Traffic light coalition

With traffic light coalition is called the collaboration between three political parties to form a stable majority government. Starting from the original meaning of the coalition of social democratic or socialist, a liberal and a green party, the term has developed several variants.

Germany

With a traffic light coalition ruling coalition of parties, the SPD, FDP and Alliance 90/The Greens in Germany is called usually because the traditional colors of these parties correspond to the colors of a traffic light (red- yellow- green). Was designated as the traffic light coalition from 1990 to 1994 in Brandenburg, although the Greens had failed at the 5 % hurdle and instead alliance 90 mitregierte. Alliance 90 in 1993 merged with the Greens Alliance 90/The Greens, the fraction of members of the Alliance 90 but did not join the new party. A real traffic reigned from 1991 to 1995 in Bremen. Negotiations to form a traffic light coalition in Berlin failed in 2001. At the municipal level, there was from January 2006 to September 2006 in Bonn a traffic light coalition, from July 2006 to June 2009 in the independent city of Darmstadt.

Currently working traffic light coalitions since the 2009 municipal elections in the North Rhine -Westphalian cities of Bielefeld, Mönchengladbach and Remscheid and since the local elections in Rhineland -Palatinate in 2009 in the Rhineland-Palatinate state capital Mainz. In Trier, the FDP has left the traffic light coalition meantime. Since the local elections in 2011 in Hesse SPD, Alliance 90/The Greens and the FDP in the form of Wetterau also a coalition. In the countryside meetings of the higher municipal associations of the Rhineland and Westphalia-Lippe also the fractions of the SPD, FDP and the Greens form the majority, the so-called " shaping majority ".

After the state elections in North Rhine -Westphalia in 2010, exploratory talks between the SPD, Alliance 90/The Greens and FDP were performed, which, however, did not lead to success. Further, traffic light coalitions in recent years at the federal and state levels of the FDP and especially Guido Westerwelle, repeated refusal with reference to the different party platforms of the SPD and the Greens on the one hand and the FDP on the other.

As the " Africa " coalition such a traffic light coalition of Fritz Goergen because of the green-yellow- red colors of Africa was first referred to in the Financial Times Germany in July 2006. The green politicians Trittin suggested in September 2006, instead to speak of Senegal coalition. The national flag of the West African state comprises the colors green, yellow and red, with a green star also is shown in the middle, yellow stripes.

A coalition of CDU, FDP and Alliance 90/The Greens is sometimes called black lights ( " Schwampel " for short) refers to, but more often than Jamaica coalition. Such a government coalition was first implemented in the history of Germany above the municipal level in the Saarland, but failed after two years. She was also in the immediate aftermath of the 2005 federal election in the discussion.

Austria

In Austria, a coalition of the Social Democratic Party, Liberal Forum and Green was in the 1990s based on the concept of education in Germany under traffic light coalition discussed, although the party color of the Liberal Forum was not yellow, but light blue at the time. After the parliamentary and municipal elections in Vienna in 1996, such a variant was mathematically possible, but a stable two coalition with the ÖVP was preferred by the SPÖ. With the departure of the Liberal Forum from parliament after the parliamentary elections of 1999 and then made ​​the shrinking importance of the party is currently such a coalition in Austria excluded at the federal and state level.

A coalition of Social Democrats, the Greens and AAF would also provide a traffic light coalition, but with the color orange as a third color. For and for a traffic light coalition is seen as a way to prevent black-red, while providing an alternative to black-blue.

Innsbruck

As a traffic light coalition and the government of Innsbruck is understood from the bourgeois-liberal list for Innsbruck, the Greens and the Social Democrats. This came about after the municipal elections of 2012.

United Kingdom

The term traffic light coalition is understood in England, a coalition including the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party of England and Wales, provide the majority groups for example, in the City Council of the English administrative district City of Lancaster. A similar coalition in Scotland between Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Green Party was discussed after the elections to the Scottish Parliament in 2003, but did not materialize.