State election
The CSU and Free Voters want to continue governing in Bavaria
Markus Söder, CSU top candidate and Prime Minister of Bavaria, is likely to be satisfied with the election result. photo
© Peter Kneffel/dpa
As expected, the CSU is ahead in the state elections in Bavaria, but the joy is limited. Prime Minister Söder wants to continue the alliance with the second-placed Free Voters.
The CSU and Free Voters want to Continue to govern together in the state elections in Bavaria. According to projections, the AfD achieved the biggest gains in the vote. The second strongest force will be the Free Voters, who will also win their first direct state election mandates in Germany.
According to the preliminary results published on the Internet, the Christian Socialists under party leader Markus Söder achieved 37.0 percent – that is slightly worse than in 2018 (37.2) and lower than ever in a state election since 1950. The Free Voters win in comparison added over four percentage points to the last election and won 15.8 percent.
Despite the rather weak result, Söder sees a clear government mandate for his CSU. He announced that he wanted to continue the coalition with the Free Voters – but he rejected the Greens. He wants to hold the first discussions this week. Free Voters leader Hubert Aiwanger said they didn’t want to allow any ambiguities to arise, but would rather make things “clear” within a few days.
The AfD recorded even greater gains than the Free Voters with 14.6 percent (2018: 10.2). The parliamentary secretary of their parliamentary group, Bernd Baumann, said that voters know that “the CDU, the Merzens and the Söders are little flags in the wind, and the AfD is the wind.”
Traffic light parties with losses
The parties in the traffic light coalitions in the federal government are all losing support – the Greens are losing the most after their previously very good result: they only get 14.4 percent (17.6). The SPD, which is already traditionally weak in Bavaria, suffers another debacle and only ends up in fifth place with 8.4 percent (9.7). The FDP, which was still represented in the state parliament, failed to pass the five percent hurdle with 3.0 percent (5.1).
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil admitted defeats with a view to the elections in Bavaria and Hesse. Secretary General Kevin Kühnert said the results were also a signal to Berlin. One is not “deaf and blind,” he said. “There is also a message for us in this election result.”
Söder: Needs a strong Prime Minister in Bavaria
However, the CSU under Söder was unable to benefit from the weakness of the traffic light parties – in contrast to the Hessian CDU in the state elections there. When asked about his interest in running for chancellor, he said on ZDF: “With such a strong AfD, we also need a very strong prime minister.” And: “Anything else is out of the question for me.”
He viewed the election results in Bavaria and Hesse as a mandate for a different migration policy. “For me, the consequences – and this is the most important thing of all from this election result – are the national task of turning migration policy around, of a pact against uncontrolled immigration,” he said on ZDF’s “heute journal”.
Free voters with a plus despite the leaflet affair
Despite or because of the affair, Aiwanger and his Free Voters gained an anti-Semitic and inhumane leaflet that was found in the now 52-year-old’s possession when he was at school. At the end of August, his brother was accused of being the author. After a few days, Aiwanger apologized and emphasized that he had never been a Jew-hater. At the same time, however, he went on a counterattack and complained about a political campaign against him. In surveys, the Free Voters then experienced a surge.
Aiwanger received 37.2 percent of the vote in the Landshut constituency in Lower Bavaria, while his party colleague Weigert received 31.6 percent in Neuburg-Schrobenhausen in Upper Bavaria. Both won a direct mandate – a first for the Free Voters nationwide.
Aiwanger now also believes that his party’s entry into the Bundestag is possible. “We will also rock the country in the European elections next year,” he said at his party’s election party in Munich. And if the Free Voters continue to work “diligently” – “then entry into the German Bundestag is possible in 2025.”
In addition to the Aiwanger leaflet affair, all parties also took part in the migration debate before the election. The CSU also presented itself in a decidedly conservative manner and, as in 2018, rediscovered the migration issue that had otherwise been deliberately ignored for a long time. Another election campaign topic was regular criticism of the traffic light coalition made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP in the federal government – especially with regard to the heating law.