Berlin has a new city government; Klaus Wowereit, the re-elected mayor and a Social Democrat, has now officially a coalition with the CDU, the Christian Democrats, the conservative party, which is not so conservative after all in Berlin. This is the third party he is partnering up with — after the Greens and the Linke, left-wing party — so one could argue that he is hugging them to death.
Whether this will be a big difference remains to be seen. I'm under the impression, so far, that nobody really cares. The CDU had governed the city for some time a couple of years ago, but was busted after a huge banking scandal, so they needed some time to purge the evil-doers, and re-group.
Also, the representatives of the Pirate's Party want to have bicycles instead of official cars, so the seem to become the Green Party 2.0. As long as they don't use the sidewalk, that's fine with me. I guess in four years from now they will be ready to be the forth party to govern with Wowereit.
Whether this will be a big difference remains to be seen. I'm under the impression, so far, that nobody really cares. The CDU had governed the city for some time a couple of years ago, but was busted after a huge banking scandal, so they needed some time to purge the evil-doers, and re-group.
Also, the representatives of the Pirate's Party want to have bicycles instead of official cars, so the seem to become the Green Party 2.0. As long as they don't use the sidewalk, that's fine with me. I guess in four years from now they will be ready to be the forth party to govern with Wowereit.