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2011 Berlin state election

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2011 Berlin state election
← 2006 18 September 2011 2016 →
All 152 seats in the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
77 seats needed for a majority
Turnout1,461,185 (60.2%)
Increase 2.2%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Klaus Wowereit Frank Henkel Renate Künast
Party SPD CDU Greens
Last election 53 seats, 30.8% 37 seats, 21.3% 23 seats, 13.1%
Seats won 48 39 30
Seat change Decrease 5 Increase 2 Increase 7
Popular vote 413,332 341,158 257,063
Percentage 28.3% 23.3% 17.6%
Swing Decrease 2.5% Increase 2.0% Increase 4.5%
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Harald Wolf Andreas Baum Christoph Meyer
Party Left Pirates FDP
Last election 23 seats, 16.3%[a] Did not contest 13 seats, 7.6%
Seats won 20 15 0
Seat change Decrease 3 Increase 15 Decrease 13
Popular vote 171,050 130,105 26,943
Percentage 11.6% 8.9% 1.8%
Swing Decrease 4.6% Increase 8.9% Decrease 5.8%
Mayor before election

Klaus Wowereit
SPD

Elected Mayor

Klaus Wowereit
SPD

The 2011 Berlin state election was held on 18 September 2011[1] to elect the members of the 17th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin.[2] The incumbent government consisting of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Left lost its majority.[3]

The SPD lost five seats, remaining the largest party, while The Left lost three.[4][5][6] The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) made small gains, while The Greens moved into third place with 30 seats. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) lost three-quarters of its votes and all its seats. The Pirate Party contested its first Berlin state election and won fifteen seats with 8.9% of the vote. This was the first time the party had been elected to a state parliament anywhere in Germany.[7][8]

The SPD initially sought a coalition with The Greens, but talks broke down over the extension of the Bundesautobahn 100. A coalition agreement between the SPD and CDU was finalised in November, with Mayor Klaus Wowereit continuing in office.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 16th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin.

Name Ideology Leader(s) 2006 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands 		Social democracy Klaus Wowereit 30.8%
53 / 149
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands 		Christian democracy Frank Henkel 21.3%
37 / 149
Linke The Left
Die Linke 		Democratic socialism Harald Wolf 16.3%[b]
23 / 149
Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen 		Green politics Renate Künast 13.1%
23 / 149
PIRATEN Pirate Party Germany
Piratenpartei Deutschland 		Pirate politics Andreas Baum 8.9%
15 / 149
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei 		Classical liberalism Christoph Meyer 7.6%
13 / 149

Issues and campaign

Christian Democratic Union

The CDU considered safety on the Berlin U-Bahn an issue after a number of attacks on the property of the U-Bahn.[3] The party published material using images from attacks captioned with the question "Safe?"[3] These were later recalled.[3] The CDU also posted billboards comparing the number of police officers cut from the force by the red-red coalition with the number of crimes committed on the city's buses and U-Bahn trains.[3] Nils Diederich, a professor of political science at the Free University of Berlin, stated prior to the election that he did not believe this would be much of an issue due to a positive mood within the city.[3]

Social Democratic Party

The SPD top candidate and mayor Klaus Wowereit stated, after "well-publicized attacks" in late winter and spring, that he planned to heighten security by increasing the number of police officers by 200 and lengthening the time video surveillance recordings are kept before being erased from 24 to 48 hours.[3]

Post-election

Election results and analysis

The Free Democratic Party (FDP) representation was removed from the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin after they failed to reach the 5% threshold.[8] This was the fifth time in 2011 in Germany that the Free Democrats failed to obtain representation in a state parliament. They also lost representation in Saxony-Anhalt, Rhineland-Palatinate, Bremen and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.[9] Baden-Württemberg and Hamburg are the only states in which they reached the 5% electoral threshold in that year. The win in Berlin marks the 7th time out of seven elections in 2011 that the Social Democrats got into government.[10]

Voting problems

On 21 September 2011, election officials found that the results of the Green Party and The Left were inadvertently swapped in the Lichtenberg district. Evrim Baba-Sommer of the Green Party will replace Karin Seidel-Kalmutzki of the Social Democratic Party.[11]

