More than six million people are electing a new state parliament in Lower Saxony on Sunday. Since 2017, a grand coalition of SPD and CDU led by Prime Minister Stephan Weil (63; SPD) has ruled in the second largest German state in terms of area.
It currently looks as if the SPD will remain the strongest force in Hanover even after the election Sunday. However, the CDU has caught up enormously in the polls, so it will be a tight race. The SPD is seen in the polls at 31 to 33 percent, the CDU at 27 to 30 percent. That would be historic lows for both parties.
The Greens, on the other hand, are stronger. According to the polls, they could win 16 to 19 percent of the votes and thus take undisputed third place. That would also be her best result so far in a state election in Lower Saxony.
The AfD is in the polls at 9 to 11 percent, but all other parties have already ruled out a coalition with the AfD. With 5 percent, the FDP is worried about re-entering the state parliament. The left, which has not been represented in parliament since 2013, is only 3 to 4 percent and is therefore unlikely to enter the state parliament.
Campaign theme: energy, energy, energy
The main topic in the Lower Saxony election campaign is the energy crisis. All parties report that voters at the campaign stands basically only want to talk about high energy prices. But the energy crisis is also important in terms of economic policy, since renewable energies are needed throughout the region Germany are produced and Lower Saxony is the federal state with the largest gas reserves.
There are also enough controversial issues at state level, such as the lack of staff in schools and daycare centers, the restructuring of agriculture in the country of pig and poultry farmers, the transformation of the car and supplier industry, climate protection or corona policy.
Relief in the energy crisis
As it is, however, the parties are primarily concentrating on possible solutions to the energy crisis. For example, in mid-September Prime Minister Weil announced a state-specific relief package worth 970 million euros for companies and citizens in addition to the SPD’s election manifesto. Small and medium-sized companies whose existence is at risk are to be supported with 200 million euros. According to Weil, the package is to be financed from additional tax revenue, which will also be well above expectations this year due to inflation.
CDU challenger Bernd Althusmann (55) goes a different way and calls for immediate liquidity support for companies in an interview with “Business Insider”. In addition, advance payments on income, corporation, trade and sales tax should be deferred – automatically and without an application, said the CDU politician. The tax authorities should also repay advance payments for the second and third quarters to energy-intensive companies.
Lingen nuclear power plant: shut down or continue to operate?
One of the biggest points of contention between the four parties relevant to the formation of a government in Hanover is whether the Lingen nuclear power plant in Emsland, Lower Saxony, should continue to operate because of the energy crisis. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (53; Greens) is currently planning to keep only two of the three remaining nuclear power plants running as a reserve for a short time: Isar 2 in Bavaria and Neckarwestheim in Baden-Württemberg. Lingen, on the other hand, is to be shut down by the end of the year.
For CDU top candidate Althusmann, given the energy shortage, however, a longer term for the reactor in Lingen is “absolutely necessary”. “Before we end up even phasing out nuclear power France, Hungary and possibly from the destroyed one Ukraine import, we should keep our own safe nuclear power plants running for the foreseeable future, until the end of 2024,” Althusmann told SPIEGEL. Althusmann even advocates ordering new fuel rods.
For FDP top candidate Stefan Birkner (49), the demand for a longer service life for the nuclear power plant is one of the main demands in the election campaign. “In the energy crisis, we have to ensure more supply,” explains Birkner.
SPD boss Weil, on the other hand, does not consider it necessary to continue operating Lingen for reasons of security of supply, and the Greens, befitting their status, also reject an extension of the term of the kiln. They also want to get out of the existing oil and gas production in Lower Saxony as quickly as possible. The SPD is aiming for the year 2040 for the exit.
Fracking issue
Another important issue in view of the energy crisis is the so-called fracking technology. This controversial form of energy extraction uses pressure and chemicals to extract gas or oil from rock strata. In the United States this technology has already caused devastating environmental damage. Unconventional fracking in shale rock has therefore been banned in Germany since 2017.
