German election entering home straight

BERLIN, April 26 (Xinhua) -- For the first time in the history of Germany, there is a real chance that the country's government could be led by the Green Party. Although the election in September is still months away, the race between the Greens and the conservative union of the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) and the Bavarian CSU (Christian Social Union) is already entering the home straight.

The CDU/CSU and the Green Party both announced their chancellor candidates last week, and German voters now have a clear idea of who will succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will leave office after 16 years.

With Annalena Baerbock, who is 40 years old and has little experience in government, the Greens have presented their first ever chancellor candidate. Over the last years, the party has become the second most popular political party in Germany and is now even looking to take the lead.

According to a snap poll conducted by Forsa Institute shortly after Baerbock's nomination was announced, the Greens have gained five full percentage points in support and are currently in the lead with 28 percent of the vote. The CDU/CSU, on the other hand, plummeted to a historic low of 21 percent.

"I am deeply convinced that this country needs a fresh start," Baerbock said in her acceptance speech, adding that she stood for renewal and that with her candidacy she wanted to make an offer to the whole society to "lead the diverse, strong and rich country into a good future."

The CDU/CSU was long deadlocked over who they thought should follow Merkel. Last week, the CDU finally nominated party leader Armin Laschet, but the decision was not uncontested, as CSU Chairman Markus Soeder was leading Laschet in the polls and was referred to by many as the "candidate of the hearts."

"Laschet is missing the power to unite that is needed to be a candidate for chancellorship," Manfred Guellner, head of the Forsa Institute, recently said after a Forsa survey found that only six percent of Germans believed that Laschet was fit for the job.

However, Laschet, 60, will try to bring his government experience to bear. In his acceptance speech, he stressed that politics was about "listening, deciding and acting," adding that politicians must think of the end of the pandemic before building a sustainable Germany by making it "better, faster and more modern."

"Right now, it is impossible to make a reliable forecast for the national election," Michael Mertes, a consultant at pollster Dimap, told Xinhua. Around one in three voters had not made up their mind yet and voters in Germany were "primarily interested in the fight against the pandemic."

Three potential coalitions are considered likely today, and none of them would work without the Greens. The first scenario would arguably bring the least change to Germany: it is a coalition between the CDU/CSU and the Greens, in which the latter would simply replace the Social Democratic Party (SPD) as junior partner and the CDU/CSU would continue to provide the chancellor.

If the CDU/CSU under Laschet fails to reverse the current trend, the Greens would become the CDU/CSU's senior coalition partner or, less likely still, even lead a center-left coalition with the SPD and the Left Party or the Liberal Party. Baerbock would be chancellor in either scenarios.

Whatever the outcome of the vote in September, sustainability and green politics will be hot issues in Germany. Laschet emphasizes climate protection "through innovation and competition", while Baerbock describes it as an "investment in quality of life, more social justice and sustained prosperity."