2011 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election

The 2011 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election was held on 4 September 2011 to elect the members of the 6th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.[1] The incumbent grand coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Minister-President Erwin Sellering retained its majority and continued in government.

2011 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election

4 September 2011
All 71 seats in the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 36 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	651,375 (51.5%) 7.7%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Erwin Sellering Lorenz Caffier Helmut Holter Party SPD CDU Left Last election 23 seats, 30.2% 22 seats, 28.8% 13 seats, 17.3%[lower-alpha 1] Seats won 27 18 14 Seat change 4 4 1 Popular vote 242,251 156,969 125,528 Percentage 35.6% 23.0% 18.4% Swing 5.4% 5.8% 1.1%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Silke Gajek Udo Pastörs Gino Leonhard Party Green NPD FDP Last election 0 seats, 3.4% 6 seats, 7.3% 7 seats, 9.6% Seats won 7 5 0 Seat change 7 1 7 Popular vote 59,004 40,642 18,943 Percentage 8.7% 6.0% 2.8% Swing 5.3% 1.3% 6.8%
Minister-President before election Erwin Sellering SPD Elected Minister-President Erwin Sellering SPD

Issues and campaign

Christian Democratic Union

The Christian Democrats 30-page election platform was called "clear and decisive".[2] The platform includes education policy, finances and population change.[3]

The Christian Democrats campaigned with the slogan "C wie Zukunft" ("C for Future"). This was intended to link the first letter of both the party's and the frontrunner Lorenz Caffier's name with the positive term "future". However, recipients understood that the CDU suggested to write the word "Zukunft" with a "C". This earned the conservatives scorn and derision.[4][5]

Social Democratic Party

Social Democrats focused on issues of economy, labor, energy change, social justice, family and education.[6]

In the government SPD plans same time to cancel the tax release of the hotels and restaurants with a value of 1.7 billion euros, collect 2 billion euros by the higher peak tax and further 1.7 billion euros by increase of the nuclear plant fuel tax.[7]

The Left

The Left platform includes employment and economic rights, social justice, environmental protection and more democratic participation.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 5th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	2006 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Erwin Sellering	30.2%	23 / 71
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Lorenz Caffier	28.8%	22 / 71
	Linke	The Left Die Linke	Democratic socialism	Helmut Holter	17.3%[lower-alpha 2]	13 / 71
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Gino Leonhard	9.6%	7 / 71
	NPD	National Democratic Party of Germany Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Neo-Nazism	Udo Pastörs	7.3%	6 / 71

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	SPD	CDU	Linke	FDP	NPD	Grüne	Others	Lead
2011 state election	4 Sep 2011	–	35.6	23.0	18.4	2.8	6.0	8.7	5.6	12.6
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	22–25 Aug 2011	1,349	35	28	16.5	4	4.5	8	4	7
Infratest dimap	23–25 Aug 2011	1,000	36	26	17	4.5	4.5	8	4	10
Forsa	15–18 Aug 2011	602	34	27	17	5	5	7	5	7
Infratest dimap	12–17 Aug 2011	1,000	37.0	28.0	17.5	3.5	4.0	7.0	3.0	9.0
Emnid	8–11 Aug 2011	1,000	34	28	19	4	4	7	4	6
Emnid	29 Jul–4 Aug 2011	1,007	34	29	19	3	–	7	8	5
Infratest dimap	29 Jul–2 Aug 2011	1,001	34	30	18	3	4	8	3	4
Infratest dimap	24–28 Jun 2011	1,000	34	30	17	4	4	8	3	4
Infratest dimap	8–11 Apr 2011	1,001	34	27	20	3	3	10	3	7
Emnid	25 Feb–1 Mar 2011	1,000	34	29	17	5	4	6	4	5
Forsa	3–6 Jan 2011	601	32	29	15	6	5	8	5	3
Infratest dimap	11–13 May 2009	1,000	25	32	22	10	4	5	2	7
polis+sinus	1–16 Dec 2008	1,205	27	30	23	11	4	3	2	3
Infratest	8–11 Oct 2007	1,000	34	32	17	7	4	3	3	2
Forsa	20 Aug–18 Sep 2007	1,009	28	31	18	9	7	3	4	3
2006 state election	17 Sep 2006	–	30.2	28.8	16.8	9.6	7.3	3.4	3.9	1.4

