Dundorf

[Drax]

REINHARDT BUNDESKABINETT II WITH DSDP, GPP AND DRF A CONTINUATION
 
ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER
 
Bundestag, October 27, 5718 (Backdated): In view of the Dundorf Sozialdemokratische Partei (DSDP) victory in the election, Federal President Matthias Werner has called on Federal Chancellor Renate Reinhardt to form a governing coalition. Her existing governing coalition of DSDP with Dundorfische Rote Front (DRF) and Grune Partei fur den Planeten (GPP) increased its majority by one seat, and Reinhardt successfully brokered Reinhardt Bundeskabinett II as pretty much a continuation of Reinhardt Bundeskabinett.
 
Reinhardt II Bundeskabinett
Federal Chancellor – Renate Reinhardt  (DSDP)
Foreign Minister and Deputy Federal Chancellor – Franziska Niedermeyer (GPP)
Interior Minister – Diana Bodeker (DSDP)
Finance Minister – Thomas Unterberger (DSDP)
Defence Minister– Gerda Kempf (DRF)
Justice Minister – Peer Van Der Koff (DSDP)
Infrastructure & Energy – Elias Wagner – Pohl (GPP)
Healthcare - Dr. Adele Wagner (DSDP)
Education – Willy Metz (DSDP)
Labor and Social Services – Carolina Roth (DRF)
Environment, Tourism & Territorial Protection – Laura Engelhart (GPP)
Agriculture and Food – Kasper Brozovic (DSDP)
Science, Research & Technology – Werner Dietrich (DRF)
Commerce & Industry – Luise Anne Tischmann (GPP)
 
That is seven ministries for DSDP, four for GPP and three for DRF reflecting a 15 seat gain by GPP and a ten seat loss by DRF. Further, since GPP is the second largest party in the coalition, GPP”S Foreign Minister Franziska Niedermeyer replaces DRF’s Gerda Kempf as Deputy Federal Chancellor.
 
Although DSDP also lost seats, ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER notes it is still well ahead of any competitor including its partners  in this Bundeskabinett.


Bundestag

[TheNick]

Matthias Werner Re-Elected President of Dundorf
April 5720

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President Werner in a televised interview last week.

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Dunburg - The first exit poll hinted at it, and then the reporting polling stations confirmed it, one after one: Federal President Matthias Werner (DSDP) has been re-elected in the first round of voting, supported by a center-left coalition, obtaining well over 50% of the total votes. Throughout the campaign, Mr. Werner took advantage of his good ratings among the Dundorfian electorate and built an extensive presence both across the country, with public meetings, and in the media, with interviews and social media videos. Polls suggested Mr. Werner was going to cruise easily to re-election, and that might be an explanation to why turnout figures are so much lower than five years ago, decreasing by almost 9 points.

"When people feel like the result of an election is 'safe' and not very much competitive, they don't bother go to the polls, and this happens among voters who support the leading candidate and voters who support the other candidates alike", explained to us Dr. Eugen Tobias Baumgartner, a Political Science professor at the University of Vogelberg. President Werner obtained 54% of the total votes, beating his other two rivals Friedrich von Schirach (TLD), who obtained roughly 36%, and perennial candidate Dr. Theodore Engel (PPD) who got 10% of the votes.

Mr. Werner and his staff will now prepare for the second term transition, including a meeting with Federal Chancellor Renate Reinhardt, to discuss policy matters, and a formal reception at Karlottenberg Schloss to which every major political figure will be invited, including Mr. Von Schirach and Dr. Engel, who will be guests to President Werner and his husband.

