Günther warns: Söder is wrong about black-green coalitions!

Günther warns: Söder is wrong about black-green coalitions!

Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther, a member of the CDU, was critical of the political views of his Bavarian counterpart Markus Söder. According to Günther, Söder's attitude towards black-green coalitions in the federal government is wrong both strategically and in terms of content. In a conversation on the phoenix politics podcast “under 3”, he emphasized that it was a serious mistake to declare in advance that you can only govern with a certain party. This limits the possibilities for political action and is an unwise positioning.

Günther accused Söder of propagating a one-sided view with his statements and warned against chaining himself to the SPD, which he does not consider to be the most innovative part of the traffic light government. “I think it’s a serious mistake to commit unilaterally,” he said. Instead, he advocated cooperation with all democratic parties, which could strengthen the CDU's ability to act.

Söder's statements as a strategic mistake

The Prime Minister of Bavaria accused Günther and his North Rhine-Westphalian counterpart Hendrik Wüst at the CSU party conference a week ago of making a serious strategic mistake by considering black-green coalitions as a model for the next federal election. Günther responded to this criticism by saying that Söder was building his own position through insinuations and giving a false impression. “It sounds as if Hendrik Wüst and I are walking around the country saying that black-green is the only option for us after the next federal election,” explained Günther, making it clear that neither Wüst nor himself had ever argued that way.

Rather, they also criticized the Greens in the traffic light coalition for their political course, without, however, giving up the chances of cooperation. “It is contradictory to form a coalition with the Greens in several countries and suggest to voters that you cannot work with them,” said Günther.

Emphasize the CDU's strengths

Günther stated that it is not an expression of strength to only critically engage with other parties and thus promote populism. Rather, the CDU can go into the federal election campaign with self-confidence by presenting its own strengths and political concepts. According to Günther, it requires courage and foresight to look at the political landscape realistically and to focus on creating constructive majorities.

The entire interview will be up soon www.phoenix.de to find. This shows how CDU leaders can think about strategies internally and discuss differences with other political camps more publicly.