Wüst flirts with the Greens: Coalition premiere possible in NRW – two stumbling blocks await
Created: 05/16/2022, 13:04
By: Andreas Schmid
The winners of the NRW elections: CDU Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst and Greens top candidate Mona Neubaur.
© Ina Fassbender/AFP
The CDU and the Greens could soon govern North Rhine-Westphalia.
What does that mean specifically?
They are close when it comes to climate protection, but not when it comes to internal security.
Düsseldorf - The CDU clearly won the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, but never tired of emphasizing on the evening of the election that there were "two winners".
On the one hand, of course, the CDU itself, which triumphed with 35.7 percent, a whopping nine percentage points ahead of the challenger SPD.
On the other hand, the Greens, who were able to triple their result from 2017 and are now the third strongest force in NRW with 18.2 percent.
NRW election 2022: The signs are black and green
It was probably a certain CDU flirting towards the Greens.
Federal Vice Karin Prien said that a "broad and also reliable, dependable alliance can only
be forged
between the CDU and the Greens ".
NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst emphasized in his reactions on the evening of the election that he wanted to speak "with all democratic forces", but in his statements he spoke conspicuously often about climate protection.
And not in subordinate clauses, but in prominent places.
True to the motto: "Look here, Greens.
We want the same as you.”
The Greens, who landed at a disappointing 6.4 percent in 2017, are the kingmaker.
"You can't form a government around us," said top candidate Mona Neubaur.
Actually, the Greens see themselves programmatically closer to the SPD, but this two-person constellation, which has governed several times in NRW, is not possible.
The Social Democrats seem to be the only ones to have the rather ambitious idea for a red government put forward by the SPD on election day.
A traffic light probably fails because of the FDP.
NRW is thus facing the first black-green government in its history.
There are points of contact for them – but also potential for conflict.
NRW election: climate protection - CDU and Greens surprisingly close together
When it comes to climate protection, the Greens speak of the “central task of our time”.
A core concern of the Greens is the expansion of wind energy.
"We want to build at least 200 new wind turbines every year," says the election program.
The possibilities for wind turbine construction are comparatively rare in the densely populated North Rhine-Westphalia.
Rural areas are needed – where, by the way, it is mainly CDU mayors who rule.
In the election program, the Christian Democrats write: "We want to increase the acceptance of wind energy by allowing municipalities and residents to participate in the yield."
In addition, the CDU would like to “plant a million trees and reforest the forests.
The CDU is sticking to the coal phase-out in Germany's coal-producing country by 2030 - and writes: "We want to be climate-neutral by 2045." The Greens also want to get out of coal by 2030, but are already demanding climate-neutrality by 2040.
Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck in February with NRW Prime Minister Wüst.
Habeck, a close confidant of Neubaur, knows: the transformation of society "succeeds or fails in NRW".
© Roberto Pfeil/Imago
NRW election: CDU and Greens - similarities in education policy
There are also similarities in education policy, where there is an urgent need for action in NRW.
In the Ministry of Education led by the FDP, according to some observers, there has recently been more corona chaos than decent politics.
The CDU wants to provide every schoolchild with a digital device for lessons.
The same is true of the Greens.
The CDU feeds the "educational awakening in our schools" called for in the Greens program with the promise of 10,000 additional teachers.
The Greens also want to expand daycare places, which the CDU also promises in the election program, but less specifically.
The Greens write of 200,000 additional places and want to double the financing of the whole day with 4000 euros per place.
The CDU is also willing to talk here and wants to make the third year of daycare free of charge.
NRW election: road or rail?
Ex-Transport Minister Wüst demanded
There are differences in transport policy.
The Greens are calling for a mobility guarantee that would allow people across the country to travel by bus and train from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
And that with an affordable citizen ticket for the whole of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The CDU only sees this as possible for municipalities with 20,000 or more inhabitants and also wants to push the road further.
The Greens are calling for “car-free inner cities” and want to double per capita investment in buses and trains.
Goals that are not specifically laid down by the CDU.
But that will certainly be discussed.
After all, Wüst is a former transport minister in North Rhine-Westphalia and is therefore an expert.
He has achieved the goal (assigned by his predecessor Armin Laschet) of drastically reducing traffic jams in the country.
However, the turnaround in traffic that he also cited is more likely to succeed with the Greens than with the FDP.
NRW election: internal security splits black-green coalition romance
The biggest sticking points are probably in internal security.
Here the CDU serves clearly conservative key points.
“We have zero tolerance for criminals,” is the top priority in the abbreviated dialing program.
And we are backing our emergency services.” CDU Interior Minister Herbert Reul symbolizes this course, as he has publicly declared war on clan crime.
By the way, also with electric tasers as an aid for the police.
Meanwhile, the CDU rejects a labeling requirement for police officers as well as stricter checks on “racism in the police force”, as the Greens write.
Furthermore, the CDU still wants to equip public places with video cameras in favor of internal security, as the party explains.
One hears different tones from the Greens here: “We reject comprehensive and unprovoked video surveillance and also the software for the recognition of biometric features without a legal basis.”
Overall, however, the differences between the CDU and the Greens do not seem insurmountable.
On the contrary.
When it comes to climate protection in particular, the parties are closer together than expected.
So will there soon be the third cooperation between the CDU and the Greens at federal level?
In Germany, such a two-party alliance already governs Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.
And possibly soon in North Rhine-Westphalia.
(
as)