CDU’s Kai Wegner Elected as Berlin’s New Governing Mayor After 3 Ballots with Controversial “AfD-Jägerin” Senator for Justice

2023-04-28 03:03:00

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Von: Bettina Menzel and Franziska Schwarz

Kai Wegner is only elected mayor of Berlin in the third ballot with a majority of 86 votes – and brings “AfD-Jägerin” as Senator for Justice to Berlin.

Update from April 27, 9:09 p.m.: Berlin’s new head of government Kai Wegner does not want to be deterred by possible AfD votes in his election. “I believe that the AfD wants to create chaos here,” said the CDU politician on Thursday evening in an RBB special. “She wants to use it. Because, with the best will in the world, I cannot imagine that the AfD would elect a governing mayor who would bring the biggest AfD hunter from all of Germany to Berlin. So it’s a tactic, a strategy. But I won’t let that deter me.”

With “AfD-Jägerin” Wegner is likely to refer to the new Senator for Justice Felor Badenberg, who previously worked in the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and was also responsible for classifying the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist. The non-party Badenberg is designated Berlin Senator for Justice and Consumer Protection.

Group photo of the new Berlin government. The designated Berlin Senator for Justice and Consumer Protection, Felor Badenberg (independent) in the bottom row on the far right. © Christoph Soeder/dpa +++ dpa picture radio +++

When asked regarding a bitter followingtaste of the election process, Wegner said: “Of course, I would have wished for that differently. We would have wished that differently from the coalition of CDU and SPD.” But the third ballot is constitutionally regulated: “It is regular.” So he is happy. He has a coalition majority with 86 votes. Obviously there were dissenters in the CDU and SPD. Now it’s a matter of convincing the coalition representatives and Berliners with good work.

AfD claims to have helped Wegner to the required majority – criticism comes from the SPD

Update from April 27, 7:24 p.m.: The CDU and SPD had their own majority in the election of Kai Wegner as governing mayor, according to Berlin’s SPD state and parliamentary group leader Raed Saleh. “I firmly believe so,” Saleh told the German Press Agency on Thursday evening. “It worked in the end, with its own majority of 86 votes.”

CDU country chief Kai Wegner was only elected in the third ballot with 86 votes. The CDU and SPD together have that many MPs in the state parliament. According to a press release, the AfD parliamentary group, which has 17 MPs, had decided to help Wegner achieve the required majority. When asked how many votes there were from her group, group leader Kristin Brinker told the dpa: “Assume half of it.”

Saleh criticized the behavior of the AfD: “She does what she always does. It divides, it works with the instruments of disinformation and also lies and a bit of insidiousness,” said the SPD politician. That’s a strategy. “We do not take votes from right-wing populists and Nazis. We don’t need the voices of right-wing populists and Nazis – and there were no voices of right-wing populists and Nazis.”

CDU politician Kai Wegner is elected the new mayor of Berlin in the third ballot

Update from April 27, 4:44 p.m: In the third ballot, the CDU politician Kai Wegner was elected the new Governing Mayor of Berlin. The 50-year-old received the necessary approval on Thursday in the Berlin House of Representatives following two failed attempts. Wegner accepted the election with an almost petrified expression.

Mayoral election in Berlin: CDU leader Merz calls for reason

Update from April 27, 4:04 p.m: CDU leader Friedrich Merz is now warning with a view to the mayoral election in Berlin: “I can only hope that the SPD will come to their senses in the course of the day and restore the ability of this city to govern,” he told the broadcasters ProSieben, Sat .1 and cable one.

There was a clear election result and a clear winner, the CDU leader continued. “And the SPD must not evade this through refusal and boycotts and obstruction.” He hopes “that it will succeed at least in the third ballot. Anything else would be a real catastrophe for this city”.

Mayoral election in Berlin: CDU politician Wegner failed in two ballots

April 27 update at 1:58 p.m: The Berlin CDU politician Wegner also fails in the second ballot: the 50-year-old once once more failed to achieve the required absolute majority in the Berlin House of Representatives in the election for the new mayor. 79 MPs voted for Wegner, 79 voted once morest him.

An absolute majority of 80 votes was required for the election in the first two rounds. A majority of the votes cast is sufficient for an election in the third round. The session was adjourned until 3:30 p.m. following the failed election.

Berlin election: Kai Wegner (CDU) in the Berlin House of Representatives when electing the new mayor
Kai Wegner (CDU) in the Berlin House of Representatives when electing the new mayor © Tobias Schwarz/AFP

Mayoral election in Berlin: Wegner fails in the first round

Update from April 27, 1:01 p.m: The CDU politician Kai Wegner failed in the election for the new Governing Mayor of Berlin in the first ballot. He missed the required absolute majority in the vote in the Berlin House of Representatives.

Wegner got 71 yes votes, 86 deputies voted once morest him. In the second ballot, he also needs the absolute majority of the 159 parliamentarians, i.e. 80 yes votes. If Wegner also misses the absolute majority in the second ballot, further ballots are possible. A majority of the votes cast would then be sufficient for an election.

Does the election wobble? Wegner hopes for an absolute majority following the Berlin election

First report from April 27th: Berlin – Last stage of the Berlin election: The capital is expected to have a CDU politician as governing mayor once more – for the first time in more than 20 years: Kai Wegner is standing for election this Thursday (April 27) in the House of Representatives as Franziska’s successor Giffey (SPD).

In the secret ballot, an absolute majority is required in the first two ballots. With 159 MPs, that’s 80 votes. The new alliance of CDU and SPD has a total of 86 MPs. If there is no absolute majority in both ballots, the candidate who receives the most votes is elected in the third ballot.

Criticism from the SPD following the Berlin election: “Giffey is counted in black and red”

Unlike the SPD, the Christian Democrats had not had any public discussions regarding the black-red alliance in Berlin: At a party conference, the coalition agreement passed without a dissenting vote, while in the SPD the approval of a member vote was significantly lower at 54.3 percent .

Die taz reported corresponding dissatisfaction in the SPD: “A resounding slap in the face for Franziska Giffey. She is counted and as a Lame Duck in a three-year coalition with the CDU Berlin,” said Thomas Giebel, SPD district executive from Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.

“This man embodies little of my hometown,” the newspaper quoted SPD Secretary General Kevin Kühnert as saying regarding a possible Mayor Wegner. Above all, according to the report, Kühnert criticized the CDU politician for his statements regarding the New Year’s Eve riots in Berlin.

Berlin election: CDU refers SPD and Greens to their places

The CDU emerged as the strongest party from the repeat election in February. Giffey was then ready to give up her position for the Black-Red coalition, which she would probably have retained if the Red-Green-Red continued – this coalition would also have continued to have a majority. The repeat election had become necessary because there had been numerous organizational glitches in the regular 2021 House of Representatives elections.

If elected, Wegner would be the first governing mayor from the ranks of the CDU following Eberhard Diepgen, who held this office until June 2001. It replaces the alliance of SPD, Left and Greens that had governed Berlin since 2016. (dpa/frs)

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