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The political system of the Federal Republic of Germany represents the second democratic system in German history. At the Parliamentary Council when designing the new constitution, the Basic Law, the founders of the Federal Republic took into account the lessons that had been learned from the failure of the first democracy, namely the Weimar Republic, and the Nazi dictatorship. The Federal Republic of Germany was born from the ashes of World War II. And in 1949 democracy was initially established only in the Western section of a Germany that had been divided into two states. Yet the Basic Law, although originally intended as a temporary solution, stated that its goal was reunification ?in free self-determination?.

The political parties: According to the Basic Law it is the task of the political parties to participate in political will form by the people. Parties whose commitment to democracy is in doubt can, at the request of the Federal Government, be banned from participation in the country?s political life. However, such a ban is not automatically forthcoming in any sense. Should the Federal Government consider a ban to be appropriate because such parties pose a threat to the democratic system, it can only petition for such a ban. The idea is to prevent the ruling parties simply banning those parties who might prove awkward in the fight for votes.

The electoral system: The German Electoral system makes it very difficult for any one party to form a government on its own. This has only happened once in 56 years. An alliance of parties is the general rule. So that voters know which partner the party they voted for is considering governing with, the parties issue coalition statements before embarking on the election campaign. By voting for a particular party citizens thus express on the one hand a preference for a specific party alliance, and on the other determine the balance of power between the desired future partners in government.

The Federal President: The Federal President is the head of state of the Federal Republic of Germany. He represents the country in its dealings with other countries and appoints government members, judges and high-ranking civil servants. With his signature, acts become legally binding. He can dismiss the government and, in exceptional cases, dissolve parliament before its term of office is completed. The Federal President remains in office for a period of five years; he can be re-elected only once. He is elected by the Federal Convention, which is made up of members of the Bundestag.

The federal structure: The German federal state is a complex entity. It consists of a central Federal Government and 16 federal states. The Basic Law lays out in great details which issues fall within the ambit of the Federal Government and which devolve to the federal states. Public life in Germany is predominantly based on central laws. In accordance with the principle of subsidiary citizens, on the other hand, deal almost exclusively with state and local authorities acting on behalf of the federal states. The reason for this is the aim of the Basic Law to combine the advantages of a unified state with those of a federal state.

The Federal Constitutional Court: The Federal Constitutional Court is a characteristic institution of post-war German democracy. The Basic Law accorded it the right to repeal legislation passed as part of the legitimate democratic process should it come to the conclusion that such legislation contravenes the Basic Law. The Constitutional Court only acts in response to petitions. Ultimately every German court is obliged to submit a petition for actual assessment of the normative basis to the Constitutional Court should it consider a law to be un-constitutional. The Federal Constitutional Court holds a monopoly on interpretation of the constitution with regard to all jurisdictions.

Germany and Europe: Given the high standards with regard to the constitutional state and democracy as a result of the Basic Law, the Federal Constitutional Court is also a player in the European political arena. The court has illustrated on several occasions that European law must satisfy the criteria of the Basic Law if Germany politics is to relinquish to the EU the rights to draw up its own laws. In this respect to a certain extent the ?eternal guarantee? of applicable principles with regard to the Basic Law vies with the Basic Law?s commitment to European integration.

If you want to know more about Germany politics please contact us at German Information Centre to get the latest information.

The political future of India is being hotly debated in the current pre-election scenario with questions like ?who will form the next government?? and ?who will be the next prime minister of India?? being uppermost in everyone’s mind.

The question bothering me, however, is that ?Is it really possible to answer such questions based on astrology for a country blessed with political volatility like that of India?? There are at least ten prospective prime ministerial candidates for the upcoming general elections, of which there are a few like Dr. Manmohan Singh, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi who nurture an unexpressed desire for the position. Some of the other possible contenders for the position include Sh. L.K. Advani, Sh. Narendra Modi, Smt. Mayawati, Sh. Sharad Pawar, Sh. Deve Gowda, Sh. Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sh. Ram Vilas Paswan.

Taking up the first question, ?who will form the next government of India?,? one can easily see how national and regional parties have been busy promoting themselves. Even the common man can make out which of the two prominent national parties might enjoy a greater share of seats and which one lesser. He can also make an assessment of which regional parties might provide support to the national parties and the general political scenario at the time of elections.

