In the race to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel (67), things are looking increasingly bad for her CDU party colleague Armin Laschet (60). Because one and a half weeks after the federal election, the coalition negotiations are not going as he would like.
On Wednesday there were even several hard dampers for Laschet from within their own ranks. CSU boss Markus Söder (54) said a party alliance with the FDP and the Greens under Laschet as Chancellor had received a “rejection”. And: “There is no point in talking about the world differently from what it is.”
The starting position for Laschet in the race for chancellorship is the same as for his competitor Olaf Scholz (63) from the SPD: Both need the FDP and the Greens as allies in order to achieve a majority.
Armin Laschet is now officially Plan B
And these two kingmakers made it clear on Wednesday which alliance they prefer: a traffic light coalition, together with Olaf Scholz’s SPD. And without Armin Laschet.
First, the Greens chairmen Annalena Baerbock (40) and Robert Habeck (52) announced that they wanted to start negotiations with the SPD and FDP. Habeck said that a coalition with Laschet did not “want to be completely rejected”. A traffic light coalition with Scholz is in the foreground. Shortly afterwards, FDP leader Christian Lindner (42) publicly accepted the invitation to the three-way talks in Berlin.
This made Armin Laschet officially Plan B. A disgrace that many of his fellow campaigners do not want to accept. Markus Söder said that one was not prepared to wait in a kind of “permanent lurking” to see what would come of the traffic light talks. After all, the party is not a spare wheel.
What chances does Laschet still see?
Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (63, CDU) wrote on Twitter: “The traffic light train has just left the station.” The Rhineland-Palatinate MP Johannes Steiniger (34, CDU) became clear. “The Union must now finally accept that we have lost the election,” he told the “Spiegel”.
Armin Laschet did not want to talk about losing on Wednesday. Obviously he still has a chance of somehow leaving the field as a winner in the end.
“We are also available for further discussions, but the decision of who to speak to and in which order rests with the FDP and the Greens. And therefore our respect for the decision », says Laschet diplomatically.
“Tomorrow it will start!”
Olaf Scholz was also emphatically diplomatic: “We are delighted that three talks are now starting.” And further: “The citizens have given us an order.” It is now up to the three parties to implement this mandate. “Tomorrow it will start!”
It should start with a six-hour negotiation marathon from 11 a.m. in Berlin, as the SPD announced.
In the Bundestag election on September 26, the CDU / CSU with Armin Laschet only received just under every fourth vote and ended up slightly behind the SPD (25.7 percent), which was able to gain. The FDP reached 11.5 percent, the Greens 14.8 percent.