Rainbow coalition

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As a rainbow coalition one is ruling coalition of many different ideological designated parties. In Germany, such coalition governments sometimes occur at the municipal level, while at the national level more stable coalitions such as a grand coalition are preferred. In other countries, however, there have already been rainbow coalitions at the national level.

Germany

At the country level

From 1954 to 1957, Wilhelm Hoegner led a coalition of the SPD , Bavarian Party , BHE and FDP in Bavaria , excluding the CSU , which was the strongest party. Hoegner was thus the only Bavarian Prime Minister since 1945 who was not a member of the CSU. The term "rainbow coalition" was not yet common at that time, but Hoegner's "motley" coalition of four was cited as a model for such a coalition fifty years later.

Before the state election in Bavaria in 2008 , in which the CSU lost its absolute majority, a coalition made up of the SPD, Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen , the Free Voters and the FDP came into discussion. While this was the declared electoral goal of the SPD to provide the Prime Minister with Franz Maget , the FDP closed such an alliance and after the election formed a government with the CSU under Horst Seehofer as part of a black-yellow coalition .

After the state election in Bavaria in 2018 , according to the polls before the election, a coalition of four parties could also have been mathematically possible. This potential coalition would have consisted of the Greens, the Free Voters, the SPD and the FDP, with the Greens being able to provide the Prime Minister in Bavaria for the first time. However, the leading candidate of the Free Voters, Hubert Aiwanger , excluded the formation of such a coalition in advance. However, the election result only brought the four parties 98 of the 205 seats, so they would not have had an absolute majority.

At the municipal level

At the municipal level, rainbow coalitions can be found much more frequently than at the state level. From 1996 to 2014 , Munich was ruled by a rainbow coalition made up of the SPD , Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen and the Pink List . After this government constellation lost its majority after the 2014 city council elections , the inclusion of the ÖDP and the Left Party in the alliance was discussed, but negotiations ultimately failed and a grand coalition was formed. Under Paul Wengert , Augsburg was led by a rainbow coalition from 2002 to 2008 (SPD, Greens , FBU , ÖDP and Free Voters ). In Osnabrück , such an alliance consists of the SPD, the Greens, the Left, Pirates, the Independent Voting Community and the FDP. The SPD, Greens, Left and FDP have been ruling in the Saarlouis district as part of a rainbow coalition since 2019 .

Belgium

After the parliamentary elections in Belgium in 1999 , Guy Verhofstadt formed a coalition of Flemish and Walloon Liberals, Socialists and Greens ( Verhofstadt I government ). The Christian Democrats, who had been in government uninterruptedly since 1958, had to go into the opposition. This alliance was referred to by the Walloon media as the rainbow coalition (coalition arc-en-ciel) , while in Flanders the term “purple-green” coalition (paars-groen) was more common (purple is the mixed color of the blue of the liberals and the Red of the Socialists). The rainbow coalition was in office until 2003, when a “purple” coalition of liberals and socialists followed, excluding the Greens.

Finland

In Finland, rainbow coalitions (Finnish sateenkaarihallitus ) - in varying compositions - are common. From 1995 to 2003, Paavo Lipponen formed a government made up of the Social Democrats , the National Collection Party ( Conservatives), the Left Bund and the Swedish People's Party (also with the Greens until 2002 ).

From 2007 Matti Vanhanen also formed a rainbow alliance from the Center Party , the National Collection Party , the Greens and the Swedish People's Party ( Vanhanen II cabinet ), which was taken over by Mari Kiviniemi from 2010 until the 2011 election .

After the 2011 election , Jyrki Katainen from the National Collection Party formed a coalition with the Social Democrats, the Greens, the Left, the Christian Democrats and the Swedish People's Party in order to prevent the grassroots from participating in the government , who had become the third strongest force. The left-wing alliance left the government at the beginning of 2014. From June 2014 to May 2015, the government under Alexander Stubb continued. After the general election in 2015 , the Rainbow Coalition ended and the grassroots Finns joined the government.

Ireland

In Ireland, the government of Fine Gael , Labor Party and Democratic Left under John Bruton , which was in office from 1994 to 1997, was referred to as the Rainbow coalition .

Italy

The logo of the center-left coalition L'Unione features a stylized rainbow.

Romano Prodi's second center-left government ( L'Unione ) , which was in office in Italy from 2006 to 2008 , was composed of nine ideologically very different parties - from Christian Democrats and Social Liberals to Social Democrats and Greens to Communists - and can be described as the Rainbow Coalition .

Czech Republic

After the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic in 2006 , a rainbow coalition of the two major parties, the liberal-conservative ODS and the social democratic ČSSD , as well as the smaller Christian Democratic KDU-ČSL as a "buffer", came into discussion to prevent the communists ( KSČM ) from participating . Although such a government was not ruled out before the election and seriously discussed after the election, the ODS around Mirek Topolánek formed a minority government with KDU-ČSL and the green SZ . It only had an extremely narrow majority, which it finally lost at the end of 2008. During the government crisis that followed, the formation of a rainbow coalition was once again considered, but it did not materialize again.

After the 2013 elections , the ČSSD negotiated a coalition with the KDU-ČSL and the populist ANO in 2011 under Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka . This can also be referred to as a rainbow coalition or a “toast” coalition.

Estonia and Latvia

Estonia and Latvia have unstable and highly fragmented multi-party systems. Here, multi-party coalitions have been formed several times across the boundaries of the (already weak) political camps.

