27 March 2011 2016 → 44.2% 11.7% 60 36 | Turnout 66.2% 69 17 -9 +19 | |
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The Baden-Württemberg state election 2011 was held on 27 March 2011 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.
Contents
- Campaign and issues
- Stuttgart 21
- Transparent government
- Nuclear
- Direct Democracy
- Media
- Nuclear power
- Polls
- Post election
- References
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.
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.
The agenda of the new government includes changing from nuclear power as soon as possible, major education reforms, an increase to the land transfer tax to support the expansion of child care funding and eliminating tuition fees.
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.
Stuttgart 21
Stuttgart 21 was an election issue in Baden-Württemberg. 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.
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, and has led the party into the role of being the senior partner in a new coalition government with the Social Democratic Party.
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.
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. She also stated that she was committed to total withdrawal from nuclear power sooner than the revisited nuclear exit plan dates.
Polls
The reference for the poll is wahlrecht.de
Post-election
After the loss, Stefan Mappus announced his resignation as chairman of the Christian Democratic Union in Baden-Württemberg. Federal Social Democratic Party leader Frank-Walter Steinmeier has insisted that Chancellor Angela Merkel should call for new elections after the defeat of the Christian Democratic Union in Baden-Württemberg.
On 27 April 2011, the Green party and the Social Democratic Party announced that they have finalized their coalition agreement. Winfried Kretschmann and Social Democratic Party leader Nils Schmid presented an 83-page document called "The Change Begins". The only minister named was Nils Schmid. He will become Deputy Minister-President and "super-minister" for finance and the economy. Other than Nils Schmid's appointment, the Red-Green Alliance only announced which parties would get each ministry. The Social Democrats will get the majority of the ministerial positions but the Greens will have a majority in the cabinet. The Greens are to obtain the ministries of the environment, transportation, science, rural areas, consumer protection and a ministry for civil society. The Social Democrats will get the ministries of the economy, finance, justice, labour, schools, welfare, and the interior ministry. As part of the coalition agreement, the Red-Green Alliance agreed to have a referendum on Stuttgart 21. They would like to have the referendum by mid-October. 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. Hermann Gröhe, the secretary general of the CDU, "condemned" the coalition agreement.
On 12 May 2011, Winfried Kretschmann was sworn in as Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg. Kretschmann became the first Minister-President in Germany to represent the Green Party. Kretschmann received 2 votes from the opposition.