Opinion
The Green Party leaders Omid Nouripour and Ricarda Lang have quit completely unexpectedly. The decision has a force that will also affect the coalition partners SPD and FDP.
Do the Greens still exist? That was exactly what people were asking recently, the party had disappeared so far. Since Wednesday it has been clear: there is still something alive, a jolt is going through the party, and what a jolt it is. If the old rules in politics still count for anything, which one can have doubts about in these times, then this jolt will not be limited to the Greens, but will soon affect the entire coalition. But first things first.
Omid Nouripour and Ricarda Lang are unexpectedly stepping down from the party leadership after less than three years, sending two signals. One internally, one externally. The Greens, according to their internal diagnosis, are in their biggest crisis in a decade. They say they need a “fresh start”, a completely different setup, otherwise the party will suffer further damage.
Given the situation, this is of course an absolutely correct statement, even if one can question whether Nouripour and Lang are actually the right people – and whether a change at the top is actually what the party needs. The Greens have less of a personnel problem than a strategy problem. Completely unsettled by the debate about the heating law and the constant hostility from their competitors, they recently decided not to stand up for their convictions at all. Whether in asylum policy or in the budget dispute, the Greens almost seemed like a party that had disappeared.
The Greens can now regain credibility
The Greens are elected because they stand for change, not because they are particularly good at adapting. As long as they don’t rediscover that, they will have a hard time. Who needs another left-wing party in these times that only says things that are as harmless as possible? We already have the SPD. They aren’t particularly successful with this strategy either.
The change in personnel can still help. Because it comes as a surprise. Because it breaks with the image that politicians are just stuck to their chairs. That doesn’t necessarily have to lead to a huge rise in the polls tomorrow, but over time it can give the party back the credibility it has recently lost. Which brings us to the signal it sends to the outside world.
It may seem crazy to turn your own business around so close to the next federal election. But the Greens, of all parties, suddenly find themselves the only party in the coalition that is honest with itself. One that radiates: We have understood. One that admits that we cannot carry on like this, neither in the party nor in the government. In other words: as of today, it is not the Greens, but the SPD and FDP that seem like the parties that are refusing to face reality. For now.
Political energy is sparked by those who have the courage to take risks
The new line-up of the Greens, combined with their warning that the party system is currently undergoing dramatic changes, is unleashing a political force that will also affect the coalition partners; you don’t have to be a prophet to predict that.
Social Democrats and Liberals are full of self-doubt. The SPD is at odds with its chancellor and feels gagged in terms of financial policy. The FDP is increasingly openly wanting to leave the government, but has not yet found the way. A survey from a few days ago is hanging over everything: zero percent of Germans want the traffic light coalition to continue. If you add these findings to the resignation of the Green Party leadership, you almost inevitably end up with the prediction: so much is slipping here that you need great optimism to assume that the traffic light coalition will still make it to the end of the legislative period.
But optimism is actually the wrong word here. It would be good if this coalition finally came to an end and did not vegetate for another twelve months. Social Democrats and Liberals still hope that the government’s image will improve once it governs more quietly. But political energy does not come from discreetly pushing laws back and forth. Political energy comes from having the courage to take risks in an emergency situation.
The Greens have shown how it’s done. The SPD and FDP should follow suit and put an end to the traffic light nightmare.
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.
