Jamaica coalition
Encyclopedia
Jamaica coalition is a term in German politics describing a coalition among the parties of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), Free Democratic Party
Free Democratic Party (Germany)
The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...
(FDP), and the Green Party
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
.
The term refers to an association between the symbolic colors of the parties in such a coalition — black for the CDU/CSU; yellow for the FDP; and green for the Green Party — and the colors of the flag of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
.
History
After the German federal election in 2005German federal election, 2005
German federal elections took place on 18 September 2005 to elect the members of the 16th German Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany. They became necessary after a motion of confidence in Chancellor Gerhard Schröder failed on 1 July...
, this coalition became mathematically possible and was initially discussed. Because of significant differences between the platforms of the Greens and the other parties, its plausibility was up for debate. FDP leaders had stated that they would rather remain in opposition than form a coalition with the SPD or the Greens; outgoing Green leader Joschka Fischer
Joschka Fischer
Joseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens. He served as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany in the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005...
also dismissed the possibility:
"Can you really see Angela MerkelAngela MerkelAngela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
and Edmund StoiberEdmund StoiberEdmund Rüdiger Stoiber is a German politician, former minister-president of the state of Bavaria and former chairman of the Christian Social Union...
sitting round the table in dreadlocks? This is more our style. It's impossible."
On 10 October 2005, officials indicated that negotiations between the SPD and CDU/CSU had been successful and a grand coalition
Grand coalition
A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government...
would be formed, in which Merkel would be Chancellor but the SPD would have the majority of posts in the government. The Green party was not included, which shelved the idea of a Jamaica coalition at that time.
In October 2009, the Greens announced that they would support a government led by the CDU, in coalition with the FDP, in Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
, forming Germany's first, highly experimental, 'Jamaica coalition'. This move was partly prompted by desire to prevent an SPD minority government in Saarland dependent upon support from Die Linke.
Black traffic light
The expression Black traffic light (German: Schwarze Ampel or the portmanteau wordPortmanteau word
A portmanteau or portmanteau word is a blend of two words or morphemes into one new word. A portmanteau word typically combines both sounds and meanings, as in smog, coined by blending smoke and fog. More generally, it may refer to any term or phrase that combines two or more meanings...
Schwampel) refers to the classic traffic light coalition
Traffic light coalition
Traffic light coalition is a term originating in German politics where it describes a coalition of the Social Democratic Party , the Free Democratic Party , and The Greens. It arises from the fact that the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, yellow, and green, resemble the normal...
, an alliance between the SPD (red), FDP (yellow), and the Greens, together whose symbolic colors match the colors of most German traffic lights. In a black traffic light, the CDU's color black would replace the SPD's red. Classic traffic light coalitions have already governed at the state level in Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
and Bremen
Bremen (state)
The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is the smallest of Germany's 16 states. A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen .-Geography:...
. The first known appearance of the short form Schwampel was in the Tageszeitung newspaper (Bremen edition) on 4 October 1991.
See also
- Traffic light coalitionTraffic light coalitionTraffic light coalition is a term originating in German politics where it describes a coalition of the Social Democratic Party , the Free Democratic Party , and The Greens. It arises from the fact that the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, yellow, and green, resemble the normal...
- Grand coalitionGrand Coalition (Germany)In modern Germany, grand coalition describes a governing coalition of the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats, as they are the two largest parties.-Weimar Republic:...
- Social-liberal coalitionSocial-liberal coalitionSocial-liberal coalition in Germany refers to a governmental coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Free Democratic Party .The term stems from social democracy of the SPD and the liberalism of the FDP...
- Red-green allianceRed-green allianceIn politics, a red-green alliance is an alliance of "red" social-democratic or democratic socialist parties with "green" environmentalist parties. The alliance is often based on common left political views, especially a shared distrust of corporate or capitalist institutions...