For the next week or so, please check out weeklystandard.com where I will be blogging on the German elections, courtesy of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Free Democrat party, which is in the fight of its life in the Bundestag. According to law, a party must receive at least 5 percent of the vote in order to be represented in the parliament. The latest polls have the FDP just at 5 percent—as it turns out, socially liberal, fiscally conservative pro-tax cut, pro-business policies are not popular with the German population. As one FDP member recently complained to me, “Social justice, on the other hand…”
It is expected that Angela Merkel will remain chancellor but whether it be in the current power-sharing arrangement between the CDU and FDP or in a grand coalition of CDU and Social Democrats remains to be seen. The election has been described as a snoozer but for the Free Democrats, it’s anything but. Stay tuned.
Plus check out my reviews of beers and brats from Frankfurt, Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Berlin!