- Prime Minister Hendrik Fust’s CDU has won state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to ZDF’s projections, at 35.9% (+2.9) it is far ahead of the opposing SPD, which still has 26.6% (-4.6).
- Greens increased significantly. Compared to the last elections in 2017, they can almost triple their share. According to extrapolation, they came to 17.9% (+11.5).
- The FDP has to accept big losses. It still reached 5.7 percent (-6.9).
- This was the biggest test of Germany’s political mood this year.
Prime Minister Hendrik Fust sees his party’s performance as a clear government mandate: “It is clear that the people have made us the most powerful force. This is the task of forming and leading the government of the future.”
Since black and yellow no longer have a majority, there are many indications of an alliance between CDU and Green. “There are two winners tonight. “These are the Greens, this is the CDU,” West said. And he announced that he will speak to all parliamentary blocs, except for the Alternative for Germany party, about forming a government.
SPD general secretary Kevin Kunert has already stressed that the Social Democrats will try to form a government even when they are second – despite the state’s historically poor performance in state elections. The Social Democrats could try to form a traffic light alliance with the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party based on the model used in the federal government. It should not be enough for red and green.
Success for CDU leader Merz
The state election means support for the new CDU leader Frederick Mers, who himself comes from North Rhine-Westphalia. He assumed party leadership at the end of January, and also chaired the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in mid-February.
More than 13 million voters were invited to vote in Germany’s most populous federal state. That is why state elections there are often referred to as “small federal elections”. A week ago, the CDU won the Schleswig-Holstein election, and the SPD won in Saarland at the end of March. In October, elections will be held in Lower Saxony.
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