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(Federal) State Elections in Germany..

In East Berlin, the former capital of the GDR(German Democratic Republic/East Germany) the Left Party(the former Party of Democratic "Socialism", the former "Socialist" Unity Party of Germany - the ruling party in GDR) had it main strongholds in the entire Germany. During the last election in 2001 in some parts of e. Berlin they got more than 50 percent of the votes. And then they joined the government in Berlin.. as a junior partner of the "Social Democrats"(SPD). In this situation they supported a massive cutting of social services, the destruction of many public work places, and so on..in the city.

And the result now: especially in the eastern part of the city they lost f.. a lot of voters - on average 18 percent. In some areas 30 percent!!

On the other side the neo-Nazis, also active in Berlin, mainly in the eastern part, won seats in five destrict parliaments. In 62 polling stations in Berlin - only in the east - they became the third strongest force after the SPD and Left Party (LP).

The only "left alternative" to the LP, the WASG(Election Alternative Social Justice) got in the most areas only half of the votes of the neo-Nazis. WASG is a group, founded in West Germany(with frustrated former SPD members, old style "socialists" and some trotskyist activists), which want to unite next year with the LP. But WASG in Berlin during the election campaigned against LP. But except a massive confusion in the "left movement" in Berlin they won nearly nothing..

The other election to (federal) state parliament was in Mecklenburg Vorpommern(just check out the articles 9.17 독일/선거 #1/2). There the neo-Nazis won really f.. a lot,

like in:

Postlow:            38,6 percent (of the votes)

Belesewitz:       32,2 percent

Bargischow:     31,1 percent

Neu-Kusenow: 31,1 percent

and so on (where they became the strongest political party).

Of course this results will not change Gemany completely(aeh~ is there something to change here???), not really.. Because, especially in the eastern parts - the former GDR -the ideas of national"socialism" - intolerance, racism.. are common parts of the daily ordinary life in the "normal society".

Something about German neo-nazi movement(better said reality) you can check out here:

http://base21.jinbo.net/christian/020913.html (base21)

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Today's edition of the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth wrote following about the election result/success of neo-Nazi party NPD and the background:

Germany's choice

Education cutbacks to blame for far-right party's success?

Mecklenburg-Pomerania, situated in the northeast, is the most anonymous and sparsely-populated federal German state. Its name rarely makes the headlines, not only because of its difficult pronunciation.
 

Far Right 
   
The Germans, incidentally, have found an original way to solve this semantic problem. They have nicknamed the remote province Mac-Pom, roughly translated as "Mac-Fries," which lends a "foreign" ambience to the historic homeland of the impoverished Prussian nobles and forgotten communist activists.

Some two million of Germany's population of 80 million reside in Mecklenburg-Pomerania. It is the land of a thousand lakes and a well-known tourist destination affording breathtaking views, picturesque castles and long beaches. However, the local economy is in ruin and unemployment is high.
 

Local mentality a hindrance

Contrary to other areas in former communist East Germany, Mac-Pom has been unable to recuperate since the reunification.

The fact that Mac-Pom is the electoral province of German Chancellor Angela Merkel doesn't help matters much, while the local mentality hasn't been instrumental. When Merkel recently hosted President Bush in Mac-Pom, residents complained about the high expenses incurred by the presidential visit and the inconvenience posed by the strict security measures implemented.

Last Sunday Mecklenburg-Pomerania became the hottest topic in German politics when the neo-Nazi National Party (NPD) made history by passing the voting threshold and entering the local parliament with six representatives. In the last elections four years ago, the party received just 0.8 percent of the total vote. This week it gained 7.1 percent of the popular vote.

Mac-Pom has become the fourth largest German state among the 16 federal states with neo-Nazi representatives in its parliament. For clarification's sake: This figure comprises a quarter of the federal states in Germany.

Three of the federal states that granted representation to neo-Nazi parties are located in East Germany. Added to this is the fact that the NPD succeeded in securing representation in four Berlin states, formerly part of East Germany.

Expressing ceremonial apprehensions

German politicians from both Left and Right expressed the ceremonial apprehensions reserved especially for such occasions. But in fact it was a predictable outcome.

The composition of the current cabinet, a coalition that includes two major parties, and the unification of the conservatives and the social-democrats are a sure path to a people's protest against the political margins.

Although the economic situation has improved somewhat in recent months and even unemployment has declined, the simple man on the street does not feel he is benefiting from the stability. Worse than that, ordinary residents sense they are the ones paying the price.

The neo-Nazi's prime target electorate is the younger generation. The highest number of votes came from voters aged 18 to 24, and NPD became the third largest party after the two ruling parties.

Bloody scuffles

The party is putting a lot of effort into adopting an image of a "centrist" party, while at the same time it is communicating its violent messages that ignite bloody scuffles with its political foes.

The recent elections in Berlin were the most violent since the end of World War II. Such scuffles often ended with injured left-wing activists.

If according to so many youngsters the NPD is a legitimate choice, Germany's future will face a severe problem. Perhaps this is the right time for the German government to reassess its decision to significantly cut back the budget allocated to educational programs aimed at educating youth against right-wing extremism.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3306233,00.html