Politics of Saarland

The Politics of Saarland takes place within a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the Federal Government of Germany exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany including Saarland. The state has a multi-party system where the two main parties are the rightist Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the leftist Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

Every five years, all Germans residing in the State over the age of 18 elect the members of the Saarland Landtag. This regional parliament or legislature then elects the Minister-President and confirms the cabinet members.

League of Nations

Further information: Saar (League of Nations)

The "Territory of the Saar Basin" was governed by the League of Nations under the Treaty of Versailles from 1920 until 1935. The Chairmen of the Commission of Government were:

Nazi Germany

Saarland voted to rejoin Germany in 1935. The German-appointed Reichskommissar were:

Saar protectorate

Further information: Saar (protectorate)

From 1947 to 1956, Saarland was controlled by France as a protectorate. Elections were held but pro-German parties were banned.

Minister-Presidents in this time were:

German state

Saarland joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957. Since then, its Minister-Presidents have been:

The election results have been:

Year CDU SPD FDP/DPS Grüne Die Linke[1] CVP SPS DPS KP DDU Others
1947 - - - - - 51,2 %* 32,8% 7,6% 8,4% - -
1952 - - - - - 54,7 % 32,4% - 9,5% - 3,4%
1955 25,4 % 14,3 % - - - 21,8% 5,8% 24,2 % 6,8% 0,9% 1,0%
1960 36,6 % 30,0% - - - 11,4% - 13,6 % - 5,0% 3,4%
1965 42,7 % 40,7% 8,3 % - - 5,2% - - - - 3,1%
1970 47,8 % 40,8% 4,4% - - - - - - - 7,0%
1975 49,1 % 41,8% 7,4% - - - - - - - 1,7%
1980 44,0 % 45,4% 6,9 % 2,9% - - - - - - 0,8%
1985 37,3% 49,2 % 10,0% 2,5% - - - - - - 1,0%
1990 33,4% 54,4 % 5,6% 2,6% - - - - - - 4,0%
1994 38,6% 49,4 % 2,1% 5,5% - - - - - - 4,5%
1999 45,5 % 44,4% 2,6% 3,2% - - - - - - 4,3%
2004 47,5 % 30,8% 5,2% 5,6% 2,3% - - - - - 8,6%
2009 34,5 % 24,5% 9,2 % 5,9 % 21,5% - - - - - 4,4%

Election 2012

The most recent election in Saarland was held in March 2012 following the collapse of the experimental Jamaica coalition of the CDU, FDP and Greens. A CDU/SPD grand coalition was formed in its aftermath.

25 March 2012 election results for the Landtag of Saarland

Party Party list votes Vote % (change) Seats (change) Seat %
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 169,594 35.2 (+0.7) 19 (0) 37.25
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 147,160 30.6 (+6.1) 17 (+4) 33.33
Die Linke 77,612 16.1 (-5.2) 9 (-2) 17.65
Pirate Party Germany (PIRATEN) 35,646 7.4 (+7.4) 4 (+4) 7.84
Alliance '90/The Greens (Grüne) 24,248 5.0 (-0.9) 2 (-1) 3.92
Family Party (FAMILIE) 8,393 1.7 (-0.3) 0 (0) 0
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 5,871 1.2 (-8.0) 0 (-5) 0
National Democratic Party of Germany (NDP) 5,604 1.2 (-0.3) 0 (0) 0
Free Voters (FREIE WÄHLER) 4,172 0.9 (+0.9) 0 (0) 0
Die PARTEI 2,229 0.5 (+0.5) 0 (0) 0
Initiative Direct Democracy (Direkte Demokratie) 720 0.1 (+0.1) 0 (0) 0
Totals 481,249 100 51 100

References

  1. 2004: PDS
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