Next state today, Bremen. They're allowing 16-year-olds to vote.
Last surveys showed Red/Green at a 61:25 (FGW) or 60:27 (Infratest) majority. The SPD is expected to keep level with its 2007 36.7% result in the state, Greens are estimated to jump from 16.5% to about 24%. The CDU is expected to drop from its 25.7% in 2007 to about 19-20%, becoming only the third-largest party in parliament. All survey institutes project that the FDP will drop out of parliament; the Left, generally showing their 2nd-strongest results in West Germany in Bremen are expected to lose slightly from 8.4% to 6-7%.
As such, it's pretty clear that the government in Bremen will remain Red/Green, albeit with an even greater majority than before. Merkels Black/Yellow coalition stands to lose a significant number of seats and become increasingly irrelevant in the state.
One major affair in the last few days was a raid on Pirate Party servers in Offenbach on friday. This raid by the Federal Criminal Police BKA, instigated by the French Government by claiming an application on these servers was used to plan cyberattacks on the French governmental nuclear power company EDF by Anonymous, effectively froze a whole lot of means of communications for the Pirate Party. The whole affair has been nicknamed "Servergate". In response to "Servergate", Anonymous attacked the servers of the BKA and the general German police internet portal on Friday, DDOSing both into oblivion. While it's unlikely that the Pirate Party will breach the 5-Percent-Hurdle today and make it into parliament, the unknown voting pattern especially of the 16-/17-year-olds gave them at least some chance at it.
Especially since the 5-Percent-Hurdle is separately applied in the two parts of the Two-City-State there are some uncertainties; there are four minor parties that have remote chances at getting into parliament through this special rule, among them the FDP, the Pirate Party, the neonazi NPD and the rightwing-populist party BIW (which currently holds a seat in parliament due to this rule by getting 5.29% in Bremerhaven).
Last surveys showed Red/Green at a 61:25 (FGW) or 60:27 (Infratest) majority. The SPD is expected to keep level with its 2007 36.7% result in the state, Greens are estimated to jump from 16.5% to about 24%. The CDU is expected to drop from its 25.7% in 2007 to about 19-20%, becoming only the third-largest party in parliament. All survey institutes project that the FDP will drop out of parliament; the Left, generally showing their 2nd-strongest results in West Germany in Bremen are expected to lose slightly from 8.4% to 6-7%.
As such, it's pretty clear that the government in Bremen will remain Red/Green, albeit with an even greater majority than before. Merkels Black/Yellow coalition stands to lose a significant number of seats and become increasingly irrelevant in the state.
One major affair in the last few days was a raid on Pirate Party servers in Offenbach on friday. This raid by the Federal Criminal Police BKA, instigated by the French Government by claiming an application on these servers was used to plan cyberattacks on the French governmental nuclear power company EDF by Anonymous, effectively froze a whole lot of means of communications for the Pirate Party. The whole affair has been nicknamed "Servergate". In response to "Servergate", Anonymous attacked the servers of the BKA and the general German police internet portal on Friday, DDOSing both into oblivion. While it's unlikely that the Pirate Party will breach the 5-Percent-Hurdle today and make it into parliament, the unknown voting pattern especially of the 16-/17-year-olds gave them at least some chance at it.
Especially since the 5-Percent-Hurdle is separately applied in the two parts of the Two-City-State there are some uncertainties; there are four minor parties that have remote chances at getting into parliament through this special rule, among them the FDP, the Pirate Party, the neonazi NPD and the rightwing-populist party BIW (which currently holds a seat in parliament due to this rule by getting 5.29% in Bremerhaven).
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