analysis
CDU leader Merz’s consideration of the possibility of a black-green coalition has provoked clear criticism in the Union. What is behind the considerations? And what do the Greens say about that?
For Green Party co-chair Riccarda Lang, the matter is clear – a coalition with the CDU and CSU in the federal government is definitely an option for her. It’s not surprising that she says this, because it’s not unlikely that the Union will win the next federal election and become chancellor if all the polls aren’t turned upside down.
The Greens would then have the choice: black-green or opposition. But – to paraphrase Franz Müntefering – opposition is, as we all know, rubbish.
CSU remains true to its line
What’s also bad for the Greens is that some in the Union have developed a Greens allergy with a rash. Especially in the CSU. It is Secretary General Martin Huber who reacts violently when he only thinks about black and green. “The Greens are primarily responsible for the bad mood in the country,” he says. “They are a party driven by ideology. Anyone who stands for the heating law, for the asylum blockade, for the ban on meat cannot be a partner for us.”
Huber remains true to his line. The CSU has been stirring up sentiment against the Greens for months, polemicizing and polarizing, sometimes with false claims. There is just as little a meat ban as there is a “gender compulsion”, but that’s just a catch. The CSU sound picks up on a mood that has spread: the Greens are considered a banned party, labeled as such, dismissed and rejected as coalition partners.
From the main opponent Coalition partner?
CDU leader Friedrich Merz saw it similarly. A few months ago he declared the Greens to be the main opponents in the traffic light government and gave them a clear rejection of the coalition in the Bavarian beer tent: “These Greens cannot be a coalition partner for the Union if they refuse reality the way they do, especially in immigration policy do.”
But five months later it sounds different. Merz corrected himself a few days ago. Although he is not seeking a coalition with them, he is not ruling them out either. That alone is enough to make some people in the Union angry – the Junge Union, but especially the CSU.
In Bavaria, Markus Söder finally declared the Greens an enemy and spoke of “green forced veganization” and the like during the election campaign. And now they should suddenly be able to be coalition partners? Even the CSU boss, who is otherwise known for quickly adapting his opinion to current circumstances, finds it difficult to bend this far.
Just don’t rule anything out
The CDU looks at the coalition question differently. Just don’t rule anything out and commit yourself, they say. Who will be left if the FDP stagnates at a shrinking level or is not re-elected to the Bundestag? Only the SPD. And that massively restricts possible coalition negotiations. The CDU also governs with the Greens in five federal states, including North Rhine-Westphalia.
Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst calls them a reliable coalition partner and is fundamentally of the opinion that democrats must always be able to “at least sit down together and see whether they can fulfill a government mandate.”
Anke Erdmann, the state chairwoman of the Green Party in Schleswig-Holstein, also sees it this way. She thinks it’s good when the Union at the federal level is open to what works quietly in some federal states: black-green or a three-party coalition with the Greens.
Erdmann invites Friedrich Merz to Kiel to take a look at the black and green model. Nobody has yet to answer the question of who the Union wants to start coalition negotiations with in the federal government – but the debate about it is likely to be a foretaste of how difficult that could be.