Berlin Maike Schaefer makes no secret of what concerns Bremen’s citizens ahead of the state elections on Sunday. The top candidate of the Greens told the Handelsblatt that one is primarily confronted with questions about the heating exchange policy in the federal government. “The heat pump is currently one of the most common topics.”
People are unsettled. “Many think that they will have to replace their heating from January 1, 2024.” That is of course not the case. “So we do a lot of educational work.”
Schaefer is currently Senator for the Environment, Transport and Building Department.
She is convinced that the debates about the controversial draft law to switch to heating with non-fossil energy did not help the Greens in Bremen in the election campaign – similar to the recent allegations of alleged nepotism in the Ministry of Economic Affairs of her party colleague Robert Habeck.
After a series of state election successes, the party in Germany’s smallest federal state is facing severe losses. When the election was repeated in Berlin in February, the party was able to secure its good result from 2021, almost doubling the result in Lower Saxony and even tripling it in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In Bremen, on the other hand, the Greens are between twelve and 13 percent, depending on the survey institute, while they landed at 17.4 percent in 2019. They are facing their worst result in 20 years. “All parties are dependent on the federal trend,” says Schaefer. “So I’m counting on the debates in Berlin having an impact on voting behavior in Bremen.”
Communication “not optimal”
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Construction worked together on the draft law to switch to heating with non-fossil energy; the plans come largely from the green-led Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Habeck has emphasized that he wants to stick with Graichen.
(Photo: IMAGO/photothek)
According to Schaefer, the communication about the newly planned rules “did not go optimally”. The law is correct, but it has caused great uncertainty. “You should have explained immediately how people are supported with funding programs.”
“The state elections in Bremen are a mood test for the Greens,” political expert Thomas Poguntke told the Handelsblatt. “The strong headwind that the traffic light coalition is currently receiving will have an impact on the result.”
This was also recently shown in the polls of Habeck, who is more unpopular than ever during his tenure. Only 30 percent were satisfied with the minister’s work in the ARD Germany trend.
Planned heating law was “poorly made in terms of craftsmanship”
In January, on the other hand, it was 44 percent, and Habeck was the second most popular politician in the republic behind Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. According to Poguntke, the planned heating law and the dispute in the traffic light coalition also have a part to play. The law was poorly crafted, he said. “They will most likely get the receipt for this in Bremen.”
But also state political issues complicate the election campaign of the Greens. The party is traditionally strong in Bremen and has been part of the state government in an alliance with the SPD since 2007 – most recently in a three-party coalition with the left.
Top candidate Schaefer points to great successes in housing construction and an extensive climate package. Kassem Taher Saleh, member of the Greens in the Bundestag, praises Bremen as “the most bicycle-friendly city in Germany”. The Bremen Greens, he advises, “must emphasize their national successes in the last meters before the election”. Unfortunately, there is currently “a lot of headwind for alliance-green politics”.
With this, Taher Saleh is also alluding to the criticism of the heating plans and the debates about the Green Economics Minister and his State Secretary, which are badly affecting the Greens’ reputation. But critics also accuse the Greens in Bremen of making transport policy decisions that are a nuisance for many people.
>> Read more: Follow all current developments in the energy crisis in the news blog
Most recently, Transport Senator Schaefer abolished the so-called roll button, which allowed drivers to park for 20 minutes in the city center free of charge. Schaefer himself is therefore not without controversy in the Greens state association. Their political future is considered uncertain if the outcome is bad.
Habeck wants to hold on to Graichen
Despite these Bremen-specific issues, the Greens leadership in the federal government will find it difficult to sugarcoat the result on Sunday evening after significant losses. The party is threatened with a heated debate about mistakes in recent weeks, which Habeck cannot escape either.
The Economics Minister had to take a lot of criticism for his heating plans and the affair surrounding his State Secretary Patrick Graichen.
(Photo: IMAGO/Political Moments)
“A liberation is needed so that the economics minister can work his way out of the defensive – for example by dismissing Graichen,” says political expert Poguntke. “Habeck has shown in the past that he can also correct mistakes if necessary.”
It doesn’t look like that at the moment. On the contrary: Habeck has emphasized that he wants to stick to Graichen. In the case of the Greens, the feeling of being misunderstood seems to predominate. Habeck himself admits that mistakes were made in filling the top post at the German Energy Agency, but he also speaks of a “wild debate” and other Green politicians of “campaigns against climate protection”.
>> Read more: An interview with the leader of the Greens – Omid Nouripour sees his party making mistakes in the dispute over heating replacement
The Greens are also threatened with adversity in the local elections on Sunday in Schleswig-Holstein. The reason is the dispute within the traffic light coalition about a faster expansion of the Autobahn 23 in northern Germany.
More: Habeck sticks to Patrick Graichen despite the best man affair