Despite losses in Hamburg, red-green can continue-Diepresse.com

SPD And Greens can probably continue their coalition in the northern German Hanseatic city of Hamburg despite severe voting losses. The SPD of Hamburg's first mayor Peter Tschentscher once again became the strongest strength in the election of the city in the city state. Greens and CDU A head-to-head race for second place. The Social Democrats can choose between the two as coalition partners, but had favored the Greens before the election.

Strengthen left and AfD from the citizens' choice. FDP And the alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) failed significantly due to the five percent hurdle. According to the current status, the vote in the Hanseatic city is the only choice at the state level this year.

SPD falls to 33.5 to 34.5 percent

According to the forecasts of ARD and ZDF (6 p.m.) the SPD slipped to 33.5 to 34.5 percent (2020: 39.2 percent), but was nevertheless the strongest force. The Greens of top candidate and second mayor Katharina Fegebank also lost 17.5 to 20 percent after their record result of 2020 (24.2 percent). The CDU from top candidate Dennis Thering was able to free itself from the Bundestag election from its historical low (2020: 11.2 percent) and now ends up at 19.5 to 20 percent.

In both forecasts, the left increased to 11.5 percent (2020: 9.1 percent). The AfD is 7 to 8.5 percent (2020: 5.3 percent). According to ARD forecast, the FDP once again failed at the five percent hurdle with 2.3 percent (4.97). According to ARD figures, the BSW did not make it into the state parliament with 2.1 percent on its first attempt in Hamburg. The ZDF did not show any separate numbers for both parties.

Around 1.3 million Hamburgers aged 16 and over were entitled to vote. The state parliament regularly has 121 seats. The number can increase through overhang and compensation mandates as well as successful individual applicants. State -political topics determined the election campaign, in particular the traffic problems in the city and the building in the face of the lack of affordable housing. In addition, the migration and the boosting of the economy characterized by the port also played an important role.

A little wound licking for the SPD and the Greens

The signs in Hamburg are on “keep it up”. The most likely government variant is the continuation of the red -green coalition that has existed since 2015 – but the majority of government is less comfortable than before. Both factions in the town hall have even had a two-thirds majority since 2020. This is no longer the case. Before the election, Prime Minister Tschenscher had a continuation of the coalition with the Greens as the first priority. Hamburg has long been considered a stronghold of the Social Democrats.

It would also be enough for an alliance with the CDU. A coalition with the Christian Democrats does not exclude Tschenscher, but referred her to government ability. He does not want to work with the strengthened left.

Sole government in a long way

Tschenscher has been head of Hamburg politics since 2018. At that time, the 59-year-old was still relatively unknown in the Hanseatic city and stood in the shadow of his predecessor, today's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who at that time moved to the Ministry of Finance in Berlin. The Scholz years in Hamburg were still golden years for the Social Democrats. From 2011 to 2015 it was even enough for a sole government.

For the previous junior partner, the result should be a disappointment after the record of 2020 and the losses at federal level. Hamburg's science senator Fegebank started as the top candidate of the Greens and relies on a new edition of red-green. A coalition of the SPD and CDU means standstill and was not good for Hamburg, she had repeatedly warned shortly before the election.

CDU top candidate Thering (40), on the other hand, hopes for it and said before the vote that the SPD had the choice. Despite the increase in votes, his party may only remain the opposition benches again. It is not enough to get together with the Greens, Thering had also excluded this before the election.

Two elections in a row – what does that mean for the turnout?

The early Bundestag election was only last Sunday, now the Hamburgers had to vote again. While the turnout was 80.8 percent on February 23, there is also significantly more interest at the state level. By 4 p.m., around two thirds of the eligible voters had given their votes. In 2020, the turnout was 63 percent in the end.

What does the Hamburg election mean for federal politics?

A week after the Bundestag election, the meaningfulness beyond Hamburg is limited. In the Federal Council – Hamburg has 3 of the 69 votes – nothing changes if it stays with red -green. Despite the loss of votes, the SPD and the Greens should point out that red-green is not a discontinued model. The Hamburg SPD was able to decouple a bit of the national trend and is twice as strong in the city state as in the new Bundestag. CDU and AfD are also looking forward to voting growth at the state level.

If the Union and the SPD come together in the federal government into a coalition, you will no longer have to consider state elections until well into the coming year. Hamburg was the only choice at the state level this year. (APA/AFP)