A good two and a half weeks after the Bavarian state elections, the CSU and Free Voters sealed the new edition of their coalition, which has existed since 2018. The CSU chairman Markus Söder, Free Voters leader Hubert Aiwanger and the two parliamentary group leaders signed the new coalition agreement in Munich on Thursday. The committees of both parties in Munich had previously approved the coalition agreement.
CSU leader Markus Söder said after final discussions among his party’s leaders that “the Bavaria coalition stands.” The coalition negotiations were concluded “quietly, effectively and quickly” within two weeks. “We promised stability, we can guarantee it.”
Söder also declared the debate with the Free Voters and their chairman Aiwanger over his affair over an anti-Semitic leaflet to be over. “We have gained new trust in each other.” That’s why the CSU is joining the coalition with a clear conscience and full of conviction.
During the coalition negotiations, which were conducted in strict confidence, no sticking points were revealed. The future structure of the cabinet was considered the most controversial because Söder and the CSU originally did not want to grant the Free Voters a fourth ministry. The Free Voters were able to win through with this demand and now lead the economics, environment, culture and digital ministries. In return, they had to give up a state secretary position.
Söder said that the Bavarian state government sees itself as a counter-model to the traffic light coalition in Berlin. “We are not turning the country upside down, we are not re-educating the citizens,” said the CSU leader.
Aiwanger said he welcomed the fact that after all the skirmishes in the state election campaign, we were now looking forward together again. There is a new spirit in Bavaria, it’s about “enabling instead of preventing”. It has become mainstream in Germany to explain why things don’t work. This has to stop. “We have to come out of Bavaria and try to do our best to keep our country in the top position.”
In the state elections on October 8th, the balance of power in the so-called Bavaria coalition shifted in favor of the Free Voters. They were able to improve their result significantly to 15.8 percent, while the CSU lost slightly to 37 percent.
