Despite strong headwinds in society on issues such as agriculture or heating, despite the difficult state elections and poll numbers – Bavaria’s Greens have a membership record. Last year the mark of 20,000 members was broken, currently there are 20,150. For comparison: in 2018, according to the party, there were around 11,500. This makes them the second strongest association nationwide, behind North Rhine-Westphalia and ahead of Baden-Württemberg, where the party the Prime Minister. State leaders Eva Lettenbauer and Thomas von Sarnowski announced this on Friday at the start of the year. The Greens are the third largest party in Bavaria, well behind the CSU and the SPD, but well ahead of the AfD and the Free Voters. Lettenbauer spoke of a “pound”, the party is “growing and thriving”, which has also been evident in the number of local clubs for several years.
At the party conference in Lindau in two weeks, Lettenbauer and Sarnowski will both face opposing candidates. Former state parliament member Gisela Sengl from the Traunstein district calls for more fighting spirit and more understandable language in the countryside, Ludwig Sporrer from Munich calls for better communication on the Internet and an honest analysis of the election results – in view of which “one cannot simply go back to the agenda”. The Greens got 14.4 percent, minus 3.2 points, and are no longer the strongest opposition force in the state parliament. Outside the Munich bastion, entire areas of the country are no longer represented in the faction. In a recent representative survey, the Greens were only estimated at 13 percent.
It was “the second best result in history,” said Sarnowski; under difficult circumstances, the Greens were declared by everyone as the “main opponents”. Lettenbauer also commented on the farmers’ protests. The CSU is exploiting this, she said, which is “sheer mockery”. The CSU had been responsible for agricultural policy for decades and “did the opposite of what agriculture needed”. The recent partial reversal of the subsidy cut by the traffic light is also thanks to “our commitment”.
Lindau is also about the European elections in June. The Bavarian top candidate Andrea Wörle said on Friday that she wanted to “make Europe more democratic, climate-neutral, socially and economically stable.” However, she is only in 16th place on the list. A mandate for her requires a nationwide result of 15 to 16 percent.