East German general election, 1990

East German general election, 1990

18 March 1990 (1990-03-18)

All 400 seats in the Volkskammer 201 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Lothar de Maizière Ibrahim Böhme Hans Modrow Party CDU SPD PDS Seats won 163 88 66 Popular vote 4,710,598 2,525,534 1,892,381 Percentage 40.8% 21.9% 16.4%

Maps showing the distribution of party votes per district. The map in the bottom right shows the largest party in each district.

Prime Minister before election Hans Modrow PDS Resulting Prime Minister Lothar de Maizière CDU

Legislative elections were held in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) on 18 March 1990. It was the first and only free parliamentary election in the GDR, and the first truly free election held in that part of Germany since 1932. Four hundred deputies were elected to the Volkskammer.

The largest bloc was the Alliance for Germany, led by the East German branch of the Christian Democratic Union and running on a platform of speedy reunification with the West. The runner-up was the East German branch of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, which had been refounded only six months earlier. The former Socialist Unity Party of Germany, renamed the Party of Democratic Socialism, ran in a free election for the first time ever and finished in third place.

On 5 April 1990, the new Volkskammer elected the CDU's Sabine Bergmann-Pohl as its president. As the State Council was at the same time dissolved, she became East Germany's interim head of state. Lothar de Maizière (CDU) became prime minister, heading a grand coalition consisting of the CDU, the SPD, the Association of Free Democrats (BFD), Democratic Awakening (DA), the German Social Union (DSU) and one non-attached member.^[1]

On 20 September of the same year, the parliament voted by a 299–80 margin to accept the unification treaty, which had earlier been approved on a 442–47 vote by the West German Bundestag, and unify its territory with the Federal Republic of Germany, meaning that East Germany, after 40 years of independence, would cease to exist. The treaty took effect on 3 October.^[2]

Results

Party				Votes	%	Seats
	Alliance for Germany		Christian Democratic Union	4,710,598	40.8	163
			German Social Union	727,730	6.3	25
			Democratic Awakening	106,146	0.9	4
		Total		5,544,474	48.0	192
	Social Democratic Party			2,525,534	21.9	88
	Party of Democratic Socialism			1,892,381	16.4	66
	Association of Free Democrats			608,935	5.3	21
	Alliance 90			336,074	2.9	12
	Democratic Farmers' Party			251,226	2.2	9
	Green Party–Independent Women's Association			226,932	2.0	8
	National Democratic Party			44,292	0.4	2
	Democratic Women's League			38,192	0.3	1
	United Left			20,342	0.2	1
Other parties				52,773	0.5	0
Invalid/blank votes				33,263	–	–
Total				11,541,155	100	400
Registered voters/turnout				12,426,443	93.4	–
Source: Pridham & Vanhanen,[3] Nohlen & Stöver,[4] IPU

References

Elections and referendums in East Germany
General elections	1949 1950 1954 1958 1963 1967 1971 1976 1981 1986 1990
Referendums	1951 1954 1968