Union after election victory: Attack on the Chancellor

The Union is using its election success to sharply criticize the Chancellor. Things cannot continue like this, said party leader Merz. General Secretary Linnemann called on Olaf Scholz to ask for a vote of confidence. The SPD does not want to look for scapegoats.

Smiling faces in the Union despite a result that was only slightly better than in the last election in 2019. Party leader Friedrich Merz spoke of a “good day for the Union”. The result was a “disaster for the traffic light parties”. Things cannot continue like this, said Merz to cheers from supporters.

It was a serious election defeat, especially for the Chancellor, said Merz. “This result must give the federal government something to think about. A change in policy is needed in Germany.” For the traffic light coalition, it was the last warning. “They are damaging our country with the policies they are pursuing.”

“The Chancellor’s party has 14 percent, we have more than twice as much,” said Secretary General Carsten Linnemann. Chancellor Olaf Scholz cannot continue like this. “He should actually ask the vote of confidence in the Bundestag,” said Linnemann. “What we are experiencing is disastrous. Either the traffic light coalition changes course or it has to clear the way for new elections,” he said on ZDF. He called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to ask the vote of confidence.

The vote of confidence allows the Federal Chancellor to ensure that he still has the approval of the majority of members of the Bundestag. If the motion does not receive the approval of the majority, the Federal President can dissolve the Bundestag at the suggestion of the Federal Chancellor and new elections will be held.

In Munich, Manfred Weber, the CSU’s top candidate in the European elections, was pleased with the strong result for his party. His party leader Markus Söder also viewed the result as a clear vote against the federal government. “The traffic light coalition has de facto been voted out by the citizens,” said Söder. The SPD, Greens and FDP together have lost almost a quarter of their voters. “The half-life of the traffic light coalition is a maximum of one year,” he believes. Then the “scare” must be over.

AfD: Even stronger, despite the scandals

The AfD is cheering. Party leader Tino Chrupalla spoke of a “historic” result. Today there is reason to celebrate. Chrupalla told ZDF that they can now take stronger action against “Ursula von der Leyen’s wrong policies.”

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel was also satisfied. She said the reason for the good result was a Eurosceptic attitude among the population. Weidel spoke of a “bumpy start to the election campaign”. But her party then had a good final spurt. Allegations against her two top candidates Maximilian Krah and Petr Bystron would “evaporate into thin air”. She left open whether the two would accept their mandates. A decision on that would be made on Monday. Both had made headlines because of possible connections to pro-Russian networks, and in Krah’s case there are also possible connections to China.

With the BSW, the AfD had new competition in the European elections. Many people had expected that this would result in a weaker result for the AfD. But that is not what it looks like.

SPD: Disappointment in the Chancellor’s party

Long faces in the Willy Brandt House: Despite a weak result in 2019, the party is still going downhill. “This is a bitter election result,” said General Secretary Kevin Kühnert. He spoke of a “hard defeat.” Now we have to look for mistakes. He left open whether there will be personnel consequences: “The SPD is not looking for scapegoats.”

Kühnert rejected a discussion about Chancellor Olaf Scholz. His party now faces a double challenge: on the one hand, reaching agreement in the traffic light coalition, and on the other hand, raising the party’s profile. This is a “political and communicative challenge.” He promised his supporters: “We will be back.”

SPD leader Lars Klingbeil spoke of a “bitter defeat”. “There is no sugarcoating it,” he said in his initial reaction. They will now examine how this result could have come about. “I think it is crystal clear that things have to change.”

The SPD, Greens and FDP are currently negotiating the 2025 budget. There is disagreement about the future political direction: While the FDP wants to stick to the debt brake and has set savings targets for the ministries, the other two parties are against a tough austerity course. The federal cabinet plans to present the draft budget on July 3.

Greens see task for traffic lights

For the Greens, party leader Ricarda Lang was critical of the election outcome: her party could not be satisfied with the result. “That is not the expectation we went into this election with, and we will work through it together,” said Lang.

Green Party leader Omid Nouripour viewed the election result as a mandate for the traffic light coalition. The coalition must put forward the good policies it is pursuing. “And we must deliver,” he stressed, explicitly mentioning the 2025 federal budget.

Green European politician Anton Hofreiter advised his party to take action: Nominating its own candidate for chancellor in next year’s federal election only makes sense if there is a realistic chance of winning the election,” he told the newspapers of the Funke Media Group. “After today’s result, we have to think carefully about whether that is the case.”

BSW sees itself as the “European champion of hearts”

The new party Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) won many votes, especially in East Germany. The party’s namesake was delighted with the result. “This is fantastic,” said Sahra Wagenknecht in the ARD election studioShe criticized the “uncontrolled migration” in Germany, which is putting too much strain on the housing market. “It is mainly the poorer people who suffer from this,” she said. “That is not right,” added Wagenknecht.

She said she was proud to have achieved such a result straight away. She once again called for negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

BSW’s top candidate Fabio De Masi was also cheering. “Tonight we are something like the European champions of hearts,” said De Masi in the ARD. The result should be rated even higher, since the interest in the European elections among BSW voters was rather below average.

“Good news” for the FDP

The FDP’s top candidate for the European elections, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, is satisfied with the result for her party. It is good news that it was a stable five percent.

Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai said – with an obvious reference to the situation in the traffic light coalition – that the general conditions were not easy. He said of the result: “I am relieved.”