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5720 Presidential Election:

Turnout: 80.071.037 (71.5%, -8.6%)

Hon. Matthias Werner (DSDP + GPP, DRF): 43.262.430 (54%) | re-elected President
Hon. Friedrich von Schirach (TLD + NDZP, KBP): 28.985.689 (36.2%)
Hon. Dr. Theodore Engel (PPD): 7.814.751 (9.8%)

[Drax]

NUCLEAR POWER GENERATION EXPANSION DELAY OVER
 
ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER
 
Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, May 15, 5720: After numerous delays, the Minister of Science, Research and Technology, Werner Dietrich, announced today that construction has begun in Chontalen Bundeslander at Rabesburg on a nuclear power facility.
 
ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER asked Dietrich if that meant Nationales Konsortium fur Kernenergie (NKK) would now be privatized, and he responded:
 

That no doubt unspeakable tragedy is a possible outcome but hardly a foregone conclusion.  Now that we will have two nuclear facilities in each Bundeslander once the construction at Rabesburg is complete, the existing con census plan for nuclear development will have completed its first phase and the second phase will be entered.
 
Phase 2 has three aspects.  The first is the nature of ownership of NKK.  NKK was formed as a government owned corporation to purchase, own and operate the nuclear facilities developed with other interests with protection from broad sweeping generalized privatization or nationalization legislation rampant during that era. Once the Phase 1 target is reached, the possibility of some or all of the ownership of NKK or any of the twelve individual facilities being privatized will be open to consideration.
 
I can tell you where the current thinking seems to be headed. NKK’s Board of Directors believes either preferred stock or corporate bonds should be sold to give the public a chance to be part of the nuclear age.  It is also likely that one established facility will be designated to be open to offers including private companies.  Offers would be evaluated in terms of safety, financial benefit and risk and general benefit to the public .  If any.
 
The second aspect is a general evaluation of our power generation future.  Do we want more nuclear facilities or would we rather augment energy production with other renewable energy sources such as solar, wind or hydroelectric as we are doing now.
 
Third, it will be time to look at beginning to get serious about charging stations for electric vehicles. And how much the State needs to be involved to develop an actual sustainable grid.  Quite frankly, I regard this aspect as the most important and most urgent.  I believe I speak for Dundorfische Rote Front (DRF) as well.  But that is just our opinion, and the Bundestag will decide ultimately.

[Drax]

TLD ON POLITICAL ISSUES AND DEFICIT
 
ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER
 
Dunburg, April 22, 5721:   ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER asked Team Liberaldemokraten (TLD) Floor Leader, former Defence Minister Friedrich von Schirach, what he thought was the biggest issue for the TLD at the moment, and he responded:
 

In one sense, that is kind of difficult to say.  We will be campaigning on our traditional platform hoping to hold our traditional constituency.  This consists of not nationalizing for the sake of nationalizing, upholding religious freedom and family values, maintaining a  proper balance between economic prosperity and stewardship of the environment, and continuing to modernize our military so that it can defend the Bundesrepublik if necessary.
 
Further, we do support the long held Foreign Office view favoring non aggression pacts, trade partnerships  and free trade agreements while looking askance at alliances aimed against other nations.
 
One might well ask how this is different from the Hosian Democrats. There are two main differences. The Hosian Democrats are as inclined as any party to lean toward green solutions even at economic costs.  TLD believes the economic welfare of our citizenry must always be considered. 
 
Second, the Hosian Democrats lived through the legislative period when there really were serious efforts to shut down religious schools, limit prayer and even abolish the practice of religion.  So they are much more likely to see threats to religious freedom than is TLD in any given proposal.   Accordingly they still garner a larger share  of those whose first political concern is their religion than is TLD although we believe we are equally as committed to religious freedom.
 
But as to your question, what is concerning us most is actually watching the budget. Why?  Ideally, we produce a surplus that can then be applied to a selected project such as nuclear power generation.  But when too many projects are chosen or even when there is a lack of fiscal discipline, deficits are created.
 
This has happened under Center Left governments in the recent past, and when the most recent Center Right government came to power it was necessary to spend the surplus on deficit reduction rather than worthwhile projects. 
 
