Baden-Württemberg: Greens want to continue ruling with CDU

The Greens in Baden-Württemberg apparently face a continuation of the coalition with the CDU. A final exploratory discussion should take place on Saturday. At first there was strong resistance in the party.

After a tough internal struggle, the Greens in Baden-Württemberg now apparently face the continuation of the green-black coalition. At its meeting late in the afternoon, the state executive tasked the negotiating team around Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann with conducting “a final exploratory discussion” with the CDU on Saturday, the party said. The CDU goes one step further, the Greens told SWR. The outcome of this conversation should form the basis for future coalition negotiations.

After the initial resistance, a good two-thirds of the members came out in favor of coalition negotiations with the CDU. 13 had voted yes, 4 no and two abstained, a Green spokeswoman said at the request of the dpa news agency. A semaphore with SPD and FDP would be ruled out. However, the state executive gave in to the vehement pressure of Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann only on the second attempt.

CDU unanimously for coalition talks with the Greens

In the morning, after almost three hours of discussion, the state executive of Los Verdes surprisingly postponed a decision on the partner for the coalition negotiations. Unlike Kretschmann, it was mainly the younger generation of the board that came out in favor of a stoplight. It was only after hours of crisis management in the closest management circle that it became clear that the board would meet again in the late afternoon. They were said to have given “a very bad image to the outside world.” Now it is important to avoid damage to the winner of the election, Kretschmann.

At the board meeting in the evening, after just over half an hour, the announcement came that they had now spoken in favor of a new edition of green-black. After a historically poor electoral result, the CDU had shown great interest in a new alliance with the Greens and now came out unanimously in favor of negotiations with the Greens that night.

CDU regional head Thomas Strobl announced: “I proposed to my party committees that they accept the Green offer, and our committees decided it unanimously today with a strong vote.” It is a “good day for Baden-Württemberg”. The Greens and the Christian Democrats wanted to “together open a new chapter in the history of our country from 2021 to 2026.”

Criticisms of the SPD and FDP

The SPD and FDP, however, reacted disappointed and criticized both the Greens and the CDU. The FDP stated that the content of the Greens and the SPD was addressed. “But we were not prepared to completely subordinate the FDP to the Greens’ ideas of regulation and prohibition,” he said in a message from state leader Michael Theurer and parliamentary group leader Hans-Ulrich Rülke. “Unlike the FDP, the CDU has completely submitted to the Greens.”

For the SPD, its main candidate and leader of the parliamentary group, Andreas Stoch, criticized that the Greens have decided “on a courageous and weak way of doing things.” “For the Greens this is the most convenient way, for the country it is not the best,” Stoch said. With the SPD, the Greens had the most content-related overlays. Kretschmann ruled with the Social Democrats from 2011 to 2016.

Violent criticism from the Green Youth also came. “This decision sounds like a bad April Fool joke. Forming a coalition with the CDU again, although there was another option, is incomprehensible,” said state spokeswoman Sarah Heim. In the morning there were numerous requests to speak about the negotiating team’s recommendation on Kretschmann, he said.

CDU on climate protection “Klotz am Bein”

On Wednesday, the top Greens had a tough fight over the question of who is the right partner for the coalition talks. The group of five around Kretschmann, who had also carried out the explorations, negotiated for almost eleven hours at the government headquarters in Stuttgart. In the end, however, it was said in party circles that they had reached an agreement. Kretschmann, 72, was reportedly committed to continuing the coalition with the CDU.

The Union had clearly lost the state elections of two and a half weeks ago to the Greens. Greens bosses Sandra Detzer and Oliver Hildenbrand had reportedly argued Wednesday that an exit with the CDU was not possible. Also, after the disputes of the last five years, there is a lack of trust. Hildenbrand had already stated during the election campaign that the Union had been a “leg block” in terms of climate protection. Kretschmann noted on Wednesday that the Union now wanted to reach an agreement with the Greens here.