German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU centre-right bloc polled almost 34 percent in the German general election Sunday 27 September while her government coalition partners, the centre-left socialist party, SPD, obtained their worst results since the Second World War, with 23.4 percent. The results allow Merkel to ditch the socialists and open talks with the business-friendly liberal party, FDP about forming a new government underpinned by a stable majority in parliament.The FDP obtained almost 15 percent of the vote, its best result ever.
Germany is in the midst of its worst economic crisis in decades, the economy is expected to contract by five percent this year, and the liberal party will want to discuss health care reform, tax cuts and a reduction of the welfare state before joining a government. CNN, NZZ, Reuters
Didier Burkhalter, Neuchatel, new Swiss cabinet member
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Didier Burkhalter, 49, a Radical party (centre-right) politician from Neuchatel, was elected by the Swiss parliament to the country’s seven-member Federal Council (cabinet) with 129 votes against 106 for the other candidate, Urs Schwaller, PDC (also centre), on the fourth round of voting. He succeeds Pascal Couchepin, from canton Valais, who is retiring 1 November. Burkhalter’s election means his party will retain its seat on the council and the balance remains unchanged in the power-sharing Swiss government. The language balance remains intact as well, with one French-speaking canton representative replaced by another.
Details: Swissinfo and on radio, WRS. Swiss French media: Le Temps, Tribune de Geneve/24 Heures, TSR
Background story, GenevaLunch
