Dietmar Woidke leads the SPD to victory in Brandenburg, the federal party is modest – and the Chancellor? Cannot contain his joy in faraway New York.
Olaf is lucky: This is how the Chancellor’s first statement, which reached the public shortly after the election thriller in Brandenburg, can be summed up. “We are working together – as before. We trust each other – as before,” Scholz writes at 6:49 p.m. on X. That sounds almost pathetic by his standards.
And why not: The first projections for the state elections are here. And his SPD, which was clearly behind the AfD in polls for many months, has won again. Things have just gone well for the Chancellor’s party, once again.
However, Scholz’s loving words are not dedicated to the victorious Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke, even though he saved the Chancellor from a moderate catastrophe with his remarkable comeback. Nor are they directed at his federal party, which had anxiously looked towards Potsdam.
No, the Chancellor, who is currently in New York, praises the so-called future pact that he initiated at the United Nations. On Sunday evening, Scholz said nothing at all about Brandenburg. The Chancellor is “quite satisfied,” according to people close to him. But he will not publicly assess the situation until Monday.
Don’t celebrate too loudly: that is clearly Scholz’s motto. The party leadership in Berlin also follows it. Of course, the relief was clearly palpable on Sunday evening in the Willy Brandt House. But the leaders are deliberately modest. Because everyone is aware that the brilliant photo finish had little to do with them or the Chancellor.
Quite the opposite. Dietmar Woidke, the winner of the evening, had placed himself entirely at the centre of the election campaign, true to the motto: either me – or the AfD. His decree: if his SPD did not come out on top on election night, as it had every time since 1990, he would resign. “This election is also a vote on me and what I have done for this country,”
It was a kind of ultimatum to the voters, coupled with a clear message to his federal party in Berlin: This is about Brandenburg – so don’t interfere. Woidke even largely refrained from making joint campaign appearances with the unpopular SPD chancellor and also kept as much distance as possible from the traffic light coalition. And was rewarded for it.
A subtle hint to the Chancellor
And so the SPD leadership avoided boasting about the result in its first live broadcasts on Sunday. “We know that the federal level has not given us any tailwind,” explains co-leader Lars Klingbeil with great modesty. Instead, Woidke is praised for his “extraordinary,” “furious” or “magnificent” comeback.
The officials’ gratitude seems genuine. After all, the Prime Minister’s victory spares them the final debate about the end of the coalition and the viability of Scholz as a candidate for chancellor. This could have been averted in the state elections in Saxony and Thuringia. The SPD held on to the state parliaments – reduced to a measly single-digit number. But if the red stronghold had been lost, then a debate that had been postponed out of consideration for the election campaign would have finally gained momentum. Can the unpopular Olaf Scholz hold on as chancellor (candidate) if the Brandenburg SPD ends up behind the AfD?
Even Woidke had doubts until the very end. In the afternoon, when the first internal polls by ARD and the research group Wahlen were being passed around among politicians and journalists, the AfD was still ahead of the SPD. The mood was apparently correspondingly depressed. It was only shortly before 6 p.m., before the official forecast appeared on the screens, that the governing party moved into first place. The Prime Minister had done it again.
Woidke’s eyes are visibly moist when he shows up at the SPD’s election party near the Potsdam state parliament shortly afterwards. He makes his way through the cameras and bystanders to the small stage. There he stands next to his wife and calls into the microphone: “We have managed to catch up like never before in the history of our country.” Once again, the Social Democrats have successfully stood in the way of the extremists.
The only question is: What are the consequences for the federal SPD and its Chancellor?
The first election analysis by SPD co-leader Klingbeil can be understood as a subtle hint to Scholz when he says in a television interview that Woidke scored points with his clear language and consistency for social democratic issues. “We need this consistency now too,” says Klingbeil, who clearly sees room for improvement in his party and its top personnel. Now the focus must be fully on preserving industrial jobs.
The SPD is very confused as to why it was not the Chancellor who invited people to a car summit, but his deputy, Robert Habeck from the Greens. In general, it is criticized that Scholz is showing too little fighting spirit to counteract the impending recession and the misery in the car industry. Party of the workers, wasn’t there something there? The SPD faction is now pushing for rapid measures to send a signal of determination – if the Chancellor doesn’t do it, that’s what is implied. For example, there is to be a “scrappage bonus 2.0” for consumers who switch from their combustion engine to an electric car.
A Chancellor in New York
Scholz is likely to have turbulent days ahead of him, despite Woidke’s victory. But first he is still in New York, at the United Nations Future Summit. There, Scholz is not only geographically particularly far away from Sand in Brandenburg, but also thematically. It is not just about one federal state, it is about the world. After Scholz gives a speech on Sunday morning, the UN General Assembly approves a paper that diplomats have been working on for almost two years under the German and Namibian presidency. The Future Pact.
It is a collection of principles on development policy, climate protection and its financing. It is about security policy, war and peace, but also about digitalization, better involvement of young people in the policies of the United Nations and its reform. From a German perspective, the UN Security Council in particular, with its five veto powers, represents a world that no longer exists. These are very general principles, but the success lies in the fact that in the end, apart from the Russians, none of the 193 UN member states have anything to complain about.
Olaf Scholz: “It’s great”
After this major diplomatic event, Scholz meets a variety of statesmen from different continents one after the other. It seems like a quick run-through of the biggest global conflicts and crises. But in the late morning local time, the Chancellor has no choice but to deal with the small world at home, with the state elections, their consequences for the SPD – and for him.
In the German House in New York, the diplomatic representation diagonally across from the UN building, a lounge on the 21st floor has been converted into a kind of office. According to insiders with access to the upper floors, a specially placed sign on the door with the inscription “Olaf Scholz, Federal Chancellor” marks the place where Scholz joins the SPD leadership’s meeting by telephone at around 5.15 p.m. The topic, among others, is the first forecasts.
When asked about the mood in the conference call, the Chancellor could only elicit a “good, of course” as he passed by. Then, late in the evening German time, Scholz came into the foyer of the German House. He had actually only planned to speak on Monday, but the result was so pleasing that he broke his resolution. “It’s great that we won,” he said with a broad grin. Did he expect it to be like this? “I sensed that something was going to happen.”
Of course, the Chancellor once again knew better.
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.