Election result

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) were the clear winners of election with 35.7 percent of the votes. It increased 5.5 percentage points over the last election in 2006. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) support fell by 5.7 percent, ending up with 23.1 percent.[8] The Free Democratic Party (FDP) got only 2.7 percent of the vote, a massive drop of 6.9 percent compared to the last election, when it received 9.6 percent.[9] The FDP failed to qualify for the Landtag for the fifth time in the last six state elections.[10] The FDP Chairman Philipp Rösler claimed responsibility for failing to qualify for the Landtag.[11] The Green Party reached the 5% minimum and qualified for the first time in Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.[10] The Greens have now seats in all of Germany's 16 state parliaments.[9]

The far right National Democratic Party (NPD) won in excess of 30% of the votes in 2 of the districts in this election and 26% to 29% in some communities near Anklam and Torgelow.[12] In Koblentz, the NPD finished 15% higher than the CDU and the SPD.[12] Leaders of some of the parties have come out and stated their opposition and shock at the success of the NPD. Rösler also stated that "it is shocking that the radical right-wing NPD has received twice as many votes as the FDP".[11] SPD leader Erwin Sellering wasn't happy about the NPD re-entering the Landtag and stated "It’s a shame that they’ve made it in again and very regrettable".[13]

Summary of the 4 September 2011 election results for the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	242,251	35.6	5.4	27	4	38.0
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	156,969	23.0	5.8	18	4	25.4
	The Left (Linke)	125,528	18.4	1.1[lower-alpha 3]	14	1[lower-alpha 4]	19.7
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	59,004	8.7	5.3	7	7	9.9
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	40,642	6.0	1.3	5	1	7.0
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	18,943	2.8	6.8	0	7	0
	Pirate Party Germany (Piraten)	12,727	1.9	1.9	0	±0	0
	Family Party (Familie)	10,538	1.5	0.3	0	±0	0
	Others	14,773	2.2		0	±0	0
Total		681,375	100.0		71	±0
Voter turnout			51.5	7.7

Popular Vote SPD   35.55% CDU   23.04% DIE LINKE   18.42% GRÜNE   8.66% NPD   5.96% FDP   2.78% PIRATEN   1.87% FAMILIE   1.55% Other   2.17%

Bürgerschaft seats SPD   38.03% CDU   25.35% DIE LINKE   19.72% GRÜNE   9.86% NPD   7.04%

Notes

1. Results for PDS (16.8%) and WASG (0.5%).
2. Results for PDS (16.8%) and WASG (0.5%).
3. Results for PDS (16.8%) and WASG (0.5%).
4. Results for PDS (13 seats) and WASG (0 seats).

References

1. "SPD and Greens set for power in Hamburg". The Local. February 13, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
2. "CDU: "Klar und entschlossen" in den Wahlkampf". NDR.de. 21 May 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
3. "Caffier will in Staatskanzlei". Norddeutsche Neueste Nachrichten. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
4. ""C wie Zukunft" – CDU wird für Wahlp lakat veräppelt", Der Spiegel (in German), 26 July 2011, retrieved 16 Aug 2011
5. "C wie Zukunft", Die Welt (in German), 27 July 2011, retrieved 16 Aug 2011
6. "Sellering erwartungsgemäß Spitzenkandidat". NRD.de (in German). 14 May 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
7. "SPD plant massive Steuererhöhungen". Der Spiegel (in German). 4 September 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
8. Smith, David Gordon (5 September 2011). "'Germany's Social Democrats Are Back'". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
9. "Merkel's CDU Suffers Setback in State Election". Der Spiegel. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
10. "'Something is deeply wrong when the NPD is more successful than the FDP'". The Local. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
11. "Schuld sind nur die regionalen Themen". Süddeutsche Zeitung. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
12. "Wo ein Drittel der Wähler für die NPD stimmt". Die Welt (in German). 6 September 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
13. Fox, Holly (5 September 2011). "Far-right party strengthening its influence in eastern Germany". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 6 September 2011.