After their defeat in the elections, the liberals demand more profile before their partners in the SPD and Los Verdes
The result of the elections this Sunday in the federal state of Lower Saxony complicates and hinders the work of the German government coalition formed by the Social Democrats (SPD) of the federal chancellor, Olaf Scholz, The Greens and the Liberal Party (FDP) . Although the former were proclaimed clear winners of the regional elections and the latter more than doubled their previous result, the third were left out of the regional Parliament in Hanover by not exceeding the 5% barrier. A setback that has triggered alarms in the smallest of the three formations of the tripartite in Berlin. “The voice of the FDP must be heard more clearly in this coalition,” warned the general secretary of the Liberals, Bijan Dijr-Sarai, who has not hesitated to state that “we must prevent the left projects in this coalition from being carried out” and in demanding that his party have a higher profile in the government.
This points not only to controversy and harsh debates in the tripartite on burning issues such as energy and financial policy, but also greatly irritates Social Democrats and environmentalists, who consider that so far this year they have already had too many considerations with the partner minor of the governmental alliance. The president of the liberals and federal finance minister, Christian Lindner, was more moderate on Monday than his general secretary when he spoke of state responsibility and implicitly rejected a breakup of the coalition. Lindner assured that “the strengthening of the FDP takes place when it carries out successful negotiations”. The liberal parliamentary leader in the Bundestag, Christian Dürr, also stressed that his formation assumes his “responsibility” in Germany and although they are going through difficult times, “the priority is to think about the country.”
The truth is that the liberals have had a disastrous year after joining the tripartite led by Scholz. In the four regional elections held in 2022 they have suffered appreciable losses. In the Saarland, as in Lower Saxony, they have been expelled from the regional Chamber, in Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia they managed to keep their seats, but lost their participation in the two governments. Hence they are now wondering if they did the right thing last fall when they decided to join the alliance with Social Democrats and Greens in Berlin. Even more so when these last two formations are so far the ones that are getting the most revenue from that pact.
This means that the SPD and the environmentalists are now going to have a more sensitive, nervous and uncomfortable government partner than it has been up to now. “It is worrying that the FDP has not succeeded” in Lower Saxony, admitted the president of the Greens, Omnid Nouripour, the same election night, after acknowledging that working with the liberals is not easy and from now on it will be even more complicated . They have had enough to swallow with the debate on the already ruled out gas rate, the demand to prolong the life of nuclear power plants with which the Liberals have irritated environmentalists in recent weeks, the effort to maintain the brake on debt despite to the urgent need to increase public spending to face the crisis, the insistence on easing preventive measures in the face of a possible new wave of coronavirus or its categorical rejection of a speed limit on German highways. All this has severely tested the patience of Social Democrats and Greens.
common executive
Meanwhile, the SPD and the environmentalists have already announced their intention to negotiate a common Executive in Lower Saxony without giving options to other alternatives. The Social Democrats had previously rejected extending the grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), their hitherto minor partner in that region, if they achieved a parliamentary majority with the support of the ecologists. For the conservatives, who have obtained the worst result in their history in the northern German state, the vote has been a disaster. “It was a setback, I would have preferred another result,” said Friedrich Merz, president of the CDU, who this Monday fired his organization secretary, Stefan Hennewig, for the failure of the campaign. The Social Democrats, in turn, welcome the breathing space and the success of their candidate Stephan Weil in Lower Saxony. Weil is the real architect of the victory by gaining the trust of the electorate after ten years of government to add one more legislature.
All these formations have, despite everything, a common concern. The resurgence of the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which in Lower Saxony almost doubled its previous results, unsettles the rest of the parties. After two years losing percentages in the vast majority of the elections held in Germany, the xenophobic and anti-European formation has found its new star issue in the energy crisis to sow fear and attract the dissatisfied with their protest vote. Their leaders are elated and threaten a hot fall of demonstrations. “We are here again,” said Tino Chrupalla, president of the AfD, who criticized the “failed federal policy” in the energy crisis, once again demanded the end of sanctions against Russia, continue buying Russian gas and turn on all nuclear power plants. “We are on the verge of a third world war,” warned the far-right leader, in his usual line of sowing fear among the electorate.
#electoral #result #Saxony #tripartite #screech #Berlin