The German Greens have the potential to gain important political power in the upcoming election. The consistent increase in popularity of the German Green party represents a major opportunity for the Green movement. The party led by Annalena Baerbock is continually narrowing the gap with its democratic competitors.
On September 26 2021, Germany will have their national election. The most recent poll between July 12 and July 16, made up of 1,354 people taken, indicates a one percent surge in the popularity of the Green party. They have now attained 18 percent in the most recent pools made by Insa, according to Bloomberg. (Tony Czuczka, Blooomberg, July 17, 2021)
This means that Baerbock’s Greens’ are now becoming the second most popular party in Germany. After sixteen years in power, Chancellor Angela Merkel, representative of the CDU, will not run for another mandate of four years. The CDU still stands in a ten-point advantage in the polls standing at 28 percent. Meanwhile, the Greens have stepped forth and positioned themselves as runner up, in front of the social democrats with 17 percent.
Germany’s electoral system is a proportional democratic system. In other words, parties don’t need to have a majority of votes to gain seats. The percentage of votes will be proportionally allocated in terms of seats. Thus, it favors the formation of a coalition amongst like-minded parties in order to gain a majority in parliament. If the poll numbers replicate themselves on September 26th 2021, the popularity of the Green party could form a governing majority with the Social Democrats and the Free Democratic party.
The sucessor of Angela Merkel for the CDU is Armin Laschet. He is currently associated with being in defense of fossil fuels. He advocates the importance of these energy resources as being an essential component of Germany’s energy system. Advocating for these measures clearly opposes the Green effort. Stefan Reineke, political correspondent explains,
“The Greens stand for the promise that the 1.5 degree target [to limit global temperature increase under the Paris Agreement] will be seriously pursued, while [the CDU stands] for the promise that diesel cars will continue to be built and cheap meat will be sold in the supermarket,” (Lenora Chu, csmonitor, July 13, 2021)
However, Baerbock has been faced with several controversies. She was allegedly accused of not declaring her bonuses, lying in her CV, and plagiarizing parts of her political book.
On the other hand, Olaf Bursia, a long member of the German Greens has great trust in Annalena Baerbock’s abilities to garner support and become the future chancellor of Germany, Bursia explains,
“Our candidate, Annalena Baerbock, is a woman who has modern answers for our time”(S3) We have had a similar upbringing. We experienced German reunification, and we’ve experienced a world crisis like climate change. … Our generation has taken over leadership in NGOs and so many other parts of society – but not yet in politics. This is my generation currently trying to take over the wheel.” (Lenora Chu, csmonitor, July 13, 2021)
For more information:
https://www.ft.com/content/7e4ab1bd-b3dd-49bc-b903-166eb4c45977
https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2021/07/14/german-greens-launch-poll-campaign-eye-comeback
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