Potential coalitions

There has been some discussion in the last few days about possible coalitions and I did think of mentioning them.

Ampelkoalition: a ‘traffic-lights’ coalition: red, green and yellow (amber, we would call the traffic light). Red: SPD, green: the Greens, yellow: FDP (Liberal Democrats). It always amazed me in the Bavarian translators’ oral exams, when my German colleague asked a candidate what an Ampelkoalition was, how none of them were capable of guessing it.

Große Koalition: grand coalition: black (CDU/CSU) and red (SPD)

Jamaika-Koalition or Schwampel (short for schwarze Ampel or black traffic lights): black, green and yellow. The commentators on TV this morning were behaving as if they’d only just heard this word, but it’s been around a week or so, because I have been thinking of blogging it, but I didn’t realize it would be the most likely (or least unlikely) alternative.

Mrs. Tilton (whose weekly spider photos I covet) has written on the topic in A Fistful of Euros, which is a group blog.

Now I hear that the significance of the colours in the Jamaican flag is: green for the land, yellow for the sun, black for hardship. How does this relate to the Pan-African colours, where the black represents the skin colour?

Anyway, the CSU did not have black balloons (unlike Mr. Bleck, the coffee chain – matt black balloons are great, but perhaps parents wouldn’t like them for their children). The Links-Partei is using red, like the SPD, but is represented as purple in graphics.

None of these coalitions appear very likely, except probably the grand coalition. But I digress.

16 thoughts on “Potential coalitions

  1. “Jamaica” coalition, now that’s a new one — for me at least. Perhaps because we don’t have a liberal party worth of that name in Austria, plus it’s chosen light blue, not yellow, as its colour.

  2. Good old Austria!
    I really am not watching or listening much at the moment because I am working. But I must say, the FDP is refusing to enter into any coalition, whereas the Greens aren’t. But in fact I think the Jamaica coalition is not at all likely. The Greens cannot give up their policies of no atomic power, Turkey to be given a real chance to join the EU etc., not can the CDU/CSU accept them. I imagine the Greens are just enjoying themselves and giving plenty of soundbites to their policies. OTOH the FDP are surely more likely to enter a coalition, although I suppose the grand coalition may be the final result.
    Not that I have any opinions, of course.

  3. The Greens are more likely to accept a CDU/CSU + FDP coalition. Most Greens are fairly middle-class. A recent poll indicated that the average earnings of Greens are on a par with those of CDU/CSU voters. As long as they can sort their refuse, use their bikes and smell the demise of nuclear power….I thik they’ll be happy

    Paul

  4. Very amusing.
    On the ARD they showed the Greens as earning higher than average but less than the average FDP voter. But then again, who is the average FDP voter? Someone suggested the extra FDP voters this time were those who wanted a black-and-yellow coalition, thought that the CSU/CSU would do well enough and used their second (main) vote to support the FDP instead.

  5. Well Margaret the Greens I know/am aware of don’t seem to be doing badly at all. One guy who shall remain nameless and who keeps on going through my rubbish with a fine-tooth comb after which he empties it out on my parking spot in an effort to encourage me not to put empty cigarette packets in my “Restmüll” has two cars, two cross-country motorbikes, 6-weeks holiday, owns two properties, has sleepless nights over waste sorting and is generally a pain in the rear end. Greens have their roots in the middle class. It’ usually only those from middle class backgrounds who have the time or money to lead over-the-top environmentally over-conscious lifestyles. And, let’s face it, Joschka himself simply loves jetting around the world, the power, the fame and the money.
    The truth as I see it
    Paul

  6. The existence of this man is pretty conclusive proof of the Green party as a whole, isn’t it? It also fits in very well with the fact that the majority of Green voters are women – Germany’s secret millionaires. Btw, the woman who goes through my rubbish with a fine toothcomb went straight past Claudia Roth without stopping last week. Btw, how much do you separate? My friend in Donzdorf hardly has to separate at all, so I suppose it is down to the Gemeinde.

