Voters Will Likely Reconfirm Leftist Coalitions in State Elections

The popularity of Berlin's charismatic mayor Klaus Wowereit alone should suffice for his Social Democratic Party (SPD) to win the state poll this Sunday. In 2001, Wowereit, or "Wowi" as he is known in Berlin, swept the scandal-ridden Christian Democrats (CDU) from power, then created a coalition with the Left Party/PDS, the successor party to East Germany's communists.

Since then, the 52-year-old Wowereit has become a kind of cult figure in the city, which he cemented by admitting that he was gay. Despite a rising debt that has reached 60 billion euros ($78 billion), Wowereit's popularity -- 60 percent of Berliners support him as mayor -- equals that of the SPD's current and former chairmen, Kurt Beck and Matthias Platzeck.

The absence of a leader like former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has given him confidence to play an even greater role in the party.

"I would like to have more say than I have had in the last five years, when we had to clean this town up," he told Stern magazine in a recent interview.

CDU candidate plagued by past

Wowereit is working to dispel his earlier antics as a big party-goer -- most memorable is a photo of him clutching a high-heeled shoe in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other. Now, on campaign posters he appears statesman-like, with graying and conservatively parted hair.

His conservative opponent, Christian Democrat Friedbert Pflüger, has only 20 percent of the capital's citizens back him. In the most recent opinion polls, support for the party lies at just 21 percent, 12 percentage points behind the SPD. One reason Pflüger may never enjoy great popularity in the capital was his decision to support Bonn over Berlin as the country's capital after reunification in 1990.

The current so-called "red-red" coalition of the SPD and the Left Party/PDS very likely will be able to continue their work together after Sunday's polls.

Meck-Pom also to stay the course

The first installment of a coalition between the Social Democrats and the Left Party/PDS occurred in the northeast German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for short Meck-Pom. Premier Harald Ringstorff (SPD) made the leap of joining up with the former East German communists eight years ago and the coalition was re-elected in 2002.

Although the SPD in opinion polls lags slightly behind the CDU in the Baltic coast state, a lack of coalition partners, with the exception of the SPD, makes it unlikely that the conservatives will take over the state parliament in the Meck-Pom capital Schwerin.

More alarming to observers around Germany is the performance of the right-wing National Democrats (NPD) in Meck-Pom. Feeding off an unemployment rate that is the highest in the country (18.2 percent), the NPD currently enjoys seven percent support in the state, two points more than the mandatory five percent needed to enter the legislature.

In addition, the fact that the poll does not coincide with a national election will lessen voter turnout and thereby increase the chances of the NPD succeeding in the sparsely populated state.

"Every ballot that is not cast strengthens the NPD," said parliament speaker Sylvia Bretscheider. "People who don't want to see Nazis join the assembly have to vote in the election."