After the Lower Saxony elections, Green Party leader Omid Nouripour is hoping for an end to the “decision backlog” in the previous grand coalition in the federal state. “We had a Groko in Lower Saxony, they didn’t decide,” he said on NDR-Info.
After the good performance of the Greens, in coalition talks with the SPD, they would attach particular importance to the topics of the turnaround in traffic, social affairs and children’s concerns. “People are under pressure and have great concerns in these times,” emphasized Nouripour.
Green for quick negotiations
Lower Saxony’s Greens do not expect tough coalition negotiations with the SPD. “There is an obligation in the constitution to elect a prime minister within seven weeks. But traditionally in Lower Saxony this happens when the new state parliament is constituted, i.e. on November 8th at the latest. In this respect, the negotiations will not last long,” said top candidate Julia Willie Hamburg of the German Press Agency in Hanover. “Today our party committees will meet. I assume that we will talk for the first time this week and then start negotiations quickly.”
Lies sees very good chances for red-green
Lower Saxony’s Deputy SPD leader Olaf Lies (SPD) sees very good chances for the desired red-green government after the state elections. “I’m convinced that it will work,” said Lies in Hanover. The SPD and the Greens have a great deal of overlap and common ground, also from their joint government from 2013 to 2017. In view of the urgent energy crisis and the concerns of the people, it would be good if the new coalition were already under one roof before the inaugural session of the new state parliament at the beginning of November and be specialist.
A primary goal is to quickly launch the Lower Saxony rescue package for companies and households promised by Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD). Lies, who was last in the cabinet as Environment and Energy Minister, kept a low profile on his own role in the future government. The post of economics minister, which he previously held, appealed to him more, he stressed. Lies did not say how many ministerial posts the SPD and the Greens should receive in such a coalition.
Lower Saxony’s CDU boss wants a detailed analysis
After his defeat in the state elections, Lower Saxony’s CDU leader Bernd Althusmann called for an open analysis of his party, including the politics of the CDU in the federal government. “We will analyze the result very carefully. We will not only look at this election, but also at the 2021 federal election and the past 16 years, as well as at one or the other weakness of the election campaign. We have to clarify why the CDU is not adequately succeed in getting through with their own topics,” Althusmann told the German Press Agency in Hanover on Monday. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) had ruled for 16 years.
Althusmann said core issues of the CDU, such as security, hardly played a role in the election campaign. The party must also deal intensively with the changed world of work and energy issues. “The CDU is also not credited with sufficient competence in the field of renewable energies. We have to change that and also discuss it within the party committees.”
In the state elections on Sunday, the CDU had achieved its worst result in Lower Saxony since the 1950s with 28.1 percent. The strongest force was the SPD with 33.4 percent, the Greens improved to 14.5 percent, the AfD reached 10.9. The FDP with 4.7 percent and the left with 2.7 percent missed the state parliament.
