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Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Günther: Yes to the Greens, no to the FDP
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Frank Molter / dpa
So now black and green.
A good two weeks after the state elections in Schleswig-Holstein, CDU Prime Minister Daniel Günther has decided which colors he prefers for a new government.
Since 2017 he had led a Jamaica alliance on the fjord, with the Greens and the FDP.
But Günther only needs one partner instead of two for a majority, mainly because his union got a strong 43.4 percent.
And even if the election winner initially campaigned vehemently for a new edition of Jamaica, after a joint round it was clear: The Greens in particular, the big election winners alongside the Union, have no interest in this.
The prime minister should decide between them and the FDP.
New industrial policy
On Monday evening, Günther announced in Kiel that the Greens were being offered “an exploratory talk”.
The CDU state executive followed his suggestion “unanimously”.
It is important to achieve "ambitious climate protection goals" and at the same time to create new jobs in the country.
They are the pillars of a new industrial policy that Günther always emphasizes.
An alliance with the Greens offers the necessary “breadth” for such a “transformation”.
It is obviously an attempt to salvage what can be salvaged from Jamaica.
In the past five years of government, Günther has made a name for himself as a moderator and bridge builder who connects the political camps.
He himself raved about a "new style" that Jamaica had shaped.
The head of government benefited from this himself, although he did not act as a driving force.
The 48-year-old is a liberal Union man, "modern, pragmatic, a bit green," is how the Kiel political scientist Wilhelm Knelangen describes him.
Black-green means that Günther "continues to form a coalition that mediates".
In this reading, it is a directional decision: Black-Green points forward and connects, Black-Yellow would have pointed back to old camp times.
Signal for the Bund
Günther will also hope for positive points from his decision in federal politics, even if he has so far denied personal ambitions.
It is striking how different he is from party leader Friedrich Merz, who is seen as representing a conservative Union.
The planned alliance on the fjord would underline these differences once again.
"Successful black-green state governments also have a signal effect for the federal government," says Kiel's education minister and CDU deputy leader Karin Prien.
"We have a great opportunity to prove that Black-Green can shape the upcoming transformation processes with broad social acceptance."
That doesn't bode well for the SPD, which has a traffic light in Berlin.
The Union, political scientist Knelangen suspects, could "release the Greens a little from the SPD's grip."
Especially since black and green is also likely in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The alliance is trendy.
The Greens are happy
In Schleswig-Holstein it was noticeable how much the Greens offered themselves to the CDU in the days after the election.
In an interview with the "Kieler Nachrichten", top candidate Aminata Touré laughed when she was asked to answer the question of whether it would be a "love marriage" with the Union.
Her answer: a resounding »yes«.
After Günther's invitation, Touré responded promptly: "We're delighted." The goal of the Greens is to combine climate protection with social justice.
The CDU and the Greens wanted to meet on Tuesday to explore.
The official coalition negotiations could begin as early as this week if Günther has his way.
So you want to get together quickly.
Nevertheless, pure harmony is not to be expected.
Günther has already emphasized that the CDU will insist on its own core issues in the talks, such as internal security and agriculture.
There you are traditionally more at odds with the Greens.
In the future, the Union wants to have a say in agricultural policy “also in terms of personnel”.
What that means in concrete terms, he left open.
In Kiel, agriculture is part of the environment department, which the Greens have already claimed for themselves.
CDU Vice Prien, who acts as Günther's deputy in the state party, is clearer: In a two-party alliance, the CDU "can not only be a social bridge builder", but must "show a clear Christian Democratic handwriting".
The people wanted “a clear CDU leadership in the next state government”.
The party has 34 seats in the state parliament, only one seat is missing for an absolute majority.
The Greens have 14 seats.
The FDP reacted angrily to Günther's decision.
The Liberals tried in vain to win the favor of the prime minister again at the weekend.
The state main committee, a kind of small party congress, offered the Union to negotiate a coalition.
The "substantive intersections" between the two parties are "extremely large," said FDP country chief Heiner Garg.
They stand for "progress and reason" and can build on Jamaica.
The FDP had already advertised its role as a junior partner during the election campaign, albeit unsuccessfully: the party lost more than five percentage points and only achieved 6.4 percent.
FDP parliamentary group leader Christoph Vogt now said that the rejection was "a bitter disappointment".
He accused Günther of "a lack of creative will".
"The prime minister has voluntarily waived the extensive implementation of his election program with black and green," he said.
The FDP man does not seem to have any hope that Black-Green will still fail: “We will quickly assume the opposition role.”