As of: March 25, 2024, 7:07 a.m
By: Kathrin Braun
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Friedrich Merz is courting the Greens – and is proposing a date for new elections.
For Markus Söder, the CDU leader's fantasies are out of the question.
Munich
– Friedrich Merz will keep September 22nd free in his calendar, just in case.
The CDU party leader has thrown up early federal elections for this day - and is thus bringing new momentum to the discussions about a traffic light break.
In the past few months, the Union has repeatedly brought new elections into play.
With the proposed date, Merz wants to increase the pressure on the federal government again.
“The summer holidays would then be over everywhere and with the state elections in Brandenburg, the day is already an election Sunday,” the CDU leader told the newspapers of the
Funke media group
.
The fact that Merz is already talking so specifically about new elections is something he blames primarily on the Liberals.
“The FDP knows that if it stays in the coalition, it will be thrown out of parliament again in the next federal election,” he says.
“In my opinion, she will therefore not want to go into the election campaign as part of the traffic light.”
How do you feel about the Greens?
While Friedrich Merz (left) suddenly thinks about black and green, Markus Söder blocks the idea.
© Sven Simon/Imago
CDU leader Friedrich Merz finds striking words of praise for the Greens
Merz presents it as if it was only a matter of time before FDP leader Christian Lindner pulls the ripcord.
“The only question is when the Liberals will leave and for what reason.
The people love betrayal, but not the traitor.”
Then Merz noticeably finds words of praise for the Greens.
These are currently causing “great damage” to economic and domestic policy.
But when it comes to foreign policy, he says he has “respect for the Greens.”
“You have undergone a deep transformation.
Robert Habeck was the first to talk about arms deliveries to Ukraine.
The Greens are able to accept realities very quickly, at least in foreign and security policy.”
CSU boss Markus Söder immediately blocks the idea
While Merz is once again openly thinking about black-green politics, CSU leader Markus Söder immediately blocks the idea: “I am against cooperation at the federal level,” he told Bild am
Sonntag
. “I think the Greens have a long history in Germany The Bavarian Prime Minister justifies this primarily with asylum policy.
“For many Germans, migration is the central issue, and then the black-green coalition sends the wrong signal and, to be honest, the wrong coalition,” he explains.
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The issue has been simmering between the two Union party leaders for a long time.
Söder had already spoken out several times clearly against the black-green coalition in the federal government after the next federal election.
Merz, however, did not categorically rule out collaboration with the Greens until February.
The CDU and CIu remain clearly at the top in the survey
His proposed date for new elections should not only be seen as a declaration of love for the Greens - the CDU leader also wants to take advantage of the moment in which the Union is by far the strongest force in surveys.
If elections were held now, the CDU and CSU would together get 30 percent, according to the current “Sunday trend” from the polling institute Insa.
The SPD and the Greens have also caught up.
The Social Democrats received 16 percent of the vote, one percentage point more than in the previous week.
The Greens also improved by one percentage point to 13 percent.
Mercury commentary
Söder angry: Suddenly CDU leader Merz likes the Greens
The FDP, on the other hand, would have to worry about returning to parliament with only five percent.
Above all, there are doubts that the party would really risk new elections.
To do this, the Chancellor would have to ask the Bundestag for a vote of confidence and, if there was a lack of a majority, ask the Federal President to dissolve Parliament.
All three traffic light parties would probably lose votes in new elections compared to the last federal election.
If, as Merz expected, the FDP actually wanted to get out of the traffic lights, a minority government would also be possible: Then the SPD and the Greens would continue to govern without a majority, without the citizens having to go to the polls again.
(Kathrin Braun with dpa/afp)