German Right-Wing Party Wins State Parliament Seat
July 7, 2008
The populist group won a total of 5.3 percent of the overall vote in the northern German town of Bremerhaven. Political parties need to win at least 5 percent of the vote to win a seat in the parliament.
The group won 29 percent of the vote in one voting district where a re-vote was ordered after irregularities were found in the original election.
The BIW has said it is opposed to "uncontrolled immigration" and that it supports other right-wing causes.
Not a threat to the coalition
The outcome of the vote will not endanger Bremen's ruling coalition, made up of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens. The SPD will lose a seat to the BIW.
In June, the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), which supports some Nazi-era policies, nearly quadrupled its support in council elections in the eastern state of Saxony. The NPD is ostracized by all the main parties and there have been attempts to have it banned as unconstitutional.