The 2008 Hessian state election was held on 27 January 2008 to elect the members of the Landtag of Hesse. The incumbent Christian Democratic Union (CDU) government led by Minister-PresidentRoland Koch lost its majority. The result of the election was extremely close but inconclusive, with the CDU winning just 3,500 votes (0.1%) more than the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Due to the entrance of The Left to the Landtag, neither the CDU–FDP or SPD–Green bloc garnered a majority. After a year of failed attempts to form government, a new election was held.
The CDU won a majority in the 2003 state election, but lost popularity in the following years. In the 2008 election campaign, CDU Minister-President Roland Koch took a tough stance against immigrant youth violence as an electoral tactic.[1] The political left criticised this as xenophobic. Other issues included minimum wage concerns, education, and controversy over the planned major expansion of the Rhine-Main airport.
The formation of The Left meant that a party to the left of the SPD and Greens stood a serious chance of entering the Landtag for the first time in decades. The party polled between 4 and 6 per cent in the lead-up to the election; it was unclear if the party would exceed the 5% threshold.
Polling data narrowed as the election approached; both the CDU and SPD and their junior partners the FDP and Greens were essentially tied. This meant that, if The Left entered the Landtag, it may hold the balance of power and make government formation difficult.
Partiesedit
The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Hesse.
The CDU's share of the vote fell to its lowest level since the 1966 election. The SPD, under its leader Andrea Ypsilanti, increased its share of the vote substantially, from 29% to 37%; the SPD claimed victory as a result. The other winner was The Left, who narrowly entered the Hesse Landtag with 5.1% of the vote. This was the second western state legislature which the party had entered, the first being Bremen in 2007. The party also won seats in neighbouring Lower Saxony in an election held the same day.
The SPD and the CDU both won 42 seats; the FDP won 11 and the Greens 9. With 56 seats needed for a majority, neither was able to form a government with their traditional partners. There was a several-month-long lull after the election. The Left was thus kingmaker, exactly the result it had hoped for.[2]
A traffic light coalition (SPD, FDP, Greens) would have held a majority (62), but was rejected by FDP, saying that they will only form a coalition with CDU or go into opposition.[3]
SPD leader Ypsilanti had long refused to negotiate with The Left, but in October 2008 began talks to include them in a three-party "red-green-red" coalition with herself as Minister-President. This was a controversial move which sparked a revolt in the SPD, as many members bitterly refused to participate in power-sharing with The Left. One day before the election for Minister-President in the Landtag, four members of the SPD parliamentary group indicated they would not vote for her, and called a vote of no-confidence on her leadership.[4] After this point, it became clear a red-red-green coalition was not viable. New elections were subsequently scheduled for January 2009.
Referencesedit
^"Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger - Aktuelle Nachrichten aus Köln und der ganzen Welt".
^"Hessen: Ypsilanti will sich mit linken Stimmen wählen lassen - CDU tobt wegen Wortbruchs". Der Spiegel (in German). 2008-03-04. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
^. Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
April 13, 2024