When we consider the possibility of making such predictions on the basis of astrology, however, problems of a completely different nature arise. As, for instance, the date and time when the party was formally constituted are some of the essential requirements to make any kind of astrological predictions, which are not easily available most of the time. Now the question is, then how can astrological answers be sought about which parties would come together and who will form the next government.

Are birth details including the date, time and place of birth available for all the politicians? And if not, then how can astrological predictions be made about them with any level of certainty?

As part of the research and analysis conducted by ?Astrological Research Centre? in the field of politics, we observed that people have already started making detailed astrological analysis and assessments regarding the next government at the centre when no one could predict before or even after 2004 general elections, that Dr. Manmohan Singh will become the prime minister of India. In the same manner, how would it be possible to make correct predictions this time around?

At Astrological Research Centre, we believe that it is only based on a methodical study of the horoscopes of all the main candidates contesting the election from every constituency that the strength of astrological Rajayogas can be assessed for all of them. Then the person with the strongest Rajayoga operating can be predicted to win the elections.

Likewise, a detailed study of the horoscopes of all the prominent politicians can reveal which of them have the most powerful Rajayogas. Such politicians alone can be the promising candidates for occupying an exalted position.

After 1992 elections, our institute sought the birth details of some politicians for research purposes, and to our surprise, the details received for the then prime minister Sh. P.V. Narsimha Rao mentioned the date of birth as 28 th June, 1921, time is between 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. and place of birth is Karim Nagar, Andhra Pradesh (the letter received from PMO is available for reference). Now, one can see that a period of one hour between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. has been mentioned as the time of birth. Does an hour’s variation really not matter in making Indian astrological calculations?

Despite this drawback, we tried to establish the time of birth based on past events in his life and made a few predictions as well. We also asked for details of Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, leader of the opposition as a prominent leader of the BJP in 1994. The letter received was signed by Sh. Vajpayee himself and mentioned hat he was born on 25 th December, 1926 in Gwalior at about 5:00 p.m. The time of birth was approximate and not based on a clock.

In both of the abovementioned cases, when politicians themselves are in doubt of their birth details, it would be sheer dishonesty to even imagine being able to come up with accurate predictions and any results can only be predicted in terms of approximations.

Similarly, without a proper knowledge of the birth details of small-time as well as prominent politicians of the day, and without information of the time when different political parties were constituted, how is it possible to make reliable predictions on Indian politics?

In recently held presidential elections in America, Mr. Barack Obama and Mrs. Hillary Clinton fought for the coveted position. In USA, people elect their president directly from two chosen candidates, and one with the strongest Rajayoga emerges as the winner. In this case, Hillary Clinton also became a part of Obama’s cabinet, but did not become the president, which could mean that although she also had a Rajyoga but not as strong as Obama himself.

Similar examples can be found across the globe, especially in places with scarce regional and small-time parties unlike India. Political organizations of all shapes and sizes come together in order to help form the government in India, which, from an astrological viewpoint, is further complicated by an unending confusion in birth details of most of the politicians, leading us to the inevitable conclusion that, if not impossible, it is extremely difficult to make authentic political predictions in a country with a political framework like that of India.

Taking up another example, in the last cricket world cup, a horde of astrologers, numerologists and tarot readers created media hype with predictions of India entering the semi-finals when the team was ousted in the first round itself. Likewise, before one of the matches, some tarot readers predicted that Sehwag will shine today but soon he was out for a duck. It could well mean that the tarot reader made an assessment about Sehwag but perhaps did not study the fortunes of the bowler who claimed his wicket.

In the same manner, in order to make authentic predictions regarding the political future of India, we may have to study the horoscopes of all the candidates contesting the elections from different part of the country to decide upon who will win the elections and what would be the actual political configuration between different political parties of the state. Otherwise, an astrologer would be able to guess just as much as the common man.

It is a matter of serious debate and research in Indian astrology that ?who will form the next government and who will be the next prime minister of India?? Else astrology and astrologers would only become a laughing stock for the world.

by Pt. Sunil Sharma
Director
Astrological Research Centre