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Viennese Realpolitik
Mar. 30th, 2015 09:22 pmVienna currently has a majority voting system, and also thanks to that the socialist party SPÖ has been in power for the past several decades. Only at the last election they only got 49 of a hundred seats, so they entered a coalition with the Green party.
The Green party thinks the majority voting system gives the SPÖ an unfair advantage and wants to change it. SPÖ isn't happy about it, and they can't agree on a compromise. The Green party announces that they'll try to change the voting system with the help of the two opposition parties. SPÖ isn't happy about that at all.
And then suddenly one delegate in the Viennese parliament switches from the Green party to the SPÖ, and the opposition + Green party don't have a majority anymore for their voting system change.
It's such a perfect example for how politics is all about power, even though it should be (and is) frustrating I can't help but grin every time I think about it.
So far neither the SPÖ nor the Green party have cancelled the coalition, though both say they feel betrayed by their partner. Next election is planned for October. We'll see.
The Green party thinks the majority voting system gives the SPÖ an unfair advantage and wants to change it. SPÖ isn't happy about it, and they can't agree on a compromise. The Green party announces that they'll try to change the voting system with the help of the two opposition parties. SPÖ isn't happy about that at all.
And then suddenly one delegate in the Viennese parliament switches from the Green party to the SPÖ, and the opposition + Green party don't have a majority anymore for their voting system change.
It's such a perfect example for how politics is all about power, even though it should be (and is) frustrating I can't help but grin every time I think about it.
So far neither the SPÖ nor the Green party have cancelled the coalition, though both say they feel betrayed by their partner. Next election is planned for October. We'll see.
