Die Berliner Abgeordnetenhauswahlen vom 26. September 2021 und vom 12. Februar 2023: Von Rot-Rot-Grün über Rot-Grün-Rot zu Schwarz-Rot

Abstract

From the beginning, the red-red-green coalition formed after the election of 2016 had to fight against severe problems . Especially the SPD lost public support, which led to the replacement of Michael Müller by Franziska Giffey as leading candidate for the 2021 elec- tion . The SPD won the election, however with the worst of her results after World War II . The Greens, which scored second, the CDU and the FDP gained votes, the Left Party and especially the AfD had to cope with losses . While Giffey pleaded for a government formation with the Greens and the FDP, in her party the preference for a red-green-red coalition prevailed, which was also clearly preferred by the Greens . In addition to the governing mayor Giffey, the new government consisted of three members from each of the three coalition parties . However, because the election was improperly prepared by the administration and a multitude of mistakes occurred, the Berlin Constitutional Court in November 2002 declared the election void and ordered to repeat it, which was done on February 12, 2023 . By a considerable margin, this election was won by the CDU . All governing parties had to cope with losses, the AfD gained a little bit whereas the FDP failed to overcome the five percent hurdle . In both elections, the electoral behaviour of the social groups did not change considerably . In all kinds of relevant candidate orientations of the voters, Giffey scored best in comparison to her competitors Kai Wegner (CDU) and Bettina Jarasch (The Greens), although her support declined in 2023 and the distance to Wegner decreased . Concerning political contents, the data showed a very pessimistic climate of opinion, which was reflected in the bad evaluation of the government . Although the CDU was not really a convincing alternative for many voters, the party had the best policy competences in most of the relevant issues . Even before the CDU-led exploratory talks to form the new govern- ment ended, the SPD leadership surprisingly, and to the annoyance of the Greens and the Left Party, decided to seek a coalition with the CDU . The coalition negotiations of the party leaderships flowed smoothly; the SPD, however, was divided and the members only narrowly voted for the coalition treaty . The start of the new government was problematic, because Wegner needed three ballots to be elected as new governing major . In addition to Wegner, the government consists of five members of each of the two parties .