Elections

The elections for the Bavarian parliament are this sunday and the 'Christliche Soziale Union' (CSU) are a trifle worried that they might not get their usual absolute majority. Nevertheless, although the party has been in power for over 50 years in Bavaria, that is more a reflection of the average Bavarian's inability to think critically, than any flaws in a system, which is essentially democratic or, at least, more democratic than the "winner takes all scenario" that you have in the United Kingdom and, while half of the 180 seats in the Munich parliament are distributed according a "first past the post voting system", ninety seats depend on a second choice that every voter has. Alright, it's getting complicated but believe me, despite the fact that one party has managed to hold onto power for more than fifty years, the system is more democratic than it is in the United Kingdom and it also ensures that small parties, providing they get more than 5% of the vote, get a seat in parliament. It is, then a system, where every vote can count.

Now, in the United Kingdom, where who is going to be elected for a particular seat is invariably decided before you make your way to the polls, there is no need to focus too much on the candidate. In Glasgow most people vote Labour and they will vote Labour no matter who turns up for the party on election day, while in Bavaria and, indeed, in the rest of Germany, the candidate can play more of a role in getting his or herself elected and maybe that is why they do what they do ..... and what do they do? Well, in the run up to the elections you have pictures of all of the candidates plastered all over the place and, while a Sarah Palin in stockings and suspenders might influence me, the photos of those who are running in the Bavarian elections would invariably do anything but encourage me to vote for them. Indeed, I am also in the process of contradicting myself to some extent and contending that these photos would, at least sometimes, be significant in determining my decision not to exercise my right to vote and in doing so, I am pointing to a fundamental flaw in the democratic system in the Federal Republic of Germany. A long time ago, I lived in a constituency in London with a massive Tory majority and when it came to the election there was no way I was going to walk up to the local school in the rain to cast my vote and would I get out of my bed on sunday to vote for any of the faces above? Click on the picture and answer the question.