The coalition negotiations in Wiesbaden have not yet begun, and the Hessian Social Democrats are already faced with a fundamental task: to prevent the name that their new partner from the CDU came up with from becoming established. Prime Minister Boris Rhein called the desired alliance with the SPD “Christian Social Coalition” on Friday. This was the first irony of the day: the Social Democrats in the state have been in opposition for 24 years; and after their worst election debacle ever, they come back into government as juniors to their decades-long opponent. You will have to negotiate hard in order to at least be visible afterwards – with a partner who seriously wants to establish a term that sounds so much like something else, like Christian Social Union. Boris Rhein has never lacked for cunning.
Hesse: No thanks – about the expulsion of the Greens by Boris Rhein – opinion