In Latvia, these were in particular the two cabinets of the independent Prime Minister Andris Šķēle 1995–97 and that of Guntars Krasts from the national conservative TB / LNNK 1997–98 (each including the liberal LC , TB and LNNK, which merged in 1997, the Bauernbund and Christian Democrats ; the left LVP left in February 1997, the left-liberal DPS in April 1998). These are also called the Rainbow Coalition (Latvian varavīksnes koalīcijā ). Under the same name, in connection with the 2014 parliamentary election, there was speculation about an alliance of the social democratic party “Harmonie” , the liberal-conservative “Unity” , the Union of Greens and Peasants and the conservative party “From the Heart for Latvia” . However, this was considered unlikely from the start and did not materialize.

Chile

The Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia was symbolized by a rainbow.

The Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia, made up of Partido Demócrata Cristiano de Chile (Christian Democrats), Partido Socialista de Chile (Socialists), Partido por la Democracia (Social Democrats) and Partido Radical (left-wing liberals) can be described as a "rainbow coalition". It was founded in 1988 as Concertación de Partidos por el No and united the parties that campaigned for a “No” in the 1988 referendum and thus opposed an extension of Augusto Pinochet's term of office .

The Concertación ruled Chile from 1990 to 2010 under Presidents Patricio Aylwin and Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (both Christian Democrats) and Ricardo Lagos and Michelle Bachelet (both Socialists). She then formed the opposition to a center-right government. In the run-up to the 2013 elections , the Concertación was replaced by the Nueva Mayoría alliance , which also comprised the Chilean Communist Party and the left-wing Christian Izquierda Ciudadana party , and Bachelet's second government until 2018. The alliance broke up in the run-up to the 2017 presidential election , for which the Christian Democrats ran with their own candidate.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Vieregge: Germany - Lilliputians sense their great opportunity. In: Die Presse (online), September 24, 2008.
  2. ^ Georg Löwisch : SPD and Greens in Bavaria - The dream of the dwarf uprising. In: Taz.de , September 29, 2008.
  3. ↑ Goals of the Bavarian parties (2008) WELT Online from September 2, 2008
  4. ↑ These coalitions are possible after the state elections in Bavaria , In: Merkur.de , October 11, 2018.
  5. ^ Red-Green in the Munich City Council: coalition talks in the dead end Süddeutsche Zeitung on April 11, 2014
  6. ↑ Osnabrück “Rainbow Coalition” wants to support “Seebrücke” , Hase Post from August 21, 2018
  7. ↑ New colors in the Saarlouis district assembly are red-green-red-yellow , Saarbrücker Zeitung from August 12, 2019
  8. ^ Lieven De Winter, Patrick Dumont, Mélissa Benoumeur: Party reform and political success of the Belgian liberal parties. A fake relationship? In: Josef Schmid, Udo Zolleis: Between anarchy and strategy. The success of party organizations. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2005, pp. 259-281, on p. 262.
  9. ^ Arc-en-ciel , in: Vocabulaire politique , Center de recherche et d'information socio-politiques (CRISP), accessed on January 30, 2019.
  10. ↑ Patrick Hebrechte: De 'verpaarsing' van de criminaliteitsbestrijding in België. Brussels 2008, p. 194.
  11. ↑ Bastian Sick : Onion Fish - Farewell to Purple-Green. In: Spiegel Online , May 30, 2003.
  12. ^ Michael Stabenow: Purple coalition in Belgium. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , July 9, 2003.
  13. ^ Rainbow coalitions in Finland at Finn-Land.net
  14. ^ "Rainbow" coalition in Finland Main-Netz.de from May 25, 2011
  15. ^ John Coakley: The foundations of statehood. In: John Coakley, Michael Gallagher: Politics in the Republic of Ireland. 5th edition, Routledge, Abingdon (Oxon) / New York 2010, pp. 3–36, on p. 28.
  16. ↑ Donnacha Ó Beacháin: Elections and political communication. In Mark O'Brien, Donnacha Ó Beacháin: Political Communication in the Republic of Ireland. Liverpool University Press, Liverpool 2014, pp. 25-44, at 39.
  17. ↑ Alexander Smoltczyk : From Cavaliers to Professors. In: Spiegel Online Annual Chronicle 2006.
  18. ^ Government crisis in Italy: Parliament gives Prodi confidence. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine (Online), January 23, 2008.
  19. ^ The demand for rainbow coalition in Prague is Die WELT of November 2, 2006
  20. ^ Martina Schneibergová: Čunek - President Klaus prefers a rainbow coalition. Radio Prague, March 27, 2009.
  21. ↑ CSSD, ANO and KDU on the way to the coalition ( Memento of the original from December 16, 2013 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. Prague News from November 26, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.prag-aktuell.cz
  22. ^ "Toast" coalition in the Czech Republic stands Mittelbayerische from December 10, 2013
  23. ↑ Wolfgang Ismayr : The political systems of Eastern Europe in comparison. In ders. (Ed.): The political systems of Eastern Europe. Leske + Budrich, Opladen 2002, pp. 9–67, on p. 49.
  24. ↑ Thomas Schmidt: The Latvian Saeima between continuity and change. In Susanne Kraatz, Silvia von Steinsdorff: Parliaments and system transformation in post-socialist Europe. Leske + Budrich, Opladen 2002, pp. 220–246, on p. 240.
  25. ↑ Māris Antonevičs: Kas gaida pēc vēlēšanām? Trīs iespējamie koalīcijas modeļi. In: LA.lv , October 3, 2014.
  26. ↑ Chile - Nice, healthy and clean. In: Der Spiegel , No. 11/1990, p. 209.
  27. ↑ Hildegard Stausberg: Presidential election - Chile could face a historic women's duel. In: Welt , July 22, 2013.