Bumpy mayoral election
“False start” and “fiasco”: Is the Berlin GroKo already knocked out? The press reviews
Kai Wegner (CDU), Berlin’s new governing mayor, and his predecessor Franziska Giffey (SPD)
© Sean Gallup / Getty Images
The CDU and SPD have finished forming a government in Berlin – but the cooperation begins with extreme turbulence. That doesn’t bode well for the stability of the grand coalition, commentators say.
The CDU politician Kai Wegner is the new governing mayor of Berlin – but only after an election crime of several hours in the House of Representatives (the star reported). The 50-year-old failed to win a majority twice on Thursday, although the CDU and its new coalition partner, the SPD, have enough mandates. In the third ballot, the AfD declared its support for Wegner. How many AfD MPs voted for the CDU man remained open. But there was fierce criticism from the Greens and the Left, among others.
Commentators rate the bumpy mayoral election as a “botched start” (“taz”) and a “false start” (“Rheinische Post”) for the grand coalition, which is facing major challenges in Berlin. The media echo.
“It wasn’t advertising for Berlin”
“New Osnabrück Newspaper”: “Many voted for the CDU because they wanted to show the red-red-green Senate the red card after the messed-up state election without political consequences. Wegner promised them a real new start. It will be even more complicated to enforce it after this false start.”
“Stuttgart Newspaper”: “The new Governing Mayor Kai Wegner has only achieved the necessary majority in the third attempt. This reveals three things: firstly, how hostile the new alliance partners of the CDU and SPD are; secondly, how much the authority of the SPD leader Franziska Giffey has evaporated and Thirdly, how the frustrated comrades lost the last bit of state responsibility. They even risked that their government would now have to live with the odium of being supported by the AfD.”
“Rheinische Post” (Düsseldorf): “For Wegner it’s a classic false start, for Berlin it was initially the continuation of a drama. First the election to the House of Representatives had to be repeated, then the candidate for the office of governor lacked a majority. Whoever was in the rest of the Republic thought that they couldn’t get anything done on the Spree, no airport, no decent elections, no functioning administration, could once again feel confirmed it wasn’t.”
“taz” (Berlin): “This botched start will make it even more difficult for the new CDU head of government to tackle Berlin’s many problems, especially since the next election will take place in just over three years. There is a cross-party consensus on the major challenges (…) But if If a coalition is so unstable so early on, it cannot hope for any concessions from other parties – for example in negotiations between the Senate and the district level – and at the same time must always fear for its own majority.”
“Daily Mirror” (Berlin): “The close election of Wegner expresses a lot of disappointment, anger and anger from within our own ranks. That can be even more dangerous for Wegner in the future than the fickle SPD. The fact that the AfD now also boasts of having put the capital’s governing mayor into office makes things even more of a burden for Kai Wegner. It doesn’t matter whether the AfD votes were decisive or whether the AfD’s announcement that it would help Wegner gain a majority disciplined the coalition. It’s more than embarrassing.”
“Southgerman newspaper” (Munich): “How is anyone supposed to find majorities for tricky decisions if he hasn’t had more than a dozen politicians from the coalition camp on his side from the start? This fiasco demonstrates not for the first time that fine words and praise from political leaders are not the decisive currency. (…) So this day is also a fiasco for the capital, which so badly needs a determined and successful Senate.”
“The world” (Berlin): “The new government in the capital is starting, as the old one ended, with a disgrace. The fact that the head of government needed three rounds of voting shows the state of an SPD, which actually belongs in the opposition. Ironically, the damaged Kai Wegner now has to save the renovation of Berlin .”