Saarland state election, 2012

Saarland state election, 2012

25 March 2012
All 51 seats of the Landtag of the Saarland 26 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   115px 115px Leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Heiko Maas Oskar Lafontaine Party CDU SPD Left Last election 19 seats, 34.5% 13 seats, 24.5% 11 seats, 21.5% Seats before 19 13 11 Seats won 19 17 9 Seat change 4 2 Popular vote 169,594 147,160 77,612 Percentage 35.2% 30.6% 16.1% Swing 0.7% 6.1% 5.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   115px 115px Leader Jasmin Maurer Simone Peter Roland Körner Party Pirates Green Family Last election Did not contest 3 seats, 5.9% 0 seats, 2.0% Seats before 0 3 0 Seats won 4 2 0 Seat change 4 1 Popular vote 35,646 24,248 8,393 Percentage 7.4% 5.0% 1.7% Swing 7.4% 0.9% 0.3%   Seventh party   Leader Oliver Luksic Party FDP Last election 5 seats, 9.2% Seats before 5 Seats won 0 Seat change 5 Popular vote 5,871 Percentage 1.2% Swing 8.0%
Minister-President before election Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer CDU Minister-President designate Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer CDU

The Saarland state elections, 2012 were held in Saarland on 25 March 2012. The CDU, led by incumbent Minister-President Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, received a plurality of the vote and formed a grand coalition with the SPD. On 9 May, Kramp-Karrenbauer was re-elected as Minister-President.

Background

The Jamaica Coalition, led by the CDU, collapsed on 6 January 2012. The decision was based on internal problems within the Free Democratic Party. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Minister-President of Saarland and chairwoman of the Saarland Christian Democratic Union, stated that "[a] credible and reliable cooperation is no longer completely possible in this coalition." The CDU went into coalition talks with the Social Democratic Party that ultimately failed, which prompted the snap election.

Polling

The following opinion polls were conducted during the campaign:

Pollster	Date	CDU	SPD	The Left	Greens	FDP	Pirates	Other
Forsa	9 March 2012	35%	37%	14%	4%	1%	5%	4%
Infratest Dimap	23 Feb 2012	35%	36%	15%	4%	2%	5%	3%
Emnid	27 Jan 2012	36%	36%	15%	5%	2%	4%	2%
FGW	26 Jan 2012	34%	38%	13%	5%	2%	5%	2%

Results

  25 March 2012 election results for the Landtag of Saarland

Party		Party list votes	Vote % (change)	Seats (change)	Seat %
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	169,594	35.2 (+0.7)	19 (0)	37.25
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	147,160	30.6 (+6.1)	17 (+4)	33.33
	Die Linke	77,612	16.1 (-5.2)	9 (-2)	17.65
	Pirate Party Germany (PIRATEN)	35,646	7.4 (+7.4)	4 (+4)	7.84
	Alliance '90/The Greens (Grüne)	24,248	5.0 (-0.9)	2 (-1)	3.92
	Family Party (FAMILIE)	8,393	1.7 (-0.3)	0 (0)	0
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	5,871	1.2 (-8.0)	0 (-5)	0
	National Democratic Party of Germany (NDP)	5,604	1.2 (-0.3)	0 (0)	0
	Free Voters (FREIE WÄHLER)	4,172	0.9 (+0.9)	0 (0)	0
	Die PARTEI	2,229	0.5 (+0.5)	0 (0)	0
	Initiative Direct Democracy (Direkte Demokratie)	720	0.1 (+0.1)	0 (0)	0
Totals		481,249	100	51	100

Aftermath

Having been reelected as the largest party in the Landtag, CDU was tasked with forming the government. Minister-President Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said that she was seeking to form a grand coalition with the SPD, which have 37 seats altogether. Both parties reached a coalition agreement on 24 April 2012. The CDU and SPD would control 3 ministries each. Kramp-Karrenbauer will also head the new government which will be sworn in 9 May 2012.

On 9 May 2012 Kramp-Karrenbauer's new government gained the vote of confidence with 37 votes. There was 12 votes against and 2 abstentions. Her cabinet was later endorsed by the Landtag with the same number of votes.