BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Green Chancellor candidate Robert Habeck has called on the centrist parties to be open to possible cooperation after the election. The election campaign is about differences and tough competition, he told the German Press Agency in Berlin. “Some sparks will fly from time to time. But I warn against falling into black and white thinking.” If the centrist parties were hostile to each other and sued each other, it would hardly help the stability of democracy. “You have to stay cool.”
Austria as a deterrent example
With a view to the latest developments in Germany’s neighboring country, Habeck warned: “Austria is an example of how things shouldn’t work! If the centrist parties are unable to form an alliance and dismiss compromises as the devil’s work, that helps the radicals.”
After the coalition talks between the conservative ÖVP, the social democratic SPÖ and the liberal Neos failed, there are signs of cooperation between the conservative ÖVP and the right-wing FPÖ. The right-wing populist FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl is known, among other things, for his Russia-friendly stance and an extremely strict migration policy with large-scale deportations.
New campaign promotes “Alliance Chancellor”
After the German federal election on February 23rd, there must be a government for which every party makes concessions, warned Habeck. “If we are not willing to form democratic alliances, we will face instability and inability to act. Germany cannot afford that and we cannot expect it from Europe.” He promised: “I am ready to take responsibility for an alliance-oriented policy that does not focus on itself, but on our country.”
One day before the start of the election campaign on Monday in Lübeck, the Greens launched a campaign in which they projected Habeck on facades in various major German cities with the slogan “Alliance Chancellor.” The Greens see themselves as an “alliance party” that is capable of forming coalitions across political camps and seeks dialogue with civil society.
The campaign can also be understood as a response to CSU leader Markus Söder’s rejection of a possible black-green coalition after the election. Habeck’s prospects of leading a government himself as chancellor are manageable at 13 to 14 percent in the surveys./hrz/DP/he