Prime Ministerial Candidate Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock.Image: trapezoid
Robert Harbeck leads the Green Party in the federal election. It is now official: at the Federalist Congress in Wiesbaden, a corresponding motion received 96.48% of the delegates' votes. “We accept the elections!” shouted Habeck, who stood alongside Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock.
In the application, Habeck was described as “the candidate of the German people” who had “the qualities to make a good chancellor.” The Green Party leader described Habeck as a candidate for finance minister. Habeck himself said on the issue that he wanted “an honest address.” 20 deputies voted against Habeck (2.6%). Seven representatives (0.91%) abstained from voting.
Join forces with Bell Bock
Ahead of the nomination, Habeck asked for support from delegates. He told the party congress in Wiesbaden that he was seeking trust so that he could continue to carry out his party duties. “If we need to go a long way, then we can also go to the Prime Minister's Office,” he added. He explicitly thanked Berbock, with whom he served as party chairman. In her address, he said: “It is a great honor to know you in front of me, beside me, and behind me.”
Bellbock previously praised Habeck as “super pragmatic.” “That's exactly what I want: you as chancellor,” she shouted to him. “No one can turn the rudder in a storm while hoisting the sail correctly with the wind like Robert Habeck.” She pledged to support him on the campaign trail.
Heating laws 'like the sword of Damocles' hang in the balance
In his hour-long application speech, Habeck, 55, painted himself as someone who believes equality is particularly important. When his children were little, he changed diapers and mashed potatoes just like his wife. Something like this always goes down well at Green Party conferences.
Habaek then assessed his reign. He acknowledged that building energy laws, which have deeply eroded his support, hung “like a sword of Damocles” over the campaign, but also emphasized his ability to learn from his mistakes.
Haback explained that running for the top office was not a guaranteed success for him. Ultimately, after discussions with party members this summer, he decided “not to back down now.” Responding to media reports that he wanted to reshape the party in his own way, Habeck said in a discussion with party members: “I hate it like the plague. If you think that's who I am, please don't vote for me in the election!”
Fighting the Party’s Image
Habeck resisted the perception of his party as professorial. He said he didn't want to be a know-it-all who told others what to think. At the same time, he warned against a new version of a so-called grand coalition. “That's why people are obsessed with the status quo, and that's why there's stagnation,” he said.
The EU-SPD alliance had led Germany into energy dependence on Russia, and for a long time in the years before the war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022 it did not see or wanted to see what was coming.
Habeck announced that issues he wanted to focus on with the Greens included low employment rates for mothers and that restrictions on residency for rejected asylum seekers who are willing to work remain too restrictive.
In the future, the federal government must have more opportunities to financially support state education policies. Habeck believes that the debt brake reform based on the Basic Law, which the Green Party has long called for, should be launched before the new Bundestag elections planned for February 23.
Habeck promised to lower electricity prices and announced that he would provide loans for emergency infrastructure projects if the Greens returned to government. “I don’t really like debt – I just want to get work done,” he said.
More than 800 delegates greeted his hour-long speech with thunderous applause, especially when he talked about imposing higher taxes on the “super rich” and closing tax loopholes.
Party meetings focus on personnel matters
Overall, the three-day party conference was characterized by the election of new leadership after the former board of directors, consisting of Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour, underwent three elections. He announced his withdrawal at the end of September after a disappointing state election. With support polling between 11% and 12%, the two new presidents, Franziska Brantner and Felix Banaszak, have emphasized the Green Party's role as a climate Indispensable role of conservation and social justice advocate.
There were essentially no major substantive debates in Wiesbaden. The Greens hope to decide on their election plans at another party conference on January 26. Internally, we heard that it was important not to argue on niche issues but to present “big ideas” to voters. Climate protection, measures against dilapidated infrastructure, safety issues and affordability of daily life should be the focus.
Alternative for Germany decides on debt brake
In Wiesbaden, delegates argued for, among other things, a strong push for a possible ban on the AfD and reform of the debt brake in the Basic Law. Green youth's proposal to scrap the debt brake entirely failed to win a majority on Saturday night.
The Green Party also pointed out that immigration and the admission of refugees also caused public concern. In a motion passed overwhelmingly, it said: “It is time for a new asylum and immigration policy that finally works, faces reality, sees human rights as an advantage and A center of respect for the dignity of people within Europe and beyond.”
The Greens want to introduce a new inheritance tax model. Your proposal provides for a “living allowance per person”, say €1 million, instead of the previous allowance, depending on the relationship between the testator and heirs. On top of the exemption, a linear tax rate of approximately 25% should apply equally to all assets, including real estate, business assets and stocks.
Habeck is now entering the thick of the campaign — and from the kitchen table. At least that's what he's proposing to voters he wants to discuss informally. (Sudanese Development Authority/Department of Political Affairs)
An Apatosaurus skeleton more than 20 meters long was auctioned in France, with a transaction price of just over 4.4 million francs.
A collector acquired a dinosaur skeleton unearthed in the United States on Saturday, auction houses Collin du Bocage and Barbarossa said.
