Defeat for Scholz in the "small federal election"

2022-05-15T18:19:38.838Z

Defeat for Scholz in the "small federal election" Created: 05/15/2022, 20:04 In North Rhine-Westphalia, the election for the 18th state parliament took place on Sunday. © Fabian Strauch/dpa It was the most important election of the year and the first real mood test for chancellor and opposition leaders after the general election. The result is much clearer than expected. Berlin - It is the fir

Defeat for Scholz in the "small federal election"

Created: 05/15/2022, 20:04

In North Rhine-Westphalia, the election for the 18th state parliament took place on Sunday.

It was the most important election of the year and the first real mood test for chancellor and opposition leaders after the general election.

The result is much clearer than expected.

Berlin - It is the first countable damper for Chancellor Olaf Scholz after his election victory almost eight months ago.

And it turns out pretty violent.

In the most important election of the year in the largest federal state of the republic, his SPD came with 27 to 28 percent, according to the first projections, the worst election result in the 76-year history of North Rhine-Westphalia.

In view of the surprisingly clear gap to the election winner, the CDU, it should be very difficult for top candidate Thomas Kutschaty to form a government.

Party leader Lars Klingbeil and Secretary General Kevin Kühnert had to comment in Berlin's Willy-Brandt-Haus on Sunday evening, but they did not want to see the result as a defeat across the board.

"If there is a possibility of forming a government led by the SPD, then we will of course offer talks to the other parties," said Kühnert first.

Klingbeil pointed out that the goal of voting out the black and yellow government had been achieved.

If there is a possibility of forming an SPD-led government, "then we as the SPD offer to seize this opportunity".

That sounded a lot like Armin Laschet, who, as the CDU/CSU top candidate, formulated a claim to power on the evening of the election despite losing the federal election.

Scholz really got into it in NRW

How much of the SPD defeat the chancellor's Ukraine course and his falling popularity ratings have, can not be quantified exactly.

But one thing is certain: Scholz made this choice a bit his own.

Especially in the final phase, he really hung himself in for Kuchaty again.

On election posters for the last two weeks of the campaign, Chancellor and candidate could be seen next to the slogan: "Together for NRW and Germany." On Friday they appeared together at a major event at Cologne Cathedral in front of 1,500 spectators.

Scholz will have to explain on Monday how much responsibility he sees for the defeat in the election.

The election result will probably have little impact on his policy in the Ukraine crisis.

Going by polls and election results in the federal states does not suit the chancellor.

Merz on the road to success

For CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja, the statements from the SPD on the outcome of the election are the classic template for a smug tip.

As the strongest force in North Rhine-Westphalia, the CDU has a government mandate, and the Greens can also make strong gains - for the SPD, at least, there is no mandate to forge a government.

Perhaps Kühnert needs a moment to cope, Czaja shares.

The new CDU leader Friedrich Merz should be relieved and in a celebratory mood after his party's second election success within a week - last Sunday Daniel Günther won the state election in Schleswig-Holstein with a surprising 43.4 percent.

Like Scholz, the Sauerlander had put in a lot of effort in his home country of North Rhine-Westphalia in the election campaign.

With the success of Hendrik Wüst, Merz has stabilized, they believe in the CDU.

Government formation has an impact on federal politics

In any case, the forthcoming formation of a government will send out a federal political signal.

The Greens play a decisive role here, almost tripling their 2017 election result - from 6.4 percent to a good 18 percent in the first projections.

The Greens must now first decide between the CDU and the SPD.

According to the first figures, a two-party alliance would definitely be possible with the CDU, but only maybe with the SPD.

Governing with a narrow majority with a crashing election loser would be a bigger one and therefore seems an unlikely option.

Should it come to black-green, three of the five most populous federal states would be governed by two-party alliances of CDU and Greens: in addition to North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse.

The Greens are no longer subscribed to the SPD as a coalition partner.

Overall, they sit in five state governments (coalitions of two and three) with the CDU and in seven with the SPD.

So not a big difference anymore.

Participation in government in the largest federal state would give the Greens a further boost on their way out of the political niche of a party that primarily deals with environmental and climate issues.

In order for the image change to work, the Greens must prove that they have government responsibility, as is currently the case in the federal government.

Responsibility makes choices.

A coalition across political camps with the more conservative CDU would certainly have its charms - after all, you can see that as further evidence of political openness and factual orientation.

FDP gets under the wheels

The FDP was not able to benefit from the debate about forming a government as hoped and, after a whopping 12.6 percent in 2017, fell dangerously close to the five percent hurdle.

According to the first projections, it was not even clear whether they would get into the state parliament.

The Liberals failed in the Saar elections, and in Schleswig-Holstein, as in North Rhine-Westphalia, they halved their result from the last election.

All in all, not a good start for party leader Christian Lindner in government responsibility in the federal government.

Left does not get the curve

The left is one of the losers again.

The party, which is in a deep crisis, is not getting the curve in North Rhine-Westphalia either and fails again at the five percent hurdle.

For the heavily reeling federal party, the first thing to say is: close your eyes and go through with it.

The reorganization of the party is already decided anyway.

At the end of June, the entire leadership will be re-elected.

Not much more is possible at first.

Then see if it helps.

AfD is spared further expulsion

After the defeat in Schleswig-Holstein, the AfD is spared another expulsion from a state parliament according to the first projections - albeit only just with values between 5 and 6 percent.

dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-05-15