I realize the Pirate Party has made this issue its own, but let me assure you TLD is equally concerned and is equally vigilant in that regard.

TLD's Friedrich v. Schirach

 
 
 
 
 
 
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[TheNick]

DSDP Wins, but Center-Left Coalition Loses Majority
October 5722

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A voter in Grozvic.

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Dunburg - After eight years, voters put an end to the rule of the center-left coalition led by Chancellor Renate Reinhardt, but voters still rewarded her party, DSDP, with the title of largest party, despite a very little erosion in popular support. Among the coalition partners, it was the democratic-socialist DRF which lost the most votes and seats, alongside some minor losses by the Social-Democrats, while the Greens obtained a very small improvement compared to four years ago. Overall, the coalition passes from 317 seats, a majority of one seat, to 306 seats, a number that is not sufficient to elect a new Federal Chancellor.

In the center-right, the NDZP continued its decline for another election, falling to a new low of 17%, but its center-right partners saw significant improvements: the liberal party TLD obtained well over 15% of the votes in their all-time high and the conservative ruralist KBP improved significantly after years of decline, obtaining 1,8% more votes and eleven new seats in the Bundestag. Despite this good showing, the center-right still remains very, very far from achieving a majority in the Bundestag. The Pirates also saw a minor improvement but Dr. Engel's party remains a stable political force, and it is an estabilished fact, according to our political expert Stefan Cornaelius, that its strong niche and its stability has disrupted Dundorf's traditional coalition politics.

President Werner, according to sources, has acknowledged that the incumbent government has lost its majority but remains committed to entrusting Mrs. Reinhardt with a third mandate as Chancellor, with the most probable choices for a coalition being a 'traffic-light' agreement between DSDP, TLD and GPP or a 'left-leaning GroKo' with DSDP, NDZP and GPP. For what it's worth, also our own Stefan Cornaelius says that the most probable and most viable choices for a stable government are what Karlottenberg Schloss is thinking.

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5722 Dundorfian Federal Election: 

Turnout: 87.744.860 (77.7%, -2.5% vs 5718) 

Social-Democratic Party of Dundorf (DSDP): 20.388.311 | 23.2% and 147 seats (-0.8% and -6) 
New Dundorfian Centre Party (NDZP): 14.973.988 | 17.1% and 108 seats (-1.5% and -10) 
Team Liberal-Democrats (TLD): 13.523.981 | 15.4% and 97 seats (+0.8% and +6) 
Green Party for the Planet (GPP): 11.761.247 | 13.4% and 85 seats (+0.1% and +2) 
Dundorfian Red Front (DRF): 10.313.644 | 11.8% and 74 seats (-1.3% and -7) 
Pirate Party of Dundorf (PPD): 9.825.238 | 11.2% and 70 seats (+0.7% and +4) 
Conservative Federal Party (KBP): 6.958.451 | 7.9% and 49 seats (+1.8% and +11)

[Drax]

NDZP WILL REBUILD NOT REBRAND
 
ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER
 
Neukirchstadt, October 15, 5722 (backdated): Neue Dundorfische Zentrumspartei (NDZP) leadership met at its headquarters in Neukirchstadt to discuss its recent losses in the elections.  ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER asked NDZP official Hermann Felder what had transpired and he outlined the course of the meeting.
 
It was generally felt that NDZP should have done better with its constituencies and the problem may be with communicating with and reaching the electorate rather than particularly unpopular positions with the exception of one area.
 
NDZP generally believes it as green as anybody but recognizes delaying projects to stay within the budget may be seen as ceding the absolutist green positions to others not concerned with budgeting.  Further NDZP has always favored a balanced budget and did not just gravitate to it for the Pirates to join a coalition.
 
So as a practical matter portraying themselves as pragmatic technocrats who get things done may ring more true than trying to compete with absolutists.  A good issue could be practical steps toward more electric vehicles.
 
