Bundestagswahl 2013: A Look at the Themes of the September Federal Elections

 

“View of the Plenary Chamber of the Bundestag from the Dome of the Reichstag” by BriYYZ (CC BY-SA 2.0)

by Mattis Hennings

Germany is in the midst of a unique campaign season, gearing up for the September 22 elections. The current chancellor, Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is likely to stay in power, with sixty percent of respondents supporting her over the closest rival, Peer Steinbrück of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who is polling at 28 percent. Despite this wide gap between the two frontrunners, the final results are far from certain. The odds certainly favor a CDU led ruling coalition, but this could easily change over the few weeks remaining before the elections. The season has seen its share of public debate, especially on the security needs and privacy concerns of German citizens. After Edward Snowden’s leaks in June 2013, it was revealed that German intelligence services may have violated German data protection laws in cooperating extensively with the NSA. These allegations are under deep scrutiny, even as another debate was raging about wasteful national security spending and the failed development of the Eurohawk drone. With some weeks remaining, several other debates on fiscal, finance and environmental policy have also been emerging.

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