Berlin: Wegner fails with a crash in the mayoral election – malice follows

Politics

The grand coalition (Groko), which will now govern in Berlin, is a thorn in the side of many. The membership decision of the capital SPD was extremely close. The joint government almost collapsed. But it isn’t – the majority of the comrades voted to work with the CDU.

Nevertheless, Wegner failed miserably in the election for the new governing mayor of Berlin. The 50-year-old missed the required absolute majority to be elected as the successor to Franziska Giffey. Wegner got 71 yes votes, 86 deputies voted against him. In the second ballot, for which he also needed an absolute majority, he was again missing one vote.

Kai Wegner (CDU) is now to replace Franziska Giffey (SPD).Image: dpa / Christophe Gateau

In the third ballot it should be enough – here the state constitution provides that whoever has the most votes is elected – but this is a bad start for the new coalition.

Meanwhile, malicious voices are raised on Twitter. Some laugh mischievously up their sleeves.

Twitter users see No Groko strategy

The CDU has 52 MPs in the new House of Representatives, the SPD 34. Together, the coalition has 86 votes and the opposition consists of Greens, Left and AfD over 73 It is therefore suspected on Twitter that some of the Social Democrats want to torpedo the coalition despite the narrow member vote.

According to an editor of the Berlin newspaper “Tagesspiegel”, there were supposedly crisis meetings within the parliamentary groups before the second ballot. Nobody wants to have been the missing voice, writes Julius Betschka on Twitter. However, it is unlikely that half of the SPD parliamentary group voted against Wegner in the first ballot. That would mean that CDU politicians also voted “no”.

Green politician Matthias Oomen writes: “I can hear it as far away as Wilmersdorf, threatening and insulting people in a very specific group hall.” Other Twitter users also make fun of the still incumbent mayor Franziska Giffey. The accusation that she wanted to form a coalition with the CDU despite a possible majority instead of continuing to rely on red-red-green still resonates.

Others predict a short shelf life for the coalition. And one user even suggests that the Greens and the Left should jointly propose a candidate from the left wing of the SPD as mayor. Because in the third ballot, whoever has the most votes wins – that is, such a conspiracy could theoretically ruin the plan.

It is more likely, however, that Wegner will be elected mayor in the third ballot. And the coalition bears its first crack.