German election

[RandBlade]

Looks like a perfect storm of a terrible election result where nobody wins and the vile AfD have taken a big leap forwards: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41094785

I'm not a big follower of German politics, from what I know I'd almost certainly vote FDP and glad that they've back above the threshold. But I don't see a stable government emerging from this - even a Grand Coalition would only just get a majority and there seems to be little appetite for that, while the only other viable coalition the so-called "Jamaica Coalition" (CDU/CSU, with FDP and Greens) seems like it would be a tad implausible under normal circumstances too but the rise of the AfD may force unlikely partners to work together I guess. I was hoping the FDP would get enough to carry the CDU over the line by themselves but the results are nowhere near that.

[Khendraja'aro]

The AfD will most likely desintegrate - there have been other parties like this before (e.g. the Schill Partei which got similar results in Hamburg way back) and they always weren't the most stable due to their very nature.

The schism has already begun, with Petry not joining her fraction.

[RandBlade]

Unless any of the fragments become mainstream that doesn't really help much until the next election though does it? Still leaves Merkel in a very precarious position of probably having to keep both the Greens and FDP happy which will be interesting.

It's funny contrasting reporting your election results and how our media reports it versus our own.

[Aimless]

As disappointed as I am to see AfD take the expected leap forward--I was expecting 12-13%--I am not disappointed overall by the results at the federal level. My estimate for CDU was less confident than the one for AfD, I guessed 31-33%. I expected no real change for Die Linke & Green, not a particularly bold prediction to make. I expected SPD to come in at 20%. I had difficulties deciding on a final prediction for FDP but assumed it would be very close to Die Linke & Green at ca 9-10%. I think AfD's presence in parliament will present a challenge to Germany's democracy that the country will ultimately overcome. I don't have equally high hopes for next year's Swedish election

[Aimless]

The Russian angle is revisited:

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/25/...roy-merkel-afd

(interesting follow-up to articles on this subject from earlier this year)

[Flixy]

The Russian angle is revisited:

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/25/...roy-merkel-afd

(interesting follow-up to articles on this subject from earlier this year)

Interesting logic too, starting with saying how other countries had far more radical results - in reality the Dutch PVV was never in any position to gain a majority (Or even close to that) and ended up with the same % of votes as AfD. Which makes me doubt the rest of the article to be honest.