Tomorrow, the people of Germany will elect a new national parliament. This matters because that parliament will then elect the chancellor, meaning it affects who your countries' leaders will have to deal with in international talks and what not. So this is a thread to discuss the election. I'll follow up with some information on how exactly it works.
We use a special form of proportional representation in Germany (the specifics of which are rather complicated, so I'll only explain on request) with an additional 5% threshold - any party that gets less of the popular vote is discarded entirely. There are still a bunch of smaller parties that will gain some seats, however, and they could wreck quite a bit if they want to. Many are taking a Merkel victory for granted (the campaign season was definitely the most boring one I've ever seen), but if her contender Martin Schulz proves to have more balls than Gabriel did four years ago, he might even lead a majority coalition against her. Well, hope dies last! Anyway, the following parties are expected to gain seats:
CDU (Christlich-Demokratische Union/Christian Democratic Union): One-woman party (Merkel). Has no clear positions, will stand for whatever they believe will get them votes, and have been very effective in hypnotising the populace into voting for them.
CSU (Christlich-Soziale Union/Christian Social Union): The CDU's mini-me. Has a death grip on Bavaria, but literally does not exist in the rest of the country. Furthermore, they don't seem to know that the CDU doesn't need them for a majority.
SPD (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands/Social Democratic Party of Germany): The party of Schulz. Have been in a coalition with the CDU these past four years, completely failed to take credit for their achievements, and suffered declining poll numbers as a result. Also still haven't yet recovered from Schröder (chancellor 1998-2005) betraying their principles and dealing with 5 million unemployed in a half-assed way, which resulted in about half of those people employed and still not better off.
It should be noted that, barring a miracle, no one of any other party has a shot at becoming chancellor.
FDP (Freie Demokratische Partei/Free Democratic Party): Used to be liberal, then Lambsdorff came along and turned them into the party of big business. Been in a CDU-led government from 2009-2013, and been rewarded with 4% of the vote in the 2013 election, thus being kicked out of parliament. They are really desperate to get back in.
Die Grünen (The Greens): Former hippies who also sold their soul in the Schröder government. Still strong on environment protection, but will rubber stamp almost anything else that's put in front of them.
Die Linke (The Left): Formed as a result of the SPD's shift to the right. Champion social issues, and are willing to repair what Schröder broke. Still decried as being communists, which is especially comical given Germany's history. This is also the only party that won't enter a CDU-led coalition, and thus they are guaranteed my vote at least, for all the good it does them.
AfD (Alternative für Deutschland/Alternative for Germany): Basically the FDP's economic policies spiced with a whole lot of anti-foreigner rhetoric in order to fish for votes among the less savoury. Also host some really shady personalities (including some borderline or even outright neo-Nazis), and have already ousted their leadership twice in the short five years of the party's existence. This spells chaos.
So, there are quite some options as to whom Merkel will devour next, and even a slim chance it'll be herself. Depending on which of the bottom four parties emerge as #3 (which seems to be the most contested position, going by latest polls - each of them is somewhere around 10%), things could become really interesting. If you want to know when the results can be expected, voting stations close tomorrow at 6 PM German time - do the math for your own respective time zones.
So, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments here, and if you have any questions, ask and I'll try to answer them.
Teacher, goth, communist, cynic, alcoholic, master swordsman, king of shitpoasts.
It's better to die together than to live alone.
Sig by Decky
