[PAA-Discuss] [Green Party] German Greens on Fukushima high

[slindahl at rounder-graphics.com]

Indeed wonderful news! 

GERMAN GREENS ON FUKUSHIMA HIGH

PAOLA
TOTARO, LONDON

 March 29, 2011 


http://www.smh.com.au/world/german-greens-on-fukushima-high-20110328-1cddv.html


GERMANY'S richest state has ousted Chancellor Angela Merkel's
Conservatives from power for the first time in 58 years, embracing the
Greens and throwing doubt on Dr Merkel's political future. 

A Green-led
alliance with the Social Democrats won a four-seat majority in the state
parliament of the southern state of Baden-Wurttemberg in a direct
response to the Fukushima nuclear crisis. 

Close to a quarter of a
million people took the to streets across Germany at the weekend to
protest against the use of nuclear power. 

It now seems that the day
dubbed ''Super Sunday'', when record numbers of the 11 million eligible
voters turned out, will almost certainly lead to the election of a Green
Party prime minister to lead one of the 16 federal states for the first
time. 

Green leader Winfried Kretschmann, 62, described the result as
''an historic victory'' and pledged an immediate push to ''change
things''. He is now expected to move as quickly as possible to increase
investment in solar energy in south-west Germany and to shut down
nuclear power stations. 

Dr Merkel reacted quickly to the Japanese
crisis pledging closure of seven German plants of the same vintage as
the Fukushima complex. She previously had ordered that the life of the
nation's 17 reactors be extended, defending her policy about-face had
been shaped by events in Japan. However voters reacted cynically to the
change, with some polls showing that two-thirds of voters did not
believe she was genuine. 

The Greens won 24 per cent of the vote in the
state and with the Social Democrats, who won 23 per cent, are in a
position to create a substantial alliance with a workable majority.


The liberal Free Democrats fared badly in the poll, too, losing half
of their seats in the parliament. The German Foreign Minister, Guido
Westerwell, is a Free Democrat and questions are now being asked also
about his future. 

Dr Merkel's popularity and credibility ratings have
dropped dramatically since her 2009 general election victory, with one
poll suggesting that a resounding 80 per cent of voters feel that her
decisions are always taken for strategic or political rather than
principled reasons. 

This loss of belief in her sincerity is a serious
issue for Dr Merkel who has ridden high on voter faith in her strength
and leadership on the international stage as well as at home. 

Dr
Merkel would be able to govern until 2013 even if her party lost all the
regional elections until then, but the effect of the loss of authority
on the coalition in power, according to analysts, will make it difficult
to maintain political momentum. 

The Greens also did well in the
Rhineland-Palatinate region in German's west where the Social Democrats
may now form a coalition with the Greens. The Christian Democrats and
their Free Democrat partners were again the biggest losers. 

Dr Merkel
and her coalition have been severely criticised particularly over the
past two weeks after the decision to abstain from the vote on the Libyan
operation at the UN Security Council. 

Joschka Fischer, a former Green
foreign minister, has repeatedly said that he was ashamed of Germany's
stance at the UN. Writing in the _Suddeutsche Zeitung_, he described
Germany's abstention as a ''scandalous mistake'', adding that Germany's
politics were becoming ever more ''provincial'' - a clear reference to
the widely held view that the government's decisions have been coloured
solely by the weekend's key regional elections. 

''Germany has lost its
credibility in the United Nations and in the Middle East. German hopes
for a permanent seat on the Security Council have been permanently
dashed and one is now fearful of Europe's future,'' he wrote. 
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