2001 Berlin state election

The 2001 Berlin state election was held on 21 October 2001 to elect the members of the 15th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. Prior to the election, Mayor Klaus Wowereit had led a minority government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens since June, which had replaced a coalition between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and SPD which collapsed in June. The SPD–Green government made gains, but remained short of a majority. The SPD first sought to form a traffic light coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Greens, but were unsuccessful. They subsequently agreed to a government with the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS).

2001 Berlin state election
21 October 2001
All 141 seats of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
71 seats needed for a majority
Turnout1,623,338 (68.1%)
Increase 2.6%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Klaus Wowereit Frank Steffel Gregor Gysi
Party SPD CDU PDS
Last election 42 seats, 22.4% 76 seats, 40.8% 33 seats, 17.7%
Seats won 44 35 33
Seat change Increase 2 Decrease 41 Steady 0
Popular vote 481,772 385,692 366,292
Percentage 29.7% 23.8% 22.6%
Swing Increase 7.3% Decrease 17.0% Increase 4.9%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Günter Rexrodt Sibyll-Anka Klotz
Party FDP Greens
Last election 0 seats, 2.2% 18 seats, 9.9%
Seats won 15 14
Seat change Increase 15 Decrease 4
Popular vote 160,953 148,066
Percentage 9.9% 9.1%
Swing Increase 7.7% Decrease 0.8%
Results for single-member constituencies (left) and party list vote (right).
Mayor before election

Klaus Wowereit
SPD

 Elected Mayor

Klaus Wowereit
SPD

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 14th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin.

Name Ideology Leader(s) 1999 result
Votes (%) Seats
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands		 Christian democracy Frank Steffel 40.8%
76 / 169
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands		 Social democracy Klaus Wowereit 22.4%
42 / 169
PDS Party of Democratic Socialism
Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus		 Democratic socialism Gregor Gysi 17.7%
33 / 169
Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen		 Green politics Sibyll-Anka Klotz 9.9%
18 / 169

Issues and campaign

The 2001 election was an early election. In June 2001, the grand coalition under Mayor Eberhard Diepgen (CDU) broke down following a scandal involving CDU's leader in the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin, Klaus-Rüdiger Landowsky. Landowsky, who served as the CEO of a public mortgage bank (later Landesbank Berlin Holding), had financed a risky deal between two men who were donors to the local CDU branch. The Berlin bank scandal cost the city several billion euros. The SPD subsequently left the coalition, which had governed Berlin since 1990, and formed an interim minority government with the Greens supported by the PDS. Klaus Wowereit became Mayor after a constructive vote of no confidence against Diepgen on 15 June. The House of Deputies then voted to dissolve itself, triggering a new election.

The campaign was strongly influenced by the bad state of the public finances and the bank scandal. The CDU nominated 35-year-old Frank Steffel as their top candidate, and played on fears of potential PDS involvement in government. They also focused on security issues, especially after September 11 attacks.

The regional broadcaster Sender Freies Berlin accompanied the election campaign on its website with a "Wahltest" app, marking the first time in Germany that a Voting Advice Application was used.

Opinion polling
Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size		 CDU SPD PDS Grüne FDP Others Lead
2001 state election 21 Oct 2001 – 23.8 29.7 22.6 9.1 9.9 5.0 5.9
Infratest dimap 18 Oct 2001  ? 25 35 18 9 7 5 10
Infratest dimap 12 Oct 2001  ? 25 33 19 10 9 4 8
Forsa 11 Oct 2001  ? 26 36 16 10 7 5 10
Forsa 1–4 Oct 2001 993 26 36 15 10 9 4 10
Forsa 4 Oct 2001  ? 27 34 15 10 10 4 7
Forsa 27 Sep 2001  ? 28 34 16 10 9 3 6
Forsa 6 Sep 2001  ? 26 35 17 10 9 3 9
Forsa 4 Aug 2001  ? 30 32 17 10 7 4 2
Infratest dimap 20 Jul 2001  ? 26 28 21 11 9 5 2
Forsa 1 Jul 2001  ? 30 32 18 9 7 4 2
Infratest dimap 22 Jun 2001  ? 30 28 22 9 7 4 2
Forsa 13 Jun 2001 1,000 30 30 16 13 7 4 Tie
Emnid 4 Jun 2001  ? 33 30 16 10 7 5 3
Forsa 2 Jun 2001  ? 31 29 14 14 7 5 2
Infratest dimap 20–26 Sep 2001 1,000 34 29 17 11 4 5 5
Forsa 10 Mar 2001  ? 37 28 14 12 3 6 9
Infratest dimap 20–26 Sep 2000 1,000 35 30 17 11 4 3 5
Emnid 23 Sep 2000  ? 37 33 4 18 5 3 4
Forsa 17 Apr 2000  ? 39 25 15 12 3 6 14
1999 state election 10 Oct 1999 – 40.8 22.4 17.7 9.9 2.2 7.0 18.4

Election result
Summary of the 21 October 2001 election results for the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
Party Votes  % +/- Seats +/- Seats %
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 481,772 29.7 Increase7.3 44 Increase2 31.2
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 385,692 23.8 Decrease17.0 35 Decrease41 24.8
Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) 366,292 22.6 Increase4.9 33 Steady0 23.4
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 160,953 9.9 Increase7.7 15 Increase15 10.6
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) 148,066 9.1 Decrease0.8 14 Decrease4 9.9
The Grays – Gray Panthers (Graue) 22,093 1.4 Increase0.3 0 ±0 0
The Republicans (REP) 21,836 1.3 Decrease1.4 0 ±0 0
Others 36,634 2.3 0 ±0 0
Total 1,623,338 100.0 141 Decrease28
Voter turnout 68.1 Increase2.6
Popular Vote
SPD
 
 29.68%
CDU
 
 23.76%
PDS
 
 22.56%
FDP
 
 9.91%
B'90/GRÜNE
 
 9.12%
Other
 
 4.96%
Abgeordnetenhaus seats
SPD
 
 31.21%
CDU
 
 24.83%
PDS
 
 23.40%
FDP
 
 10.64%
B'90/GRÜNE
 
 9.93%

Sources
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