    I suppose if this Jamaica coalition (as I predict) does not come off, we will not know whether it was because of the refusal of the Greens or because of the refusal of the FDP.

  7. Well Margaret, I religiously separate my waste paper (picked up by jolly members of the boy scouts/girl guides once per month). I don’t throw electrical devices, poisons, body parts or animal carcasses into my “Restmüll”. My house has a well-functioning “Biomüll” system to which we individually contribute. We place the bin out on the pavement on the basis of a rota system. I take all junk which used to be collected free of charge as “Sperrmüll” to my “Wertstoffhof”. By the way, Sperrmüll was a very just and fair system socially…so what does Böblingen Waste Management do? They abolish it and make us pay for collection or force us take it to the Wertstoffhof ourselves. At least the previous Sperrmüllabholung was a good way for the poorer members of the community to pick up a still fully functioning TV or fully functional sofa (Mostly Turks, they would position their wives on the item in question to guard it and retur with a van). It was a fair and just system and reduced the amount of waste by real recyling. I guess they now have to go and buy such things at furniture outlets. I take used batteries back to my local Edeka. And I have never dumped anything anywhere illegally. Maybe Fürth doesn’t have such a brainless bunch in charge of waste management as Böblingen.

    >>It also fits in very well with the fact that the majority of Green voters are women – Germany’s secret millionaires

  8. Apparently we can still get Sperrmüll collected, but I seem to remember it was difficult because we’re in the town centre. I take stuff to the dump sometimes. But the house collections are: paper (once a fortnight), gelber Sack, biomüll and Restmüll.

    Just joking about your characterization of the typical Green voter. I honestly don’t think they can afford to change their programme quite as radically as they would have to for Merkel and Westerwelle. Even if they are all middle-class.

  9. Margaret, you should take a look at the ads on top of your page. This discussion triggers funny keywords: traffic signal lamps, portable traffic signals, etc. Funny, I had no idea such things even existed. ;)

  10. >Just joking about your characterization of the typical Green voter. I honestly don’t think they can afford to change their programme quite as radically as they would have to for Merkel and Westerwelle.

  11. I just wish I could be as upbeat as Paul about the positive benefits of a “compromise”. I can’t escape the feeling that the outcome of the election is rather like a bankrupt who doesn’t turn up to court because he hopes that his non-appearance will make all his misfortune go away.

    On a brighter note, we still have the Sperrmüll collection here in Mainz, and as Paul notes, it’s an excellent system of social redistribution – though it’s mainly former citizens of the former Soviet Union (sorry, that should be “deutschstammige Aussiedler”) who are the beneficiaries, given the local demographics. And no Trennungsspitzel either. Maybe Määnz is an island of sanity in a world gone mad. Pity about the football results, though…

  12. Well, obviously the Greens and the SPD had to compromise, but for the CDU/CSU and Greens to compromise, I think too much would have to be given up.

    Robin, Paul may be upbeat, but he’ll be off to Spain before we know where we are.

    I see a new election coming in the next few months.

    As I say, we do have Sperrmüll. When I drive in to the recycling place, though, I tend to be stopped by people who say ‘Wir sind arme Slowaken … haben Sie Elektronik?’

  13. When we lived in Kreis Böblingen it insisted on the separation of Kunststofffolie into pieces larger and smaller than A4. That is going too far. What about all the people who do not have the facilities to set up their own mini-Wertstoffhof in the cellar, the car to transport it or the physical ability to take it to the Wertstoffhof? I am not anti-recycling, just anti-extremism.

  14. Ann

    The “Müllterror” of Kreis Böblingen knows no bounds. I recently read somewhere that “Mülltrennung” will probably be abandoned by other towns and cities in favour of sorting by machines …it’s much more accurate. Meanwhile, Böblingen Abfallwirtschaftsbetrieb, much like it’s Finanzamt, will continue to terrorise its citizens…

    Paul

Leave a Reply to Margaret Marks Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.