2008, hessian, state, election, held, january, 2008, elect, members, landtag, hesse, incumbent, christian, democratic, union, government, minister, president, roland, koch, lost, majority, result, election, extremely, close, inconclusive, with, winning, just, . The 2008 Hessian state election was held on 27 January 2008 to elect the members of the Landtag of Hesse The incumbent Christian Democratic Union CDU government led by Minister President Roland Koch lost its majority The result of the election was extremely close but inconclusive with the CDU winning just 3 500 votes 0 1 more than the Social Democratic Party SPD Due to the entrance of The Left to the Landtag neither the CDU FDP or SPD Green bloc garnered a majority After a year of failed attempts to form government a new election was held 2008 Hesse state election 2003 27 January 2008 2009 All 110 seats of the Landtag of Hesse56 seats needed for a majorityTurnout2 742 959 64 3 0 3 First party Second party Third party Leader Roland Koch Andrea Ypsilanti Jorg Uwe HahnParty CDU SPD FDPLast election 56 seats 48 8 33 seats 29 1 9 seats 7 9 Seats won 42 42 11Seat change 14 9 2Popular vote 1 009 775 1 006 263 258 550Percentage 36 8 36 7 9 4 Swing 12 0 7 6 1 5 Fourth party Fifth party Leader Tarek Al Wazir Willi van OoyenParty Greens LeftLast election 12 seats 10 1 Did not runSeats won 9 6Seat change 3 6Popular vote 206 610 140 769Percentage 7 5 5 1 Swing 2 6 5 1 Results for the single member constituencies Minister President before electionRoland KochCDU Elected Minister President Roland KochCDU Contents 1 Background and issues 2 Parties 3 Opinion polling 4 Election result 5 Outcome 6 ReferencesBackground and issues editThe CDU won a majority in the 2003 state election but lost popularity in the following years In the 2008 election campaign CDU Minister President Roland Koch took a tough stance against immigrant youth violence as an electoral tactic 1 The political left criticised this as xenophobic Other issues included minimum wage concerns education and controversy over the planned major expansion of the Rhine Main airport The formation of The Left meant that a party to the left of the SPD and Greens stood a serious chance of entering the Landtag for the first time in decades The party polled between 4 and 6 per cent in the lead up to the election it was unclear if the party would exceed the 5 threshold Polling data narrowed as the election approached both the CDU and SPD and their junior partners the FDP and Greens were essentially tied This meant that if The Left entered the Landtag it may hold the balance of power and make government formation difficult Parties editThe table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Hesse Name Ideology Leader s 2003 resultVotes SeatsCDU Christian Democratic Union of GermanyChristlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands Christian democracy Roland Koch 48 8 56 110SPD Social Democratic Party of GermanySozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands Social democracy Andrea Ypsilanti 29 1 33 110Grune Alliance 90 The GreensBundnis 90 Die Grunen Green politics Tarek Al Wazir 10 1 12 110FDP Free Democratic PartyFreie Demokratische Partei Classical liberalism Jorg Uwe Hahn 7 9 9 110Opinion polling editPolling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize CDU SPD Grune FDP Linke Others Lead2008 state election 27 January 2008 36 8 36 7 7 5 9 4 5 1 3 4 0 1AMR Dusseldorf 23 24 Jan 2008 1 000 37 38 7 10 5 1Forsa 22 24 Jan 2008 1 006 38 39 37 38 6 7 9 10 4 5 3 4 1Forsa 14 18 Jan 2008 1 005 38 38 7 9 5 3 TieForschungsgruppe Wahlen 14 17 Jan 2008 1 100 38 37 8 8 5 4 1GMS 15 16 Jan 2008 1 010 39 34 8 9 5 5 5Infratest dimap 14 16 Jan 2008 1 000 38 37 7 8 6 3 1Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 7 9 Jan 2008 1 000 40 36 7 8 5 4Infratest dimap 3 8 Jan 2008 1 000 40 35 9 9 4 3 5Emnid 10 Dec 2 Jan 2008 800 42 32 10 8 5 3 10AMR Dusseldorf 29 Dec 2007 1 000 40 33 10 9 6 2 7Forsa 3 7 Dec 2007 1 002 41 30 11 9 5 4 11Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 3 5 Dec 2007 1 052 40 34 9 7 6 4 6Forsa 18 21 Sep 2007 1 001 43 30 9 8 5 5 13Infratest dimap 3 5 Sep 2007 1 000 42 32 10 8 4 4 10TNS Infratest 9 11 Jul 2007 1 000 40 33 11 7 5 4 7Forsa 11 26 Jun 2007 1 012 41 27 11 9 6 6 14Emnid 30 Apr 16 May 2007 599 40 32 11 9 4 4 8Infratest dimap 19 21 Mar 2007 1 001 38 34 10 9 4 5 4Forsa 