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Election winner Daniel Günther
Photo: Christian Charisius / dpa
Triumph for the Union, fiasco for the SPD: In the state elections in Schleswig-Holstein, Prime Minister Daniel Günther's CDU won by a landslide.
According to the provisional result after counting all constituencies, the Christian Democrats ended up far ahead of all other parties on Sunday with more than 40 percent.
Günther can choose with whom he will continue to govern after five years of the Jamaica coalition.
In the future, a single partner will be enough for him.
The choice will probably fall between the previous coalition partners, the Greens and the FDP.
That's what the German press says.
»Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung«:
The CDU owes its brilliant electoral success first and foremost to its prime minister and top candidate, Daniel Günther, who is highly respected across all party lines.
But if things were different for him and for the CDU, the party would not have proven competent in sensitive policy areas such as schools and education - and not at the expense of the smaller coalition partners Greens and FDP, but in an interaction characterized by respect and trust.
»Welt«:
There is also good news for Olaf Scholz on this election night in Kiel, which was so bleak for Germany's Social Democrats overall: coalitions of three can work.
What's more, if such an alliance works, it is not unlikely that the party of the respective head of government will benefit from it.
»Südkurier« (
Konstanz
):
A signal for the federal government?
A surprise success for the new federal chairman, Friedrich Merz, whose campaign trips took him to Kyiv?
Rather less.
As in Saarland, the result in Schleswig-Holstein can be explained above all by the different attractiveness of the top candidates.
Günther has earned the trust of voters in his state over the past five years, while the Social Democrats have opted for a new face - an experiment that took revenge on election night.
"Nürnberger Nachrichten":
Schleswig-Holstein was important for CDU leader Friedrich Merz.
Not because he himself or the federal party contributed so much to the success.
Their influence was rather limited.
But after the last disappointments (Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Berlin, Bund, Saarland), an election victory for the Union was essential to stop the negative trend and to provide some motivation among the base and voters again.
»Augsburger Allgemeine«:
You have to give Friedrich Merz one thing: Since he took over the leadership of the CDU, Germany has again had a loud and recognizable opposition.
In a democracy, this is a factor that should not be underestimated.
All that Merz was missing for his happiness was an electoral success.
Daniel Günther of all people gave him that in Schleswig-Holstein.
»Weser-Kurier« (
Bremen
):
The bottom line is that the election for politics at the federal level is of importance that should not be underestimated in one respect.
Daniel Günther's influence in Berlin will continue to increase after this remarkable election result.
And if one day a successor for Friedrich Merz is sought, as of now there is no way around the 48-year-old.
»Nordwest-Zeitung« (
Oldenburg
):
Both Günther's clear victory and the bitter defeat of his SPD challenger Thomas Losse-Müller are primarily to be found in the state and only secondarily in federal politics.
Daniel Günther made hardly any mistakes as acting prime minister, led the Jamaica coalition confidently and gave people that feeling of stability and security that is also reflected in satisfaction surveys: as is well known, the happiest Germans live in Schleswig-Holstein.
»Stuttgarter Zeitung«:
The elections in Schleswig-Holstein draw a line, at least for the time being, under the story of the decline of the CDU.
Without this provisional line, Merz would be like an unsuccessful receiver of Angela Merkel's legacy.
The triumph secures Günther's power for five years.
For the time being, Merz can only look forward to a week.
Then the next, more important test for his party in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous of the 16 federal states.
"Allgemeine Zeitung" (
Mainz
):
Given the focus on Günther, the election was not a mood test for the federal government - even if the SPD might feel reminded of the old days before the federal election.
The state SPD is paying the price for the completely wrong tactics: It was absurd to send the little-known top candidate Thomas Losse-Müller into the race against this prime minister of all people.
The Greens, on the other hand, were obviously able to sell themselves better than the FDP in the Jamaica alliance.
In the federal government, attention will quickly shift to North Rhine-Westphalia.
»Mittelbayerische Zeitung« (
Regensburg
):
Daniel Günther, who is well respected far beyond the CDU, dominated the elections in the north in a way that many hardly thought possible.
However, the Kiel result was less of a success for the CDU federal leader Friedrich Merz, who had made himself scarce in the northern election campaign and preferred to go to Kyiv.
The hearty, historical gossip for the SPD was less a reminder for the procrastinating Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin and more the receipt for a messed-up election campaign with the little-known embarrassment candidate Thomas Losse-Müller.
as/dpa
