SPD remains the strongest force, FDP misses entry into the state parliament

Hanover. Prime Minister Stephan Weil’s SPD clearly won the state elections in Lower Saxony. Although the party lost votes, it was clearly the strongest party after counting all constituencies with 33.4 percent (2017: 36.0 percent). The CDU lost even more and, at 28.1 percent, achieved its worst result in more than 60 years (2017: 33.6 percent). The CDU chairman and former economics minister, Bernd Althusman, announced his withdrawal from the state presidency on Sunday. The FDP was eliminated from the state parliament in Hanover with 4.7 percent of the votes, according to the state election authority after counting all 87 constituencies on the Internet.

With 14.5 percent, the Greens achieved their best result so far in Lower Saxony. They are Weil’s partner of choice for the future governing coalition. The AfD also won strongly and achieved a double-digit result with 10.9 percent.

The election campaign was marked by the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The focus was on the energy crisis and the concerns of many citizens about the high prices for gas, electricity and food. National political issues played a secondary role. Before the election, the SPD and CDU had made it clear that they did not want to continue the coalition they formed rather reluctantly in 2017. Instead, both parties courted the Greens as partners.

“We have the strongest faction in the Lower Saxony state parliament. The voters gave the SPD the government mandate and no one else,” said Weil. In view of the many crises, the election was more of a “covert federal election campaign”. “Now we will have to wait and see how the evening goes, whether it is enough for a red-green government, whether it is not enough.”

Althusmann draws “personal consequences” from the election result

The 63-year-old Weil, who has been prime minister for almost ten years, is now aiming for his third term. There should be initial talks in the coming week in order to be able to present a government at the first session of the new state parliament on November 8th.

According to calculations by ARD and ZDF, the SPD with 57 and the Greens with 24 seats together have an absolute majority. The CDU has 47 seats, followed by the AfD with 18 seats.

The CDU chairman Althusmann admitted his failure at the second attempt for the office of prime minister. “I will propose to the state board tomorrow that I am no longer available for the next office of state chairman. That is my personal consequence of this election result,” said the former Economics Minister. A decision will be made shortly on the further procedure. The CDU state board will meet on Monday at 5 p.m. Althusmann proposed a state party conference at which the state chairman should be re-elected after the autumn holidays. CDU faction leader Dirk Toepffer also announced his resignation.

Because could even replace Ernst Albrecht as the head of government with the longest term in Lower Saxony. During the election campaign, he presented himself to unsettled voters as an experienced crisis manager with a close connection to Chancellor Olaf Scholz. In the election campaign, the state SPD relied heavily on Weil’s high popularity ratings, especially in comparison to Althusmann. “The number one success factor for the SPD is Stephan Weil,” wrote the research group Wahlen.

The Greens want to take over government responsibility in the country again, said their top candidate Julia Willie Hamburg. “We will do everything we can to reshape Lower Saxony for the next five years as a Green and to make it fit for the future.” From 2013, Weil had led a red-green alliance that was based on a majority of only one vote and failed in 2017 due to a Green dissenter .

FDP top candidate Stefan Birkner hoped in vain on Sunday evening that his party would remain in the state parliament. The FDP general secretary in the country, Konstantin Kuhle, saw the influence of federal politics as the reason for the poor performance. “That’s because the FDP is in a government alliance with two left-wing parties.” Similarly, party leader Christian Lindner said the FDP was paying a price for participating in the traffic light in Berlin.

State election Lower Saxony 2022 – the result:

Lower Saxony state election 2022: gains and losses

State election Lower Saxony 2022: Which coalitions are possible?

Lower Saxony state election 2022: Distribution of seats in the state parliament

The failure of the FDP at the five percent hurdle should not be beneficial for the coalition peace in Berlin, it could increase the riot factor, especially between the Liberals and the Greens – especially with a view to a possible escalation of the energy crisis in winter, possible further relief measures, the Dispute over nuclear power and the debt brake.

The AfD top candidate Stefan Marzischewski-Drewes saw his success as a reaction to mistakes made by the traffic light coalition in the smoldering energy crisis. “We deal with the facts, free of ideology. In the current energy crisis, the question is not whether nuclear energy is safe or unsafe, it is about preventing the blackout. People understood that,” said Marzischewski-Drewes on ARD. In this election campaign, the AfD “clearly won new groups of voters” and permanently established itself in double digits in the West.

Almost 6.1 million eligible voters were able to cast their votes. 21 parties stood for election. There were 756 candidates in 87 constituencies, around a third of whom were women. Only in May 2023 will there be elections again in a federal state – in Bremen. The next major elections will take place in Bavaria and Hesse in autumn 2023.

RND/jst/dpa