Germany: SPD stumbles as "super election year" begins

Germany began a "super election year" on January 18 when the west German state of Hesse went to the polls for the second time in twelve months.
The new elections became necessary after months of negotiations to form a coalition government collapsed late last year, when parliamentary members of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) rebelled against a plan to form government with the assistance of the left-wing party Die Linke.

Under pressure from SPD hardliners, party-leader Andrea Ypsilanti had promised not to deal with Die Linke, a fusion of the Party for Democratic Socialism (the successor to the former East German ruling party) with a left-wing split from the SPD in 2005.

However, when neither major party – the SPD, nor the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) – was able to form government after the 2008 poll, Ypsilanti back-flipped on her promise, securing an agreement with the Greens and Die Linke, but lost support in her own party.

When attempts to form government fell through, the Hesse parliament dissolved itself on November 19, forcing new elections.