German Greens launch chancellor bid as Merkel bloc squabbles
GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press
FacebookTwitterEmail
FILE-In this April 11, 2021 taken photo Markus Soeder, right, State Governor of Bavaria and CSU party leader, stands next to Armin Laschet, CDU federal leader and State Governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, after a press conference at the German parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany. Pressure mounted Saturday on the two contenders to lead Chancellor Angela Merkel s center-right bloc into September s German election to agree on which of them will run to succeed her and end their power struggle. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)Michael Kappeler/AP
BERLIN (AP) Germany s environmentalist Greens were set to announce Monday who will make the party s first run for the chancellery in September s national election, while a power struggle in Chancellor Angela Merkel s center-right bloc entered its second week.
The Green Party, for instance, has grown in popularity among liberal, middle-class voters, benefitting from a shift in voters away from the political mainstream, and a more environmentally-conscious electorate.
Recent voter polls and several state elections show that support for the Greens has risen to such an extent that it could become instrumental in forming the next government after a national election in September.
Four polls conducted in mid-April in Germany put support for the party between 20-22%, making the Green Party the second most popular party after Angela Merkel s CDU/CSU alliance.
This center-right political group, made up of Merkel s Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, has been dominant in German politics for years. But support for the alliance came in around 28-31% in the same polls this month.
Germany s green party has chosen co-leader Annalena Baerbock as its first-ever candidate for the chancellery in September s election.
Baerbock, 40, has been a lawmaker in the national parliament since 2013 but has no government experience. She has been sharing the leadership of the party with Robert Habeck, 51, since 2018.
They have presided over a rise in poll ratings. The party currently polls at 20-22 per cent, more than twice the 8.9 per cent it won in the 2017 election and second only to the ruling centre-right CDU/CSU alliance.
It means the Greens in opposition nationally but in 11 of the country s 16 state governments could hold the key to forming the next government.
Greens Choose Baerbock as Candidate for Germany’s Next Leader
Annalena Baerbock is the first Green candidate to have a significant shot at becoming chancellor. The party is running second to Germany’s conservatives, who are in a deadlock over their own choice for the job.
Annalena Baerbock was named Monday as the candidate for chancellor for Germany’s Greens. Credit.Annegret Hilse/Reuters
April 19, 2021Updated 10:02 a.m. ET
BERLIN Germany’s Greens announced Monday that Annalena Baerbock would be the party’s candidate for chancellor, betting that the 40-year-old was their best choice to replace Angela Merkel as leader of the country.
German Greens launch chancellor bid as Merkel bloc squabbles
Poll
Would you support the Conservative Party of Canada’s carbon tax plan of consumer pricing with ‘green’ savings account?
Yes
BERLIN – Germany’s environmentalist Greens announced Monday that they’ve chosen co-leader Annalena Baerbock to make the party’s first bid for the chancellery in the country’s September election, while a power struggle in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right bloc entered its second week.
Baerbock’s nomination was unveiled by the party’s other co-leader, Robert Habeck, in a smoothly staged announcement that contrasted with the increasingly heated standoff in Merkel’s Union bloc.