2024-09-15 04:08:16
After the state elections in Saxony, difficult talks for a coalition are looming. One thing is clear: Prime Minister Kretschmer wants a majority. If that fails, there is only one way.
Saxony’s current Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) does not want a minority government despite difficult coalition negotiations. “A minority government requires a great deal of compromise,” Kretschmer told the “Leipziger Volkszeitung” and “Sächsische Zeitung”. “Why should a parliamentary group elect someone as Prime Minister with whom it is not in coalition, but with whom it could form a coalition?”
When asked whether he would stick to his position that he did not want a minority government, Kretschmer replied: “Yes. Many people find a minority government exciting, I know.” In Thuringia, the CDU elected Bodo Ramelow in 2020 to prevent an AfD prime minister. In Saxony, the situation is completely different. “If the formation of a government fails here by the beginning of February, there will be a new election of the state parliament.”
In his conversation with the two newspapers, Kretschmer warned potential negotiating partners against making too many preconditions. “We won’t get anywhere if every partner now communicates pre-determinations and red lines,” said the CDU Prime Minister. The CDU state executive committee had agreed to offer talks to BSW, SPD and the Greens.
In the state election on Sunday, the Saxon Union came in just ahead of the AfD (30.6 percent) with 31.9 percent of the vote. Since Kretschmer categorically rules out cooperation with the AfD and the Left, the Union’s only options are an alliance with the BSW (11.8 percent) and the SPD (7.3 percent) or with the BSW and the Greens (5.1 percent).