On 22 September 2011, Norbert Kopp, the district mayor for Steglitz-Zehlendorf, confirmed at least 379 postal ballots had found their way into the bin of a block of flats. The ballots were properly sent to the Zehlendorf city hall and the votes could change a number of the local council seats. The police have started an investigation over the incident.[11]

Coalition talks

Initially, the Social Democrats concentrated on forming a coalition with the Greens. However, on 5 October 2011, coalition talks between the SPD and the Greens broke down.[12][13][14] The disagreement was about the extension of Bundesautobahn 100.[12][13] The Green Party platform had insisted on not extending the Bundesautobahn 100.[13] The Social Democrats offered a compromise to not go ahead with the 3.2 km extension A100 if the €420 million provided by the federal government could be invested in other transportation infrastructure projects.[13] However, the federal government rejected the possibility of transferring the money to other projects.[13] Green Party head Bettina Jarasch stated that "There was not really the will within the SPD to work together with us on a coalition" while the Berliner Zeitung wrote that "the left-wing of the SPD felt Wowereit and Müller had actually wanted to form a coalition with the CDU and had deliberately put the Greens in an impossible situation."[13] Michael Müller, chairman of Berlin chapter of the Social Democratic Party, had "threatened to look towards the CDU" over the past weekend, because the Greens "stuck to their opposition to the motorway extension".[13] Müller pointed out to the Greens "that the Red-Green coalition would only have a one-vote majority compared to the stable 10-vote majority which would be achieved in coalition with the CDU".[13] Wolfgang Thierse, deputy Parliamentary group leader, stated "that he was surprised and a little disappointed at the breakdown of talks" and "Just as Red-Green would not have been heaven for Berlin, Red-Black would not be hell".[13] Renate Künast, leader of the Berlin Chapter of the Green Party, stated that Klaus Wowereit "wanted a surrender, and no coalition".[12]

The Social Democrats therefore continued talks with the Christian Democrats so that a grand coalition that would govern Berlin was finalized on 16 November 2011.[15] According to the 100-page coalition agreement, Wowereit will continue as mayor. Also, each party receives four ministries: Social Democrats will be in charge of the Finance, City development/Environment, Education/Youth/Science, and Jobs/Integration/Women portfolios, whereas the Christian Democrats will have Interior/Sports, Economy/Technology/Research, Health/Social, and Justice/Consumer protection.[15][16] Disagreements between the two parties have been settled. There will be for example a "City tax" of 5% for hotel guests beginning in 2013 and the minimum wage for public contract jobs will increase by €1 per hour (currently at €7.50).[15] Plans were dropped for making teachers civil servants again and requiring property owners to contribute to street improvement costs.[15] Wowereit summarised the talks by saying "We want Berlin to become richer and to stay sexy".[17]