26 Feb 13 Mar 2007 1 027 43 27 11 9 4 6 16Forsa 20 Nov 12 Dec 2006 1 023 42 27 10 9 5 7 15Forsa 14 Sep 11 Oct 2006 1 170 41 27 12 11 3 6 14Forsa 15 May 9 Jun 2006 1 225 39 31 11 9 5 5 8Infratest dimap 10 15 Mar 2006 1 002 40 35 10 7 4 4 4Infratest dimap 19 Oct 2003 1 000 52 28 11 5 4 242003 state election 2 February 2003 48 8 29 1 10 1 7 9 3 4 19 7Election result editSummary of the 27 January 2008 election results for the Landtag of Hesse Party Constituency Party list Totalseats Votes Seats Votes SeatsChristian Democratic Union CDU 1 068 358 39 13 28 1 009 775 36 81 nbsp 11 96 14 42 nbsp 14Social Democratic Party SPD 1 047 051 38 35 27 1 006 264 36 69 nbsp 7 60 15 42 nbsp 9Free Democratic Party FDP 196 004 7 18 0 258 550 9 43 nbsp 1 52 11 11 nbsp 2Alliance 90 The Greens GRUNE 206 250 7 55 0 205 610 7 53 nbsp 2 57 9 9 nbsp 3The Left DIE LINKE 106 975 3 92 0 140 769 5 13 New 6 6 NewThe Republicans REP 39 126 1 43 0 27 724 1 01 nbsp 0 25 0 0 nbsp 0Free Voters FW 36 212 1 33 0 24 327 0 89 New 0 0 NewNational Democratic Party NPD 17 627 0 65 0 24 004 0 88 New 0 0 NewHuman Environment Animal Protection Tierschutz 8 833 0 32 0 15 909 0 58 nbsp 0 17 0 0 nbsp 0Family Party FAMILIE 1 243 0 05 0 7 817 0 28 New 0 0 NewPirate Party PIRATEN 6 962 0 25 New 0 0 NewThe Grays Gray Panthers GRAUE 717 0 03 0 4 810 0 18 New 0 0 NewAlliance for Germany Volksabstimmung 238 0 01 0 3 130 0 11 New 0 0 NewThe Violets VIOLETTEN 2 380 0 09 New 0 0 NewIndependent Citizen Politics UB 595 0 02 0 1 775 0 06 New 0 0 NewCivil Rights Movement Soliarity BuSo 361 0 01 0 1 118 0 04 nbsp 0 02 0 0 nbsp 0Socialist Equality Party PSG 1 035 0 04 nbsp 0 01 0 0 nbsp 0Independents 595 0 02 0 0 nbsp 0Total 2 730 185 100 00 55 2 742 599 100 00 55 110 nbsp 0Invalid 80 888 2 88 68 114 2 42Turnout 2 811 073 64 32 2 811 073 64 32 nbsp 0 30Registered voters 4 370 463 4 370 463Outcome editThe CDU s share of the vote fell to its lowest level since the 1966 election The SPD under its leader Andrea Ypsilanti increased its share of the vote substantially from 29 to 37 the SPD claimed victory as a result The other winner was The Left who narrowly entered the Hesse Landtag with 5 1 of the vote This was the second western state legislature which the party had entered the first being Bremen in 2007 The party also won seats in neighbouring Lower Saxony in an election held the same day The SPD and the CDU both won 42 seats the FDP won 11 and the Greens 9 With 56 seats needed for a majority neither was able to form a government with their traditional partners There was a several month long lull after the election The Left was thus kingmaker exactly the result it had hoped for 2 A traffic light coalition SPD FDP Greens would have held a majority 62 but was rejected by FDP saying that they will only form a coalition with CDU or go into opposition 3 SPD leader Ypsilanti had long refused to negotiate with The Left but in October 2008 began talks to include them in a three party red green red coalition with herself as Minister President This was a controversial move which sparked a revolt in the SPD as many members bitterly refused to participate in power sharing with The Left One day before the election for Minister President in the Landtag four members of the SPD parliamentary group indicated they would not vote for her and called a vote of no confidence on her leadership 4 After this point it became clear a red red green coalition was not viable New elections were subsequently scheduled for January 2009 References edit Kolner Stadt Anzeiger Aktuelle Nachrichten aus Koln und der ganzen Welt https www derwesten de nachrichten 2008 1 28 news 19224423 detail html dead link Hessen Ypsilanti will sich mit linken Stimmen wahlen lassen CDU tobt wegen Wortbruchs Der Spiegel in German 2008 03 04 ISSN 2195 1349 Retrieved 2023 03 21 Hessen Ypsilanti Wahl geplatzt News amp Nachrichten Archived from the original on 2008 12 06 Retrieved 2009 02 09 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org 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