German federal election, 1994

German federal election, 1994
All 672 seats in the Bundestag ; 337 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	79.0% (voting eligible) [1]
	Party list election results by state: dark blue denotes states where CSU had the absolute majority of the votes; lighter blue denotes states where CDU had the plurality of votes; and pink denotes states where the SPD had the plurality of votes
Chancellor before election; Helmut Kohl ; CDU/CSU	Elected Chancellor ; Helmut Kohl ; CDU/CSU

Last updated April 03, 2019

Federal elections were held in Germany on 16 October 1994 to elect the members of the 13th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU alliance led by Helmut Kohl remained the largest faction in parliament, with Kohl remaining Chancellor. This elected Bundestag was largest in history until 2017, numbering 672 members.

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 Bundestag is the German federal parliament. It can be compared to the chamber of deputies along the lines of the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Through the Bundesrat, a separate institution, the individual states of Germany participate in legislation similar to a second house in a bicameral parliament.

CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties or the Union, is the centre-right Christian democratic political alliance of two political parties in Germany, namely the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU).

Issues and campaign

The SPD let its members elect a candidate for Chancellor against Helmut Kohl. Rudolf Scharping, Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate, beat Gerhard Schröder and Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul in the SPD's internal election. Tension between Scharping and other SPD leaders such as Oskar Lafontaine and Gerhard Schröder hampered his campaign.

Helmut Josef Michael Kohl was a German statesman who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and as the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. From 1969 to 1976, Kohl was minister president of the state Rhineland-Palatinate. Kohl chaired the Group of Seven in 1985 and 1992. In 1998 he became honorary chairman of the CDU, resigning from the position in 2000.

Rudolf Albert Scharping is a German politician (SPD) and sports official. He was from 1991 to 1994 the 6th Minister President of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate and 1998–2002 Federal Minister of Defence. From 1993 to 1995 he was also the national chairman of the SPD. In the Bundestag election in 1994 he was candidate for chancellor. From March 1995 to May 2001 he served as chairman of the Party of European Socialists (PES).

Rhineland-Palatinate is a state of Germany.

For the first time in their existence, the Greens seemed to be willing to actually join a government in the event that a centre-left SPD-Grünen coalition had a workable majority in the Bundestag.

Results

e • d Summary of 16 October 1994 German Bundestag election results
Parties		Constituency					Party list					Total seats
Parties		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Seats	+/−	%
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	17,966,813	38.3	+3.1	103	+12	17,140,354	36.4	+2.9	149	+1	252	+13	37.5
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	17,473,325	37.2	−1.1	177	−15	16,089,960	34.2	−2.5	67	−9	244	−24	36.3
	Christian Social Union (CSU)	3,657,627	7.8	+0.4	44	+1	3,427,196	7.3	+0.2	6	−2	50	−1	7.4
	Alliance '90/The Greens ^†	3,037,902	6.5	+0.9	0	±0	3,424,315	7.3	+2.3	49	+41	49	+41	7.3
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	1,558,185	3.3	−4.5	0	−1	3,258,407	6.9	−4.1	47	−31	47	−32	7.0
	Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)	1,920,420	4.1	+1.8	4	+3	2,066,176	4.4	+2.0	26	+10	30	+13	4.5

	The Republicans (REP)	787,757	1.7	±0	0	±0	875,239	1.9	−0.2	0	±0	0	±0	0
	The Grays – Gray Panthers (GRAUE)	178,450	0.4	−0.1	0	±0	238,642	0.5	−0.3	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)	200,138	0.4	−0.1	0	±0	183,715	0.4	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Natural Law Party (Naturgesetz)	59,087	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	73,193	0.2	+0.2	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Animal Protection Party	–	–	–	–	–	71,643	0.2	+0.2	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Party of Bible-abiding Christians (PBC)	26,864	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	65,651	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Statt Party (STATT)	7,927	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	63,354	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Bavaria Party (BP)	3,324	0.0	±0	0	±0	42,491	0.1	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Car-drivers' and Citizens' Interests Party (APD)	1,654	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	21,533	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Christian Centre (CM)	3,559	0.0	±0	0	±0	19,887	0.0	−0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Party of the Willing to Work and Socially Vulnerable (PASS)	489	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	15,040	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD)	4,932	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	10,038	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Solidarity (BüSo)	8,032	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	8,103	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Christian League (Liga)	3,788	0.0	±0	0	±0	5,195	0.0	−0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Centre Party (Zentrum)	1,489	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	3,757	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Federation of Socialist Workers (BSA)	–	–	–	–	–	1,285	0.0	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Free Citizens' Union (FBU)	8,193	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	German Social Union (DSU)	2,395	0.0	−0.3	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	German Communist Party (DKP)	693	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	DVP	606	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Free Social Union (FSU)	467	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Communist Party of Germany (KPD)	426	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Independent Workers' Party (UAP)	302	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Liberal Democrats (LD)	221	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Federation for a Complete Germany (BGD)	107	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Democrats (DEMOKRATEN)	104	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Electoral groups and independents	34,080	0.1	±0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
Invalid/blank votes		788,643	—	—	—	—	632,825	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Totals		47,737,999	100	±0.0	328	±0	47,737,999	100	±0.0	344	+10	672	+10	±0
Registered voters/turnout		60,452,009	79.0	—	—	—	60,452,009	79.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
Source: Federal Returning Officer

^† — totals for the Greens reflect the merger of the Western and Eastern Green parties.

↓
294	47	252	49	30
CDU/CSU	FDP	SPD	Grüne	PDS

Popular Vote

CDU/CSU			41.43%
SPD			36.39%
B'90/GRÜNE			7.27%
F.D.P.			6.92%
PDS			4.39%
REP			1.86%
Other			1.75%

Bundestag seats

CDU/CSU			43.75%
SPD			37.50%
B'90/GRÜNE			7.29%
F.D.P.			6.99%
PDS			4.46%

Post-election

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP was able to continue in power with Helmut Kohl as chancellor.

The PDS won four constituency seats in its power base of the former East Berlin, qualifying it for proportional representation even though the party won 4.4 percent of the vote, just short of the 5% electoral threshold required for full parliamentary status. Under a longstanding electoral law intended to benefit regional parties, any party that wins at least three constituency seats is entitled to its share of proportionally-elected seats, regardless of vote share.^[2]

East Berlin was the de facto capital city of the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989, East Berlin was separated from West Berlin by the Berlin Wall. The Western Allied powers did not recognise East Berlin as the GDR's capital, nor the GDR's authority to govern East Berlin.

This was the first time in the history of the Federal Republic that the FDP was not the third largest party in the chamber.

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References

↑ "Voter turnout by election year". Website of the Federal Returning Officer's Office. The Federal Returning Officer. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
↑ Dan Hough; Michael Koß; Jonathan Olsen (2007). The Left Party in Contemporary German Politics. Springer. ISBN 0230592147.

Sources

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[Voter_turnout_1994-1] "Voter turnout by election year". Website of the Federal Returning Officer's Office. The Federal Returning Officer. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.

[2] Dan Hough; Michael Koß; Jonathan Olsen (2007). The Left Party in Contemporary German Politics. Springer. ISBN 0230592147.

†

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