At a Stern event in Hamburg on Thursday evening, former Green party chair Ricarda Lang said that Cem Özdemir’s electoral success in Baden‑Württemberg stemmed in part from his distance from his own party. He won because of a mix of authenticity, clear positions and a measured detachment from the party, Lang explained.
She noted that what fuels voters’ basic scepticism about parties. “People are simply fed up with parties” she said. “Anything that smells of party‑soldier mentality is rejected”. According to her, politicians who go beyond their party’s dogma can win both trust and votes.
Lang also admitted that Mayor Boris Palmer of Tübingen helped the victory. “Palmer played a role that helped” she said, adding that, despite his contribution, Palmer would not receive a ministerial position in the state cabinet. “No” she replied when asked, “I don’t make the decision, but that is my assessment”.
She urged that after the campaign the CDU and the Greens now need to pull together. She said the two parties were “completely baffled” that they would still be debating after the election who had been mean to whom. “Who cares?” she asked. She warned them against “an incestuous fog of a political operation that increasingly revolves around itself”.
