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CDU (Christian Democratic Union) - founded in 1945,
the CDU was initially a provincinal party, that would mature into a national
party. The CDU was established to bring "a non-denominational Christian party to
shape Germany's future." While the CDU is solidly conservative on social issues,
the party is noticeably divided on fiscal issues, with many in the party
espousing neo-socialistic economic values, and another large faction that is
more fiscally conservative. Under the leadership of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the
CDU has pushed for further European integration and is a party of European
federalism. Pundits, however, speculate that the party will "errupt," amongst
its factions once Kohl retires. CDU Facts and Figures... Age: 48 SPD (Social Democratic Party) - founded in 1863, the SPD is Germany's oldest political party, and is also the strongest party amongst the deeply-divided left-wing in German politics. Originally, the SPD was heavily leftist, but the modern SPD is considerably more moderate on fiscal issues, and much more receptive to market capitalism than the founders of the party were. This centre-of-the-left position on the political spectrum allowed the SPD to form a coalition with the Greens in 1993, a coalition that the SPD leads. SPD Facts and Figures... Age: 130 FDP (Free Democratic Party) - founded in 1948, the FDP is one of Germany's smaller political parties, but is by no means minor. Since 1949, the FDP has spent only 8 years outside the Government, their dead-centre ideology making them a perfect coalition partner for just about anybody. This has been demonstrated by the fact that the FDP has been in coalitions with not only the CDU, but the SPD as well. The FDP is a small party, but their ideological adaptability makes them powerful, and a useful ally to either one of the bigger parties. FDP Facts and Figures... Ages: 45 Green Party - founded in the late 1970's, the Green Party won its first seats in 1980, and started out as a party composed of vocal opponents of nuclear energy and NATO. As of now, this environmentalist party is tiny and barely made it over the 5% hurdle to be entitled to seats in the Bundestag. However, the Green's popularity in the former West Germany does provide hope for a bright future. The SPD-Green Coalition could also help the Greens to grow in the future. Green Facts and Figures... Age: 10+ PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism) - founded in December of 1989, the PDS is indeed the GDR Communist party reformed. While denouncing some of its more militant values, the PDS still espouses much of its hard-line socialist ideology. While the PDS remains relatively popular in the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany), garnering 10% of the east German vote, the PDS has a precious few supporters in other parts of the country, and their 1990 election percentage was below the 5% hurdle, making the PDS ineligible to enter Parliament. PDS Facts and Figures...
Age: 4
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