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Viewing cable 09HAMBURG1193, Best Laid Plans: Schleswig-Holstein's CDU and SPD in

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09HAMBURG1193 2009-09-25 14:16 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Hamburg
VZCZCXRO4561
RR RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAG #1193/01 2681416
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251416Z SEP 09
FM AMCONSUL HAMBURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5312
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HAMBURG 001193 
 
State for EUR/AGS 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM GM
SUBJECT:  Best Laid Plans: Schleswig-Holstein's CDU and SPD in 
Surprisingly Close Race 
 
REF:  HAMBURG 23 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
1.  (SBU):  SUMMARY:  The July collapse of the Schleswig-Holstein 
Grand Coalition (reftel) brought on by the CDU may not bring about 
the desired CDU-FDP coalition result for which the CDU has hoped. 
Early state elections will take place on September 27, the same day 
as national elections, which may boost overall voter turnout.  As a 
result of this acrimonious breakup and general bad blood in the 
Grand Coalition, SPD leader Ralf Stegner initially appeared to have 
lost significant personal support, as well as support for the party. 
 His recent "charm offensive," however, seems to have somewhat 
reversed this trend.  Two separate polls show the SPD running a very 
close second to the CDU.  While the ultimate outcome is uncertain, a 
renewed Grand Coalition is very unlikely.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------- ---------------------------- 
-------------------------------------- 
Polling Results Suggest Neck-and-Neck Race: CDU/FDP Majority in 
Jeopardy 
-------------------------- ---------------------------- 
---------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) Emboldened by polls that showed his party could form a 
coalition with the Free Democrats back in July, and following a 
series of confrontations with the SPD, CDU Minister-President Peter 
Harry Carstensen prompted the collapse of his state's Grand 
Coalition (reftel).  Since then, however, this majority has 
narrowed.  The most recent ZDF Politbarometer opinion poll projected 
the CDU winning 32 percent of the vote in S-H, the SPD 27 percent, 
the FDP 14 percent, the Greens 12 percent, The Left 7 percent, and 
the SSW (South-Schleswig Voter Association) 4 percent.  With 44 
percent preferring  Carstensen as M-P, he is clearly ahead of SPD 
candidate Ralf Stegner (28 percent).  This same poll, however, shows 
that 42 percent of the electorate has not yet decided how it will 
vote.  Past state elections have shown that massive mobilization 
efforts in the last week prior to the elections can substantially 
alter the final result. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Another current opinion poll, this one from from 
Infratest Dimap, reflected the following results:  CDU 33 percent, 
SPD 25 percent, FDP 14 percent, Greens 13 percent, The Left 6 
percent, and the SSW 5 percent.  Although the CDU and FDP combined 
vote is actually two points lower than the other parties' combined 
vote, the CDU/FDP partnership could still claim the mandate due to 
the method of calculation for seats in the S-H parliament (reftel). 
Ironically, 43 percent of the respondents in this poll said they 
would prefer an SPD-led government.  Carstensen, however, is still 
seen as the more credible and competent candidate (except for the 
area of social justice) whose leadership skills trump Stegner's. 
 
------------------ ----------------------------------------- 
Stegner's Charm Offensive Somewhat Successful 
-------------------------- --------------------------------- 
 
4.  (SBU) Stegner's greatest handicap is his negative image.  Not 
only do his political rivals in the CDU view him as a complainer, 
egotist and know-it-all, but that sentiment is largely shared among 
the electorate as a whole.  Following the collapse of the CDU/SPD 
coalition in July, Stegner launched a charm offensive that has him 
relentlessly campaigning around the clock in a  "red bus" tour all 
over S-H.  A narrowing personal popularity gap indicates that his 
efforts have had some success. 
 
5.  (SBU) Meanwhile, the CDU-SPD contest in S-H has become nastier 
on a personal level.  The Handelsblatt and Badische Zeitung quoted 
Stegner referring to Carstensen as a "fat, round, nothing." 
Similarly, M-P Carstensen has called Stegner a "pain in the ass" 
(Kotzbrocken).  The frontrunners faced each other in an NDR TV duel 
on September 23; although there was no clear winner, the debate was 
much more confrontational than the September 13 Merkel/Steinmeier 
encounter. 
 
--------------------------- ------------------------------- 
CDU Will Most Likely Pick Coalition Partner(s) 
-------------- -------------------------------------------- 
 
6.  (SBU) If the predicted CDU/FDP coalition does not materialize, a 
third partner could be enlisted, and either a "Jamaica" coalition 
(CDU, FDP, Greens) or CDU/FDP/SSW coalition would result.  Since the 
S-H FDP, as opposed to the federal FDP, favors a continued phase-out 
of nuclear energy, it would make it much easier for the Greens to 
join a coalition with the CDU and FDP on a state level.  Another 
factor in favor of a CDU/FDP/Greens coalition is Carstensen's claim 
of a "very good" relationship with Chairman of the S-H Greens Robert 
Habeck. 
 
7.  (SBU) Carstensen definitively ruled out a grand coalition with 
 
HAMBURG 00001193  002 OF 002 
 
 
an SPD led by Stegner.  The S-H FDP similarly rejects an SPD, 
Greens, FDP coalition ("Traffic Coalition") under Stegner's 
polarizing leadership.  A leftist coalition of the SPD, Greens and 
SSW does not currently have a majority, and The Left itself has 
ruled out any participation in government. 
 
-------------- 
COMMENT 
-------------- 
 
8.  (SBU)  Although Stegner's charm offensive seems to have had some 
success, a solid majority still favors Carstensen.  Personalities, 
particularly Stegner's, play the greatest role in the campaign and 
coalition calculations in S-H.  With the poll numbers running so 
close, it's too early to predict with certainty the ultimate 
outcome.  While a CDU/FDP governing coalition appears most likely, 
strong voter turnout could swing the outcome in another direction. 
If -- and only if -- all elements align in favor of the SPD (if the 
Left chooses to participate in the government, if the Greens 
repudiate the CDU/Greens coalition, if the SSW chooses to align with 
the SPD and agrees to enter or tolerate a SPD/Greens/Left 
coalition), then the SPD could theoretically gain enough votes to 
form a coalition that leaves the CDU out in the cold.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
9.  (SBU) This cable has been coordinated with Embassy Berlin. 
 
JOHNSON