On traditional values and religious freedom NDZP recognizes there is little difference between themselves and the Conservatives and the Liberals except that NDZP has waged that fight for a long long time through thick and thin.
 
The mixed economy of public and private ownership of the means of production does not seem like something NDZP would want to change since it was a compromise after a lot of contention and on balance it has worked.
 
Further, NDZP and the Social Democrats have for centuries had virtually the same approach to foreign policy which the Liberals have pretty much adopted as well.

So the two areas NDZP will emphasize are practical plans to get greener and our historic steadfast support for traditional values and religious freedom.   This will be rebuilding not rebranding.
 
Felder indicated NDZP inclusion in the new governing coalition was unlikely but stranger things had happened.


NDZP's Hermann Felder
 

[TheNick]

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After Complex Negotiations, Parties Agree to 'Traffic Light' Coalition

June 5723

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An 'ampel kabinett' is composed by a red, yellow and green party, just like a real traffic light.

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Dunburg - Several months after the 5722 election, President Werner has finally entrusted Renate Reinhardt with a third term as Chancellor, allowing her to maintain the role but with a different parliamentary majority compared to the past eight years. Following the defeat of the center-left bloc (DSDP, GPP and DRF) in October, parties had to negotiate a new coalition with a viable path in the Bundestag, and after very difficult negotiations which saw different phases, in which the guide of the President was very important, the party leaders of DSDP, Greens and the Team Liberal-Democrats agreed to form a so-called  'traffic-light' government.

The name is inspired by the colors of the three parties: the Social-Democrats are red in color, the Liberals have yellow and the Greens couldn't be any other color than green. These three colors combined recall the image of a traffic light, which will give its name to this coalition. As we said, the negotiations were complex: the Liberals wanted major reassurances by its probable partners mainly on economic policy, asking for a more 'flexible' approach where "government isn't always the priority, letting the market sort itself out", in the words of TLD's Gunther Krancke. On their part, DSDP and the Greens have imposed some "red lines" such as welfare policy and energy policy, both dear to each party. And after months, the three parties agreed on a common agenda of Social Liberalism, Market Environmentalism and protection of workers' rights amid some liberal job marker reforms.

Now, the Bundestag will have to vote Renate Reinhardt in as Chancellor for the third time, and based on some rough math she should count on a comfortable majority of 329 seats out of 630, much higher than the outgoing majority of 317. Karlottenberg Schloss said that President Werner is expected to appoint the cabinet's minister upon meeting with Chancellor Reinhardt once she's officially re-elected.

[TheNick]

Gertrude Von Koepf Secures Narrow Victory in the Presidential Election
May 5725

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President-elect Gertrude von Koepf seen here during the campaign, at a Dunburg event.

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Dunburg - Dundorfian voters returned to the polls to elect the new Federal President, ten years after the first election of President Werner (DSDP), which means he is now term-limited and won't be able to run again. To succeed him, his own party decided to launch the candidacy of Dunburg Mayor Gertrude von Koepf, a personal friend of Chancellor Reinhardt, and a local career politician within the DSDP. Back then, President Werner immediately endorsed Von Koepf and volunteered to campaign alongside her, giving her campaign a huge boost. Another boost was received by Mrs. Von Koepf when the Green Party decided to endorse her candidacy and run a joint red-green ticket.

Of course, in February, shirtly after Mrs. Von Koepf's campaign launch, other candidacies followed suit, like TLD's Karl-Hermann Bodenschatz, a veteran Liberal-Democratic member of the Bundestag, with a long history in Dunburg. His candidacy was shared by the NDZP, legitimating Mr. Bodenschatz as a center-right choice for Federal President. The Conservative Federal Party (KBP) decided not to join a unity center-right ticket, and instead went with a candidate of their own: rising right-wing star Bernard Glueck, who is only 32 and already one Bundestag term in the bank. And it can't be a Presidential election without the perennial Pirate candidate: Dr. Theodore Engel, who turns 80 in August, has promised that this will be his last election as the Pirate candidate.

