Alliance of small parties puts together state list
A newly formed political alliance of small parties has begun drawing up its own state list for the 2024 Brandenburg state elections. After the Pirate Party joined forces with the ÖDP and Volt to form the "Plus Brandenburg" list association for the election, Thomas Bennühr is to lead the alliance into the election campaign as the lead candidate. "We want to take the candidates to the podiums," said a spokesperson for the association.
The state list consists of 17 candidates from all over the state, said the spokesperson. The age spectrum ranges from 24 years old to 63-year-old Bennühr, who is a member of the Pirate Party. The association's spokesperson said that he sees the possibility of the coalition clearing the five percent hurdle in next year's elections and even gaining government responsibility.
If a newly founded Wagenknecht party were to be launched in Brandenburg, it would split the entire political spectrum, the spokesperson explained. If the parties of the traffic light coalition in the federal government were to lose ground in the election, the "Plus Brandenburg" list could conceivably join the government.
In the last state election in 2019, the Pirate Party and the ÖDP failed to clear the five percent hurdle. Volt did not take part. Top candidate Bennühr is now confident about the hurdle. The signs had changed as a result of the merger. People who were afraid that their vote would be lost if they voted for a small party now had a real option. There is also a high potential of non-voters and a high level of dissatisfaction with the old parties.
The association is not supported by political professionals who have risen through the party system, but by people from all kinds of professional groups and social areas, said Bennühr. "We want to create something where people say: "This is something we haven't had before." He sees great potential in this spectrum of the electorate.
Thematically, the three parties are not far apart and complement each other well, said Bennühr. "We have very extensive overlaps." They want to work together to create policies capable of governing that are based on the values of transparency, environmental, animal and nature conservation, citizen participation and social justice. Specifically, Bennühr mentioned the desire to bundle the many small providers in local transport and a 9-euro ticket for Brandenburg.
The alliance, comprising the Pirate Party, ÖDP, and Volt, aims to surpass the five percent threshold in the 2024 Brandenburg state elections with their combined state list. If the traffic light coalition in the federal government experiences a setback in the election, there's a possibility that "Plus Brandenburg" could become part of the governing coalition.
Source: www.dpa.com
