“The will of the voters is completely ignored”

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The election to the Berlin House of Representatives last Sunday evening is over – and went without major incidents. The result: a historic triumph for the CDU and a defeat for Berlin’s mayor Franziska Giffey and her SPD. It is still unclear which parties will ultimately form the government.

Of course, this also caused a lot of reactions on Twitter. Some users, however, were satisfied that the vote ran without any errors or glitches at all.

After all, the capital had already voted in September 2021. At that time, the elections to the House of Representatives and the district parliaments took place on the same day as the federal elections and a referendum on the expropriation of large housing associations.

Because of serious glitches such as incorrect or missing ballot papers and long queues in front of the polling stations, the Berlin Constitutional Court declared the election invalid and ordered it to be repeated within 90 days. On Sunday, Berliners were once again called upon to cast their votes. In the end the result was as follows:

After counting all constituencies, the CDU with top candidate Kai Wegner achieved 28.2 percent of the votes – around ten points more than in the 2021 breakdown election. The SPD only got 18.4 percent (in 2021 it was 21.4) and thus drove the worst earnings since 1950. The Greens, with their top candidate Bettina Jarasch, have governed the capital since 2016 with the Left and the SPD. Like the latter, they also achieved 18.4 percent (18.9) – but they were 105 votes behind the Social Democrats.

Formation of government is still open

And that’s a topic on Twitter right now. The Berlin CDU claimed that it would form a government under its leadership. It would be possible for them to enter into a two-party alliance with the SPD and the Greens. CDU top candidate Kai Wegner said on Monday that he wanted to invite the SPD and Greens to exploratory talks in the evening. The aim is to hold talks this week or early next week.

However: A continuation of the coalition of SPD, Greens and Left is also possible. And: Because the SPD is just ahead of the Greens, Franziska Giffey could also remain in office as governing mayor. Many Twitter users see this critically.

Just like the fact that the top candidates from the SPD, the Greens and the Left have lost their constituencies – and still want to govern.

Prime Minister Giffey hopes to be able to continue the current coalition. She said on Monday morning on the RBB Inforadio: “If the SPD is able to lead a strong government, then that’s a point for us that we can’t just push aside.” One or the other doesn’t like that at all.

The Greens’ top candidate Bettina Jarasch also emphasized again that she favors a continuation of this coalition – and thus received no encouragement from some.

Some Twitter users take the electoral success of the Christian Democrats with humor.

Another topic on the social platform is why the CDU got so many votes. One reason: the dissatisfaction of Berliners with the policies of the other parties.

In addition, there is also a lot of tweeting about the FDP – and pulling it off. Because for the Free Democrats it was a bitter election night. They only got 4.6 percent of the votes, so they are no longer part of the state parliament. In the 2021 election, they still had 7.1 percent of the votes.

While the Twitter community is arguing about the outcome of the election, a recount is being considered in Berlin in view of the SPD’s particularly narrow lead of 105 votes over the Greens.

State returning officer Stephan Bröchler said on Monday: “We will take a close look at the numbers again and discuss it with our lawyers.” It is indeed a very small difference. The state returning officer assumes that the question of a recount will be decided this week.