

2 hours ago, CharlieK said:

 

 

There may not be an EU to negotiate with! Even if Article 50 was enacted early 2017, how long before they sit around a table and negotiate. Look at what is happening in the EU now. They are no closer to resolving the mess that is the Euro, Then there is the migration issue. Most if not all do not want to deal with quotas for migrants.  The EU basically being blackmailed by Turkey to stem that flow. Then they talk of an EU army, and more integration.

 

They can't even deal with the problems they have and they want more problems? 

 

The UK needs to negotiate with interested parties now not wait till after leaving the EU to have trade deals. There may not be an EU to deal with!     

 

 

Precisely but that is a reason to keep the powder dry.  To negotiate now when nobody knows what is going to happen would be naive.  Apart from anything else the UK cannot negotiate trade deals within the EU until after they leave completely.  If the EU collapses then that would be the time for re-structuring trade deals.  If the EU is no more then the face of international trade within Europe will change beyond recognition.

[trogers]

6 hours ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

this is why democracy is good. at least when things go bad you can vote the policy makers out. or in thailands case have another coup. free and fair elections are the best system we have. 

 

Democracy is good? If there had been a coup, the EU would not now be overrun by over a million immigrants and weekly terrorist acts...

[williamgeorgeallen]

5 hours ago, trogers said:

 

Democracy is good? If there had been a coup, the EU would not now be overrun by over a million immigrants and weekly terrorist acts...

ah germany needed a coup. like the one in thailand or the one in turkey? sometimes they can be very messy. thailand obviously has them perfected after having so many of them.

[SgtRock]

13 hours ago, dunroaming said:

 

Precisely but that is a reason to keep the powder dry.  To negotiate now when nobody knows what is going to happen would be naive.  Apart from anything else the UK cannot negotiate trade deals within the EU until after they leave completely.  If the EU collapses then that would be the time for re-structuring trade deals.  If the EU is no more then the face of international trade within Europe will change beyond recognition.

 

Theresa May has played a blinder.

 

In the face of Every Eurocrat, and others, baying for A 50 to be implemented now and the UK to leave the EU immediately, she has shown balls, determination and a greater understanding than many have given her credit for.

 

The longer she delays, as events unfold  within the EU, the stronger the UK's position will become.

 

To try and keep it on topic. There will be fundamental changes in the EU in 2017 and those biggest changes will be in France, Germany and the Visegrad Group.

 

I believe that Merkel is the single person, that up to now has been the glue that has held the EU together. When she has gone the problems of the euro and within the EZ will come to the fore, and it will be this that is the primary driver of the demise of the current EU. The current, under-reported flow of migrants into the EU will also play a large part. There has been a lot of white noise surrounding the free movement of people / migrants, which is nothing more than attempt at obfuscation, migrants are not covered by Schengen and free movement, therefore it is a red herring. The current attempt at forcing quotas on Countries is merely an attempt to redistribute the problem. It is also important to note, that the most vocal against this are the V4, the group that gains the most in EU funding.

 

Some people are finally waking up and realising that there are some things that are far more important than money.

[Rancid]

15 hours ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

this is why democracy is good. at least when things go bad you can vote the policy makers out. or in thailands case have another coup. free and fair elections are the best system we have. 

Democracy is the better alternative as long as the leaders continue to grant us a degree of freedom, something that unfortunately is being constantly eroded. As long as we have the illusion of choice then people are happy with democracy, in reality though there is no choice as the same money finances both sides. However look at Bush and Obama, what has actually changed? Nothing, the wars are all still running, and debt and unemployment still rising. Blair gave UK the Iraq war, Cameron bombed Libya. In Oz Liberal Howard gave us Iraq, Labor then joined every war going.

 

Ever notice with the two party systems that foreign policy never changes, the regulatory systems that allow big business and banks to scam us never changes. All that changes are a few largely irrelevant social policies, the Titanic never actually changes course. Public Health systems, are they for the peoples good, or a way for big pharma to over charge the governments directly and actually make even more money?

 

Would imagine if Merkel gets too on the nose that she will go, and be replaced by another front person of TPTB that will continue things in largely the same vein. They may slow down immigration for a while, but if as it seems that is the desired policy, then it will continue in a different albeit less obvious form.

 

The great irony for me is that I can live under a military government in Thailand with more freedom in my life than living under democracy back home. Admittedly that may not last forever, but currently it is still the better deal.

[SgtRock]

6 minutes ago, Rancid said:

The great irony for me is that I can live under a military government in Thailand with more freedom in my life than living under democracy back home. Admittedly that may not last forever, but currently it is still the better deal.

 

Amen to that 

[Credo]

38 minutes ago, Rancid said:

<snipped>

The great irony for me is that I can live under a military government in Thailand with more freedom in my life than living under democracy back home. Admittedly that may not last forever, but currently it is still the better deal.

 

Talk about living in a fantasy world.   

[coma]

Let;s hope both her and her party eventually get booted right out of politics. They [she] has destroyed Europe as we knew it and it will NEVER recover. Ever !