ROME Mauricio Victorino Uruguay Jersey , Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Germany's election results confirmeda weakening trend for mainstream parties across Europe, accordingto an Italian analyst on Monday.
Yet, the expert suggested the refugee issue -- although muchdebated in the campaign, and a strong point in the German far-rightparty's rhetoric -- was not the only trigger.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel won her fourth term on Sunday,and her conservative CDU-CSU bloc remained the largest party inparliament, despite scoring the worst result in decades with 33percent of the vote.
Center-left Social Democrats (SPD) suffered the biggest setbackwith 20.5 percent of the vote Matias Vecino Uruguay Jersey , and said they would now go intoopposition.
Far-right party Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) made ahistoric breakthrough with 12.6 percent of the vote, exceedingexpectations.
"The good performance of German far-right was somehow expected,considering latest surveys, although maybe not to this extent,"Antonio Villafranca, head of the European Program with Italy'sInstitute for International Political Studies (ISPI) Mathias Corujo Uruguay Jersey , toldXinhua.
"It is true the refugee issue -- and the European migrationcrisis overall -- played a major role in AfD's campaign, but I amnot convinced it was the only factor behind the shifting ofvotes."
"A trend towards the weakening of traditional parties hasemerged all across Europe in recent years, showing a malaise forthe current orientation of the European Union (EU) on the whole,"he explained.
EU's growing attitude towards market liberalization, and theimpact of such approach on average households' income, would havealso played a role in orienting votes. Germany would provide aperfect example of this phenomenon Martin Silva Uruguay Jersey , according to Villafranca.
He noted the country has a current-account surplus worth about300 billion euros (356 billion U.S. dollars), or over 8 percent ofthe gross domestic product (GDP), whereas the same EU rules wouldsuggest the surplus should not exceed 6 percent."That meansGermany's economy is strongly export-oriented, and, to becompetitive, it needs relatively low labor costs Martin Campana Uruguay Jersey ," the expertsaid.
"That is exactly what has happened: the current-account surplushas translated into benefits and savings for companies and thestate, but not for many Germans."The expert added that wage growthin Germany has been slowing down in the last two years, increasingslightly above 2 percent only.
"Germans perceive the growth, they recognize it, but many ofthem do not feel part of it," he stressed. "There are stillsignificant pockets of poverty -- especially in some areas Luis Suarez Uruguay Jersey , such asBerlin and the former regions of East Germany -- and that was wherethe AfD gathered the largest consensus."
Will there be consequences for German politics, and for thecountry's stance in Europe?
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20.06.2018 03:20
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