It will take some time to sort out the new government of Germany and therefore its new Chancellor, but the biggest takeaway is that Angela Dorothea Merkel was not blindly adored. Outside of Germany, she's considered one of the great world leaders, however, Germans saw through that by handing the CDU its lowest ever result (196 seats, down from 246 in 2017). She should have done much more in regards to climate change and refugees, but being a centrist was what motivated her instead of ruffling feathers. Germany is at the crossroads with an ageing population (21.5% are over 65), pension and immigration reform will be haunting the next leader. (Note: for all of its innovation and practicality, Germany has not done enough to raise the minimum wage, it's a measly 9.50 euros per hour).
Just to go off on a tangent...Germans are proud of their frugality, Aldi and Lidl sum up their stinginess (I say that sincerely). Then on the other hand, every car brand driven by the so-called entitled 1% of society is German (Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche). Germans are the ultimate contradiction, just like their politics. Remember (don't worry, I don't expect readers to be up with the intricacies of Deutschland) when CDU/Grüne (Greens) teamed up in the German state of Hesse (home to the financial capital, Frankfurt). Germany is the real land of hope, here you can get fiscal conservatives doing deals with tree huggers. Germany has a long history of political diversity, one of its 16 states (Baden-Württemberg) is currently governed outright by the Greens.
To an American audience this will sound shocking, but the Greens should have done better, at one stage they were on track to come first. Still, was a solid return from four years ago, increased their share in the Bundestag from 67 to 118 seats (including two won by transgender candidates). To put it into an American context, this is the equivalent of a Jill Stein led party winning 86 seats in the 535-seat Congress). SPD is now in the driving seat to form a coalition, coming first by taking 206 (up from 153 in 2017) of 735 seats. Got to love German politics, no outright winner, all about compromise. Interesting to see if they take the traffic light coalition (red being SPD, Greens, and the yellow FDP - classical-liberal party that took 92 seats) route by working across political divides like in Hesse.
In other news across Europe, the Swiss legalised same-sex marriage passing with 64% in a referendum, becomes the 30th nation to join the world of acceptance. A referendum to ban full facial coverings also passed with 51%. ("Congrats" Switzerland, you just became a hero among angry white men spewing hate from their basements). The Swiss might be known for their neutrality, but boy do they swing wildly in referendums from compassion to bigotry. Iceland just falls short of a majority female Parliament. The 63-seat Althing will have 30 seats taken up by women. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Iceland's second female PM is set to remain at the helm. One thing is for certain, Iceland's 4-day workweek trial was a success, looking set to become the first developed nation to make the law of the land. Iceland is a social experiment leader, men even get 4 months fully paid paternity leave.
Looking ahead on the European election calendar, Czechia (Czech Republic) heads to the polls October 8-9. All 200 members of the Chamber of Deputies are up for election. It will be fascinating to see how the Pirate Party (founded 2009) does. In 2017 they took 22 seats (third largest in the chamber), which was big news for an upstart student-driven party with a civil rights, direct democracy centric platform. This vote matters, a strong Czechia is needed in Europe, it's the only antithesis to Viktor Orbán running amok in central Europe. The more the autocrat in Hungary is ostracised, the better for global democracy. Heck, even Americans should devote at least an hour of their day to Czech politics. Small world: Prague, Oklahoma was named after Czech settlers. There's even the town of West, Texas, affectionately known to locals as the Czech heritage capital. Before you know it, Bulgaria heads to the polls on November 14th. Autumn in Europe, where the leaves and governments change colours.
