Different parties outlined their proposals for Germany’s future as the campaign is fully underway ahead of national elections on 23 February.
Germany’s election campaign is in full swing with the Green party kicking off their first rally in the northern German city of Lübeck.
The rally, which was headlined by outgoing foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, was attended by 1,200 supporters — double the amount the party anticipated would attend.
Chancellor candidate Robert Habeck seized the moment to criticise the country’s largest opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), who hosted their own event in Bavaria’s Seeon Monastery.
Habeck acknowledged the role of his party in an unpopular three-way coalition, along with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), which collapsed in spectacular fashion in November, triggering snap elections.
The current vice-chancellor however suggested that the former CDU government, headed by Angela Merkel, was more to blame for the economic position Germany currently found itself in.
“The investment gaps that we see, the lack of money in education, in bridges, in the trains, these did not arise from the governing coalition alone. On the contrary, we tried to do everything possible to plug the gaps and fix them, but the situation arose long, long, long before that. Since the Union, the CSU,” Habeck said.
The CDU are currently far ahead in the polls, with 31% compared to the Green party, who have 14% of the vote according to a 20 December poll by public broadcaster ZDF.
Habeck insisted that the CDU have made claims of improvement but have yet to provide any tangible evidence that they could stick to their promises. In particular, he said that Germany must engage in “European solutions” to its problems, such as migration.
Head of the CDU, Friedrich Merz, has made a hard-line stance towards migration a key part of the party’s campaign. The CDU have proposed abolishing subsidiary protection for asylum seekers, which is enshrined in European law under the Geneva Convention.
The Greens proposed tackling rising rents in Germany with a rent cap as well as creating tax incentives to boost the economy, making normal life for ordinary Germans “affordable” again.
CSU meeting in Bavaria
As the Greens addressed supporters, the head of the CSU, Markus Söder, held the party’s first winter retreat in Bavaria’s Seeon Monastery.
Söder proposed a stricter asylum policy and increased investments in modern technologies and military defence sectors.
He pointed to Germany’s economy, which has seen two years of poor performance. “Bankruptcies are on the rise, unemployment is increasing, investments are disappearing and companies are fundamentally dissatisfied. Germany’s economic model is shaky,” Söder said.
He also hit back at the Green’s economic proposals, calling them ineffective and expensive.
“Promoting performance through tax cuts instead of citizens’ income. That has to go. There needs to be a commitment to a sensible energy policy, namely nuclear energy, instead of experiments such as the heating law.”
The Bavarian party is trying to set itself apart by implementing even harsher restrictions on immigration than its sister party. The CSU said they want to amend the rights of residence for migrants as well as implement a system where a migrant’s legal status in Germany is linked to their job and income.
Söder added that his campaign would look to revive Germany’s car industry through prioritising electric cars produced in the country.
Although the CDU/CSU is on top in the polls, they lack a majority and would likely have to recruit a coalition partner to form a stable government. Söder ruled out the possibility of the CSU forming a coalition with the Greens and, more generally, indicated that fewer parties in a single coalition would be better for Germany.
“The more parties, the worse the instability. It’s no use, as we’ve already seen. The traffic light porridge didn’t taste good because there were too many different spices in it.”
“We don’t believe that the Greens are competent to govern” he added.
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