Sunday, September 26, 2021
All the data, all the facts
The state election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Far in the north, the day of the federal election is also about the political balance of power in the Schwerin state parliament. According to initial forecasts, the SPD is clearly ahead in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The most important figures at a glance.
The SPD clearly won the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. According to the first ZDF extrapolation, the Social Democrats and their top candidate Manuela Schwesig achieved their best result since 2002 with almost 40 percent on Sunday. Their coalition partner CDU, on the other hand, has to accept a historically worst result with less than 15 percent – after 19.0 percent in the state elections 2016.
According to the first projections, the AfD was again the second largest party in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, but suffered losses. The left was unable to stop the downward trend that has persisted since 2011 and, with around 10 percent, has its worst election result to date.
You can find more information on the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania here.
SPD top candidate Schwesig had already achieved high popularity ratings in the run-up to the election. Around 65 percent spoke out in a survey by Infratest-Dimap in favor of the incumbent. In the case of a hypothetical direct election, CDU challenger Michel Sack would only have received around 11 percent of the vote. AfD top candidate Nikolaus Kramer was seen here with 4 percent, far behind in third place.
It is still unclear with whom the SPD would like to start coalition negotiations. So far, Schwesig had only excluded an alliance with the AfD.
Five years ago, a coalition with the CDU was the only way to forge a viable government alliance without the right. A continuation of the red-black coalition seems questionable: the SPD may be able to choose from several potential junior partners this time.
For the first time, six parties could be represented in the state parliament, which normally has 71 seats. Both the Greens and the FDP can, according to the first projections, hope for a return to the Schwerin state parliament. In 2016 they failed to pass the five percent hurdle. According to the ZDF forecast, the turnout was 73 percent.
A coalition of the SPD and CDU has ruled Schwerin since 2016, and this would again have a comfortable majority. An alliance of the SPD and the left would also have a slim majority. A coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP would also be conceivable.
With regard to the coalition options, Schwesig said that the SPD would first wait for the final result of the election and see with whom “stable majorities” could be formed. Her party’s committees would discuss this issue on Monday evening. The SPD has governed Schwerin since 2016 with the CDU. However, it had previously formed a coalition with the left. Schwesig emphasized in the election campaign that both the alliance with the CDU and that with the left had been reliable.
After the election she thanked “the people of our country”. She “often felt” the support of the citizens, in the corona pandemic and while she was suffering from cancer. “I am pleased that there is a very clear citizen vote for the SPD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania,” said Schwesig. When asked whether she wanted to stay in Schwerin for the full five years after her election victory, the SPD politician on ZDF said: “Yes.” Voters could rely on that.
CDU General Secretary Wolfgang Waldmüller meanwhile described the result of his party as “a catastrophe, you can put it bluntly”. The result must now be analyzed “calmly”, he said in Schwerin. The result of 2016 had already been a historically bad result for the Christian Democrats in the state. Due to the renewed strong loss according to the forecasts, it was once again undercut.
The state chairman of the CDU in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Michael Sack, leaves his future at the party leadership open after the historic defeat in the state elections. Election night is not the right time to talk about further steps, he said on Sunday evening.
“We will discuss all of this,” replied Sack when asked whether he would like to remain the state chairman of the CDU in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Everything else will come about in the next few days. “I think we’ll be smarter tomorrow night.” The CDU state executive wants to meet on Monday evening.