Will the Greens lead a post-Merkel Germany into the future?
| Berlin
When he was a teenager, Olaf Bursia felt he had the right answers about the future. That was when he joined the fledgling Greens political party, with its reputation for environmental radicalism, in his hometown of Dusseldorf.
But in the 30 years since, the Greens have moved into the mainstream. The party, once dismissed as聽fringe, now has a platform of combating climate change, being more inclusive of migrants, and promoting social equality. The Greens have flirted with the top spot in countrywide polling and have put forth a 40-year-old working mother for chancellor in this聽September鈥檚 federal elections.
Now, Mr. Bursia feels that a good chunk of Germany finally sees his way of thinking.
Why We Wrote This
The German Greens party, which stands a fighting chance of winning the next elections, could herald a changing of the generational guard, driven by new values on everything from taxes to the environment.
鈥淥ur candidate, Annalena Baerbock, is a woman who has modern answers for our time,鈥� says Mr. Bursia. 鈥淚 am a father, she is a mother, and we are about the same age. We have had a similar upbringing. We experienced German reunification, and we鈥檝e experienced a world crisis like climate change. ... Our generation has taken over leadership in NGOs and so many other parts of society 鈥� but not yet in politics. This is my generation currently trying to take over the wheel.鈥�
With Chancellor Angela Merkel stepping down after a 15-year reign, the outcome of the elections will hint at not only Germany鈥檚 future direction but also what values will be at the helm of the European Union. And the Greens, for the first time, have a realistic chance at ending the domination of Ms. Merkel鈥檚 海角大神 Democratic Union (CDU) and its rival Social Democratic Party over German governance, and replacing it with a new crop of voices that trend progressive, younger, and female.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not a movement anymore 鈥� we are part of the system,鈥� says Ekin Delig枚z, a Green member elected to parliament in 1998. 鈥淲here will society be in 10 years? What does 鈥榪uality of life鈥� mean for us? How do we overcome the gap between rich and poor? What鈥檚 the role of German technology? Germany is the fourth richest country in the world 鈥� what鈥檚 our role in Eastern Europe and the world? These are the questions of the future, and you need courage to go there.鈥�
A bigger tent in a more diverse society
Ms. Delig枚z, the Green parliamentarian, grew up straddling two disparate worlds. Born in Turkey, she migrated to Germany in the late 1970s with her parents. She didn鈥檛 speak German, and attended Turkish schools separate from the native German population. Turkish children, like their parents who arrived as guest workers, weren鈥檛 expected to integrate and become part of German society.
She was the first migrant to attend her gymnasium, as Germany calls its elite secondary schools that fast-track into higher education. 鈥淓veryone looked at me as a strange person,鈥澛燤s. Delig枚z says. 鈥淚 was always searching my way through two systems and where I belong. A lot of my [immigrant] generation got lost.鈥� The inequity she saw growing up shaped her propensity for politics.
She found the Greens, joining the party as a teenager growing up in Bavaria. 鈥淚f you see something not right, you鈥檙e searching for the ways that might be right in society,鈥� says Ms. Delig枚z. 鈥淭he Greens didn鈥檛 close doors [or] say to me, 鈥榊ou have to accept that you鈥檙e not part of us.鈥欌�� The party鈥檚 expansive, open tent ushered her all the way through her teen years, into adulthood, and finally into German parliament, where she鈥檚 been an elected member since 1998.
Women are highly educated and want to work, and the economy depends on their labor. New migrants are getting educated, becoming German, and must better integrate into the fabric of society, Ms. Delig枚z says today. The CDU, she says, has stagnated when it comes to digitizing Germany, boosting the innovation economy, and tackling a climate change crisis.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for some old white guys to be told that 鈥榶our time is gone, in the past, and you have to accept it,鈥欌�� she says.
A day in the sun, or a sea change?
In April, the Greens were leading in a number of polls, an astonishing turn for a party that typically dealt in the single digits while the CDU usually gobbled up north of 30%.
Voters were dissatisfied with the CDU-coalition-led government鈥檚 handling of the coronavirus and its vaccination missteps, which underscored the Greens as a viable alternative. The Greens鈥� platform is progressive, promising to usher in individual income tax increases and billions in new spending, and upping the carbon tax, among other proposals.聽The party鈥檚 surge feels gratifying for longtime adherents and new joiners; membership surpassed 100,000 in 2020, making it the third largest party in Germany. Meanwhile, the Greens doubled their online spending to 2.5 million euros.
