Berlin Usually, the day after an election, party leaders try to talk up their own victories and downplay their defeats. But with the SPD and Greens everything was different on Monday after the state elections in Lower Saxony: SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil and Green leader Omid Nouripour were each asked at their press conferences about the performance of another party: the FDP.
Social Democrats and Greens were concerned above all: what does the election debacle of the Liberals mean for the stability of the red-green-yellow alliance in the federal government? After all, Lower Saxony was a new low for the FDP after a series of electoral defeats. The liberals flew with 4.7 percent after almost 20 years from the Lower Saxony state parliament. Many in the party blame the federal traffic light coalition, which is unpopular with the liberal electorate.
Out of sheer self-interest, the SPD had hoped that the Liberals would do reasonably well in Lower Saxony. Because otherwise, the party fears, Lindner’s solo efforts could increase. Klingbeil said he understood the situation of the FDP, the SPD had also gone through such difficult times. However, the SPD leader does not see the traffic light coalition in Berlin in danger after the FDP’s defeat in the elections. “I’m not concerned about the governability of the traffic light or any individual traffic light partner.”
Nouripour also appeased. Internally, there is a good mood in the coalition, it just has to be carried out more, said the Greens leader. And added: “If the FDP wants to readjust, we are ready for talks.”
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That is exactly what FDP leader Christian Lindner had demanded. He sees the government alliance in the federal government under pressure. “The traffic light has lost its legitimacy,” said the Federal Minister of Finance. He pointed out that not only the FDP suffered a painful defeat. The losses of the Social Democrats and Liberals together are greater than the vote gains of the Greens. “Overall, the traffic light is a challenge that we have to face,” said the FDP chairman after a meeting of the party executive committee.
Lindner wants a realignment of the traffic lights
With the warning shot for the entire traffic light, Lindner now called on the coalition partners to realign. From his point of view, the FDP’s “position lights” should become much more visible. A new balance is needed between ecological conversion, social balance and economic reason. Lindner sees the FDP as responsible for the latter.
Already on election night it became clear how deep the frustration among many liberals is. Secretary-General Bijan Djir-Sarai was not the only one who expressed his displeasure at the coalition partners’ never-ending spending requests on Sunday evening. The SPD and the Greens made a name for themselves at the expense of his party, he said, and spoke of the FDP supporters’ ongoing uneasiness with the federal coalition.
The disaster in Hanover also brought back unpleasant memories of the 1990s, when the party under Hans-Dietrich Genscher was only represented in four state parliaments. “If things continue like this, we run the risk of becoming a lady without a abdomen again,” fears a board member. Above all, the medium-sized economy, a core clientele of the FDP, is criminally neglected. The small and medium-sized companies would accuse the FDP of not stepping into the arms of the Green Economics Minister Robert Habeck, for example with the gas price brake, which has since been canceled again. “In the end, not Habeck, but the FDP will be punished for his mistakes,” was the assessment of the situation.
>> Read here: Six lessons from the Lower Saxony elections: comeback for red-green and fear of populists
According to participants, there was broad agreement in the FDP party presidium that the FDP should emphasize and enforce its positions even more at the traffic light. At the same time, however, the question of how far this should go was discussed. Because blockades and constant arguments within the traffic lights would not do the FDP any good either, so the fear.
FDP leader relies on “successful government action”
In any case, Lindner warned his party against panic attacks. “The strengthening of the FDP results from successful government action,” he said. The FDP leader clearly rejected the demand by some liberals to call the traffic light coalition up for grabs if necessary. “I lead the FDP,” was his answer to the question of corresponding statements from the party.
An internal party analysis advises against leaving the coalition. “We must not paint the sails now,” it says there. However, the reason for this lies in purely strategic reasons. The only alternative would be a coalition with the Union and the Greens. The strategists write that the starting position is no better than in the traffic light coalition. In new elections, a black and yellow alliance with Friedrich Merz and Christian Lindner would certainly not be the winner.
The entire FDP leadership fears that threats of a coalition break-up would do even more damage to the party. In the middle of the crisis, hardly anyone would understand that, the liberals would appear like gamblers. “We will continue the good governance in the federal government,” said Lindner. It is about “averting damage to the country”.
The SPD and the Greens heard these words with relief. According to Klingbeil, he does not expect a liberal panic reaction as a result of the election disaster. “The answer is not that we rake each other, but the answer is that we join hands.” The SPD leader called for the open dispute of the past few weeks to end. One must return to the spirit of the coalition negotiations, which were characterized by a common departure. “That’s what’s best for this country in the end if the government works together properly, and that’s why I expect that.”
The cooperation is trusting and focused, emphasized Green leader Nouripour. He does not assume that the FDP of the coalition will now “throw a spanner in the works”. A scenario in which the Liberals leave the coalition is “not desirable – not at all in times like this”.
But in addition to the official statements, critical voices can also be heard. Some Greens are upset that Lindner is blaming the traffic light coalition for the defeat in Lower Saxony. The FDP has prevailed in the coalition alliance on many issues – such as corona policy and the debt brake. “The traffic light is not a failure, but parts of the FDP,” says a Green.
In the SPD, too, one finds that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has shown a lot of consideration for the liberal coalition partner in recent weeks – some in the SPD say too much. They believe that further concessions to the Liberals are hardly possible.
Conflict over nuclear power remains unresolved
And Green leader Nouripour just wanted to say where the liberals will not accommodate. He again rejected the demands of the FDP to give up the no to an extension of the lifetime of the nuclear power plants. “Term extension is not an option,” Nouripour said. In the traffic light coalition, an operational reserve for the two nuclear power plants Isar II and Neckarwestheim until spring 2023 was agreed to stabilize the power grid. “That’s what we hope to get going together very soon,” Nouripour said.
Lindner did not explain exactly how the FDP intends to assert its concerns in the traffic light coalition in the face of this resistance. This will be discussed. “We take our time,” said Lindner. At the same time, he repeated the demand to let the nuclear power plants run longer during the energy crisis. “The FDP does not change its factual attitude,” emphasized Lindner. He referred to studies according to which the continued operation of nuclear power plants could significantly reduce the price of electricity.
In the Lower Saxony election campaign, the Liberals had placed a lot of emphasis on nuclear power. After the defeat, they want to hold on to it. “It’s not politics,” said Lindner, “but physics.”
More: The traffic light’s hidden power mechanisms: three high-ranking civil servants keep the coalition running