The SPD, Greens and Left Party cannot simply continue after this CDU election victory in Berlin. And they will soon understand that.
As muddled and confusing as Berlin can be, this time the result was an unparalleled reminder election. The CDU, which has been so unpopular in Berlin for decades, has outclassed the three parties in the old government. After more than 20 years of SPD leadership, the signs of this election point to change. Now only Franziska Giffey and Bettina Jarasch, the top candidates of the SPD and the Greens, have to admit it. Neither the Governing Mayor nor the Transport Senator benefited from the official bonus.
The decisive reason is probably not so much the particularly high level of trust that is placed in the CDU’s top candidate, Kai Wegner. No, it’s just that many Berliners are fed up with how poorly their city works in terms of transport, schools and administration. How tangled up those responsible at all levels in jurisdictional wrangling. And how little SPD, Greens and Left Party could improve on it.
However, it is precisely those who are less fortunate who depend on a functioning state. They cannot afford private alternatives or a move. In these groups in particular, the state that delivers as ordered is the best insurance against frustration with democracy. Only 24 percent of voters are satisfied with the work of the red-green-red government. A good 60 percent of those entitled to vote like living in their city, much less than in other large cities. It is not known whether a CDU mayor could change that. But he must be allowed to try. One wonders with whom.
A strong CDU in the difficult search for a smaller government partner could also become the pattern for the other state elections in 2023. And the winner of the evening must also know that whoever has the most votes does not automatically have to govern. Things can turn out differently if the losers are close enough.
In Berlin, however, the matter is clear: after more than 20 years with SPD mayors, the big plus for the CDU is a kind of cry for help from the city, which the SPD and Greens should take seriously: one of the two parties must jump over its shadow and become a junior partner become the CDU. A big federal political signal does not come from it anyway.
On the evening of the election, the leaders of the SPD and Greens still sounded as if they wanted to try the impossible after all. That will settle down in the next few days when political decency prevails. Because even if the old left-wing government had enough seats in parliament to continue, it would be a slap against political decency and in the face of the voters.
