It's only the Saarland!
Yes, that's understandably how they see it with the
Union
, which had its
worst result since 1955 in
Saarland
on Sunday
.
"It was quite obviously a Saarland election result," says CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja.
State political issues have dominated in the Saar, assists his counterpart Stephan Mayer from the CSU.
Impact on work in the federal government or the upcoming state elections in May in Schleswig-Holstein or North Rhine-Westphalia?
Of course none.
It's the usual pattern when a state election goes haywire.
And in this case there is something to it: The small federal state in the very south-west does have its own political idiosyncrasies.
And
yet Friedrich Merz and the CDU should not simply dismiss the Saar bankruptcy as a local industrial accident
if an incumbent Prime Minister, who was recently considered a beacon of hope, is voted out (which, incidentally, has not happened in 13 state elections before).
In North Rhine-
Westphalia
and
Schleswig-Holstein
, incumbents Hendrik Wüst and Daniel Günther are well advised to analyze the crash of their party colleague Tobias Hans in detail.
In any case, the survey values are not as if Wüst and Günther could go into the last weeks of the election campaign calmly.
Majorities for a traffic light coalition based on the federal model would also be possible in both countries.
Let's look back five years: In 2017, the "Schulz" train rolled through the country, unstoppable, as the SPD believed.
Then the election in Saarland was clearly lost, the comrades got nervous, and more bankruptcies followed – in North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein.
Note:
An election in Saarland can also spark a nationwide dynamic.
In the
SPD
, of course, they wouldn't mind if the republic turned a little redder in 2022.
Absolute majority in the Saarbrücken state parliament - it is easy not only to identify country-specific reasons for the triumph.
But, as my colleagues Christian Teevs and Kevin Hagen analyze, it is a
triumph with risks
: because the two Berlin traffic light partners failed in Saarland, albeit narrowly (see also the losers of the day).
Now the FDP and the Greens were not in the state parliament before.
But now they are governing in the capital: "Both parties will certainly ask questions in view of the jubilant Social Democrats," write Christian and Kevin.
»Are they threatened with dwarfing in the alliance with the SPD?
Do they have to emancipate themselves more?”
This Monday, the top candidates of the Saarland state associations are guests at the party headquarters in Berlin, as usual, the day after the state elections.
Saarland may be small, but there is a lot to talk about.
The shock of the Saar: What lessons the CDU draws from the state elections
Bitter Truths
Maybe they'll continue talking today, maybe not until tomorrow.
The two sides have given different information
about the start of the
next round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators .
They probably want to meet in Turkey.
The US is not at the table, but the question arises as to whether Joe Biden's flippant statement about Vladimir Putin's future will add to the already unpromising negotiations.
"For God's sake, this man can't remain in power," Biden cried out in Warsaw on Saturday night.
That sounds like a simple, bitter truth: Putin has to go
.
What peace-loving person wouldn't wish for the war monger to disappear from the Kremlin and for something like common sense to finally rule in Moscow?
From the mouth of the American President, however, it is a delicate sentence:
has he declared
regime change
, the change of government in Moscow, as the goal of western efforts?
Is that what the US and its allies are working towards, politically, economically, if necessary even militarily?
"No," said Biden when asked on Sunday.
But then the sentence was already in the world.
Apart from the question of how such a
regime change
could be achieved at all.
Apart from the fact that Biden's sentence is a propaganda template for Putin.
The US President and all other supporters of Ukraine, while being harsh on Putin, should carefully weigh their words and
not give a reason for a further escalation of the war to
a man who is obviously no longer amenable to rational arguments (read a comment of my colleague René Pfister on this).
No wonder, then, that Biden's people tried to recapture his sentence just minutes later.
Olaf Scholz
also
made it clear last night that the goal was not to change power in Moscow.
During his solo appearance on the ARD program »Anne Will«, the chancellor spent a good hour trying to explain his policy after Russia's attack on Ukraine.
