Wahlparty Open House

22 September 2002 is polling day in Germany

EINLADUNG ZUR WAHLPARTY AM 22. SEPTEMBER 2002

Liebe Freundinnen und Freunde des Deutsch-Maltesischen Zirkels, 

hiermit möchten wir Sie recht herzlich zur Wahlparty anlässlich der Bundestagswahl in Deutschland einladen. Sie wird am 22. September ab 17.00 Uhr im Deutsch-Maltesischen Zirkel, 141. St. Christopher Street in Valletta, unter Anwesenheit seiner Exzellenz des Botschafters der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Herrn Georg Merten, stattfinden. Per Satellitenfernsehen werden die Hochrechnungen, Diskussionen, Stellungnahmen, Ergebnisse etc. direkt auf die Großleinwand im Hauptsaal übertragen. Das Café wird geöffnet sein. Nutzen Sie diese schöne Gelegenheit, sich mit anderen Leuten in ungezwungener Atmosphäre zu treffen. Bringen Sie auch Ihre Familie, Freunde, Bekannte und Nachbarn mit. Alle sind herzlich willkommen. 

Dear members and friends of the Circle,

We would like to invite you to join us to an OPEN HOUSE under the auspices of the German Ambassador, H.E. Mr.Georg Merten in connection with the Elections in Germany on Sunday, 22nd September from 17.00hours onwards at Messina Palace St Christopher Street, Valletta. Those present would be able to assist to projections, comments and to the election results on Big Screen via Satellite transmission. The BAR will be open. Please make use of this opportunity to meet other Germans and Maltese in an informal atmosphere. Bring along your family, your friends, relatives and neighbours. Everyone is welcome.

One in three voters over 60 

The general elections for the 15th German Bundestag (Federal Parliament) will take place on the 22nd September 2002. According to the Federal Statistical Office, 61.2 million citizens will be eligible to vote, some 3.3 million of them for the first time. The age structure has changed significantly. Compared with the last general election (1998), the number of those 60 and above has increased by 1.5 million to 19.2 million. Thus nearly every third German voter (31 per cent) is at least 60 years old. Conversely, the 21 - 45 age group has shrunk by 800,000 to 25.1 million. This year there will be upwards of 400,000 more people eligible to vote than four years ago. In future the Berlin "Reichstag" (which became the seat of parliament again in 1999 after extensive alterations) will have 598 members. Apart from the parties already represented in the Bundestag – SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany), CDU Christian Democratic Union), CSU (Christian Social Union in Bavaria), FDP (Free Democratic Party), Alliance 90/ The Greens and the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism) - various smaller parties and alliances will be seeking admission to the Federal Parliament. In order to ensure that tiny splinter groups cannot be represented in parliament, parties must poll at least five per cent of all votes in the 16 states to qualify for admission. This blocking clause has always had the necessary effect. 

Candidates are chosen direct (in the constituencies) or via a state list 

Candidates contesting constituency seats are nominated in a secret ballot by party members or their delegates (section 22 of the Federal Electoral Law). Candidates for state lists are nominated by the representatives' assemblies (electoral colleges) prescribed by the Federal Electoral Law. However, the most common practice is for this function to be carried out by the state delegates' assemblies or party conferences. But they, too, cannot compile the lists themselves and therefore decide on the basis of those prepared by the state party executives or special commissions. This represents a compromise between the intentions of the senior party bodies, the parliamentary party, the local councils and the associations connected with the party. It is possible to "safeguard" candidates by giving them a high place on the state list if it seems their chances of winning a constituency seat are not good. When members leave the Bundestag, for example because they relinquish their seat or die, the next candidate on the state list of the party for which they were elected takes their place. This applies to members elected both direct or via the state lists.

Each person has two votes 

The members of the Bundestag are representatives of the German people elected in general, direct, free, equal, and secret ballots. In the Federal Republic's more than 50-year history the Federal Electoral Law of 1949 has been amended several times. The members - who since the country's unification number 656 (being reduced to 598 as from 2002) - are returned to parliament by a dual procedure. One half are elected direct in the constituencies, the other half indirectly by a proportional method via the state lists (i.e. lists of candidates put forward by the political parties in each Land or state). The election takes place in a total of 299 constituencies. Each person has two votes, the first for one of the candidates in their constituency, the second for one of the state lists. Each constituency elects one candidate on a straight or relative majority. If two or more poll the same number of votes the returning officer draws lots to decide the winner. The second votes cast for the state lists are counted and the seats distributed among the parties in proportion to the number of votes for their lists, in accordance with the Niemeyer method of calculation. The number of constituency seats obtained by the parties is then deducted from the number of list seats and the remainder given to the candidates in the order in which they appear on their respective lists. Candidates returned to parliament on a constituency vote are no longer considered as list candidates. A party may find itself with what are known as "overhang" seats if it has obtained more seats in the constituencies of a particular state on the basis of first votes than it is entitled to according to the result of the calculation based on the second votes in that state. When the state-list seats are distributed only those parties that have polled at least five per cent of the total number of second votes cast, or have won a seat in at least three constituencies, are taken into consideration. Several different state lists of one party can be linked together to count as one list for seat distribution purposes. Every German citizen aged 18 or over who has lived or been permanently resident in Germany for at least three months prior to the election is entitled to vote. The Federal Electoral Law was amended in 1985 to allow Germans living abroad to participate in general elections. Germans resident in a member state of the European Union have a right to vote irrespective of the length of time they been living abroad. Those living in other countries may exercise that right during the first 10 years after leaving Germany. In both cases they must have resided at least three months continuously in Germany prior to leaving the country. Every person who, on the day of the election, is 18 or over and has been a German citizen for at least 12 months may stand for election.

