North Rhine-Westphalia state election, 2000
- SPD: 102
- Green: 17
- CDU: 88
- FDP: 24
The election of the state parliament of North Rhine -Westphalia the 13th legislature was held on 14 May 2000. Here, the office since the 1995 election the SPD / Green coalition presented under the incumbent for his part since 1998, Prime Minister Wolfgang Clement 's re-election. Top candidate of the CDU and challenger of Clement was Jürgen Rüttgers. The choice was influenced by the CDU funding scandal and resulted in a continuation of the red-green state government.
Initial situation
In the previous state election in 1995, the SPD came to 46.0 per cent ( 108 seats) and the CDU to 37.7 percent (89 seats). Moreover represented in Parliament were only the Greens with 10.0 percent ( 24 seats ), while the FDP with 4 percent missed a place in the state legislature. The SPD was unable to continue their existing since 1980 one-party government with the Prime Minister John Rau and formed a coalition with the Green Party, from 1998 under the leadership of Wolfgang Clement.
It came in the debate about the lignite mining Garzweiler II 1997/98 to a serious government crisis. In early 1998 the Greens but decided to continue the coalition with the SPD. For dispute the decision Wolfgang Clements made after taking office in June 1998 to merge the Department of Justice and Interior Ministry. The Greens criticized the decision and Clement had the departments following a decision of the North Rhine -Westphalian Constitutional Court in February 1999 to take back.
Electioneering
The SPD went without a coalition statement in the election campaign. Prime Minister Clement hoped that although an absolute majority, but was able to off them both the continuation of the red-green as well as a coalition with the FDP imagine. Dial destination of the CDU under Jürgen Rüttgers was the takeover of the government, if necessary together with the FDP. The Greens, led by Environment Minister Bärbel Höhn, campaigned for a continuation of the red-green coalition and met the considerations Clements to a socialist-liberal coalition with the saying " Who the red-green will want to choose the green must ". The FDP with its leading candidate Jürgen Möllemann hoped that the re-entry into the state parliament and went with the goal of becoming stronger than the Greens in the election campaign.
The election campaign was in 2000 came to light CDU funding scandal in the wake of late 1999/early. Even if the North Rhine-Westphalian party was less affected by the affair, they loaded their approval ratings significantly. Scored them in the polls in December 1999, yet a peak of 46%, they slipped to 32 % in March 2000. An important issue of state election was the immigration policies of the SPD -Green government. Jürgen Rüttgers campaigned vigorously debated with the saying " children instead of Indians " against the planned introduction in the covenant of the so-called Green Card.
Official final result
Were entitled to vote 13,061,265 German citizens over the age of 18. The turnout was 56.73 percent, which corresponds to 7,409,399 voters. Of these, 7,336,411 gave voters from valid votes.
The SPD received 13 overhang seats. For the FDP and the Greens 4 received the CDU 11, 2 compensatory seats.
Consequences
SPD and the Greens took on 21 May 2000 on coalition negotiations. Prime Minister Clement had previously met only for informal talks with the FDP candidate Möllemann. After over two weeks of negotiations, the SPD and the Greens agreed on June 7 on a coalition agreement. On 17 and 18 June, he was confirmed by the party days of the SPD and the Greens, and on 21 June was chosen by the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament Wolfgang Clement again to the Prime Minister.