The CDU wants to lead the government after its clear election victory in Berlin. But with which partner? The SPD, the Greens and the Left continue to have a mathematical majority. They bet on that.
After the CDU’s victory in the repeat elections in Berlin, top candidate Kai Wegner is stepping up the pace. He wants to invite the SPD and the Greens to exploratory talks on Monday evening. The aim is to hold talks this week or early next week, Wegner told the German Press Agency. “Now is not the time for tacticians, now is the time for doers.”
Mathematically, black-green and black-red have a majority. However, the previous coalition partners SPD, Greens and Left hope that their alliance will continue.
The CDU got 28.2 percent (2021: 18.0 percent) of the votes – the strongest result in the capital for a good 20 years. “The government mandate is clearly with us,” said Wegner. “The Berliners have chosen the change.”
At 18.4 percent, the SPD did worse than it has since 1950 (2021: 21.4). The Greens, who have governed with the Left and SPD since 2016, also achieved 18.4 percent (18.9), but were 105 votes behind the Social Democrats. The AfD increased to 9.1 (8.0). It was a bitter election evening for the FDP, which was expelled from another state parliament with 4.6 percent (7.1).
Giffey hopes the coalition will continue
Despite the electoral defeat for the SPD, Prime Minister Franziska Giffey hopes that the coalition with the Greens and the Left will continue. “If the SPD is able to lead a strong government, then for us that is a point that we cannot simply push aside,” said Giffey on RBB Inforadio. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil provided support for this: Giffey had tackled a lot so far, he said in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”. “And she’s the right person to keep doing it.”
Of course, the SPD will also hold talks with Wegner, the winner of the election, said Giffey. This did not exclude the Greens’ top candidate Bettina Jarasch – but she does not think a black-green coalition is conceivable without significant concessions from the CDU. “There is no alliance among the Greens without a mobility and heating transition, without really making Berlin climate-neutral and without real tenant protection,” said the Senator for Mobility and the Environment on RBB Inforadio.
Jarasch emphasized again that she favors a continuation of the coalition of SPD, Greens and Left. The coalition agreement is a good basis for this. In view of the conceivably close election result, however, she expects a “really cooperative” approach, says Jarasch.
Berlin’s Left Party leader Katina Schubert also sees a stable coalition only in the continuation of Red-Green-Red. “SPD and CDU would somehow be an emergency community that would end just as catastrophically as the last red-black coalition we had in Berlin,” Schubert told the German Press Agency.
Narrow lead for SPD
In the meantime, the state election authority is considering a recount in view of the SPD’s conceivably narrow lead. “We will take a close look at the numbers again and discuss this with our lawyers,” said election officer Stephan Bröchler of the dpa. “It is indeed a very small gap,” said Bröchler. He assumes that the question of a recount will be decided this week.
According to the state returning officer, there are 159 seats in the Berlin House of Representatives. Of these, the CDU received 52. The SPD and the Greens each received 34 mandates. The Left has 22 seats, the AfD 17.
Election researcher Thorsten Faas now expects the formation of a government to be lengthy. Despite the CDU’s high gains, it was difficult to read a “government signal” from the election result, Faas told the dpa. “The ball is in the hands of the Union. But whether they will succeed in forming a majority is more than open.” The previous Senate will remain in office in the meantime. “If one of the two parties decides to switch to the CDU, it will be difficult for the green or red because they actually feel like they are the political opponents,” said the politics professor at the Free University of Berlin.
According to other experts, the CDU under Wegner benefited from the dissatisfaction with the red-green-red Senate in the repeat election ordered by the court. Rarely have bad grades been given for government policy, according to an analysis by the research group elections on Sunday evening. The fact that Giffey had little traction was also partly responsible for the good CDU and weak SPD results. Added to this would be the weakness of the FDP and a good mobilization of the CDU among older voters.
“Very annoying error” in one of the 2257 polling stations
Due to serious election glitches, the state constitutional court had declared the election of the state parliament in September 2021 and the district elections invalid – and ordered a repetition. At that time, long queues in front of polling stations and missing, mixed up or copied ballot papers made headlines nationwide.
After this election Sunday, state returning officer Bröchler was satisfied. However, there was a “very annoying error” in one of the 2,257 polling stations, he said. There were false ballots there. However, this was “definitely not relevant to the mandate”, according to Bröchler.
Around 2.4 million people were entitled to vote in the House of Representatives. Voter turnout was 63.1 percent. In 2021 it was 75.4 percent, but the Bundestag was also elected that year.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
