The first black-green coalition in Schleswig-Holstein is sealed. State party conferences of the CDU and Greens approved the coalition agreement for the northernmost federal state negotiated by their leaders on Monday evening in Neumünster.
This clears the way for Daniel Günther (CDU) to be re-elected Prime Minister. Finance Minister Monika Heinold from the Greens remains his deputy.
The CDU accepted the coalition agreement unanimously with three abstentions. For the Greens, 112 delegates voted for the coalition agreement. Four delegates voted no, five abstained.
Günther’s re-election in the state parliament is scheduled for Wednesday. Then the new cabinet should be presented as a whole and sworn in in the state parliament. In Neumünster, Günther not only campaigned for approval of the coalition agreement, but also announced final personnel decisions.
He officially announced that the previous mayor of Rostock, Claus Ruhe Madsen (non-party), should take over the economic department. The latter had already been leaked but not yet confirmed. Günther said he had several exciting encounters with Madsen.
The Dane Madsen, who first moved to the Ruhr area from his home country and later opened a furniture store in Rostock, quickly became known nationwide for his unconventional style.
But he often caused offense – even in his own city administration. Most recently, Madsen had to announce the failure of plans to host the 2025 Federal Horticultural Show in Rostock.
Heinold remains finance minister, her green co-lead candidate Aminata Touré becomes social affairs minister. The responsibilities for agriculture and the environment are separated again after a long time.
This triggered massive criticism, which was also voiced again at the state party conference of the Greens. After their clear victory in the state elections on May 8th, the CDU had, under pressure from the conservative farming community, asserted and enforced a claim to the agricultural department.
“We have a coalition agreement ahead of us that is not only green, but above all good for Schleswig-Holstein,” said Heinold. Touré said she didn’t want to gloss over the fact that there was a commitment to the further construction of the A20 motorway in the coalition agreement.
But the central question is what is the opposite. And those are five years in which the Greens are allowed to help shape it.
The election result – 43.4 percent for the CDU and 18.3 percent for the Greens – is shown in terms of content and personnel, said Günther. He defended having tried a new edition of the Jamaica coalition with the Greens and the FDP. However, these parties would not have seen similar charm in a sequel.