By contrast, the CDU has lost half its membership , and forging strong coalition partners has become more and more important. Its 60-year-old party leader, Armin Laschet, is the son of a coal-mining engineer, and a longtime politician who鈥檚 good at bringing people together.
The has the CDU back in the lead, with roughly 28% to the Greens鈥� 17%. It鈥檚 a long way until September鈥檚 election, of course, but the CDU鈥檚 power machine is back in play, political experts say, and it doesn鈥檛 easily give up ground.
Ms. Baerbock has been roundly attacked by opponents online and in the media for everything from exaggerating details on her r茅sum茅 to failing to pay taxes on a holiday bonus. It鈥檚 territory that comes with being a threat to the status quo. Yet her party鈥檚 progressive positions mean she also must play to the mainstream, and she鈥檚 taken pains to assure Germany鈥檚 powerful corporations they won鈥檛 be unfairly penalized under Green leadership.
In other words, the Greens are having to assure conservatives, to a certain extent, that things will stay the same. And, says Stefan Reinecke, political correspondent and opinion editor at progressive German daily Die Tageszeitung, Ms. Merkel鈥檚 CDU is very good at promising that things will stay the way they are.
鈥淭here is traditionally a lot of continuity in foreign and European policy,鈥� says Mr. Reinecke. 鈥淰oters are conservative; they don鈥檛 like to vote governments out of office. This has happened only three times since 1949. Moreover, after the pandemic there is a need for normality, not change.鈥�
CDU voters have sensed this turnaround in the Greens鈥� early 2021 momentum, and the question of the political hour will likely switch to what parties will be part of the governing coalition. No single party is large enough to govern alone. So will it be a 鈥渂lack-green鈥� coalition of the 鈥渙ld and new bourgeoisie鈥�? as Mr. Reinecke puts it, referring to the CDU (whose traditional color is black) and a Greens party that now does best with educated urban dwellers. The CDU in concert with the Greens could be consequential indeed, restructuring the economy toward climate neutrality with as little economic and social change as possible.
鈥淭he Greens stand for the promise that the 1.5 degree target [to limit global temperature increase under the Paris Agreement] will be seriously pursued, while [the CDU stands] for the promise that diesel cars will continue to be built and cheap meat will be sold in the supermarket,鈥� says Mr. Reinecke. 鈥淏lack-green also suits German industry. Now almost all CEOs realize they鈥檒l look bad in the world market without eco-remodeling.鈥�
Yet longtime CDU member Eckhard Finke believes the Greens are so focused on climate change that they forget about the economy, 鈥渟uch as the future we face with China. There are also social problems we need to deal with. We need to have a good mix and balance. These topics are all connected and to be able to see this connection is central to finding the best way forward for society, but also for Germany as a country within Europe.鈥�
The CDU鈥檚 candidate, Mr. Laschet, is the best person to guarantee this balance, says Mr. Finke, who lives in Lotte. 鈥淗e represents the middle, and that is very important for me.鈥�
鈥淲ithout our ideas, they will get lost鈥�
Regardless, the Greens鈥� surge is indicative of a movement that鈥檚 permanently entered the mainstream consciousness. Its urbanism, inclusivity, and climate-aware platform resound with a younger generation, whose political power will only grow.
The powerful German multinationals know it:聽BMW and Allianz, for example, are calling the Greens now, says Ms. Delig枚z, the Green parliamentarian. 鈥淭hey called me and told me they want to talk about how they can modernize our companies to become family-friendly, to become interesting for good, educated women. They know that they need our ideas to keep up with the future. Without our ideas, they will get lost.鈥�
For Samy Charchira, a Dusseldorf city politician who was born in Morocco and came to Germany at age 14, Ms. Baerbock and the Greens represent a new understanding of politics. 鈥淭he classic roles 鈥� right versus left, male-dominated, Western-dominated 鈥� this form of political engagement just doesn鈥檛 work anymore,鈥� says Mr. Charchira.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 correspond with our reality. We have a new zeitgeist in politics.鈥�
