State election in Saarland 2012
The election for the 15th Saarland state parliament took place on March 25, 2012. After Prime Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer's termination of the Jamaica coalition, which had been in power since 2009, and the subsequent failed negotiations on a grand coalition , the state parliament dissolved on January 26, 2012 in order to clear the way for early elections.
Prime Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer's CDU emerged from the election as the strongest force , followed by the SPD and the Left . Compared to the 2009 election, the SPD was able to significantly improve its result with gains of 6.1 percentage points. The Pirate Party , which stood for the first time in a state election in Saarland , was able to enter the state parliament with 7.4% of the votes and thus for the first time into the state parliament of a German state. The losers in the election were the FDP (–8.0 percentage points) and the Left (–5.2 percentage points). The FDP clearly failed with 1.2% on the 5-percent hurdle, with which it slipped behind the family party , and was no longer represented in the 15th Saarland state parliament. For the first time in four years ( Hamburg state elections in 2008 ), the Greens recorded losses (–0.9 percentage points) in a state election and only barely returned to the Saarland state parliament with 5.0%.
Even before the election, the CDU and SPD announced that they wanted to form a coalition after the election - then with the political situation clarified. Six weeks after the election, the two parties agreed on a coalition agreement and on May 9, 2012 elected the CDU state chairwoman and election winner Kramp-Karrenbauer as prime minister of this grand coalition .
Election result
The regional returning officer announced the final official result:
| Voices 2012 |
Percent 2012 |
Diff. to 2009 (% -points) |
Mandates 2012 |
Diff. to 2009 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eligible voters | 797.512 | ||||
| Voters | 491,591 | 61.6 | -6.0 | ||
| Invalid | 10,297 | 2.1 | +0.4 | ||
| Valid | 481.294 | 97.9 | -0.4 | ||
| CDU | 169,617 | 35.2 | +0.7 | 19th | 0 |
| SPD | 147.170 | 30.6 | +6.0 | 17th | +4 |
| LEFT | 77,612 | 16.1 | -5.1 | 9 | -2 |
| PIRATES | 35,656 | 7.4 | +7.4 | 4th | +4 |
| GREEN | 24,252 | 5.0 | -0.9 | 2 | -1 |
| FAMILY | 8,394 | 1.7 | -0.3 | - | - |
| FDP | 5,871 | 1.2 | -8.0 | - | -5 |
| NPD | 5,606 | 1.2 | -0.3 | - | - |
| FREE VOTERS | 4.173 | 0.9 | +0.9 | - | - |
| The party | 2,222 | 0.5 | +0.5 | - | - |
| Direct democracy | 721 | 0.1 | +0.1 | - | - |
Starting position
The early election was announced by CDU Prime Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on January 19, 2012 after she had terminated the government alliance between her party, the FDP and the Greens.
Parties and candidates
The following parties have been approved by the regional returning officers:
| Political party | Abbreviation | Constituency lists |
Members | Result 2009 | founding | Top candidate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Democratic Union of Germany | CDU | 3 | 19,000 | 34.5% | 1955 | Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer |
| Social Democratic Party of Germany | SPD | 3 | 21,000 | 24.5% | 1955 | Heiko Maas |
| The left | THE LEFT | 3 | 2,400 | 21.3% | 2007 | Oskar Lafontaine |
| Free Democratic Party | FDP | 3 | 1,500 | 9.2% | 1955 | Oliver Luksic |
| Alliance 90 / The Greens | GREEN | 3 | 1,400 | 5.9% | 1979 | Simone Peter |
| Family party of Germany | FAMILY | 3 | 150 | 2.0% | 1989 | Roland Koerner |
| National Democratic Party of Germany | NPD | 3 | 100 | 1.5% | 1964 | Frank Franz |
| Free voters | FREE VOTERS | 3 | 70 | - | 2011 | Bernd Richter |
| Direct Democracy Initiative | DIRECT DEMOCRACY | 1 | 60 | - | 2012 | Michael Elicker |
| Party for work, the rule of law, animal welfare, elite support and grassroots initiative | The party | 2 | 87 | - | 2012 | Alexander Senzig |
| Pirate Party Germany | PIRATES | 3 | 385 | - | 2009 | Jasmine Mason |
The parties previously not represented in the state parliament had to submit 300 supporter signatures per constituency for approval .
Survey
Surveys before the election forecast a head-to-head race between the ruling CDU and the opposition SPD, which could increase by almost ten percentage points compared to the last state election. Despite the rupture of the Jamaica coalition , opinion polls predicted hardly any losses or even slight gains for the Christian Democrats, while the former coalition partners FDP and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen would have to fear that they would enter parliament. Greater losses were also forecast for Die Linke, but the status as the third strongest force in the state parliament was not seen as endangered. The pirates have already been given a good chance of entering the state parliament for the first time. After Kramp-Karrenbauer and SPD opposition leader Maas had already announced that they wanted to form a grand coalition after the election , interest finally turned to the performance of the CDU and SPD and the resulting claim to be the prime minister in the envisaged government alliance.
The following voting intentions were raised after the termination of the black-yellow-green coalition by Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU). For the Sunday question, the polls gave the following proportions:
| Institute | date | CDU | SPD | LEFT | FDP | GREEN | PIRATES | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research group elections | March 16, 2012 | 34% | 34% | 15% | 2% | 5% | 6% | 4% |
| Infratest dimap | 03/15/2012 | 33% | 33% | 16% | 3% | 5% | 6% | 4% |
| Forsa | 03/09/2012 | 35% | 37% | 14% | 1 % | 4% | 5% | 4% |
| Infratest dimap | 02/23/2012 | 35% | 36% | 15% | 2% | 4% | 5% | 3% |
| Emnid | 01/27/2012 | 36% | 36% | 15% | 2% | 5% | 4% | 2% |
| Research group elections | 01/26/2012 | 34% | 38% | 13% | 2% | 6% | 5% | 2% |
When asked who the Saarlanders would directly elect to be Prime Minister, the polls gave the following results:
| Institute | date | Kramp-Karrenbauer | Meuse | Lafontaine | neither nor | I do not know |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infratest dimap | 03/25/2012 | 46% | 42% | - | - | - |
| Research group elections | 03/25/2012 | 40% | 45% | - | - | - |
| Research group elections | March 16, 2012 | 42% | 41% | - | 8th % | 9% |
| Infratest dimap | 03/15/2012 | 38% | 38% | - | 14% | 10% |
| Forsa | 03/09/2012 | 36% | 33% | 14% | 17% | - |
| Infratest dimap | 02/23/2012 | 42% | 43% | - | 7% | 8th % |
| Emnid | 01/27/2012 | 40% | 42% | - | - | - |
| Research group elections | 01/26/2012 | 40% | 43% | - | 7% | 10% |
Controversy over the five percent hurdle
On March 15, 2012, the small party Initiative Direct Democracy , which was running for election, demanded that the five percent hurdle no longer apply in the upcoming state elections. The party submitted a corresponding application for an interim order to the Constitutional Court of Saarland. The reasoning of the party was that the five percent hurdle disadvantaged the small parties. In addition, stable political conditions can be expected in Saarland even without the threshold clause. The party relied on the reasoning that made it possible that the threshold clause in the European elections in Germany no longer applies since 2011.
The Constitutional Court dismissed the complaint on March 22 as unfounded.
Abandoning the five percent hurdle would not have resulted in any change in the distribution of seats - provided that voting behavior had remained the same under the changed conditions.
Change of faction and party after the election
Even before the first session of the state parliament, Pia Döring , who had been elected to the state parliament for Die Linke, announced that she would switch to the SPD. The SPD now has 18 members.
On January 26, 2015, the Pirate MP Michael Neyses went over to the Greens, so that since then both groups have had three members.
See also
- State elections in Saarland
- List of state electoral districts in Saarland
- List of members of the Saarland Landtag (15th electoral term)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Final official final result of the state elections in 2012 ( Memento of the original from May 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) 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. Regional Returning Officer, Saarland Statistical Office
- ↑ SR online: Saar-Landtag is dissolved ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Elections: CDU in Saar election in front, FDP out, pirates in the state parliament , Zeit.de
- ↑ Grand coalition in Saarland: Kramp-Karrenbauer re-elected as Prime Minister , Focus.de
- ↑ Final official final result of the state elections in 2009 ( memento of the original from April 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) 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. on the website of the regional returning officer, accessed on January 20, 2012
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated February 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) 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.
- ↑ http://www.bpb.de/methodik/GXKM0I,0,0,Wer_haben_zur_Wahl.html
- ↑ a b c d e Election polls on the state elections in Saarland. Wahlrecht.de, accessed on March 14, 2012 .
- ↑ Saarland trend : SPD strongest party / CDU just behind ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Video of morgenmagazin: Saarland is facing new elections in the ZDFmediathek , accessed on February 3, 2014. (offline)
- ↑ Infratest Dimap survey Numbers and surveys on the state election in Saarland ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ ZDF Interaktiv Election 2012 Politicians, Topics, Competencies ( Memento of the original from April 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) 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.
- ^ ZDF Politbarometer head-to-head race between CDU and SPD .
- ↑ Infratest Dimap survey Saarland Trend March 2012 ( Memento from March 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).
- ↑ Forsa survey Kramp-Karrenbauer would win direct election ( memento of the original from July 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) 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. .
- ↑ Infratest dimap survey Saarland Trend February 2012 ( Memento of the original from July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) 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. .
- ↑ TNS Emnid poll head-to-head race in the election / CDU supporters want the grand coalition ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ^ ZDF Politbarometer SPD before CDU - clear rejection of red-red / head-to-head races between Kramp-Karrenbauer and Maas .
- ↑ Court advises on five percent hurdle ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , SR-online.de, accessed on March 20, 2012
- ^ Constitutional Court of the Saarland, judgment of March 22, 2012 - Lv 3/12 - (PDF; 47 kB), accessed on March 26, 2012
- ↑ Message on wahlrecht.de : Even without a 5% hurdle there would have been the same distribution of seats
- ↑ slc / AFP: scandal after state elections in Saarland: Left MPs Pia Döring changes to the SPD. In: Focus Online . April 12, 2012, accessed October 14, 2018 .
Web links
- The Regional Returning Officer, Saarland Statistical Office: Result of the state election. 2012, archived from the original on March 26, 2012 ; accessed on April 29, 2020 .
