European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 15, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday october 15, 1994 German elections the stars and stripes Page 3 German candidates set to face off smaller parties expected to play key roles sunday by de Reavis staff writer months of contentious debate in Germany Over unemployment and tax increases will culminate sunday in the nations 13th National election since the end of world War h. On the surface it is a Battle Between incumbent Chancellor Helmut Kohl of the conservative Christian democratic Union cd and Rudolf Scharping of the More Liberal social democratic party spa. Yet it is the twin themes of taxes and unemployment that Are driving Germany a Complex election process. The two Are inextricably Woven in a nation where the normally robust Economy is plagued by chronic unemployment at a time when substantial growth is needed to fund the development of the former East Germany and other sectors. Whatever the outcome of the election German taxes Are expected to take a significant jump a the government currently can take up to half of a workers income in taxes. Many observers predict that existing commitments will Force rates up to at least 62 percent no matter who sits in the chancellery. Although 22 political parties Are registered for the election the main players in this election As in All postwar German elections Are the two major parties the cd along with its bavarian adjunct the Christian social Union Csc and the spa. But pollsters say that key roles almost certainly will be played again by the smaller parties primarily the free democratic party Ftp Alliance 90/the greens commonly called the greens and even the party of democratic socialism ads the reformed communists who have made significant inroads in Eastern Germany a local elections. Because neither major party can expect to capture a majority of votes at least one coalition partner will be needed. The Only party to gain an absolute majority of the votes in postwar Germany was the cd under Konrad Adenauer in 1957. The Ftp has played that vital Junior partner role for the cd Csc in the past and has always been rewarded with High profile ministries such As foreign affairs and economics. The spa Hopes to dethrone that Oali Tion by forming its own Alliance with the greens provided that the leftist group can make a Strong showing. The wild card however is the pos communist ads which has drawn voters from both the spa and the cd in recent state elections. Ads Leader Gregor Gysi has gone on record that his party has no desire to participate in any ruling coalition but wants to be a Strong leftist opposition in the bundestag or National Assembly. Sharping insists his spa does not want and  accept support from the ads because he considers it an antidemocratic party. Kohl has tried to link the ads to his primary opposition insisting Gysi and his party would tacitly endorse a government formed by a coalition of spa and the. Greens. A a a a a a. A a a a a a a v. A the greatest fear of Kohls ruling coalition is that its Junior partner the Ftp might fail to receive the required 5 per cent of the National vote to be seated in the bundestag. Most pollsters and observers predict that right Wing parties such As the republicans wont fare Well in sundays election. A since the last Federal election in 1990 the first in a reunited Germany a six parties have beep represented in the German parliament. They Are the cd spa Ftp Csc ads and Alliance 90/the greens. V the cd has no party representation in the state of Bavaria where the Csc is its affiliated party. In the bundestag however the two parties form a joint parliamentary group. On the National level the parties Are referred to in tandem cd Csc. Helmut Kohl apr Flat Rudolf Scharping Apt Flagerman political parties Twenty two German political parties have qualified for sundays National balloting 1. Christian democratic Union Christich Demok Raische Union cd 2. Social democratic party  Parte deutschland spa 3. Free democratic party Freie Demok Raische Partei a Ftp 4. Christian soda Union Christich so Sale Union Csc 5. Alliance Myrthe greens Bononis 90/dia Grain in 6. Party of democratic social Lam Partei Der Demoura Rischen socialism us ads 7. The republicans die Republican or rep 8. The car Drivers and citizens interest party aut Fahrer und  Partei deutschland and 9. The bavarian party Baye Partei by 10. Union of socialist workers German faction of the fourth International trotskyite bund social Stischer Arbeiter Deutsche Setton Dervie ten internationale a Bra 11. Civil rights movement Solidarity  Soi Darit amp to 12. Chriatian league the pro life Patty Christ Tiche Uga die Partei fur Das Laban Liga a a 13. The Christian Middle for a Germany according to gods commandments Christ Liche Mitte a fur Ein deutschland Nach Gottes Geb Oten pm. 14. German Center party Deutsche centrum Partei centrum 15. The Grays Gray panthers die Frauen Graue Panther Graue 16. The natures Law party off to a new consciousness die Natu Gesetz Partei auf Bruch Zug Neukem beaus Stein Natu Gesetz 17. Man St Lenin St party of Germany marxist fcb Leninist Ische Partei deutschland Mlod 18. Man environment animal Protection party Mensch a melt Tler Schutz die  19. Cofo Gucal democracy party Okolo Gisch Demok Ratie Partei oop20. Party of Bible faithful Christiana Partei Bibl Treuer Christen pbc21. Party of the unemployed and socially weak Partei Der Arbe its lose n und social pass a a. A. 22. The instead party the independents Statt Partei die  Statt Parthia a. A a a a a a a a a election offers 2-ballot Opportunity by de Reavis staff writer German National elections Are held Svery four years. Voters elect the 656 members of the bundestag the larger part of the bicameral legislature. All German citizens 18 years or older can vote or run for office. There Are no religious racial educational or economic restrictions. Of the 656 bundestag members half Are directly elected the remainder Are elected on the basis of proportional representation. Every voter casts two ballots which the constitutional framers believed was a More democratic system. The first vote is cast directly for a candidate running to represent the voters District. The vote is a majority contest involving individual candidates. The second vote is cast for a list of candidates put up by the parties. Candidates on the a state list of a party Are elected based on the proportion of the second votes their party received. The total number of bundestag seats won by a party is simply based on the percentage of second votes the party received. The party a number of candidates directly elected by the first vote is then subtracted from this total figure the remaining seats Are then allocated to candidates from the state list. Essentially it is the number of second votes that determines the number of representatives a party will have in the bundestag. The first votes determine Only which candidates will hold those seats. If the number of direct mandates won by a party exceeds the number of list mandates the party retains these additional seats which Means the bundestag could end up with More than 656 members. The so called 5 percent clause is al�6 a key element of German elections. The clause stipulates that Only parties gaining at least 5 percent of the votes or at least three seats through direct election can be represented in the bundestag. Of the 35 parties that appeared on the first bundestag election ballot in 1949, Only four had members elected to parliament in 1990. This is the result of the �?o5 percent debarring clause Quot which was introduced in 1953 and made stricter still in 1957. A the purpose was to avoid having so Many parties that the system is paralysed As happened during the Weimar Republic prior to world War ii. The 5 percent clause is waived in the Case of nationally recognized minorities. For example the South Schleswig voters association which represents the danish minority has a member in the state parliament of Schleswig Holstein although it received less than 5 percent of the vote. The Chancellor whose party controls the governing coalition can be removed Only by what is called a constructive motion of non Confidence. That Means those favouring his removal must vote another member to replace him. There have been six chancellors since world War ii and this provision has been invoked Only once in 1982, when Kohl replaced Helmut Schmidt. The bundestag corresponds roughly to the . House of representatives and it is where the Chancellor holds court. The other chamber of parliament is the bundesrat. The members of this chamber Are not elected by the people. They Are sent to parliament by the governments of Germany a 16 states. Here again the German Constitution seeks to achieve a balance. All the 16 states have at least three votes in the bundesrat. If the state has More than 2 million citizens it gets four votes. Those states with More than 6 million citizens get five votes. Those with More than 7 million citizens have six votes. The bundesrat presidency rotates among the states annually