The German environmental party unveiled, Monday, April 19, the identity of its candidate for chancellery for the legislative elections in September. This is Annalena Baerbock, co-chair of the party, 40 years old. “The first green candidate for the chancellery will be Annalena Baerbock”, who “Will lead us in this campaign” in view of the general elections of September 26, announced at a press conference the other leader of the party, Robert Habeck, who was himself contender for the nomination.
“Today therefore begins a new chapter for our party and, if we do it well, for our country”, Baerbock said at a press conference in Berlin.
The stakes are high for the Greens: credited with 20% to 23% of the voting intentions, they are on the heels of the Chancellor’s Christian Democratic party, the CDU (27% to 28%), undermined by an internal war for the appointment of his own candidate for chancellery, and ahead of the Social Democrats (SPD).
A “Germany at the heart of Europe”
This lawyer specializing in international law and former trampoline athlete received the favors of the executive committee of her party to the detriment of the other co-president, also candidate for the nomination, Robert Habeck, 51 years old.
“Today therefore begins a new chapter for our party and, if we do it well, for our country”, explained Mme Baerbock at a press conference in Berlin. “I am for renewal, others are for the status quo. I am convinced that this country needs a new start to get through this new decade full of challenges ”, added the forties known for his pugnacity and his sharp knowledge of the files.
Among the themes that will be at the heart of her campaign, she considered it necessary to invest more in the education system, pleaded for a “Cosmopolitan society” and spoke of a “Germany at cœheart of Europe ”. “Climate protection is the task of our time, the task of my generation, and therefore I want the policy of a new federal government to make climate protection the norm for all areas in order to achieve the Paris objectives ”, according to Mme Baerbock.
Among the representatives of the major parties for the legislative elections in September, she will be the only young woman facing men. Among the possible coalitions that could emerge from the ballot are an alliance with the conservatives alone or another, unprecedented at the federal level, with the SPD and the liberal FDP party. So far, the Greens have only been minority partners in a government coalition led by Social Democrat Gerhard Schröder, between 1998 and 2005.