German left-liberal green agenda faces defeat in snap parliament election | Eastern NC Now

The left-liberal German government's green agenda is under major attack and unlikely to survive the snap elections that have been called for early next year.  The negative impacts of the green agenda have been a focus of major and sustained protests by the country's farmers who have dubbed it "climate communism".   There is also an organized consumer movement objecting to it, led by Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis and others which has held major rallies in opposition to the adverse impact on consumers of the green agenda

Opposition to the green agenda has impacted Germany's political parties.  All three parties in the left-liberal "traffic light coaltion" have seen major declines in their polling numbers.  The worst hit has been the classic liberal Free Democrats which have gone along with policies, both on the green agenda and on immigration that are contrary to their voter base, and those voters have deserted them to the point that they have been getting totally wiped out in many state elections.  National polls show a likely wipeout in the national elections as well.  The other two parties, the Greens and Social Democrats have been taking major losses in state elections and lost significant vote share nationally.

What has happened since the last election is the rise of two parties, one on the right and the other on the left, that are actively campaigning against the green agenda.  Opposition to the green agenda has always been part of the platform of the populist nationalist anti-immigration Alternativ fur Deutschland, (AfD) but in the last two years, they have made that issue a much more important part of their campaign message and it is resonating with voters.

Even more recent has been the emergence of a new populist party of the left, the BSW, which also opposes the green agenda due to its adverse impact on the family finances of the poor and middle class.  The BSW also takes anti-immigration and anti-woke positions, and has been steadily eating into the vote base of the older parties of the left in state elections.  In one recent state election where the BSW scored seats, the Green Party was totally wiped out.

Current polls show the traditional conservative CDU/CSU in the lead, closely followed by the AfD in second place, and the Social Democrats a distant third.  Under Chancellor Angela Merkel, the CDU had been a champion of the green agenda, although not as strident as the current government, but since her retirement, the party has been led by her more conservative longtime rival Freidrich Merz.  Merz has been distancing the CDU from many of Merkel's policies, including immigration and her green policies.

In Germany largest state, conservative Bavaria, the CDU does not operate but relies on its longtime partner the Christian Social Union (CSU) which has always been to the right of the CDU.  The CSU-run Bavarian state government has placed some of the harshest restrictions on green energy in the country.  Now the CSU has emphatically stated that it will not follow its CDU sister party into any coalition government that includes the Green Party.

While polls show the German people approve of a coalition between the CDU/CSU and the AfD, which would command a clear majority, the leadership of the CDU currently opposes that.  Some speculate on a CDU led "grand coalition with the Social Democrats, who without the Green Party in the coalition would probably be inclined to agree to the CDU significantly watering down the green agenda.

https://conservativehome.com/2024/11/21/garvan-walshe-snap-elections-give-germany-the-instability-it-needs/