The Christian Democrat Kai Wegner was elected mayor-governor of Berlin by the regional Parliament yesterday, and thus became the first conservative mayor of the German capital in 22 years. Since 2001, the Social Democratic Party has led the governing coalitions of the city of Berlin – which has the rank of a state (federated state) like Hamburg and Bremen – and now continues as a minority partner in the new executive headed by the Christian Democrat CDU. The outgoing social democratic mayor, Franziska Giffey, assumes the portfolio of Economy.
Kai Wegner was elected in the third vote - in which a simple majority was enough - after failing to obtain the required absolute majority in the first two, which is 80 votes in this hemicycle of 159 seats. The two failed attempts indicate social democratic discontent with the pact, as the CDU and SPD have a combined 86 seats. When Wegner was finally elected in the third round, he exceeded the absolute majority, as he received 86 votes. There were 70 votes against and 3 abstentions.
This relief has materialized from a long negotiation between the two parties after the repeat of the regional elections on February 12 gave a clear conservative victory (28.2%). The elections were repeated by judicial decision due to errors and disorganization in the initial appointment – held on September 26, 2021, together with the general elections – which led to a social democratic victory. The then winner Giffey became mayor in December 2021, at the head of a tripartite coalition with greens and leftists.
The results of the repeat election in February, in which the SPD came second with 18.4% of the vote, arithmetically allowed Giffey to re-edit his government with greens and leftists. The figures also allowed the winner Wegner to form a government in agreement with the Greens.
However, in a decision that angered many social democrats, Giffey offered Wegner an alliance, even at the cost of losing the post of mayor. Giffey argued that the polls indicated that voters did not want a repeat of the outgoing coalition, and that the SPD was at risk of scoring even worse in the next election. Significantly, the Berlin militancy of the SPD ratified the pact on Sunday with only 54.3% of votes.
Berlin, once a reasonably priced city, has become very expensive in recent years. With 3.8 million inhabitants and less than 1% of housing available, it needs more new construction. The government program agreed at the beginning of April between CDU and SPD also focuses on mobility, education, digitization of the administration and the plural nature of the city.
