Can the CSU achieve absolute majorities in future state elections? Changing demographics and a broader range of parties speak against it, says Markus Söder.
Augsburg – Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder doubts that his CSU can ever again achieve an absolute majority in state elections and relies on the Free Voters as a coalition partner in the long term.
“Today in Europe there are actually only absolute majorities in those countries that interpret the handling of media freedom significantly differently than we do,” said the CSU head of the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. Bavaria, on the other hand, has changed due to an enormous influx, is more diverse and includes people with different attitudes and expectations. “In addition, unlike 20 years ago, there are broader offers in the bourgeois party spectrum. There is the FDP, the Free Voters and – clearly to the right of the bourgeois camp – also an AfD. “
Coalition as a recipe for success
He is therefore relying on a continuation of the coalition of the CSU and Free Voters, which has been in power since 2018: “The Free Voters are our preferred partners,” said Söder. “There are always small differences, but in principle we work well together.” The Greens and FDP had decided on a different path, he added, referring to the traffic light government in Berlin.
The CSU ruled alone for decades. In 2008 it lost its absolute majority and entered into an alliance with the FDP. In 2013 she won it back under the then Prime Minister Horst Seehofer. In 2018, his successor, Söder, needed a partner again and has formed a coalition with the Free Voters ever since. dpa
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