Far to the left, Sandra Wittgenstein obtained the DRF Presidential nomination and presented herself as an alternative to Mrs. Von Koepf's DSDP, especially in these years of a DSDP-led government which left DRF in opposition.

In the first round, the top two candidates who advanced to the second round of voting were, with no surprise, Mrs. Von Koepf and Mr. Bodenschatz. Both candidates obtained close to 35% of the total votes cast, and were followed by Mrs. Wittgenstein, with some 13% of the votes, and Dr. Engel and Mr. Glueck, both between 8 and 9 percentage points. Shortly after the first round results were counted, Mrs. Wittgenstein endorsed Mrs. von Koepf and Mr. Glueck endorsed Mr. Bodenschatz; as usual, the Pirates declined to endorse a candidate and recommended their voters to choose freely.

In the second round of voting, Mrs. von Koepf won narrowly against her NDZP opponent, securing 51,7% of the votes, allowing her to becoming the newest tenant of Karlottenberg Schloss and succeeding Matthias Werner, who can now retire. This victory was seen as a confirmatory test of Renate Reinhardt's DSDP's strength after three terms in office, and commentators also noted the decent improvement of the KBP candidate, speculating that some younger leadership in Bernard Glueck can finally resuscitate the party after decades of political decay. President Werner has invited President-elect von Koepf to Karlottenberg Schloss for an official visit next week, marking the beginning of the transition period.

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5725 Dundorfian Presidential election:

1st round 
Turnout: 80.227.418 - 71,6%

Gertrude von Koepf (DSDP-GPP): 28.328.934 (35,3%)  - advances to second round
Karl-Hermann Bodenschatz (TLD-NDZP): 27.662.053 (34,5%) - advances to second round
Sandra Wittgenstein (DRF): 10.399.615 (13%)
Dr. Theodore Engel (PPD): 7.135.783 (8,9%)
Bernard Glueck (KBP): 6.701.033 (8,3%)

2nd round 
Turnout: 74.396.212 - 66,4%

Gertrude von Koepf (DSDP-GPP): 38.486.553 (51,7%)  - elected Federal President
Karl-Hermann Bodenschatz (TLD-NDZP): 35.910.658 (48,3%)

[TheNick]

In Historic Shift, Center-Right Coalition Secures a Plurality of the Votes while DSDP Remains First Party

October 5726 (backdated)

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The Bundestag features no clear majority.

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Dunburg - Dundorfians just finished voting in one of the most significant elections of all time, one in which, according to official Zeitung projections, the center-right coalition is poised to earn a plurality of the votes over the center-left coalition. This achievement by the NDZP-TLD-KBP coalition was not seen in the last few decades, ever since the Pirate Party became a dominant third force that took a significant portion of the center-right electorate.

And its the Pirates themselves who are the biggest losers of the night: they are projected to lose three and a half percentage points and become the least voted party in the Dundorfian political landscape, as experts say its perception as a populist alternative is starting to fade among Dundorfians. The Zeitung's political expert, Dr. Herbert Wahl, said: "In the past decades Dundorfians tired with either coalition embraced this Pirate Party as a form to express their disappointment at how the mainstream parties and coalition conducted themselves. Our analysis show that the Pirates obtained most voters throughout time from two sources: first time voters and former center-right voters. Now that the PPD is perceived as another mainstream party, these former center-right voters see no point in voting for a party and are returning to vote for their, in a way, 'original' parties."

Pirates' party chief Dr. Theodore Engel, a long time leader who famously ousted Pirates' founder Rikkert Van Der Plaas, is expected to resign the leadership of the party tomorrow morning. The Zeitung was not able to gather information as to who's favored to take the leadership following the Engel era due to lack of sources.

