senate
Berlin Senate starts work after a false start
Berlin’s new Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) appoints his predecessor Franziska Giffey (SPD) as Senator for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises. photo
© Annette Riedl/dpa
When the Berlin senators were appointed, everyone was demonstratively in a good mood. The SPD and CDU senators chatted and laughed. But the discussion about the consequences in the SPD continues.
The day after the false start of the CDU/SPD coalition in Berlin, the new Senate began its work. The new Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU), who was only elected on the third attempt, and the ten senators met for their first working session on Friday morning. Then the state secretaries were sworn in. Transfers of office were to take place later in the Senate administrations.
In the afternoon, Wegner wanted to take part in a celebration of the German-Israeli Society to mark Israel’s 75th Independence Day in his new role.
On Thursday, Wegner missed the required absolute majority of votes in the first two ballots: in the first with 71 votes – 15 fewer than the 86 seats of the CDU and SPD – and in the second with 79 votes. In the end, when a simple majority was enough, Wegner finally got 86 votes to 70. There is great resistance to the coalition in the SPD, but not everyone in the CDU is happy either.
Criticism in the SPD continues
On Friday, the SPD prompted further criticism of the leaders around the state chairwoman and outgoing governing mayor Franziska Giffey, who has since taken office as Senator for Economics. “It’s time to take political responsibility,” said Lars Rauchfuss, MP and district chairman, to RBB Inforadio. The SPD must work up two electoral slippers. In addition, a “coalition of executives” has now been agreed, which is “not really wanted” on both sides of the parties. The resistance is greater than expected. Certainly no votes also came from the CDU, said Rauchfuss.
The new urban development and building senator Christian Gaebler (SPD) also emphasized: “I think there will be internal discussions again.” In just four weeks, on May 26th, the divided Berlin SPD will have a party conference. There will certainly be “clarification” again, said Gaebler.
Wegner told the “Tagesspiegel”: “I wished I could be elected in the first ballot. But to be honest, I expected the second. But I haven’t ruled out the possibility of a third.” After the second unsuccessful round of elections, several members of parliament were challenged. “There were individual talks with colleagues from the CDU and SPD, where there were suspicions.” When asked how many CDU MPs were suspected of voting against, Wegner said: “Too many, I think.”
After the election, the AfD announced that around half of its 17 MPs would have voted for Wegner in the end. There has been speculation that the new prime minister may have depended on party support. The Greens and the Left reacted with outrage.
Wegner told RBB: “I think the AfD wants to cause chaos here.” The general secretary of the federal CDU, the Berlin member of the Bundestag Mario Czaja, described the actions of the AfD as a “transparent maneuver” to divide and sow resentment on the broadcaster Welt TV.