State election in Saarland in 1999
The state election in Saarland in 1999 was the 12th state election in Saarland , took place on September 5th at the same time as the state election in Brandenburg and led to a change of power in Saarland . The SPD, which had previously ruled alone, lost five percentage points and thus its absolute majority, the CDU recorded gains of almost seven percentage points, thus achieving an absolute majority and henceforth a sole government. The Greens failed to re-enter the state parliament.
initial situation
Since the state elections in 1985 , the SPD had an absolute majority, which it was able to expand in the state elections in 1990 and defend in 1994 despite losing votes. It set up a sole government under Prime Minister Oskar Lafontaine ( Lafontaine III cabinet ). On November 9, 1998, after his resignation and change to the Federal Ministry of Finance, he was replaced by Reinhard Klektiven , who formed the Klektiven cabinet . The FDP / DPS had clearly missed entry into the state parliament in 1994 with a result of 2.1 percent. The Greens entered the Saarland state parliament for the first time in 1994 with a result of 5.5 percent.
Election campaign / polls
The Greens announced that they would seek a coalition with the SPD in the event of a return to the state parliament and ruled out an alliance with the CDU.
After the change of government in 1998 , a red-green coalition ruled Bonn under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The CDU achieved a series of successes in the subsequent state elections, while the SPD suffered losses. Before the election in Saarland, the state elections in Hesse had already led to a change of government towards a black-yellow coalition.
The polls showed a mixed picture: In March 1999, the SPD was still 51 percent in the polls, well ahead of the CDU. Between June and August the CDU was ahead of the SPD, while the last survey on August 31, 1999 saw the SPD again one percentage point ahead of the CDU. If the Greens were predicted to return to the state parliament in some polls, the FDP was well below five percent in all polls.
| Institute | date | CDU | SPD | GREEN | FDP | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| last election result | 10/16/1994 | 38.6% | 49.4% | 5.5% | 2.1% | 4.4% |
| Emnid | 01/30/1999 | 41% | 46% | 7% | 2% |
REP 2% other ? |
| Forsa | February 1999 | 36% | 51% | ? | ? | ? |
| Forsa | March 1999 | 41% | 51% | 4% | 2% | 2% |
| Emnid | 04/09/1999 | 42% | 45% | 6% | 3% | 4% |
| Infratest dimap | 06/25/1999 | 46% | 42% | 4% | 3% | 5% |
| Infratest dimap | 07/19/1999 | 46% | 43% | 4.5% | 2% | 4.5% |
| Infratest dimap | 08/18/1999 | 45% | 43% | 5% | 3% | 4% |
| Research group elections | 08/31/1999 | 45% | 46% | 4% | 4% | 1 % |
| Election result | 09/05/1999 | 45.5% | 44.4% | 3.2% | 2.6% | 4.3% |
Result
The result was the following:
| Eligible voters | 822.810 |
| Voters | 565,523 |
| voter turnout | 68.7% |
| Valid votes | 557,337 (98.5%) |
| Political party | agree completely |
Votes in% |
Total seats |
Seats 1994 |
differ- ence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU | 253.856 | 45.5% | 26th | 21st | +5 |
| SPD | 247.311 | 44.4% | 25th | 27 | -2 |
| GREEN | 18,106 | 3.2% | 3 | -3 | |
| FDP / DPS | 14,259 | 2.6% | |||
| REP | 7,328 | 1.3% | |||
| family | 5,623 | 1.0% | |||
| PDS | 4,490 | 0.8% | |||
| FWGS | 4.157 | 0.7% | |||
| ödp | 1,557 | 0.3% | |||
| CM | 650 | 0.1% |
The previously opposition CDU recorded an increase in votes of almost seven percentage points, achieved a result of 45.5% and thus a narrow absolute majority in the state parliament with 26 out of 51 seats. The SPD, which had ruled alone until then, suffered losses of five percentage points and achieved 44.4 percent and 25 seats. All other parties clearly failed in their entry into the state parliament, so that for the first time since 1970 a two-party parliament consisting of CDU and SPD was established.
The Greens, who entered the state parliament for the first time in 1994 with 5.5 percent, lost more than two percentage points, only achieved 3.2 percent and thus left the state parliament. The FDP / DPS, which in 1994 achieved its worst result ever in Saarland with 2.1 percent and was thus elected from the state parliament, was able to increase its share of the vote slightly to 2.6 percent, but still clearly missed re-entry into parliament . The Republicans, who had won only 1.4 percent in the 1994 election after 3.4 percent in 1990, lost again slightly to 1.3 percent. In addition, the family party just overran the hurdle to state party funding with 1.0 percent . The first-time candidate PDS achieved a result of 0.8%.
Consequences
On the evening of the election, shortly after 7:30 p.m., Prime Minister Klektiven admitted his party's electoral defeat.
The chairman of the Greens, Christian Molitor, stuck to his expression of sympathy for a red-green coalition after the election and said that Klektiven would be “the better prime minister” compared to Müller.
For the first time since 1970, the CDU again achieved an absolute majority in the Saarland state parliament and, after 14 years of opposition, was able to form a single government under Peter Müller as Prime Minister ( Cabinet Müller I ), which was elected on September 29, 1999 and the cabinet was named SPD sole government replaced after less than a year in office.
Trivia
The election, which took place at the same time as the state elections in Brandenburg in 1999 , was the 200th election (at federal or state level) in post-war Germany.
Individual evidence
- ^ Election results - Saarland. In: Wahlrecht.de. Retrieved August 12, 2011 .
- ↑ Greens: toying with the red-green coalition. In: spiegel.de. SPIEGEL ONLINE, September 3, 1999, accessed August 12, 2011 .
- ↑ Sunday question - Saarland. In: Wahlrecht.de. Retrieved August 12, 2011 .
- ^ State elections 1947 to 2009 in Saarland. (PDF; 9 kB) (No longer available online.) In: saarland.de. The Regional Returning Officer / Statistical Office, archived from the original on February 1, 2012 ; Retrieved August 12, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Distribution of seats in the state elections from 1947 to 2009 in Saarland. (PDF; 8 kB) (No longer available online.) In: saarland.de. The Regional Returning Officer / Statistical Office, archived from the original on March 22, 2012 ; Retrieved August 12, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Andreas Hoenig: Election evening: jubilation and horror on the Saar. In: spiegel.de. SPIEGEL ONLINE, September 5, 1999, accessed August 14, 2011 .
- ↑ Udo Lorenz: Looking for a job: Saar-Greens clear their offices in the state parliament. In: spiegel.de. SPIEGEL ONLINE, September 8, 1999, accessed August 14, 2011 .
Web links
- SPIEGEL ONLINE: Topic page on the state elections in Saarland in 1999
- Infratest dimap: Election analysis for the 12th state election in Saarland
- saarland.de: Results of the state elections in Saarland
