Baden-Württemberg state election, 2011

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Baden-Württemberg state election, 2011

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All 138 seats in the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg
70 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 66.2%

 First partySecond party
  Stefan Mappus 2011 (cropped).jpg Winfried Kretschmann 2012 (cropped).jpg
Leader Stefan Mappus Winfried Kretschmann
Party CDU Green
Last election44.2%11.7%
Seats before6917
Seats won6036
Seat change-9+19
Popular vote1.942.4041.205.508
Percentage39%24.1%
Swing-5.2%12.4%
 Third partyFourth party
  Nils Schmid 2012 (cropped).jpg Ulrich Goll 2008 (cropped).jpg
Leader Nils Schmid Ullrich Goll
Party SPD FDP
Last election25.2%10.7%
Seats before3815
Seats won357
Seat change-3-8
Popular vote1.151.859262.520
Percentage23.1%5.3%
Swing-2.1%-5.4%

BW Wahlkreise 2011.png

Seats won by party
black = absolute majority for CDU
grey = plurality for CDU
green = plurality for Greens
red = plurality for SPD
Minister-President before election

Stefan Mappus
CDU

Elected Minister-President

Winfried Kretschmann
Green

The Baden-Württemberg state election 2011 was held on 27 March 2011 [1] to elect members to Baden-Württemberg's State diet, the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart. It was the 14th state election since the foundation of Baden-Württemberg in 1952. Before, Stefan Mappus (CDU) had led a coalition government of his party with the FDP, which in the election lost its majority to Alliance '90/The Greens, who scored their all-time best state election result, and the Social Democrats.

Baden-Württemberg State in Germany

Baden-Württemberg is a state in southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the border with France. It is Germany’s third-largest state, with an area of 35,751 km2 (13,804 sq mi) and 11 million inhabitants. Baden-Württemberg is a parliamentary republic and partly sovereign, federated state which was formed in 1952 by a merger of the states of Württemberg-Baden, Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern. The largest city in Baden-Württemberg is the state capital of Stuttgart, followed by Karlsruhe and Mannheim. Other cities are Freiburg im Breisgau, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Pforzheim, Reutlingen and Ulm.

In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries. Modern usage mainly relates to the Kokkai of Japan, called "Diet" in English, or the German Bundestag, the Federal Diet.

Landtag of Baden-Württemberg

The Landtag of Baden-Württemberg is the state diet of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg. It convenes in Stuttgart and currently consists of 143 members of five political parties. The majority before the 2016 election was a coalition of the Alliance '90/The Greens and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), supporting the cabinet of Green Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann. The current majority coalition is of the Alliance '90/The Greens and the CDU.

Contents

Like in all German states, elections in Baden-Württemberg follow the mixed member proportional representation. There are 70 constituency seats and at least 50 additional seats to be filled, making up a total of seats of at least 120. A higher number can be reached through overhang seats and additional seats to restore proportional representation. Unlike all other states, there are no party lists. Instead, the seats for a party which are not filled by constituency winners go to the party's remaining constituency candidates with the highest percentages of votes. For the first time, the Sainte-Laguë method was used to calculate the seat allocation.

States of Germany First-level administrative subdivisions of the Federal Republic of Germany

Germany is a federal republic consisting of sixteen states. Since today's Germany was formed from an earlier collection of several states, it has a federal constitution, and the constituent states retain a measure of sovereignty. With an emphasis on geographical conditions, Berlin and Hamburg are frequently called Stadtstaaten (city-states), as is the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, which in fact includes the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven. The remaining 13 states are called Flächenländer.

Overhang seats can arise in elections under the traditional mixed member proportional (MMP) system, when a party's share of the nationwide party votes entitles it to fewer seats than the number of constituencies it won.

As a result, the top candidate of the Alliance '90/The Greens, Winfried Kretschmann, was elected as Baden-Württemberg's new Minister-President, the first of his party holding such an office in Germany, by the new majority of Greens and Social Democrats in the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg, and at least two votes from the opposition.

Winfried Kretschmann German politician

Winfried Kretschmann is a German politician of the Alliance '90/Greens. He has been Minister President of the state of Baden-Württemberg since 12 May 2011. From 1 November 2012 until 31 October 2013 he was President of the Bundesrat and ex officio deputy to the President of Germany. He is the first member of the Greens to serve in these offices. Himself identifying as a green conservative, Kretschmann has been associated with both socially and economically liberal policies.

Germany Federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

The agenda of the new government included managing the Energy transition, major education reforms, an increase to the land transfer tax to support the expansion of child care funding and eliminating tuition fees. [2]

Energy transition long-term structural change towards sustainable energy systems

Energy transition is generally defined as a long-term structural change in energy systems. These have occurred in the past, and still occur worldwide. Historic energy transitions are most broadly described by Vaclav Smil. Contemporary energy transitions differ in terms of motivation and objectives, drivers and governance.

