Lower Saxony election: This is how Lindner could readjust the traffic light course

Lower Saxony election
So Lindner could readjust the traffic light course

After the Lower Saxony elections with successes for the SPD and the Greens and a debacle for the FDP, leading politicians swear by traffic lights that there should be cohesion in the coalition. At the same time, differences in content, for example in nuclear policy, are emerging again. It is feared that the Liberals, after four consecutive defeats in state elections, will make a stronger impression at the expense of the SPD and the Greens and will defend their positions more vehemently.

FDP leader Christian Lindner decidedly rejected substantive corrections on Monday and emphasized that the challenge would be to “now work out and strengthen” the positions of the FDP. It’s about “how we turn on the position lights of the FDP”. The SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil called on all traffic light partners to unite – despite the election result in Lower Saxony. “The answer to that isn’t that we hit it off, the answer is that we hook our arms.”

That’s how the people of Lower Saxony voted

Despite losses, the SPD of the incumbent Prime Minister Stephan Weil emerged as the clear winner from the state elections on Sunday with 33.4 percent of the votes. The Greens rose sharply to 14.5 percent. The FDP flew out of the state parliament with 4.7 percent. With 28.1 percent, the CDU had its worst state result in more than 60 years and came in second place. The AfD made strong gains, gaining 10.9 percent. With 2.7 percent, the left did not make it into the state parliament either. After five years of the SPD/CDU coalition, the signs in Hanover are now red-green.

From Lindner’s point of view, the outcome of the election poses a problem for the entire coalition in Berlin. “The traffic light as a whole has lost its legitimacy.” The losses of the SPD and FDP would not be offset by the gains of the Greens. In this respect, the traffic light must face the challenge of gaining more support for its policy. Lindner therefore questioned the previous course: “From our point of view, we have to rethink the balance between social equality, ecological responsibility and economic reason so that the traffic light can work again overall.”

Greens are ready to talk

Green boss Omid Nouripour was ready to talk. “If you think that certain things need to be readjusted, we have to talk about it, of course,” he said of the Free Democrats’ demand. “If the FDP needs advice: We are ready.” In a coalition, it goes without saying that you can talk to each other. At the same time, Nouripour made it clear that he had not understood Lindner that the future of the coalition was hanging in the balance.

Klingbeil explained that the challenges the coalition is facing as a result of the Ukraine war must now be dealt with “in a very concentrated and focused manner”. The SPD leader called for an end to the open dispute in the coalition. One must return to the spirit of the coalition negotiations, which were characterized by a common departure.

However, the fact that the traffic light partners will now work together more quietly and harmoniously than in the past few months is not taken for granted. There are many areas of conflict:

atomic energy

Because of the energy shortage as a result of the Ukraine war, the FDP – in unison with the Union – insists that the three remaining nuclear power plants continue to operate. “It’s not politics, it’s physics,” said Lindner – and Klingbeil immediately countered. He referred to the proposals by Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), according to which only the two south German kilns should continue to run in a so-called stretching operation until April. “I’m assuming that the government will now decide so.” Nouripour also made it clear: An extension of the term is “not a construction site for us”.

Relief for citizens and companies

Aid with the watering can or targeted only for those most in need – the coalition partners were not in agreement even before the election. Now the dispute is likely to come to a head, because the FDP will want to get even more out of it for its target group. The Greens and to some extent also the SPD, on the other hand, are of the opinion that higher earners and wealthy entrepreneurs can also partly handle high gas prices themselves. The question of social balance is likely to come up as early as the gas price brake. There is a proposal to treat the state rebate in the tax return as a pecuniary benefit in order to incorporate a social graduation. For Lindner as finance minister, that would mean additional income – as party leader, but possibly also disappointed FDP voters.

debt brake

The return to compliance with the debt brake and a federal budget with almost no new debt is Lindner’s prestige project as finance minister. But he is almost alone in this. Leading SPD politicians, such as Chairwoman Saskia Esken, questioned the regulation enshrined in the Basic Law shortly after the start of the Ukraine war. From the point of view of the Greens, the debt brake should be suspended again in the coming year. But that would be an enormous loss of face for Lindner and should not go down well with the FDP supporters either.

Corona strategy

Corona politics hardly plays a role at the moment – but that should change quickly if the feared autumn and winter wave should actually roll over the country. In the past there was enormous friction in this field between the cautious SPD Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and FDP Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, the advocate of a relaxed pandemic policy with as few restrictions as possible.

So will the FDP be more focused on riots in the future? In any case, the CDU chairman Friedrich Merz is certain: “It will now also be more difficult in the federal government with the FDP, no question.” Perhaps it was this realization that made Merz’s own party’s disaster on Sunday a little more bearable. “It’s a setback,” he admitted. “But we’re not discouraged here at all.”

dpa