In view of the ongoing budget dispute in the traffic light coalition, CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt has spoken out in favor of an early election on June 9, 2024, parallel to the European elections. “The traffic light experiment has lost its legitimacy. An appropriate reaction to this would be new elections,” said the chairman of the CSU representatives in the Bundestag to the German Press Agency in Berlin in view of the poor poll numbers for the traffic lights and the protests against the planned budget cuts.
Union in survey at 32 percent
The fact that Dobrindt is pushing for new elections may also have something to do with the results of the most recent surveys. According to the Germany trend published on Thursday evening for the ARD “Morgenmagazin”, the three traffic light parties SPD, the Greens and FDP would currently be just ahead of the Union (32 percent) with 33 percent if there were a federal election on Sunday. The CDU and CSU would form by far the largest parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
However, the path to an early election is not easy: among other things, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) would have to ask a vote of confidence in parliament and lose. But that is not foreseeable.
Nouripour sees deficits in how the traffic light partners deal with each other
Green Party leader Omid Nouripour admitted that the public image of the traffic light parties is sometimes questionable. “On stage it sometimes looked like it was a bar fight, and we have to stop that,” he told the German Press Agency. Behind the stage, the three parties resolve their differences “very hard.” “But it’s trustworthy and everyone knows how serious the situation is.”
The Green Party leader now sees the three parties on a good path. “If I now look at how much public argument there has been in the last three months, it has decreased massively. I am also very grateful for that.”
“Time has expired for joining Scholz’s government”
When asked whether the Union would be prepared to enter a coalition led by Scholz for a certain period of time if the traffic light breaks, Dobrindt said that the Chancellor had already been made a corresponding offer to overcome the biggest challenges. He mentioned the topics of the energy crisis, migration and the economy. “There was never a reaction to that,” criticized the CSU politician. “The time for this is up. New elections would be necessary in order to gain legitimacy for a new policy.”
However, if Scholz “clears the way for new elections, there is also a way of working with us,” said Dobrindt. Among other things, respectful interaction is necessary. “The traffic lights have so far criminally refused to do so.” If Scholz clears the way for a new election in 2024, a new Union-led government will prepare the budget for the current year after the election. “That would also be the solution to the budget crisis.” Until then there will be a provisional budget management. “After the election, we will have a very quick budget that ends left-green ideology and offers real growth impulses to secure prosperity.”
“Wagenknecht takes a dangerous path”
The day of the European elections on June 9th would be an ideal date for a new election, said Dobrindt. He sees “the danger that the AfD will become the strongest party in the European elections if politics in Germany does not change.” With every day that the traffic light is in office longer, the AfD will experience further growth. “The constant polarization and emotionalization of the population caused by the traffic light policy is discharged in the protest, for which the AfD provides the rallying point.”
Dobrindt warned that the new party of former left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht was “taking an extremely dangerous path.” He added: “With her mixture of left-wing socialism and right-wing foreign policy, Wagenknecht will bring a dormant potential of opponents of the system to the ballot box and thus work together with the AfD to further destabilize Germany.”
Dobrindt blames Ampel for the rise of the AfD
If the AfD becomes the strongest party in the European elections, the risk will also increase “that the most difficult election results could arise in the three state elections in the east,” said Dobrindt. Forecasts see the AfD at record levels, especially in the east. In September, new state parliaments will be elected in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg. “The rise of the AfD can only be explained by the traffic light’s disrespectful policy in terms of content and style. This must be stopped urgently in order not to one day experience parts of Germany becoming ungovernable for the political center.”
The Greens are “the main problem of the traffic light government with their ideological obstinacy,” criticized Dobrindt. He cannot currently imagine the Greens participating in government under a CDU/CSU leadership. “Anyone who wants to credibly represent a policy change must also say clearly that green ideology must have no place in the next federal government.”