Campaign and issues

Despite its local scope, the Baden-Württemberg elections have been designated a pivotal event for federal chancellor Angela Merkel. The state had been her party's stronghold for about 58 years. [3]

Chancellor of Germany Head of government of Germany

The title Chancellor has designated different offices in the history of Germany. It is currently used for the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, the head of government of Germany.

Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany

Angela Dorothea Merkel is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 2005. She served as the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 2000 to 2018. Merkel has been widely described as the de facto leader of the European Union, the most powerful woman in the world, and by many commentators as the leader of the Free World.

Stuttgart 21

Stuttgart 21 was an election issue in Baden-Württemberg. [4] Work for this project, that sets out to transform the Stuttgart Main Station from a terminus station into a subterranean non-terminus station, was started in the summer of 2010 despite massive protests by the Stuttgart population. The main reasons for the protests are the questionable necessity of the transformation, i.e. the disproportionate costs (between 4 and 5 billion Euros) in relation to the (small) gains in travel time (the current station is a functioning station with 90% of the passengers ending their journey here anyway), the dismantling and partial destruction of the old station building (generally considered to be cultural heritage), the destruction of some of the inner-city's park ("Schlossgarten"), the geological risks posed by the tunnels that would have to be drilled into the Stuttgart ground, endangering Europe's second largest mineral water sources and spas, and the danger of some of the buildings above the tunnels collapsing.

Stuttgart 21 railway and urban development project in Stuttgart, Germany

Stuttgart 21 is a railway and urban development project in Stuttgart, Germany. It is a part of the Stuttgart–Augsburg new and upgraded railway and the Magistrale for Europe (Paris—Vienna) in the framework of the Trans-European Networks. Its core is a renewed Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, amongst some 57 kilometres of new railways, including some 30 kilometres of tunnels and 25 kilometres of high-speed lines.

Cultural heritage physical artifact or intangible attribute of a society inherited from past generations

Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that is inherited from past generations.

Mineral water water from a mineral spring

Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may be classified as "still" or "sparkling" (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases.

Christian Democratic Union The CDU government of Stefan Mappus was a supporter of the project and even used police force, including tear gas and water cannons, to break up demonstrations and civil disobedience campaigns of the opponents. Mappus basically linked his political fate to the success or failure of the project.

Social Democratic Party The SPD leadership is also a supporter of Stuttgart 21, but since early 2010 has called for a referendum on the issue "to pacify the city" and end the ongoing protests. In general, the party hasn't really taken a clear stance on the issue, though, as some of its (lower) members are also opposed to the project.

Alliance '90/The Greens
The opposition to Stuttgart 21 has led to "unprecedented popularity" for the Alliance '90/The Greens in Baden-Württemberg, [4] and has led the party into the role of being the senior partner in a new coalition government with the Social Democratic Party. [4]

Free Democratic Party The FDP as a coalition partner of the CDU in the Mappus government has also supported Stuttgart 21. It was criticized of being a civil rights party in name only, as it was not protesting against the harsh police force used against demonstrators in the late summer of 2010.

Transparent government

Transparent government has become an issue since the controversy about Stuttgart 21 started. [5]

Christian Democratic Union

Social Democratic Party

Alliance '90/The Greens

Free Democratic Party

Nuclear

Christian Democratic Union

Social Democratic Party

Alliance '90/The Greens

Free Democratic Party

Direct Democracy

Christian Democratic Union

Social Democratic Party

Alliance '90/The Greens

Free Democratic Party

Media

Christian Democratic Union

Social Democratic Party

Alliance '90/The Greens

Free Democratic Party

Nuclear power

Christian Democratic Union
Following the Fukushima I nuclear accidents, Chancellor Angela Merkel changed policy on nuclear power by announcing the temporary shutdown of the seven nuclear power stations built before 1980. [3] She also stated that she was committed to total withdrawal from nuclear power sooner than the revisited nuclear exit plan dates. [3]

Polls

The reference for the poll is wahlrecht.de [6]

Party Last
election 		2010-07-27
Infratest		2010-09-01
Forsa		2010-09-08
Infratest		2010-10-08
abs		2010-10-09
TNS		2010-11-19
Allensbach		2010-11-26
FGW		2010-12-02
Infratest		2010-12-19
Emnid		2011-02-28
Forsa		2011-03-17
Infratest
CDU 44.2%37%37%35%28%34%38%39%39%41%39%39%
SPD 25.2%25%24%21%17%19%22%19%18%19%26%22%
The Greens 11.7%20%24%27%36%32%26%26%28%29%19%25%
FDP 10.7%7%6%5%8%6%5%5%5%4%5%6%
The Left 3.1% (WASG)5%4%5%7%5%5%4%5%4%4%5%
Other5.2%6%5%7%–4%4%7%5%–7%5%

