Changing Political Landscape

The United States is not the only country where political turmoil is happening - the financial crisis has people unsettled the globe over - well...at least in the major "first world" countries, that is.

Germany tends to be center-right country, and the current government reflects that. It is governed by coalition of the conservative CDU and the more liberal FDP. The FDP is a rather small party in the whole scheme of things in German politics, but in the last election at the end of last summer, they pulled off almost 16% of the vote - categorically making them kingmakers in a system where coalition building is more or less necessary in order to form a governable majority. In elections since the one at the end of the summer in several states across the country, the FDP has lost significantly...but so has the CDU. The other major party - the SPD - has lost as well, but it has been polling better than it had at the end of the summer. Enough about that...it's confusing, and I don't understand it all that too well to begin with. I just know that Germans are upset with the status quo...much like a lot of other people in the world too (cf. USA and Great Britain).

Last week political history was made in the state of Hessen when governor Roland Koch stepped aside.

Ex-Hessian governor Roland Koch

It was a blow to Berlin since he was a member of the governing CDU party. Like a lot of politicans, Koch wouldn't admit that it was because he had lost the goodwill of the people that he was quitting, but "'The time was ripe for Koch to resign,' said Oskar Niedermayer, political science professor at the Free University in Berlin. 'He was too much of a polarizing figure to make it further. And after losing his absolute majority in 2008 but managing to hold onto power, he was afraid about the next election.'" Read more here.

Today, another blow comes for Chancellor Angela Merkel when President Horst Köhler announces his resignation. Although the office is largely ceremonial, it's just another series of setbacks for the government in Berlin. One more issue that Merkel has to deal with. It will be interesting to see how things play out. Thirty days from now, Germany will have a new president, even though it doesn't mean too much in the whole scheme of things. The Chancellor is the true leader of the country. Nonetheless, it livens up the news a bit and makes life a bit less boring!