NID: EAST GERMANY: ELECTION MANDATE FOR NEAR-TERM UNIFICATION

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe: A 30-Year Legacy
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06826876
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 26, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 10, 2019
• Publication Date: March 19, 1990

Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826876
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EAST GERMANY: Election Mandate for Near-Term Unification
� The impressive victory of the center-right Alliance for Germany in
yesterday's election will probably give German unification efforts
greater momentum, reduce one potential obstacle to NATO membership
for Germany., and improve the standing of Chancellor Kohl's Christian
Democrats in all-German elections.
Provisional final returns indicate the Alliance for Germany�
consisting of the East German Christian Democrats, Democratic
Awakening, and the German Social Union�outpaced the East
German Social Democrats by a margin of 48 to 22 percent, gaining
193 of the 400 seats in the one-chamber legislature. The Party of
Democratic Socialism (the former Communist party) won 16 percent
of the vote, and the liberal League of Free Democrats 5 percent. Kohl
and top West German Social Democratic leaders made victory and
concession speeches, and one East German Social Democrat
complained that the voters were "too inclined to support the
government," seeming to concede that East Germans already see
Bonn as their government.
Comment: The Alliance probably will opt for a coalition government
with at least the Free Democrats, a constellation that would mirror
the West German governing coalition. It may also, however, invite
the Social Democrats to join to give the appearance of rule by
consensus and spread the blame should the already battered economy
worsen. A new government may be formed as early as this week.
The Alliance's victory will probably hasten political and economic
unification. Many voters probably swung their votes to the Alliance
because it advocates achieving unity more quickly than the Social
Democrats do, and could secure a more generous aid package from
Kohl. The Alliance will probably begin negotiations with Bonn as
soon as a government is formed. It is likely to make plans to
reconstitute the five East German states and, if the talks with Bonn go
well, vote to join West Germany by acceding to its Basic Law under
Article 23. Such a procedure and Alliance domination of the
government increase the prospect East Berlin will acce t NATO
membership for Germany in the two-plus-four talks.
The victory also strengthens Kohl's position for the West German
federal election in December and probably gives the Chancellor
confidence his party could even win a Germany-wide contest this
year. The long-term strength of the center-right parties in the east
may still be soft, however, and could erode as the nainul economic
effects of unification kick in.
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TCS 2764
19 March 1990
Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826876