Results

Summary of the 27 March 2011 election results for the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg

e  •  d  
PartyIdeologyVote % (change)Seats (change)Seat Change %
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Christian democracy, conservatism 39.0-5.260-9-13
Alliance '90/The Greens (Die Grünen) Green politics 24.2+12.536+19+111.8
Social Democratic Party (SPD) Social democracy, third way 23.1-2.135-3-7.9
Free Democratic Party (FDP) Liberalism 5.3-5.47-8-53.3
Die Linke (formerly WASG) Democratic socialism 2.8-0.3
Pirate Party (Pirates) Freedom of information 2.1+2.1
The Republicans Nationalism, national conservatism 1.1-1.4
All Others2.4
Total100.0%138
Popular Vote
CDU
 
39.01%
B'90/GRÜNE
 
24.20%
SPD
 
23.13%
FDP
 
5.27%
DIE LINKE
 
2.80%
PIRATEN
 
2.08%
REP
 
1.14%
Other
 
2.37%
Landtag seats
CDU
 
43.48%
B'90/GRÜNE
 
26.09%
SPD
 
25.36%
FDP
 
5.07%

Post-election

After the loss, Stefan Mappus announced his resignation as chairman of the Christian Democratic Union in Baden-Württemberg. [7] Federal Social Democratic Party leader Frank-Walter Steinmeier insisted that Chancellor Angela Merkel should call for new elections after the defeat of the Christian Democratic Union in Baden-Württemberg. [8]

On 27 April 2011, the Green party and the Social Democratic Party announced that they had finalized their coalition agreement. [9] Winfried Kretschmann and Social Democratic Party leader Nils Schmid presented an 83-page document called "The Change Begins". [9] The only minister named was Nils Schmid. He became Deputy Minister-President and "super-minister" for finance and the economy. [9] Other than Nils Schmid's appointment, the Red-Green Alliance only announced which parties would get each ministry. [9] The Social Democrats got the majority of the ministerial positions but the Greens had a majority in the cabinet. [9] The Greens obtained the ministries of the environment, transportation, science, rural areas, consumer protection and a ministry for civil society. [10] The Social Democrats got the ministries of the economy, finance, justice, labour, schools, welfare, and the interior ministry. [10] As part of the coalition agreement, the Red-Green Alliance agreed to have a referendum on Stuttgart 21. [9] The Red-Green Alliance also agreed on "radical changes" to the education system and transport policy and to accelerate the phasing out of nuclear power. [9] Hermann Gröhe, the secretary general of the CDU, "condemned" the coalition agreement. [9]

On 12 May 2011, Winfried Kretschmann was sworn in as Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg. [11] Kretschmann became the first Minister-President in Germany to represent the Green Party. [2] [11] Kretschmann received at least two votes from the opposition. [2]

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Thomas Strobl German politician

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Peter Hauk German politician

Peter Hauk is a German politician of the CDU party. He has been a member of the Landtag of Baden-Wuerttemberg since 1992. From 2005 until 2010 he was Minister for Nutrition and Rurality and from 2010 until the election of Guido Wolf to faction leader in 2015 he was CDU group leader and leader of the opposition in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament. Since 12 May 2016 he is a member of the Cabinet Kretschmann II as Minister for Rural Affairs and Consumer Protection.

Winfried Hermann German politician

Winfried Hermann is a German politician. He is a member of the Green party. From 1998 to 2011 he was a MP of the German Bundestag. Since 2011 he has been State Minister of Transport in the Cabinets Kretschmann I and II. From 1992 to 1997 he was chairman of The Greens in Baden-Württemberg.

References

  1. ↑ "Factbox: Key dates in Angela Merkel's political calendar". Reuters. 12 November 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "Kretschmann erhält sogar zwei Oppositionsstimmen". Die Welt (in German). 12 May 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 Pidd, Helen (27 March 2011). "German Greens hail state victory in vote overshadowed by Fukushima". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 "CDU wary after Stuttgart rail project approval". Financial Times. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  5. ↑ "Taxpayers face rising cost for Stuttgart 21". The Local. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  6. ↑ "Umfragen Baden-Württemberg". wahlrecht.de. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  7. ↑ "Mappus legt Parteivorsitz nieder". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). 28 March 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  8. ↑ "SPD-Chef Steinmeier fordert Neuwahlen in Deutschland". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). 28 March 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Jones, Timothy (27 April 2011). "Greens and SPD present coalition agreement in Baden-Württemberg". Deutsche Welle . Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  10. 1 2 Moore, Michael Scott (28 April 2011). "'A Green Leader Has Risen' in[Baden-Württemberg". Der Spiegel . Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  11. 1 2 Werkhäuser, Nina (12 May 2011). "Greens make history as they take over Germany's conservative south-west". Deutsche Welle . Retrieved 12 May 2011.
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