Avoiding party fragmentation

The proportional representation system, applied in full, is considered fair since it produces a parliament which reflects the spectrum of opinion among the electorate. It has, however, the fundamental disadvantage that it is often more difficult to form a government majority than under the first-past-the-post system practised in Great Britain, for instance. Fourteen different parties successfully contested the Reichstag elections under the proportional represenation system of the 14th September 1930, for example, and nine of them received between 3 and 30 seats. Although none of these nine parties had obtained even 5% of the total vote, they still took part in deciding who was to form the government. A first-past-the-post ballot, however, prevents many parties entering parliament and exercising considerable influence, especially on the formation of the government. On the other hand, this usually leads to a two-party system. In order to limit the danger of fragmentation inherent in the proportional system, the 5% hurdle was introduced for the second post-war general election. The Federal Electoral Law stipulates that in distributing seats among the state lists only those parties are to be taken into account which poll at least 5% of the second votes. This system has been adopted by many other countries. The 5% clause does not apply to parties which have won at least three constituency seats, or which represent a national minority (for example, the Southern Schleswig Electors' Association, the party of the Danish minority in Schleswig-Holstein, or the Sorbs in Saxony and Brandenburg). The 5% clause is the main reason for the sharp reduction in the number of parties represented in the Bundestag. Twelve parties were represented in the first Bundestag (1949), but by 1961 there were only four (CDU, CSU, SPD, FDP). The Greens made it five following the 1983 election. In the elections of 1990 and 1994 the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism), successor to the former East German SED party, also won seats in the Bundestag by virtue of the direct voting system. 

This was the clear message of the Editor responsible for the Association’s monthly Newsletter. I believe he is principally right; politics should be avoided. But, does it hurt to just go into it a bit without being political? I should think not. While politics are all around us, why is it that there are so many shades? Is it because of different objectives, opinions, bodies and the way people value values? Could it be a question of integrity, morale, ethics or character of individuals involved? I know that there are answers to almost any question. They may not always be right; one could have very different views. One thing is certain, we do need people who take it upon themselves to promote initiatives. Some were never meant to become politicians, but it often happens that way. In my view, there is nothing wrong in practising sensible, forward orientated politics and policies, but playing politics for the fun of it or for personal benefits or satisfaction is a totally different matter.

Sometimes things get out of hand, when for example, accusations by just a few professionally involved in politics cause endless hours of overtime for journalists in the print and television media. Waves go strong. Persons effected seem to be more interested in their ego and self-promotion than in coming to terms with their real aims. When the storm is over, the real effects remain to be judged some time in the future. We have difficulty in understanding certain actions or reactions. We are looking for good leadership, for competence and honesty, for persons we can look up to and who are able to give us a reasonable degree of confidence in the future. We are also expecting guidance on what we should be doing ourselves to build up confidence in politics and what is expected of us. Of course we should not be unnecessarily negative. Being positive will help us to better understand and contribute. It pertains to all areas of our daily life.

One could say a lot more about the integral parts of politics; what it does to us, our expectations and benefits. The Editor will forgive me for touching a subject which is really “off limits” for his paper but I do hope that it is going to have some value for the readers. I know that I have failed “POLITICS, NO CONTRIBUTIONS PLEASE”, but may I be forgiven?

The German Ambassador, Mr Georg Merten (on the left) and the Circle’s Secretary, Mr Victor Sammut (on the right), with Mr LOTHAR RUSKE who was responsible for the donation of 200 books by contemporary German authors to the Circle’s Library last August. Mr Ruske a PR consultant from Frankfurt and a member of the Circle managed to convince eleven publishing houses in Germany to come forward with this donation which according to Mr Ruske will not be the last one. Mr Ruske expressed his wish that through this donation, German speaking Maltese and German native speakers living in Malta would now have yet another good reason for visiting the Circle’s Library.

Ø The new German language courses for adults will commence on Monday, 30th September. All members should by now have received the prospectus and the application form for enrolment. Hurry up and book your course now. If you need further assistance kindly contact the office.

Ø Courses are also being offered for schoolchildren learning German at school and who wish further instruction to obtain better results in their examinations. Lessons are to be held on Saturday mornings starting 28th September.

Ø A course preparing for German MATSEC examination is also avail-able every Wednesday, starting September 25th. Booking is open.

Ø Dr Jacobs will be available for his conversation meetings starting on the 9th October and continuing every Wednesday at 6.30p.m.

Ø The 26th September 2002 is the EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES.

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