People queue outside a polling station to vote during the general elections, in Berlin, Germany, September 26, 2021. REUTERS / Wolfgang RattayWOLFGANG RATTAY / Reuters
Dozens of people are patiently waiting their turn to enter the electoral college. The sun that shines in Berlin this Sunday makes the wait more pleasant. The long line invites conversation. Many of those who come to vote in this neighborhood in central Berlin are betting on a change. After 16 years of the CDU's Christian Democratic government, say some of those consulted, it is time for a leader more concerned about the growing differences between those above and below. What is striking is that even among supporters of Social Democrats and Greens, the most common is to find words of appreciation and gratitude to Angela Merkel, the conservative woman who has led the country for 16 years. "He may have made mistakes, but I think he has done a good job," summarizes Katya Kuntze,a stout middle-aged woman who has just voted for the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
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The idea will be repeated in many of the interviewees.
At this school - City-Grundschule, an elementary school in central Berlin - and in the general German population, Merkel's popularity is surprisingly high for a politician who has been in power for so long.
When he is about to leave the Chancellery, his assessment is higher than 70%.
Not even in the worst moments of his tenure has he dropped below 50%.
In this central, middle-class neighborhood, the figure of Merkel arouses admiration. Voters waiting in the schoolyard assure that they respect her, even if they have not voted for her in other elections. Bernhard, 74, who was a Bosch engineer, says Merkel "has generally done a good job, despite the mistakes she has made." In his opinion, the chancellor should not have decided to close the nuclear power plants in 2011 after the Fukushima disaster because now the country needs energy and has to burn coal, "which is much worse and takes us away from climate goals." The decision not to close the borders in 2015 when the migrant crisis occurred was not entirely correct, he says. "It was what had to be done, but too many people entered and it cannot happen again," he says. You have voted for the SPD and its candidate,Olaf Scholz: “I think a change is needed in Germany after 16 years and although Scholz is not a brilliant candidate he has the experience we need. It is the best when compared to the other two ”.
Steffan, 54, leaves that school near Alexanderplatz at a good pace, but says he has not voted: "There is a long line, half an hour." He assures that he will return in the afternoon. The restrictions due to the coronavirus slow down the process and also people take their time to fill in the five ballots that Berliners have to mark this year: the Bundestag, which will be decided by the new Government; the two of the regional elections; another to choose the representatives of the district, and finally the controversial referendum that asks citizens if it is necessary to expropriate the large homeowners (more than 3,000 flats) to create a public park and try to contain the vertiginous rise in rents in the city. Steffan votes locally: “I want a livable city; we need affordable flats, ”he says.
Most, however, have the future of Germany in mind. And in general it has been difficult for them to decide: "I am not convinced by any of the three candidates," says Marika, 26, a secretary at a wholesale company. Her partner, Onur, 28, agrees: “They don't give me confidence. They speak of left and right and that doesn't tell me anything ”. After much thought, she voted for Los Verdes and he for the SPD. For Marika, the environmental party better represents the change that the country needs, modernization. But she does not vote convinced. Neither candidate is comparable to Merkel, both agree. "The chancellor has done a good job," says Marika. Yes, they both would have voted for her to run for reelection. "We know it, we know what it has done, the crises it has faced, which have not been easy," says Onur.
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In the early afternoon, several polling stations in Berlin ran out of ballots and had to ask for more, but traffic cuts for the marathon also held this Sunday made their arrival difficult.
The daily
Die Welt
reported that at three o'clock in the afternoon an official from a school in the capital assured those who were waiting: "We have sent people on bicycles to the district town hall to bring more ballots."
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