The election results in Berlin are in. It has become a close race for the Social Democrats: They are only 53 votes ahead of the Greens.
The final result is a good two weeks after the repeat election in Berlin. The SPD is now finally just ahead of the Greens in second place, the election winner is the CDU. This emerges from the official result that the state election committee determined on Monday.
The CDU clearly won the election on February 12 with 28.2 percent. SPD and Greens each got 18.4 percent. The Social Democrats have a mini lead of 53 votes, according to the preliminary result it was 105 votes. The left came to 12.2 percent in the election, the AfD to 9.1 percent. The FDP flew out of parliament with 4.6 percent.
Nothing has changed with regard to the percentage shares of the parties and the distribution of seats, which were provisionally determined shortly after the election. There are 159 MPs in the new Berlin state parliament. The CDU has 52 seats, the SPD and the Greens each have 34 seats. The Left has 22 seats and the AfD has 17 seats.
Parties are already exploring
The meeting was eagerly awaited because, according to the preliminary results, the SPD and the Greens were tied at 18.4 percent each behind the election winner, the CDU (28.2). According to the preliminary figures, the SPD only had a small lead of 105 votes over the Greens. After research by “Bild am Sonntag”, the draft of the official result, which is also available to the RBB and the German Press Agency, became known at the weekend. Accordingly, the lead of the SPD over the Greens has reduced to 53 votes. But the order doesn’t change. Officially, of course, this is only after the decision in the state electoral committee.
The new figures should bring a little more clarity to the process of forming a government. Since February 17, the CDU, SPD, Greens and Left have been exploring in different formats whether there is a basis for starting coalition negotiations and a joint government. CDU top candidate Kai Wegner would like to forge a coalition with the SPD or the Greens and become head of government. However, the previous coalition of SPD, Greens and Left also has a majority in the new House of Representatives and could form a government.
If this alliance, which has been in power since 2016, were to continue, the strongest of the parties involved would be the head of government. Since 2021 it has been Franziska Giffey from the SPD. However, Giffey would have to leave the town hall in the event of a possible alliance between the SPD and the CDU, because her party would then only be a junior partner.
It is not yet clear who will end up with whom. On Monday, the SPD, the Greens and the Left are exploring parallel to the meeting of the electoral committee. Another meeting of the CDU and the Greens is scheduled for Tuesday. From the middle of the week, the party committees can be expected to make decisions about which potential partners they are aiming for coalition negotiations with.
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.
