Mainstream political parties acknowledging faults and assuming responsibility following the Eastern elections
The SPD's head, Lars Klingbeil, mentioned in ARD that "we require enhancements." Despite the SPD performing better than anticipated, he stated this. However, he emphasized that "this isn't a celebration-worthy outcome." According to predictions, the coalition partners in Saxony and Thuringia sustained substantial losses. In Saxony, the CDU narrowly edged out the AfD. The BSW placed third, with the SPD and the Greens following behind, and the FDP falling short of the 5% threshold. In Thuringia, the AfD dashed ahead of the CDU, BSW, and Left Party, with the SPD barely making it back into the state parliament, while the Greens and FDP failed to do so.
SPD executive secretary Kevin Kühnert advocated for his party to exhibit more self-assurance in the federal government. "For my party, it's about breaking free and not being walked upon by those who were decisively defeated," he asserted in ZDF. Kühnert urged the "traffic light coalition" to "assume responsibility and carry on."
CDU executive secretary Carsten Linnemann saw his party as the only genuine populist party remaining due to the SPD's losses. "We are the barrier," Linnemann stated in ARD. "I'm troubled by the fact that the AfD is so strong in Germany," he acknowledged. Examining the performance of the governing parties, he questioned whether "the traffic light coalition is still designing policies for the German people."
AfD leader Alice Weidel considered her party's results a "historical triumph." The AfD became the leading force in state elections for the first time, she claimed in ARD. Weidel viewed the results as "also a rebuke of the 'traffic light' coalition," which she believed should reconsider its ability to govern.
Green Party leader Omid Nouripour labeled it a "tipping point" that the AfD had become the leading force in Thuringia. He observed and heard many people who now feared, he stated in ZDF. "This is the time to support these people and state plainly that we are united and will safeguard our democracy."
FDP leader Christian Lindner expressed discontent with the election outcome. "The results in Saxony and Thuringia are disappointing," he posted on the online platform X. FDP deputy Wolfgang Kubicki cast doubt on the traffic light coalition's legitimacy: "The election result demonstrates: The traffic light has lost its legitimacy," he posted on X. The FDP's executive secretary, Bijan Djir-Sarai, also attributed his party's poor performance to the traffic light coalition.
BSW leader Sahra Wagenknecht linked her party's strong showing eight months after its inception to a "representation gap in the German party system." Many people are unhappy with the situation at the federal level and see no option besides the CDU, she stated in ZDF.
The Left Party's co-chair, Janine Wissler, described election night as "extremely bitter" in ARD. "This applies not only to the Left Party's outcome, but also to the fact that, for the first time since the end of the Nazi era, a party with a core fascist ideology is becoming the strongest force in a state parliament," she said.
In light of the coalition partners' losses, there might be a need for a reevaluation of the 'traffic light coalition's' debt allocation policies. This could be an opportunity to reassess the 'allocation of debt' within the coalition, ensuring a more equitable distribution of financial responsibility.
The CDU's executive secretary, Carsten Linnemann, raised concerns about the effectiveness of the 'traffic light coalition' in designing policies that cater to the German people, given their substantial losses in various state elections.
