The party leadership will get the curve to the traffic light – but what about the base?
(Photo: dpa)
Winfried Hermann, Green Minister of Transport in Baden-Württemberg, has brought new elections into play. So far, the coalition’s negotiating results are not enough for him. The advance of the green veteran from the Ländle caused a shock in the green party headquarters at Neuer Tor in Berlin. Hermann only pointed to what is thought at the middle level of functionaries: So far there has been a social-liberal coalition with green polka dots.
Olaf Scholz was able to fix his two big election promises in the exploratory paper. That is the minimum wage of twelve euros and the promise not to shake the current pension level. Christian Lindner, who actually has to go the furthest way in terms of content in the traffic light coalition with the SPD and the Greens, was able to prevent higher taxes and enforce adherence to the debt brake. He was even able to clear the symbolic theme of the speed limit.
The green top issues such as an earlier coal exit and a quick end to the combustion engine are also in the paper. Still, the Greens feel like losers. Many of them perceive the situation as follows, to stick with Gerhard Schröder’s old political picture: Olaf Scholz is the cook, Christian Lindner the waiter, and Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock are the kitchen helpers.
Huge claims from the eco party
This perception and the resulting dissatisfaction may be due to the fact that the party’s self-image and image of others do not match. The Greens won 14 percent in the federal election and not 26 percent like the SPD. But they make demands on every core department.
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Habeck is flirting with becoming the first Green Minister of the Interior. It is no secret that both Baerbock and Cem Özdemir want to become foreign ministers. There is also to be a new climate protection ministry with the right of veto.
Then the Greens want to create a transport and agriculture ministry – and the finance ministry will also remain in focus. They don’t want to leave that to the liberals. During the election campaign, they still spoke out in favor of a gender equality ministry. For a 14 percent party, these are huge claims.
On a trip abroad, Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann once explained en passant to the Greens how governing could work: If you want to appoint the Chancellor, you have to make politics for everyone and not just for your own clientele.
While Habeck shares this approach, many top greens and green youth have a problem with it. They move in woken circles and take that to be reality. They do not want to address the audience of the “Wetten, dass …?” Program.
Close vote on coalition agreement
Despite these sensitivities and despite Annalena Baerbock’s desperate act of begging a letter to her apron organizations such as Greenpeace to support the party through protests during the traffic light talks: The political leaders of the Greens will manage the curve. But it will be exciting when the foreseeable membership decision on the coalition agreement is made.
The climate crisis has brought the Greens masses of new members. Nobody knows how they vote. If the green youth, who wanted an alliance with the Left Party, are the party’s clinical thermometer, it could be a close race.
Some remember the SPD’s show of strength a few years ago to rejoin the grand coalition. That split the party and wore out party leaders Andrea Nahles and Martin Schulz. A danger that threatens the Greens as well.
More on this: How the FDP and the Greens are working on the socio-ecological market economy