Shortly before the state elections in Lower Saxony, the parties once again wooed the voters with many prominent politicians. CDU candidate Bernd Althusmann, who wants to replace Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD), received support from party leader Friedrich Merz on Friday. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner appeared in three cities – according to surveys, his FDP must fear that he will remain in the state parliament. In Hanover, the Greens relied on Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus and party leader Omid Nouripour. Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) was also expected in Braunschweig later in the afternoon. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks at the end of the SPD election campaign in Hanover on Saturday. Almost 6.1 million Lower Saxony are called to vote on Sunday.
In the surveys of the past few weeks, the SPD with Prime Minister Weil was always just ahead of the CDU. A continuation of the grand coalition is considered unlikely. Weil’s declared desire coalition is red-green – an alliance that he led from 2013 to 2017. In the polls, Red-Green had a majority. The Greens said on Friday that CDU top candidate Althusmann had already come to terms with the opposition role. “He no longer expects that he can become prime minister. The race is clearly over. He points his finger at the federal government. He has no ideas of his own about what he wants to do in Lower Saxony,” said the Greens’ top candidate Julia Willie Hamburg Hanover.
The Greens have not yet ruled out a coalition with the CDU, but a red-green alliance is more likely. Nevertheless, Hamburg also criticized Prime Minister Weil. With a view to his announcement that if he were re-elected he would launch a 970 million euro relief program in the energy crisis, she said: “An aid package is not an election promise, it is now an imperative.” FDP top candidate Stefan Birkner said in Braunschweig that he wanted to lead a ministry again after the election. From 2012 to 2013 Birkner was Environment Minister of Lower Saxony. However, the FDP must fear that it will re-enter the state parliament.
Green leader Nouripour and FDP leader Lindner defended the federal government’s energy policy. Nouripour said no one expected gas storage to be so full now. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has already introduced more laws for the expansion of renewable energies than the previous federal governments over several years. Lindner said: “If Putin weapons energy, if he attacks our economic foundation, then we will mobilize our economic strength in this energy war to defend our economic strength for the future.”
The SPD is in the polls at 31 to 33 percent, the CDU at 27 to 30 percent. The Greens were not quite able to maintain their poll high from the summer with 16 to 19 percent, but are still heading for a record result. Significant gains are also becoming apparent for the AfD. Two years ago, the party lost its parliamentary group status in the state parliament in Hanover due to several exits, but could now achieve a double-digit result with 9 to 11 percent. The whereabouts of the FDP in the state parliament is in the balance with 5 percent. The left would miss their return by 3 to 4 percent. Because the election campaign was conducted under the impression of the energy crisis, the election is also being closely observed from a federal political point of view. The CDU in particular also sees the state election as a vote on the crisis policy of the traffic light coalition around Chancellor Scholz.