In Lower Saxony, however, there are huge natural gas deposits that could supply Germany with energy for over 20 years. The FDP now wants to at least review the ban. “We have to mobilize all reserves in view of the current crisis,” says Birkner. Who fracking gas from the United States import, cannot be against safe fracking funding in Germany, adds the Parliamentary Secretary of the FDP, Torsten Herbst (48).
CDU man Althusmann, currently Economics Minister of Lower Saxony, is still reluctant to comment on the subject of fracking: “Before entering the controversial technology of fracking, all other options should first be exhausted,” said the politician.
The Greens, on the other hand, clearly advocate a permanent and nationwide ban on fracking in their election program, as does the SPD. When Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (55; CSU) recommended examining the promotion of northern German gas deposits in July, SPD Prime Minister Weil reacted harshly. “Is it still possible?!” He tweeted, “Dear Markus Söder, how about finally wind power in Bavaria?”
LNG terminals – floating or fixed?
In order to secure the energy supply in Germany, the federal government in Berlin is also relying on the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG is frozen at minus 162 degrees, transported in liquid form by ship, landed, heated, regasified and then fed into the networks. The Lower Saxony ports in Wilhelmshaven and Stade are also affected.
The CDU wants to expand the terminals there into “energy ports”, i.e. also install fixed LNG terminals. The Greens, on the other hand, reject a “permanent fossil infrastructure” in the form of fixed LNG terminals. “In our view, floating LNG terminals on the German coast are sufficient to cover the remaining needs,” explain the top candidates of the Greens, Julia Willie Hamburg (36) and Christian Meyer (47).
Fight against scarce housing
In addition to the energy issues that determine the election campaign, at least the scarce living space in Lower Saxony is also on the political agenda of the parties. The establishment of a state housing association, which is to provide 40,000 affordable apartments in the medium term, is one of the core projects of the SPD. The Greens also want to set up a “Landesgesellschaft Wohnen und Klima”. However, this is intended to promote the expansion of existing buildings.
The FDP, on the other hand, has spoken out against the establishment of these national companies, as they are too expensive and the effect is only minimal. The Free Democrats want to encourage the creation of home ownership and are planning a one-time tax exemption of 500,000 euros per person for property transfer tax for owner-occupied real estate. The CDU, on the other hand, is trying to win voters’ favor with a “Lower Saxony building child allowance” of EUR 12,000 per child and the elimination of real estate transfer tax for owner-occupied residential property.
Debt brake versus Lower Saxony fund
SPD leader Weil has repeatedly spoken out against a debt brake at the federal level in view of the energy crisis. At the state level, too, the Social Democrats do not want to be paralyzed by “anti-innovation” debt brakes and want to enable state investments with the “Lower Saxony Fund”. The Greens also support the “Lower Saxony Fund”. The CDU and the FDP, on the other hand, want to return to a more restrictive financial policy.
Volkswagen without politicians on the supervisory board
One of the largest and most important employers in the region is the car company Volkswagen. Here the FDP speaks up and calls for an end to the mixing between politics and business. “I advocate that neither the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony nor a ministerial member of the VW
-should be on the supervisory board,” says FDP
-Prize candidate Birkner. Rather, the shares and interests of the state would have to be represented by authorized representatives. “Otherwise there can always be conflicts of interest, such as in the diesel affair.”
The country Lower Saxony
has two supervisory mandates at VW as a co-owner, currently held by Prime Minister because
and Economics Minister Althusmann.
Because wants a new edition of red-green
As can be seen, the SPD and the Greens as well as the CDU and the FDP in particular agree on many economic policy issues. No wonder then that Prime Minister Weil is striving for an alliance with the Greens, with whom he governed Lower Saxony from 2013 to 2017. As a precaution, the SPD candidate has already agreed to a traffic light with the FDP. That had failed in 2017 because of the Liberals. Probably on Sunday evening, Weil will see if his wish comes true.