Michael Kretschmer did not look like a winner. It was December 2017, Kretschmer had just announced to run for Prime Minister of Saxony. There he sat on the podium of the state press conference, about to take on the highest office in the Free State. And it was anything but happy.
In the 2017 general election, he had lost his constituency in Görlitz to the AfD, it looked as if Kretschmer's political career was over. Then head of state Stanislaw Tillich resigned surprisingly and pushed Kretschmer into the spotlight. He looked as if he had a heavy burden to bear. He, who had never shaken the State Chancellery fence, found himself duty-bound. Clearly, Kretschmer was not sure he could fill the post of Prime Minister.
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Elections in Saxony and Brandenburg: Wind power aheadHe took on the fight, growing beyond himself the more hopeless the situation seemed. Kretschmer drove through the country, visited citizen forums, went to clubs, in companies. The small, slender Kretschmer, who always looked as if he was wearing his confirmation suit, was so busy that, as Hans-Dietrich Genscher once thought, he would have to meet himself someday. The lightweight gained in profile. In the end, he balanced his party in the state election almost single-handedly to well over 30 percent.
It is the worst result ever received by the CDU in Saxony. To understand why Sunday night is still a success for Kretschmer, you have to remember the starting point: in the 2017 general election and in the European elections this May, the AfD had managed to overtake the CDU in Saxony.
Video: "The friendly Saxony has won"
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Kretschmer had promised right on entering office, he wanted to change a lot. In the election campaign, he put investment in education and police forward, campaigned with 1000 new police officers for the state. He left the AFD on the right, renouncing frontal attacks. In the CDU, one was skeptical whether this strategy works.
Kretschmer wanted to integrate the critics. The CDU made the policy professor Werner Patzelt election campaign consultant, who was also involved in the election program. Patzelt's idea of introducing a popular objection to the Saxons was taken over by Kretschmer and thus went on the offensive. The citizen should be allowed to decide which law the government brings.
State election Saxony 2019
ARD | ZDF
Extrapolation ARD, 23.01 clock
List voices Result
Shares in percent
CDU
32.3
-7.1
The left
10.3
-8.6
SPD
7.7
-4.7
AFD
27.8
+18
green
8.4
+2.7
FDP
4.5
+0.7
Free voters
3.3
+1.7
allocation of seats
Total: 118
Majority: 60 seats
14
10
11
46
37
The left (14)
SPD (10)
Green (11)
CDU (46)
AfD (37)
Source: ARD / Infratest Dimap
Extrapolation ZDF, 10:39 pm
List voices Result
Shares in percent
CDU
32.2
-7.2
The left
10.3
-8.6
SPD
7.7
-4.7
AFD
27.5
+17.7
green
8.6
+2.9
FDP
4.5
+0.7
Free voters
3.3
+1.7
allocation of seats
Total: 120
Majority: 61 seats
14
10
12
45
39
The left (14)
SPD (10)
Green (12)
CDU (45)
AfD (39)
Source: ZDF / Research Group Elections
Results in detail
When the arch-conservative value union and the former constitutional protection president Hans-Georg Maaßen interfered in the election campaign, he let the group grant. Just a few days before the election date, Kretschmer distanced himself and also sent a message to Berlin. Until last week, he fought for the federal government to pass a law through the Cabinet, which provides billions for the Lusatia. Ultimately, the federal government decided exactly that.
Again and again Kretschmer appealed to the pride of the Saxons and accused the AfD, the country bad talk. He also declared right-wing extremism one of the biggest problems in the country. He said that the rural area needed to be strengthened, that he wanted to make Saxony the safest federal state. It was an attempt on the one hand to address problems clearly and to respond to the emotional state of the Saxons - and on the other hand to counter the pessimists.
Kretschmer is now strengthened despite the significant loss of votes for the CDU from the election. That helps him with the next step: For the first time the Greens in Saxony could be involved in the government. Already in Saxony-Anhalt it needed the Kenya coalition of CDU, SPD and Greens to arrive against the AfD. This reality has now arrived in Saxony, the most populous federal state in East Germany.
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Elections in Saxony and Brandenburg: Wind power aheadIt is the Prime Minister who must now lead the Saxon Union into this alliance. A coalition with the green "prohibition party", as Kretschmer called it, will cause a lot of grumbling in the party. Patzelt even said she would "rip the CDU." The value union already demands a CDU minority government.
Kretschmer himself repeatedly declared that he did not want to govern with the Greens. And yet he said on election night that he would offer the SPD and Green exploratory talks. If the CDU wins enough constituencies and gets overhang mandates, it could be enough without the Greens. Continuing with the SPD would be the simplest option for Kretschmer.
AFP
Apart from the overall CDU result Kretschmer should have paid attention to a number on election night: the Erststimmenergebnis in the constituency Görlitz 2, his constituency. He stands for the dilemma in which Kretschmer is: In Görlitz, the AfD is strong, the city is plagued by emigration - everything focused on whether the confidence that tried Kretschmer to spread, had arrived there.
The answer is yes. According to the provisional result of the provincial election leader Kretschmer got 45.8 percent of the vote, about eight percentage points more than the candidate of the AfD.
