Election Results by Region

Spiegel Online has a wonderful interactive graphic breaking down German election results by region. It should come as no surprise that the two richest states, Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg (home of Chirol) came out overwhelmingly for the CDU whereas the formerly communist east, voted heavily for the socialist SPD.

As Curzon already said, forgetting all the details, the biggest result of this election is that Germany has lost. There is a great deal of speculation in the German media now about what the possibile coalition combinations may be. The current favorite is what they (rather ridiculously) call the “Jamaican Coalition” which would be Black/Yellow/Green, i.e. the CDU, FDP and Greens. However, this is by no means certain. The CDU, with the most seats, has the right to form a governing coalition, however if it fails, the SPD will be allowed to do so as well. If there is ultimately no solution, the status quo will be maintained and Germany will have new elections. The Guardian has a short summary of what happens next:

Today
CDU and SPD leaders start sounding out smaller parties in coalition talks. A “grand coalition” between the two big rivals is still possible, although other coalitions are thought more likely

October 10-14

Germany’s new parliament will reconvene to elect a new chancellor. If neither Mrs Merkel nor Mr Schröder wins a clear majority in a secret ballot of MPs, the president can invite either of them to form a minority government

Early 2006

New elections are likely in the event that neither side is able to form a coalition with a majority in the Bundestag, the German parliament