Tomorrow (Sunday) a historic event will take place in Germany: for the first time in the history of the Federal Republic, repeat elections will be held for the House of Representatives, after the results of the previous elections were recognized by the court as invalid due to failures in their organization and conduct.
This unprecedented failure happened precisely in the capital Berlin - a city to which moving is a dream for many Israelis.
The September 2021 elections for the city senate, a district state in its own right, were marked by large-scale irregularities, including invalid ballots, a shortage of ballots and excessively long lines at polling stations.
Following this, last November the District Constitutional Court announced the annulment of the election results and the holding of new elections.
Election voting form.
Repeat elections - an unprecedented event in the German Republic, photo: AFP
In the canceled elections, the Social Democratic Party, which has been ruling the city for about 22 years, won again.
However, the polls of the last few weeks point to the possibility of a change: for the first time in two decades, the Christian Democratic Conservative Party is leading the race for mayor of Berlin.
But only an unequivocal victory of the conservatives at the polls will pave the way for political change in the German capital, since the three left-wing parties - the Social Democrats, the "Greens" and the radical left-wing party "De Linka", which made up the last coalition, may still have a majority that will allow their continued control in the city
It was not only the election organization that failed in Berlin.
The city, which moving to is a dream for many Israelis, suffers from many ills: apartment prices and rents have risen significantly, the Senate's attempts to limit rental prices failed in court, the municipal bureaucracy is very ineffective, the city's education and health systems are collapsing, and traffic on the city's roads is becoming congested.
A burnt bus after disturbances in Neuklan neighborhood, on New Year's Eve, photo: AP
But above all of these hovers the horror of crime and violence, which was manifested in a concentrated way last New Year's Eve, when police forces, firefighters and first aid teams were deliberately attacked by young people from an immigrant background.
A survey published last week stated that a third of Berlin residents do not feel that they can walk safely outside their city in the evening and at night.
Kai Wagner at a meeting with conservative supporters in Berlin.
He does not hide his sympathy for Israel, photo: GettyImages
At the headquarters of the conservative party in Berlin, "Konrad Adenauer House", there was euphoria of a battle victory on Friday.
"You can feel in the city a real desire for change," said the conservative candidate for mayor, businessman Kai Wagner (50).
"Berlin is a wonderful city. It is diverse, colorful, people come to it from all over the world. But the authorities there do not function: you have to wait months to get an appointment for registration as residents and for weddings. The procedure of obtaining a birth certificate takes as long as the birth itself, and sometimes longer. The sense of personal security It is the main problem: every minute a crime is registered in Berlin, the police do not get the backing to act. Those who want to keep Berlin open to the world and liberal, need security and a functioning justice system."
Wagner, by the way, does not hide his support for Israel, which can be overwhelming in a city where a large population of Arab and Muslim immigrants live.
After the anti-Israel demonstrations, which took place in Berlin following Operation Wall Guardian, Wagner demanded from all factions in the Berlin Senate to express solidarity with Israel, "since our special relationship with Israel is not a matter of party affiliation, but of the way we see ourselves as Berliners and as Germans."
Gipay, the incumbent mayor.
Emphasizes the "togetherness", photo: Reuters
Standing in front of him is the current mayor of Berlin, Francesca Gipay, who won the position in the canceled elections.
Gipay received a boost last week from a member of her party, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz.
Gipay (44), born in Frankfurt, served as Minister for Family Affairs, Pensioners, Women and Youth in the last Merkel government, from which she was forced to resign following accusations of plagiarism in her doctoral thesis, which even led to the denial of her academic degree.
Giffay is the first woman in history to be elected mayor of Berlin.
Her main election message is maintaining the feeling of "togetherness" of all the residents of Berlin, compared to the "division" approach of her conservative opponent.
Giffay, who previously ran one of Berlin's most problematic neighborhoods, Neuklen - the center of organized crime in the city - mainly referred to Wagner's demand to reveal the first names of those arrested following the New Year's riots, in order to be certain of the origin of the rioters.
"It is impossible to deal with the problem, if its nature is not recognized," Wagner explained his demand at the time.
In response, Gipay claimed that he was causing division among the city's residents.
"Became a city at a loss."
A moment in Merzan in the northeast of Berlin, photo: GettyImages
When Berlin came under the control of the Social Democrats in 2001, with the election of Klaus Webreit - the first openly gay man elected to head a capital city in the world - the German capital was "sexy and poor".
"Today it is a city at a loss," says the editor-in-chief of the Berlin daily "Tagsspiegel", Lorenz Marolt (60).
Marolt, a native of Cologne who has lived in Berlin for 40 years, explains: "For years, the Berlin municipality has had great difficulty finding a new slogan for the city, since it is difficult to find a common denominator that will link all the city's neighborhoods. The main issues that will be faced by the voters are: the municipal bureaucracy that is not functioning, the lack of real estate." n, price increases and transportation problems.
"Berlin is still the capital of clubs and culture, but foreigners who want to move here to work in high-tech do not get work visas quickly. Sometimes you have to wait a year and a half until you get a residence visa. The city's administration is very old. Few young people want to work in these positions, and so, when the adults retire , there is a shortage of personnel."
Despite its many problems, Berlin still leans left.
The Social Democrats and the "Greens" in the capital are further from the center than elsewhere in Germany.
Therefore, if he wins, it will be very difficult for Wagner to form a coalition with these two parties.
On the right, he does not have many options: the liberals may not pass the blocking percentage, while "Alternative to Germany", which is expected to grow stronger, is confiscated by the conservatives.
It is not impossible that Berlin will continue to be stuck in its own traffic jam.
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