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The German Social Democrats were clearly overtaken by the Conservatives in a key region of northern Rhine-Westphalia to elect its parliament on Sunday.
This election marks another defeat for Olaf Scholes, whose reputation has been tarnished by his reluctance to surrender his will and heavy weapons to Kiev in the Ukrainian conflict.
REUTERS
Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party SPD, more clearly than the CDU’s Conservatives in North Rhine-Westphalia, suffered a major defeat in Sunday’s election to parliament in this densely populated area of Germany. The formation of the president, who has been criticized for his discretion in the Ukrainian crisis, will garner only 28% of the vote against the Christian Democratic Party (CDU), which has been in charge of the region since 2017. Public channels are ARD and ZDF. This is the SPD’s worst result in a region that has long been a stronghold of social democracy.
About 13 million voters were invited to vote on this land, which is the most populous and industrially overweight land in the country. This election, nicknamed the “Small General Election” in Germany, was full of political lessons. This is even more so since the SPD was already defeated another week ago (north) in Schleswig-Holstein.
Greens, Kingmakers
We can hope that the Social Democrats will still associate themselves with the Greens at the federal level, with 18% and much stronger progress. Environmental activists, driven by the popularity of their government ministers, appear to be the kingmakers of this election. The CDU, the party of former President Angela Merkel, cannot renew its regional alliance with the Liberals of the FDP, which has fallen 7 points to 5.5% in five years.
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert has come out in support of talks with the Greens to build an alliance similar to that of Germany. But given the scale of SPD’s defeat, it appears he can not pretend to lead the region. Conservative Jens Spann, the former health minister in the Angela Merkel government, responded that the SPD “suffered a major defeat in the election.” For a party that claims to rule after such “bad historical decisions”, according to him, “there is nothing we can do.”
CDU rubs its hands
This election marks another defeat for Olaf Scholz, whose party lost another ballot a week ago and his reputation has been tarnished by his willingness to give up heavy weapons to kyiv in the Ukrainian conflict. In government, Chancellor and Social Democrat ministers have been elevated by environmental activists, especially Vice Chancellor Robert Hebeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Barbach, who have emerged as Germans’ favorite political figures. Meanwhile, SPD Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has been the target of criticism and resignation for making a private trip with her son in a military helicopter.
“The stakes in the election are high,” the weekly magazine “Der Spiegel” insists, “whoever rules here will say it automatically at the federal level.” Sunday’s election, on the other hand, is a cause for optimism for the CDU, which has been in opposition again since the end of 2021 after sixteen years of Angela Merkel’s rule. Led by a new leader, the far-right Frederick Mers, the Christian Democrats can hope to retaliate in 2025 and regain the presidency if the current president’s difficulties continue.
(AFP)