Germany "Team Robert": Habeck leads the Greens into the election campaign
Robert Habeck is leading the Greens into the Bundestag election campaign. It is now official: a motion to this effect received 96.48 percent of delegates' votes at the federal party conference in Wiesbaden. "We accept the election!" shouted Habeck, who is campaigning in a duo with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
17.11.2024, 14:04
SDA
The motion describes Habeck as a "candidate for the people of Germany" who has "what it takes to be a good Federal Chancellor". Leading Greens refer to Habeck as a candidate for chancellor. Habeck himself said on the subject that he wanted "an honest speech". 20 delegates (2.6 percent) voted against Habeck. Seven delegates (0.91 percent) abstained from the vote.
Closing ranks with Baerbock
Before his nomination, Habeck asked the delegates for their support. At the party conference in Wiesbaden, he asked for their trust that he could continue to carry this party and its responsibilities. "And if it takes us very far, then also into the chancellorship," he adds. He expressly thanked Baerbock, with whom he had once shared the party chairmanship. Addressing her, he says: "It is a great privilege to have you in front of me, next to me and behind me."
Baerbock had previously praised Habeck as "super pragmatic". "That's exactly what I want: you as chancellor," she called out to him. "No one can turn the rudder in a storm like Robert Habeck and at the same time set the sails correctly with a tailwind." She promises him her support for the election campaign.
The heating law hangs "like a sword of Damocles"
In his hour-long candidacy speech, 55-year-old Habeck paints a picture of himself as someone for whom equal rights are particularly important. When his children were small, he said, he changed diapers and mashed potatoes just like his wife. That kind of thing always goes down well at Green Party conferences.
Habeck then takes stock of his time in government. The Building Energy Act, which put a deep dent in his popularity, hangs over the election campaign "like a sword of Damocles", he admits - but at the same time emphasizes his ability to learn from mistakes.
Habeck explains that running for the top job was not a sure-fire success for him. In the end, however, after discussions with party friends this summer, he decided "not to chicken out now". In response to media reports that he wanted to reshape the party according to his own ideas, Habeck said in a discussion with members: "I hate that like the plague. If you think I'm like that, then please don't vote for me in the election!"
Fighting the party's image
Habeck argues against the perception of his party as being preachy. He does not want to be a know-it-all who tells others what to think, he says. At the same time, he warns against a new edition of the so-called grand coalition. "It is the reason for the love affair with the status quo, it is the reason for the standstill," he says.
The coalition of the CDU/CSU and SPD once led Germany into energy dependency on Russia and for a long time did not see or did not want to see what was in the offing in the years before the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022.
Habeck announced that the problems he wanted to focus on with the Greens included the low employment rate of mothers and the still overly restrictive rules on the right to stay for rejected asylum seekers who are willing to work.
In future, the federal government must be given more opportunities to financially support the federal states in education policy. In Habeck's opinion, the reform of the debt brake enshrined in the Basic Law, which the Greens have been calling for for some time, should be initiated before the new Bundestag elections scheduled for February 23.
Habeck promises low electricity prices and announces that he will take out loans for urgent infrastructure projects if the Greens return to government. He says: "I'm not a big fan of incurring debt - I just want the job to be done."
The more than 800 delegates acknowledge his speech, which lasts around an hour, with thunderous applause, especially when he talks about greater taxation of the "super-rich" and closing tax loopholes.
Party conference with a focus on personnel
Overall, the three-day party conference is dominated by the election of a new leadership after the previous board around Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour announced their withdrawal at the end of September following three disappointing state elections. The two new chairpersons, Franziska Brantner and Felix Banaszak, emphasized what they see as the Greens' indispensable role as advocates of climate protection and social justice in the face of poor poll ratings of 11 to 12 percent.
There were largely no major debates on content in Wiesbaden. The Greens want to decide on their election program at another party conference on 26 January. Internally, it is said that it is important not to fight over niche issues, but to make voters an offer with a "big idea". Climate protection, measures against dilapidated infrastructure, security issues and the affordability of everyday life should take center stage.
Resolutions from AfD to debt brake
Among other things, the delegates in Wiesbaden are in favor of intensively pursuing initiatives for a possible ban on the AfD and reforming the debt brake enshrined in the German constitution. A proposal by the Green Youth to completely abolish the debt brake does not find a majority on Saturday night.
The Greens also address the fact that migration and the admission of refugees have also caused some concern among the population. In a motion that was passed with an overwhelming majority, it states: "It is time for a new asylum and migration policy, one that finally works, faces up to realities, sees human rights as an advantage and focuses on the dignity of people in and outside Europe."
The Greens want to introduce a completely new model for inheritance tax. Their proposal envisages a "lifetime allowance for all" of, for example, one million euros, instead of the current allowances, which depend on the relationship between the testator and heir. Above the tax-free amount, a linear tax rate of around 25 percent would then apply equally to all assets - including real estate, business assets and shares.
Habeck is now heading into the hot election campaign phase - and to the kitchen table. At least that was his offer to the voters he wants to meet for an informal discussion.
