Party conference: Green party conference: “Let’s go into the election campaign with Robert”

Jürgen Trittin announces the motto even before the nomination: “Let’s go into the election campaign with Robert!”, the Green veteran shouts to the delegates in Wiesbaden. This Sunday, the party conference is scheduled to nominate Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck as candidate for chancellor.

An ambitious project with survey results between 11 and 12 percent. The Greens respond to this with vagueness. Top representatives emphasize that Habeck should of course be a candidate for chancellor. In the emergency motion with which he is put forward, he is only called “candidate for the people of Germany”. He has “what it takes to be a good Chancellor.” He should lead the election campaign as a top duo with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

Former Environment Minister Trittin, who was bid farewell in Wiesbaden, appears particularly self-confident. “We Greens are an imposition. We are an imposition because we have always had the courage to treat people as adults,” he told his party. By this he means: The Greens expect people to face uncomfortable truths.

Wool sweaters for 45 years

Since the start of their party conference on Friday, the Greens have celebrated a lot of party folklore. “Why have we been knitting wool sweaters for 45 years, why always this obsession? We’ll get the answer now in late autumn 2024 and it’s called the “winter election campaign”,” explains the party’s co-chairwoman, Franziska Brantner, who was elected shortly afterwards, in her application speech. Friendship bracelets with the words “Chancellor Era” are also made – in reference to the video with which Habeck announced his candidacy declaration last week and in which he wore such a bracelet.

The Greens have already taken the first steps towards the election program, which is expected to be tighter than usual given the shortness of the election campaign. They have until Thursday to formulate their first ideas in an online survey. At the beginning of December, the Federal Executive Board will then present a draft, which will then be discussed in seminars, as Political Director Pegah Edalatian announced. The federal election program is to be adopted at a one-day party conference in Berlin on January 26th, and the election is scheduled to take place on February 23rd.

Decisions from inheritance tax to AfD

On Saturday evening, the Greens made a number of substantive decisions. They want to introduce a completely new model for inheritance tax. A “life allowance for everyone” of, for example, one million euros is planned, instead of the previous allowances, which depend on the relationship between the testator and heirs. Above the exemption amount, a linear tax rate of around 25 percent should then apply equally to all assets – including real estate, business assets and shares.

A large majority of delegates support a motion that calls for a party ban against the AfD. Such a procedure is “necessary to protect democracy and the inalienable rights of every individual,” it says. “One should not refrain from prosecuting a party ban out of fear of a possible defeat before the Federal Constitutional Court,” say the Greens.

The CDU member of the Bundestag Marco Wanderwitz has long been calling for a ban on the AfD. Together with colleagues – including from the Greens – he submitted a corresponding motion to the Bundestag. According to Wanderwitz, the motion has 113 supporters from various factions. The MPs want the Federal Constitutional Court to examine whether the AfD is unconstitutional. It is still unclear when the Bundestag will vote on this.

Delegates also reiterated the call for a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour on motorways. In addition, from the party’s point of view, there should be more scope for municipalities to make decisions in order to introduce a speed limit of 30 km/h across towns and cities. They also advocate the introduction of socially graded climate money to compensate for the rising CO2 price, which makes heating and refueling with fossil fuels more expensive. Late in the evening, the delegates voted with a very large majority in favor of abolishing work bans for foreigners.

Application for top candidacy