Opinion polling

Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size 		SPD CDU Linke Grüne FDP Piraten Others Lead
2011 state election 18 Sep 2011 – 28.3 23.4 11.6 17.6 1.8 8.9 8.3 4.9
INFO GmbH 9–11 Sep 2011 1,504 31 22 12 18 2 9 6 9
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 5–8 Sep 2011 1,492 32 21 11 19.5 3 5.5 8 11
Infratest dimap 6–8 Sep 2011 1,000 29.5 22 12 20 3 6.5 8 7.5
Emnid 29 Aug – 1 Sep 2011 1,001 32 23 11 20 4 4 6 9
Forsa 5–30 Aug 2011 1,100 32 21 11 19 4 5 8 11
Infratest dimap 26–29 Aug 2011 1,000 30 22 11 22 3 4.5 7.5 8
Emnid 22–25 Aug 2011 576 33 24 11 19 5 4 4 9
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 22–25 Aug 2011 933 33.0 20.5 10.5 20.5 3.5 4.5 7.5 12.5
INFO GmbH 8–12 Aug 2011 1,047 36 23 8 22 2 4.5 5 13
Infratest dimap 5–8 Aug 2011 1,000 31 22 12 22 4 3 6 9
Forsa 18–28 Jul 2011 1,003 30 19 13 24 3 – 11 6
INFO GmbH 11–14 Jul 2011 1,042 29 21 13 26 2 – 9 3
Emnid 6–14 Jul 2011 1,002 32 21 14 22 3 – 8 10
Infratest dimap 1–4 Jul 2011 1,000 29 23 14 24 3 2 5 5
Forsa 20–29 Jun 2011 1,001 31 18 11 27 3 – 10 4
INFO GmbH 6–8 Jun 2011 1,002 33 17 12 29 3 – 6 4
Infratest dimap 3–6 Jun 2011 1,000 30 21 12 25 4 – 8 5
Forsa 18–26 May 2011 1,005 31 17 10 27 3 – 12 4
INFO GmbH May 2011 1,000 28 20 11 31 2 – 7 3
Infratest dimap 6–9 May 2011 1,003 29 21 13 26 3 – 8 3
Forsa 18–28 Apr 2011 1,004 29 18 10 29 2 – 12 Tie
INFO GmbH 8–14 Apr 2011 1,043 27 20 13 30 3 – ? 3
Emnid 6–7 Apr 2011 1,000 27 20 14 29 3 – 7 2
Infratest dimap 1–4 Apr 2011 1,000 26 21 15 28 3 – 7 2
INFO GmbH 16–21 Mar 2011 1,002 32 19 11 29 3 – ? 3
Forsa 14–24 Mar 2011 1,001 29 19 13 24 4 – 12 5
INFO GmbH 18 Feb – 1 Mar 2011 1,018 30 20 13 22 4 – 11.7 8
Forsa 15–24 Feb 2011 1,006 30 18 13 23 4 – 12 7
Infratest dimap 11–14 Feb 2011 1,000 28 23 16 23 3 – 7 5
Forsa 5–13 Jan 2011 1,001 28 19 14 24 3 – 12 4
Infratest dimap 5–6 Jan 2011 1,000 29 20 17 25 4 – 5 4
Forsa 7–16 Dec 2010 1,004 27 19 15 25 4 – 10 2
Forsa 16–25 Nov 2010 1,002 27 21 17 27 3 – 5 Tie
Forsa 16–25 Nov 2010 1,002 26 18 16 28 3 – 9 2
Forsa 19–28 Oct 2010 1,004 27 17 14 29 3 – 10 2
Infratest dimap 25–26 Oct 2010 1,000 22 20 17 30 3 – 8 8
Forsa 21–29 Sep 2010 1,006 26 16 15 30 3 – 10 4
Emnid 13 Sep 2010 ? 28 19 15 25 4 – 9 3
Infratest dimap 3–6 Sep 2010 1,000 24 22 16 28 4 – 6 4
Forsa 17–26 Aug 2010 1,001 26 17 16 27 4 – 10 1
Forsa 19–29 Jul 2010 1,005 27 17 15 27 4 – 10 Tie
Forsa 17–24 Jun 2010 1,001 27 19 17 25 3 – 9 8
Infratest dimap 4–7 Jun 2010 1,001 25 25 17 23 5 – 5 Tie
Forsa 18–27 May 2010 1,003 26 21 17 22 4 – 10 5
Forsa 19–29 Apr 2010 1,006 26 20 15 23 7 – 9 6
Forsa 15–25 Mar 2010 1,003 25 22 17 21 5 – 10 3
Infratest dimap 19–22 Mar 2010 1,000 23 25 19 21 6 – 6 2
Forsa 12–25 Feb 2010 1,001 25 22 18 19 6 – 10 3
Forsa 25 Jan – 5 Feb 2010 1,005 24 23 17 20 5 – 11 1
Forsa 14–22 Dec 2009 1,005 21 25 18 19 7 – 10 4
Infratest dimap 4–7 Dec 2009 1,000 23 25 17 19 9 – 5 2