He defended his reluctance to introduce an energy embargo against Russia, sent direct warnings to Putin, and confirmed considerations for a German anti-missile shield (read my colleague Arno Frank's TV review here).
It was the second time that Scholz had been questioned on a TV talk show since the beginning of the war.
Now it's not as if you get to know Olaf Scholz as a new person in such programs.
The chancellor reveals no previously hidden side, he also reveals no sensational news.
And yet these appearances are important for Scholz in particular,
for the man who usually stays under cover, who appears either cold or aloof.
He should look for such appearances more often. Not because the entertainment value would be so enormous. Not because Scholz himself considered them necessary.
He should look for her more often in order to give people in this self-declared »change of times« the feeling that he has given far too seldom up to now: I'm there, I'll take care of them.
Olaf Scholz in crisis mode: warrior against his will
What is a hotspot?
On Monday afternoon, Federal Minister of Health
Karl Lauterbach
will once again discuss the current corona situation with his counterparts from the federal states.
As a look at the figures undoubtedly reveals, this is still quite serious.
And yet many countries are wondering whether they can continue to impose sensible rules for infection protection in this serious situation, such as a general obligation to
wear masks
in retail.
After a transition period from April 3, the new Infection Protection Act only provides for this for corona hotspots.
The state parliament has to decide that.
But what is a hotspot?
Can an entire federal state be a hotspot?
It can, says SPD Health Minister Lauterbach.
It's not that easy, says FDP Justice Minister
Marco Buschmann
, then the whole country must be in an emergency.
The countries are angry and unsettled.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Hamburg have already announced that they will apply the hotspot rule to the entire state after the transition period has expired.
Others would like to do the same but see legal problems.
In view of the number of infections, the debate is quite absurd.
“The whole of Germany is one single hotspot,”
states Bavaria’s CSU Health Minister Klaus Holetschek in the “Augsburger Allgemeine” – which is a similarly wise statement to: Olaf Scholz is Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The problem: At this point, the wisdom of the FDP is limited to finally being able to celebrate the long-awaited »Freedom Day«.
One can only hope that a minimum of reason will prevail and at least the transition period will be extended by four weeks,
including the obligation to wear masks indoors.
A corresponding proposal from some countries is on the table.
This would leave time to design the new hotspot rule with legal certainty - and to reassess the situation in a month.
Prognosis: She is still serious then.
Crisis management in politics: This is how the corona dispute came about
Loser of the day...
... are
the Greens.
The Saarland state returning officer calculated 4.99502 percent on Sunday evening in the preliminary final result for the Greens.
Projections had long seen the party above the five percent hurdle and thus in the state parliament.
In the end, however, 23 votes were apparently missing.
Twentythree.
There is still a bit of hope: the
provisional final result
is called the provisional final result because it is provisional.
The returning officer has already pointed out that there
could still be deviations in the
final, official end result .
The final figures should be available soon - it cannot be ruled out that the Greens will then be the winner of the day again.
The latest news from the night
Ariana DeBose wins Oscar for Best Supporting Actress:
For the 94th time, the most coveted film awards in the world will be presented in Hollywood.
The first winners have been chosen - here you can find out everything you need to know about the gala
15-year-old figure skater Valiyeva returns to the ice:
It was the scandal of the Olympic Games, now Kamila Valiyeva has competed for the first time again.
The doping investigations are still ongoing – it may be a long time before a result is reached
"I absolutely despise what's going on there":
She was born in Russia, but so far Helene Fischer had not commented on the war of aggression in Ukraine.
She did this on a Swiss stage – unequivocally
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
The Refugee Miracle of Poland: How a country outgrows itself
Hungarian candidate Márki-Zay in parliamentary elections: This small-town mayor wants to overthrow Viktor Orban
Ecosystems on the verge of collapse: How Putin's war is weakening the fight against climate change
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: How Africa's Best-Known Writer Explains Feminism to the World
Have a good start into the week.
Heartfelt,
Yours Philip Wittrock