Majority of German Small, Midsize Businesses Want More Liberal Government

Mario Ohoven, the president of the German Association for Small and Medium-sized Businesses (BVMW), said that German entrepreneurs have no trust in reforms and innovative force of the federal government.

BERLIN (Sputnik) — The majority of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Germany want Socialists to be replaced in the coalition government by Liberals, a survey by the main business lobby revealed Thursday.

"Mittelstand [SMEs] wants another government. Almost 60 percent wish for a black-yellow or a Jamaica coalition. Obviously, entrepreneurs have no trust in reforms and innovative force of the federal government," Mario Ohoven, the president of the German Association for Small and Medium-sized Businesses (BVMW), told reporters.

The union of Conservative CDU and CSU sister parties has been governing Germany together with Social Democrats (SPD) for the past three years. On the German political palette, Conservatives are traditionally associated with the black color, left-wing parties are all shades of red, green goes for environmentalists, while yellow stands for Liberals. Thus, a "Jamaica" coalition refers to a union of Conservatives, Liberals and Greens.

The BVMW polled some 2,800 entrepreneurs on December 12-27. The survey found that 46 percent of SME owners wanted the next federal government to be black-yellow, while 12 percent hoped for a black-yellow-green coalition. The elections are scheduled for next fall.

Small and medium-sized enterprises constitute the backbone of the German economy. The BVMW estimates they make up over 99 percent of sales-tax paying businesses in Germany and create 70 percent of all jobs.