As of: 09/27/2021 6:06 a.m.
For a long time it looked like a sensation in Berlin, but in the end the SPD ended up in front of the Greens in the election for the House of Representatives. The CDU again achieved one of its worst results, the AfD loses significantly.
The SPD and the Greens fought a tight race for leadership in the election for the Berlin House of Representatives. Green top candidate Bettina Jarasch sniffed a sensation in the first forecasts, because for the first time the office of the governing mayor seemed within reach for her party. Then, in the course of the evening, the SPD pushed forward with top candidate Franziska Giffey in projections. She could follow her party colleague Michael Müller, who did not run again to switch to federal politics.
According to the official result, the SPD finally achieved 21.4 percent, while the Greens were 2.5 points behind with 18.9 percent. For the SPD, this is a slight gain compared to 2016, the Greens made significant gains. Your previous partner, Left, came to 14.0 percent – that is a slight loss compared to the 2016 election.
CDU, FDP and AfD beaten
The CDU again achieved one of the worst results of the post-war period and received 18.1 percent of the vote. The FDP came in the extrapolations to almost 7.2 percent, about as much as 2016. The AfD lost significantly and landed at 8.0 percent.
In 2016, the SPD won the election to the House of Representatives with 21.6 percent of the second vote – its worst result in Berlin since 1946. The CDU then achieved 17.6 percent. The left came to 15.6 percent five years ago, the Greens to 15.2 percent. The AfD had moved into the House of Representatives for the first time with 14.2 percent, the FDP managed 6.7 percent. The Berlin state parliament consists of at least 130 members, currently there are 160 due to overhang and compensatory mandates.
Red-red-green could go on
Together, the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party would have a solid majority in favor of a continuation of the Red-Red-Green. “We have a head-to-head race between the SPD and the Greens, which means that there is a clear vote for the SPD and the Greens, we have to deal with that,” Giffey told the Phoenix broadcaster in the evening. One will also speak to all other parties, but the will of the voters is clear. Green top candidate Jarasch said she wanted to hold on to a “progressive government alliance” with the SPD and the left. “We started a lot of things in this red-red-green coalition that people think are good,” said Jarasch. “That’s why I said from the start that I would like to continue this progressive coalition, but under green leadership.”
Other tripartite alliances are also conceivable. CDU top candidate Kai Wegner said in various interviews that his party had started to end red-red-green. FDP top candidate Sebastian Czaja confirmed his willingness to speak to all parties except for the left and AfD.
Delays in some polling stations
Sunday was a super election day in the capital. In addition to the House of Representatives, Berliners could also elect the new Bundestag and twelve new district parliaments. The top topics in the election campaign were rents and housing, transport, climate protection, education and Corona. A referendum was also about whether large housing groups should be expropriated. The initiators of the referendum were able to gather a majority of the votes behind them. However, the vote is not legally binding for politicians. Nevertheless, the new Senate and the newly elected House of Representatives will have to deal with it. Around 2.45 million people were eligible to vote in Berlin.
The voting was overshadowed by mishaps. Some ballot papers were missing. The Berlin marathon caused delays. Sometimes long queues formed, waiting times were up to two hours. Some polling stations stayed open longer. Some were still voting while the election forecasts were already running on television. The Federal Returning Officer requested a “detailed report” on the breakdowns.