Forsa 19–26 Nov 2009 1,002 22 23 17 21 7 – 10 1
Forsa 26–29 Oct 2009 1,004 20 24 16 20 8 – 12 4
Forsa 15–24 Sep 2009 1,007 24 21 15 20 8 – 12 3
Infratest dimap 4–7 Sep 2009 1,000 24 22 16 20 10 – 8 2
Forsa 19–27 Aug 2009 1,005 22 23 16 20 9 – 10 1
Forsa 14–23 Jul 2009 1,003 22 23 15 19 12 – 9 1
Infratest dimap 2–6 Jul 2009 1,000 25 23 14 20 12 – 6 2
Forsa 16–25 Jun 2009 1,007 22 24 16 19 11 – 8 2
Forsa 18–28 May 2009 1,007 26 21 16 18 11 – 8 5
Forsa 20–27 Apr 2009 1,000 27 21 16 16 11 – 9 6
Infratest dimap 6–9 Apr 2009 2,500 29 22 15 17 11 – 6 7
Forsa 16–26 Mar 2009 1,004 29 20 14 18 12 – 7 9
Forsa 3 March 2009 1,001 27 21 15 16 14 – 7 6
Forsa Jan 2009 1,005 28 23 15 17 10 – 7 5
Forsa 29 Dec 2008 ? 28 20 17 16 11 – 8 8
Infratest dimap 4–8 Dec 2008 1,000 28 24 16 17 9 – 6 4
Forsa 17–27 Nov 2008 1,006 26 20 19 17 9 – 9 6
Forsa 20–30 Oct 2008 1,003 27 22 19 15 8 – 9 5
Forsa 29 Sep 2008 1,002 28 18 18 17 10 – 9 10
Infratest dimap 4–8 Sep 2008 1,000 29 21 16 18 9 – 7 8
Forsa 18–28 Aug 2008 1,008 27 21 18 16 9 – ? 6
Forsa 14–24 Jul 2008 1,001 26 20 20 17 8 – 9 6
Forsa 16–26 Jun 2008 1,000 28 21 18 15 9 – ? 7
Infratest dimap 6–9 Jun 2008 1,000 27 23 18 18 9 – 5 4
Forsa 19–29 May 2008 1,000 27 23 18 15 8 – 9 4
Forsa 14–24 Apr 2008 1,204 28 23 16 16 8 – 9 5
Infratest dimap 11–16 Apr 2008 2,500 29 25 17 16 7 – 6 4
Forsa 13–27 Mar 2008 1,000 26 23 16 16 8 – 11 3
Infratest dimap 7–10 Mar 2008 1,000 29 23 18 16 7 – 7 6
Forsa 18–28 Feb 2008 1,000 28 22 16 14 8 – 12 6
Forsa 14–24 Jan 2008 1,000 28 25 15 15 7 – 10 3
Forsa 11–20 Dec 2007 1,002 28 23 16 14 7 – 12 5
Infratest dimap 7–10 Dec 2007 1,000 31 23 15 16 7 – 8 8
Forsa 5–15 Nov 2007 1,000 30 22 15 15 7 – 11 8
Infratest dimap 9–12 Nov 2007 1,000 31 25 16 16 5 – 7 6
Forsa 8–18 Oct 2007 1,003 28 22 15 14 9 – 12 6
Infratest dimap 5–8 Oct 2007 1,000 33 25 14 14 6 – 8 8
Forsa 11–20 Sep 2007 1,001 26 24 17 13 8 – 12 2
Infratest dimap 7–9 Sep 2007 1,000 31 24 16 16 5 – 8 7
Forsa 13–23 Aug 2007 1,002 28 22 16 15 6 – 13 6
Forsa 16–26 Jul 2007 1,001 26 24 15 14 7 – 14 2
Infratest dimap 29 Jun – 2 Jul 2007 1,000 31 24 16 15 7 – 7 7
Forsa 18–28 Jun 2007 1,001 24 22 17 15 8 – 14 2
Infratest dimap 1–4 Jun 2007 1,000 30 23 15 17 7 – 8 7
Forsa 21–24 May 2007 1,005 27 21 13 17 8 – 14 6
Infratest dimap 27–29 Apr 2007 1,000 32 21 15 16 8 – 8 11
Forsa 18–26 Apr 2007 1,001 25 22 14 17 8 – 14 3
Infratest dimap 30 Mar – 2 Apr 2007 1,000 33 22 13 15 8 – 9 11
Forsa 5–15 Mar 2007 1,001 26 20 13 17 8 – 16 6
Infratest dimap 2–5 Mar 2007 1,000 31 22 13 16 8 – 10 9
Forsa 12–15 Feb 2007 1,000 28 19 13 16 8 – 16 9
Infratest dimap 2–5 Feb 2007 1,000 33 21 14 14 8 – 10 12
Forsa 8–18 Jan 2007 1,000 30 19 12 15 8 – 16 11
Forsa 11–21 Dec 2006 1,001 29 17 15 16 8 – 15 12
Forsa 13–23 Nov 2006 1,014 28 19 14 14 9 – 16 8
Forsa 9–19 Oct 2006 1,001 28 20 13 15 8 – 16 8
2006 state election 17 Sep 2006 – 30.8 21.3 13.4 13.1 7.6 – 13.8 9.5

