The Greens, once hailed as a rising political force, are increasingly facing criticism and doubts. In the Sunday trend, which the opinion research institute INSA collects weekly for the “Bild am Sonntag”, the Greens only come to 14 percent, as in the previous week. This puts the AfD ahead of the Greens again.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck plays a key role in the declining popularity. The fear of losing acceptance of green projects in society is also growing in the party. A closer look at the Greens’ mistakes shows that the party’s one-time success story is on the wane.
No more green dreams
With historic best performances in Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony as well as government participation in these federal states, the Greens celebrated great successes last year. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also enjoyed great popularity at federal level. The renowned US magazine “Politico” even placed Habeck at the top of its annual popularity ranking. His ability to make unpopular decisions, to exude his charisma and to establish a direct connection to the voters were given as reasons. The Greens seemed to be in the fast lane.
But green dirigisme and well-intentioned but poorly implemented advice have destroyed the green dream. Especially in the areas of housing and mobility, green legislative initiatives are met with rejection by many citizens. The increasing politicization of the private sphere is felt by many to be too far-reaching.
A survey shows that more than 80 percent of the population reject the heating ban, and the rejection is even higher in the east of the country. The Greens are meeting with fierce resistance and are on the defensive like they haven’t been in a long time.
Failed gas transfer
The collapse of the Greens became apparent in August last year. Vice Chancellor Habeck had to admit a serious mistake in August: the gas levy from his department turned out to be a failure because the law contained technical errors. Habeck’s State Secretary Patrick Graichen also played a key role in the failure of Habeck’s ministry.
Graichen was commissioned to promote the energy transition on behalf of Habeck. Graichen can boast of successfully getting the republic through its first winter without Russian gas. But since the spring he has been implementing his original program. He wants to promote the expansion of renewable energies and get out of nuclear and coal power. Instead of gas heating, he wants to use heat pumps and is working on the controversial building energy law. With the ban on oil and gas heating, the ministry drew a lot of criticism last month.
Family ties in the Habeck Ministry
At the latest after the recent felt fiasco in the Habeck Ministry, Patrick Graichen and his family ties are on everyone’s lips. Because Graichen’s brother and sister also work in a research institute that receives orders from the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Graichen’s sister Verena works for the BUND nature conservation association, brother Jakob for the Öko-Institut. Verena Graichen, in turn, is married to the parliamentary Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Michael Kellner (Greens).
And the list of family ties is even longer: Felix Matthes is research coordinator at the Öko-Institut and at the same time a member of Robert Habeck’s “Gas and Heat” commission. He is married to the former Green Senator for the Environment Regine Günther, who runs the “Climate Neutrality Foundation” together with Patrick Graichen’s ex-boss Rainer Baake.
Dena chief post should go to Graichen’s best man
But that’s not all: at the end of April it became known that Graichen was part of a three-person commission that was to propose a new boss for the German Energy Agency. Although there were 18 applicants, the commission recommended only one candidate for the highly paid chief post to the supervisory board: Michael Schäfer. Interestingly, he is the best man of Habeck’s most important state secretary, Graichen. However, he is said to have only informed Habeck on April 24 that the designated Dena boss was his best man.
The minister then stopped the process. Habeck and Graichen later apologized – but the accusation of nepotism now weighs heavily in the ministry and in the party. Even in the party’s own ranks it is said that the incident should not have happened – internal resentment is growing. The internal quarrels and factional fights have deeply divided the party and led to an inconsistent image to the outside world.
Satisfaction with traffic light coalition decreases
Not only is the popularity of the Greens falling – according to the ZDF “political barometer”, satisfaction with the traffic light coalition has also fallen to its lowest level ever. In the survey published on Friday, only 43 percent of those questioned said the government was doing its job rather well – two weeks ago it was 46 percent. According to the survey, approval of the SPD and FDP is also falling.
A leading Green politician is said to Welt have complained about the dangerous competition in the traffic light coalition. The coalition parties would try to put each other down. Societal acceptance of traffic light projects is falling away more and more.
The downward trend could continue next Sunday in Bremen
For the Greens, the year so far has been a series of failures. Instead of a possible black-green government in Berlin, the capital is now governed by a coalition of CDU and SPD – a bitter loss for the Greens. On May 14, the general elections are also scheduled for Bremen, and in the Hanseatic city too, the polls for the Greens are down at thirteen percent.
Again and again, the Bremen Greens cause trouble with their coalition partner SPD with their tough demands. Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD) has not yet commented on a possible continuation of the red-red-green government. It remains to be seen whether the downward trend will continue next Sunday in Bremen.
