Jens Spahn (CDU) had suggested splitting the Baden‑Württemberg premier’s term because the election result was tight, but the co‑party leader of the federal Greens, Felix Banaszak, dismissed the idea as “nonsense”.
In a Monday interview on the ntv show “Pinar Atalay”, Banaszak explained that an election is either won or lost; someone is in front, and 0.5 percentage points are still 0.5 percentage points. He compared the situation to Gerhard Schröder’s win over Edmund Stoiber with an even smaller margin, noting that no one had suggested that Stoiber could take over the federal government after two years.
After the Greens’ electoral victory, the Green Youth urged Spitzenkandidat Cem Özdemir to keep the controversial Tübingen mayor Boris Palmer-who was formerly a Green-from the cabinet. Banaszak said he would not send Özdemir proposals from Berlin about who should be allowed in and who should not.
Banaszak added that in the coming days the Greens and the Union will need to build a working relationship. He praised Özdemir’s statement that they want to operate on an equal footing, pointed out how close the election results were, and stressed that a government only works well when both partners are represented. Eventually ministries will be distributed according to portfolios, and the Greens will decide which members will take those posts.
