Sunday For Future

Last Sunday, the election of the European Parliament had a surprise. The continued Fridays for Future student protests against governments' inactivity concerning climate change resulted in massive gains for the European Green parties and the German Greens, in particular, i.e., they jumped from 10.7% to 20.5% of the votes. A new slogan was born: A Sunday for Future.

In Germany, the so-called Volksparteien (people's parties) suffered severe losses, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) decreased from 35.3% to 28.9% of the votes, but the Social Democrats (SPD) got a real beating falling from 27.3% to 15.8%.

Although the Social Democrats, governing Germany in a Grand Coalition with the Christian Democrats, had pushed through parliament social benefits for the Geringverdiener (low earners), the voters did not honor this. The major problem of the SPD is that it lacks personalities like Helmut Schmidt, Willy Brandt, or Gerhard Schröder.

Supported by changes in the climate everybody is experiencing and with a clear message, the Greens have overtaken the Social Democrats in the popular vote. While the SPD is licking its wounds, a CDU party official said that the Greens had been stoking the voters' fears. O, that German angst!

Is this the end of the classic Volksparteien in Germany? Seen from my perspective: Both CDU and SPD lack a clear profile. Is a Christian attitude sufficient to electrify a pluralistic electorate, and will minor improvements in social benefits mobilize a majority of voters? With Merkel retiring, the disease of the SPD, i.e., the deficit of strong personalities, has also infected the CDU.

Presently, the Greens in Germany do not have a majority, but how will CDU or SPD suffer as the junior partner in a future green-black or green-red coalition government?

Germany's party landscape is in a state of upheaval.

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