The governing party since 5712, DSDP, has also suffered in this election, according to official estimates. Chancellor Renate Reinhardt's party is on track to lose about two points, but is also expected to preserve its status as the largest party, giving Mrs. Reinhardt the upper hand in the upcoming cabinet formation. DSDP is experiencing fatigue due to all these years in government, and voters went to the polls disapproving of how the 'traffic-light' coalition has handled this term of government, according to a pre-election poll. For this reason, also the Greens performed poorly: -1,5 points and meaning they'll slip behind DRF, a 'friendly rival' within the center-left coalition.

Among the clear winners there is a historic party and DSDP's long time rival: NDZP. The center-right Hosian-Democrats are projected to gain a whooping four points, coming short of overtaking the Social-Democrats as the first party. They are projected to gain the same number of seats as the Social-Democrats, 136, which would give them leverage in the upcoming negotiations. Some rumours have it that NDZP would claim for itself the Presidency of the Bundestag, which usually is given to the largest party, in order to join a cabinet led by DSDP's Reinhardt. Also the Conservative-Ruralists (KBP) performed well: after a period of crisis and stagnation, the younger and bolder leadership of Bernard Glueck brought new energy and new voters: +1,7 points. The Liberals are the only stagnating center-right force: only a mere 2 decimal points added, probably because of their partecipation in this latest cabinet of Renate Reinhardt.

President Gertrude von Koepf has indicated prior to the election that according to precedent she will first nominate as Chancellor the leader of the most voted party. In this case, Renate Reinhardt would be nominated for a fourth term as Chancellor. But the center-right, and especially NDZP's rise will prove to be a real headache for our Frau Kanzlerin as she tries to become one of Dundorf's most long-serving Chancellors.

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5726 Dundorfian Federal Election:


Turnout: 90.162.790 (80,5%, +2,8% vs 5722)

Social-Democratic Party of Dundorf (DSDP): 19.400.218 | 21,5% and 136 seats (-1,7% and -11) 
New Dundorfian Centre Party (NDZP): 19.189.236 | 21,3% and 136 seats (+4,2% and +28) 
Team Liberal-Democrats (TLD): 14.071.920 | 15,6% and 98 seats (+0,2% and +1) 
Dundorfian Red Front (DRF): 11.129.370 | 12,4% and 77 seats (+0,6% and +3) 
Green Party for the Planet (GPP): 10.731.121 | 11,9% and 75 seats (-1,5% and -10) 
Conservative Federal Party (KBP): 8.659.304 | 9,6% and 61 seats (+1,7% and +12) 
Pirate Party of Dundorf (PPD): 6.981.621 | 7,7% and 47 seats (-3,5% and -23)

[Drax]

DSDP, NDZP, TLD WITH A SPLIT CHANCELLOR TERM APPEARS LIKELY
 
ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER
 

Bundestag, October 15, 5726 (backdated): With the recent elections not giving the governing coalition supporting Reinhardt Bundeskabinett III a majority or, for that matter, either the Center Left or Center Right bloc a majority, it looked like an opportunity for the Pirate Party to pick a bloc on favorable terms.

 

There was considerable early maneuvering particularly by the Hosian Democrats, however, President Gertrude von Koepf cut the process short by a suggestion that appealed to the three largest parties. Social Democrats (DSDP), Hosian Democrats (NDZP), and Liberals (TLD).

 

TLD’s designate for Interior Minister and TLD Floor Leader Friedrich v, Schirach confirmed to ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER sources that the major considerations seemed to be the desire of DSDP Kanzerlin Reinhardt to continue DSDP leadership of the government and the hope of NDZP and TLD leadership for a Bundeskabinett with a Center Right tilt.
 
The well timed suggestion of President von Koepf hit just the right note with all three parties’ leadership. Reinhardt will continue as Chancellor until the second half of this electoral cycle which will see NDZP's Deputy Chancellor and Defence Minister designate Hermann Felder as Chancellor.


TLD's von Schirach