Small right 3.7
Small left:
CPN 0.6
PPR 1.3
PSP 1.2 head did not come true.
The PvdA was so anxious to rule in conjunction with Lubbers party that in the entire period leading up to the elections it did nothing to build up a militant base for another kind of government, by mobilizations and by supporting and reinforcing the struggles being waged.
The actions for a 36-hour week that were carried out in the election period were left very fragmented and received no support from the PdA. Still worse, an action that had broken out in the Dutch railways just before the elections against a deterioration in working conditions was stabbed in the back by the PvdA.
The losses by the small-left parties came in this context. A lot of people who normally vote for the Pacifistiese Socialistiese Partij [PSP — Pacifist Socialist Party] and the CPN voted for the lesser evil. They thought that by voting for the PrdA they had a better
Dim pr
A PARLIAMENTARY election is coming up in West Germany on
January 25, 1987. Helmut Kohl and his government of Christian
Democrats (CDU-CSU) and liberals
(FDP) cannot look foward to it with any great assurance. The SPD
[the West German Social Democratic Party] hopes to be able to win with its new candidate for chancellor, Johannes Rau. But the result will depend in large part on the attitude taken by the Greens, which is unpredictable.
The state elections just held in Lower Saxony on June 15 sum up the situation. Since 1976, this state has been covered by the rightwing CDU leader, Ernest Albrecht. In 1982, he won an absolute majority of 50.7%. At the same time, the SPD got 36.5%, its lowest score in 30 years.
Last week, the CDU fell back
International Viewpoint 14 July 1986
52 30.4 47 54 29.4 45 27 23.1 36 9 4.3 6 5 4.2 6 0 1.8 3 2 1.7 2 1 2.3 3 chance of getting rid of the CDA-VVD government.
Here, the PvdA's slogan of "vote for us in a new government" scored a success. But it could manage this only because the CPN and the PSP themselves clearly offered no alternative.
The divisions and conflicts within the small left also played a role. But the PSP and the CPN had undergone splits. Probably a common slate around a few main points could have limited the damage. But there still would have been losses. The fundamental problems were elsewhere.
In recent years, the CPN apparatus has largely disintegrated. But above all the role of the CPN and the PSP in action has steadily declined. They have become more and more parlia mentary parties. That was also reflected in their campaigns.
Before the elections, they failed to wage an offensive campaign against the government's course, based on a spects for th to 44.3% (-6%). The SPD got
42.1% (+5.6%). The Greens got
7.1% (+0.6%). And the liberals got 6%, just enough to remain in the state parliament. And so,
Albrecht was able, just, to hold power. But he has to deal with the FDP, which in any case can only give him a majority of one seat. Even this result was not achieved in an exactly aboveboard way.
Knowing that the FDP was in danger of falling below the 5% threshold and losing representation in parliament, the CDU got some of its own supporters to vote for the liberals in order to be able to form a coalition with them.
Despite everything, the trend looks bad for Kohl. In all the local elections since 1983, the CDU has been losing ground, and in four cases its losses have been above 6%. Since Kohl has been chancellor, 11 states have voted.