Election result

Summary of 18 September 2011 election results for the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
Party Votes % +/- Seats +/- Seats %
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 413,332 28.3 Decrease2.5 48 Decrease5 31.6
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 341,158 23.4 Increase2.1 39 Increase2 25.7
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) 257,063 17.6 Increase4.5 30 Increase7 19.7
The Left (Linke) 171,050 11.6 Decrease4.6 20 Decrease3 13.2
Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) 130,105 8.9 New 15 New 9.9
National Democratic Party (NPD) 31,241 2.1 Decrease0.4 0 ±0 0
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 26,943 1.8 Decrease5.8 0 Decrease13 0
Human Environment Animal Protection 21,612 1.5 Increase0.6 0 ±0 0
Pro Germany Citizens' Movement 17,829 1.2 New 0 New 0
Others 50,732 3.5 0 ±0 0
Total 1,461,185 100.0 152 Increase3
Voter turnout 60.2 Increase2.2
Popular Vote
SPD
 
 28.29%
CDU
 
 23.35%
B'90/GRÜNE
 
 17.59%
DIE LINKE
 
 11.71%
PIRATEN
 
 8.90%
FDP
 
 1.84%
Other
 
 8.32%
Abgeordnetenhaus seats
SPD
 
 31.57%
CDU
 
 25.66%
B'90/GRÜNE
 
 19.74%
DIE LINKE
 
 13.16%
PIRATEN
 
 9.87%

Notes

  1. ^ Results for PDS (13.4%) and WASG (2.9%).
  2. ^ Results for PDS (13.4%) and WASG (2.9%).

References

  1. ^ "SPD and Greens set for power in Hamburg". The Local. 13 February 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  2. ^ Berliner Wahlen 2011
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Warner, Mary Beth (9 September 2011). "Subway Beating Becomes Campaign Issue". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  4. ^ "Germany's Pirate Party Celebrates Historic Victory". Financial Times. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  5. ^ Scally, Derek (19 September 2011). "Berlin pirates force FDP to walk the plank". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Rot-Rot war gut für ein Jahrzehnt". Die Zeit (in German). 19 September 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  7. ^ "Germany's Pirate Party Celebrates Historic Victory". Der Spiegel. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  8. ^ a b "SPD wins Berlin vote as Pirates celebrate". The Local. 18 September 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  9. ^ "Something is deeply wrong when the NPD is more successful than the FDP". The Local. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  10. ^ "Rot-Rot geht, die Generation Internet kommt". Die Welt. 18 September 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  11. ^ a b "Hundreds of Berlin votes found in a bin". The Local. 22 September 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  12. ^ a b c "Künast – "Wowereit wollte Rot-Grün scheitern lassen"". Die Welt. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i "SPD and Greens drop Berlin government talks". The Local. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  14. ^ Chambers, Madeline (5 October 2011). "Merkel's CDU could get unexpected boost in Berlin". Reuters. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  15. ^ a b c d "City of Berlin gets 'grand coalition' government". The Local. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  16. ^ [1] Announcement on official Berlin portal
  17. ^ "Reicher werden und sexy bleiben". FAZ. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011. Original German: "Wir wollen, dass Berlin reicher wird und sexy bleibt".
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