The Colourful Side of German Politics

“The environment tax”, Stephan Fischer says with firm voice, “must be abolished – driving is fun, and Germany needs more fun!“. Fischer is spokesman of the Fun Party, “the political representatives of the fun society” and one of a dozen small political groups taking part in this year’s general elections.

Obligatory joke of the day

“We want to bring the fun back to politics,” Fischer says, seriously naming the party’s main platform points as “the legalisation of soft drugs, the reduction of prices back to the state of 2001 and no more pay rises for politicians”. In addition, the platform calls for an obligatory joke at the start of the daily evening news, the moral and financial support of bordellos for women and the distribution of free condoms to improve the reputation of “the ‘German Lover’ beyond the borders of Thailand”.

What may, to some, seem like a lot of hot air, has already proved extremely popular among young electors in the state of Saxony-Anhalt: In last year’s state elections, the party gained 3 per cent of votes from 18-24 year olds. “We go down particularly well with young people,” Fischer says.

Too much fun for the federal elections?

The same goes for Constatin Schwaab’s "Party Party", founded by the 23-year-old student of political science in Munich two years ago. “We founded the Party Party as an alternative to the major parties,” Schwaab says.

Schwaab and his colleague Steffen Beckmann made the decision to get seriously involved in politics when the Green party in the current red-green coalition finally agreed on sending German troops to Kosovo. “After that the only alternative for us was to found our own party,” Schwaab says.

“The big parties don’t reflect the opinions of young people anymore – we are a party where young people’s issues are expressed”. Today, the Party Party prizes some 350 members promoting “active peace politics, the legalisation of drugs, better education und greater integration.”

According to Schwaab, the party focuses on“young, liberal and tolerant people.” In order to reach young voters, Schwaab and his colleagues across the country swarm out to youth festivals and gigs in their colourful campaign buses. But whether Reggae concert or Goa festival, he says, it is not easy to mobilize voters without the necessary resources.

No money to reach the voters

The Party Party had the necessary members – at least 400 – required to register for the federal elections. But they did not manage to collect the obligatory thousands of signatures from all over the country - another necessary requirement for registration - to take part. Followers will now have to wait for the next state elections, in order to vote for more fun.

Indeed, the fate of these small, yet colourful parties in Germany’s otherwise consistent and drab political landscape is the lack of financial resources to advertise for their aims.

Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's Social Democratic Party (SPD) has already put up 4,800 election posters, with the number expected to rise until September 22 to 10,000. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is planning on putting up a total of 9,000 posters by election day. Already, candidates for both SPD and CDU, and the other main parties, including the Greens and the former communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), are smiling down from billboards, advertising columns and lamposts across the country.

Children believe in karma

Friedhelm Wegner, of the “Alternative Spiritual Politics in the New Age”, advertises using simple flyers, which he distributes himself when campaigning out on the street.

Wegner is top candidate for the group “Alternative Spiritual Politics”, also called “the Violets” in North Rhine Westfalia. The party promotes “the Realisation of the spiritual, free New Age“, believes in karma and reincarnation and calls itself the “Violets” because “violet is a mixture of pink (female) and blue (male) and is the colour with the highest oscillation frequency” – whatever that may be.

“We want people to make decisions according to their inner feelings and not by what others in power tell them to do”, their candidate says. According to Wegner, who taught for two years at a Waldorf school, known for its alternative teaching methods, this institution is a good example for how children bloom when educated spiritually. “Here”, he recalls, “even the children believed in karma.”

No Voter Party for protest voters

According to Wegner, some 6 million Germans believe in karma and reincarnation. If it was possible to reach them, he says, his party would have long passed the 5 per cent hurdle necessary for a seat in Germany’s federal parliament. As it is, the party must rely on limited resources and essential voluntary help from members – one reason why the Violets will only be on the ballot in one state, North Rhine Westfalia.

The same goes for the Fun Party which will only be up for election in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania. And a large part of the German population has most probably never heard of the “Friends of the Monarchy”, who are for the reintroduction of the German Emperor and would prefer to see Frederick the Great for chancellor than the rugged Edmund Stoiber.

All in all, for those Germans fed up of big politics and big parties, the German political landscape has more to offer, especially for young, politics-weary voters.

And for those who have resolved to stay in bed on election day, the “No Voter Party” may be a welcome alternative: The party focuses on collecting the votes of those who have decided to avoid the ballot boxes in protest of the big parties' domination of Germany's political landscape.

Indeed, the No Voters’ aim is very simple: to provoke empty seats in parliament, as a constant reminder of a political void in current German politics.