2009 Saarland state election

The 2009 Saarland state election was held on 30 August 2009 to elect the members of the Landtag of Saarland. It was held on the same day as state elections in Saxony and Thuringia. The incumbent Christian Democratic Union (CDU) government led by Minister-President Peter Müller lost its majority. The CDU subsequently formed a coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and The Greens, and Müller was re-elected as Minister-President. This was the first Jamaica coalition formed in Germany.

2009 Saarland state election

30 August 2009
All 51 seats in the Landtag of Saarland 26 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	534,793 (67.6%) 12.1%
Leader Peter Müller Heiko Maas Oskar Lafontaine Party CDU SPD Left Last election 27 seats, 47.5% 18 seats, 30.8% 0 seats, 2.3%[lower-alpha 1] Seats won 19 13 11 Seat change 8 5 11 Popular vote 184,537 131,241 113,664 Percentage 34.5% 24.5% 21.3% Swing 13.0% 6.3% 19.0%   Leader Christoph Hartmann Hubert Ulrich Party FDP Green Last election 3 seats, 5.2% 3 seats, 5.6% Seats won 5 3 Seat change 2 0 Popular vote 49,064 31,516 Percentage 9.2% 5.9% Swing 4.0% 0.3%
Minister-President before election Peter Müller CDU Elected Minister-President Peter Müller CDU

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Saarland.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	2004 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Peter Müller	47.5%	27 / 51
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Heiko Maas	30.8%	18 / 51
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Hubert Ulrich	5.6%	3 / 51
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Christoph Hartmann	5.2%	3 / 51

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	SPD	Grüne	FDP	Linke	Others	Lead
2009 state election	30 August 2009	–	34.5	24.5	5.9	9.2	21.3	4.6	10.0
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	17–20 Aug 2009	1,000	36	26	6	9	16	7	10
Infratest dimap	18–20 Aug 2009	1,000	38	26	6	9	15	6	12
Infratest dimap	20–21 Apr 2009	1,000	36	27	7	9	18	3	9
Emnid	2–10 Mar 2009	1,000	38	23	5	8	22	4	15
Infratest dimap	23–26 Oct 2008	1,000	38	25	5	6	23	3	13
dimap	11–16 Sep 2008	1,003	42	22	6	6	20	4	20
Emnid	26 Aug–2 Sep 2008	1,002	40	23	5	6	22	4	17
Forsa	25–29 Aug 2008	1,001	37	23	5	7	24	4	13
Emnid	13–27 Feb 2008	~500	40	25	7	6	19	?	15
Infratest dimap	September 2007	1,000	41	26	6	5	18	4	15
Emnid	30 Apr–16 May 2007	504	40	26	8	8	13	5	14
SaarZoom	June 2007	600	36	35	8	7	13	1	1
Infratest dimap	9–14 Nov 2006	1,000	39	34	6	7	10	4	5
Infratest	29 Aug–10 Sep 2006	1,000	38	31	5	8	13	5	7
Infratest dimap	14–17 Jul 2005	1,000	43	23	6	5	19	4	20
Infratest	27 Jan–1 Feb 2005	1,000	44	36	7	5	–	8	8
2004 state election	5 September 2004	–	47.5	30.8	5.6	5.2	2.3	10.9	16.7

Election result

Both the CDU and SPD suffered significant losses, losing almost 20% of vote share between them. This came primarily to the benefit of The Left, which achieved by far its best result in a western state, debuting at 21.3%. The Greens and Free Democratic Party (FDP) also benefited to a lesser degree. As in a number of western states during the 2007–2009 period, the entry of The Left meant that neither the CDU–FDP nor SPD–Green coalitions won a majority.[1]

Summary of the 30 August 2009 election results for the Landtag of Saarland

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	184,537	34.5	13.0	19	8	37.3
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	131,241	24.5	6.3	13	5	25.5
	The Left (Linke)	113,664	21.3	19.0[lower-alpha 2]	11	11[lower-alpha 3]	21.6
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	49,064	9.2	4.0	5	2	9.8
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	31,516	5.9	0.3	3	0	5.9
	Family Party of Germany (FAMILIE)	10,710	2.0	1.0	0	±0	0
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	8,099	1.5	2.5	0	±0	0
	Others	5,962	1.1		0	±0	0
Total		534,793	100.0		51	±0
Voter turnout			67.6	12.1

Popular Vote CDU   34.51% SPD   24.54% DIE LINKE   21.25% FDP   9.17% B'90/GRÜNE   5.89% Other   4.63%

Landtag seats CDU   37.25% SPD   25.49% DIE LINKE   21.57% FDP   9.80% B'90/GRÜNE   5.88%

Notes

1. Results for PDS.
2. Compared to results for PDS.
3. Compared to results for PDS.

References

1. The Greens Are About to Churn Up Germany's Party System