State elections in Lower Saxony
How Friedrich Merz gave himself a little reminder
Friedrich Merz, party leader of the CDU and Union faction leader
© Michael Kappeler / DPA
CDU party leader Friedrich Merz wanted to jazz up the state elections in Lower Saxony into a small federal election. This plan has evidently backfired.
Friedrich Merz has already drawn the first conclusions from the damned state elections in Lower Saxony: Stefan Hennewig, the party’s national director, has to vacate his post. He is said to have lacked clout in the recent campaigns, it was said as a reason “The Pioneers”. Merz contradicts this representation. Either way, the change in personnel should not be enough to adequately take care of this election result. Assuming Merz’ slogan from the election campaign is still valid.
Small federal elections in Lower Saxony
Because what was actually intended as a memo for the federal government in Berlin can now be read as a sensitive blow to the Christian Democrats’ office. Merz, chairman of the CDU and the Union faction, obviously wanted to jazz up the last state election this year (with 6.1 million voters) to a small federal election.
A second vote for the CDU in Lower Saxony is also a second vote for the CDU throughout Germany, said Merz in the final sprint of the election campaign. In other words: Anyone who is dissatisfied with the work of the traffic light should check the CDU. A self-confident announcement, apparently based on the comfortable poll numbers at federal level.
Now it is clear: the CDU in Lower Saxony could not benefit from the growing resentment towards the traffic light. With 28.1 percent of the vote, the Christian Democrats did the worst they have done in almost 70 years.
And suddenly the result can no longer be associated with federal politics, but “primarily a result of state politics”, as Merz explained after the election and thus raised many a question mark.
Now it is not uncommon for parties to try to reinterpret unwelcome election results. And indeed, the old and new Prime Minister may have been a key factor in the SPD’s election victory. Stephen Weil is popular, the country satisfied with its administration – while the Chancellor’s party at the federal level has lost a lot of Wumms. If there had actually been a federal election instead of a state election on Sunday, the SPD to only 18 percent came.
But of course that cannot hide the fact that the federal party under Merz’s aegis should also have its part in the irreconcilable end of this super election year.
A damper for CDU party leader Friedrich Merz
Rarely has a state election been so shaped by federal political issues as this one. Despite all national political disputes especially energy and supply security as well as rising prices and costs determined the fight for votes as a result of the Ukraine war. In this respect, the vote was also one on federal policy, which is primarily responsible for crisis management, albeit not only.
Merz had beaten the campaign drum several times in the past few weeks and attended numerous events in Lower Saxony. Apparently with limited success. Instead, the party leader made headlines when he accused Ukrainian refugees of “social tourism” or a Gender debate at Markus Lanz broke from the fence.
In addition, the Christian Democrats have obviously not succeeded in presenting themselves across national borders as a profitable counter-proposal to the traffic light parties, which party leader Merz repeatedly takes harshly, but does not counter with sufficient substance. the CDU in Lower Saxony lost voters to all other partieswith the FDP as the only exception.
For the CDU in general and Friedrich Merz in particular, the Lower Saxony elections represent an irreconcilable end to this super election year. Although they were able to achieve two notable victories in Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia, they had to give up government business in Saarland – the same fate is in store with high probability also in Lower Saxony.