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Red-red-green coalition wins in Bremen, Germany’s poorest state
JOHN WOJCIK reports on promising developments that have seen the left, far left, and greens holding back the far-right tide

IN AN election last week in Bremen, Germany’s poorest state, the voters put into power the first red-red-green coalition ever elected in a state that was part of the old West German Federal Republic of Germany.

The victory for the left there is satisfying not just because it contrasts with recent gains in some parts of Germany for the extreme right but because of the way it happened. The Social Democrats (SPD), defying the example of their party on a national level, decided to hook up with Die Linke (the Left Party), rather than the Christian Democrats with whom the federal SPD is allied in what is called a “Grand Coalition.”

The Green Party in Bremen is also notoriously to the left of the Green Party nationally, which has lately been allying itself with a number of the nation’s largest corporations. In Bremen, the Green Party has often sided with trade unions and with Die Linke on a range of issues, including the fights for affordable housing and improved education.

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