Voting events - Political groups assess EU vote outcomes: Revisiting the K-issue
Following the decisive win of the CSU in the European elections, political groups in Bavaria need to scrutinize the results and determine possible early actions. With a 39.7% share (barely below their previous results), the CSU has already voiced a desire for a discussion on a potential chancellor candidate. The CSU faction leader in Bavaria's state assembly, Klaus Holetschek, mentioned to the "Augsburger Allgemeine" (Monday edition), "I believe that the conversation around a chancellor candidate will resurface."
Amongst the recent developments, CSU leader Markus Söder indicated that CDU head Friedrich Merz could be the frontrunner for the Union's chancellor bid. "Certainly, a CDU leader is usually the favorite," said Söder during an interview with "Bayerischer Rundfunk," after Merz decisively took over as party chairman with almost 90 percent at the CDU party congress in May. Interestingly, Söder's own poll numbers show better ratings, both among his followers and in the larger population.
At the nationwide level, the CSU secured 6.4% of the votes, according to early calculations. There was hope of increasing its number of European Parliament seats from the current six to seven.
The AfD gained 12.6% (up from 8.5% in the previous elections) in Bavaria, followed by the Greens with 11.8% of the votes (from 19.1% in 2019).
CSU leader Markus Söder perceived the European election outcome as a definitive protest against the existing federal administration, stating on Sunday evening in Munich, "The traffic light has effectively been turned down by the citizens."
Nevertheless, Söder lamented that the national AfD result, in spite of the party's scandals, was too high. This represents a "difficult task" for the CSU. Concerning the Free Voters' performance, Söder remarked that their dreams for influence in Europe and Germany had been dashed, with the party "no longer offering anything in Europe nor in Germany." He urged the Free Voters to focus more on the nation and municipalities.
CSU candidate for the European election, Manfred Weber, viewed Sunday's outcome as a "breathtaking achievement." He declared, "A bourgeois Europe."
As for the Free Voters, party chairman Hubert Aiwanger was pleased that his party could now send a third MEP to Brussels. "Obviously, there's some hype up there, yet I'm glad that we have not failed," Aiwanger stated on Sunday evening on "Bayerischer Rundfunk." "Let's celebrate!"
Out of the 10.4 million people eligible to vote in Bavaria, approximately 220,000 16- and 17-year-olds, who were allowed to vote for the first time due to the lowering of the voting age, participated. In addition to the 9.57 million Germans, about 822,000 people with another EU nationality were eligible to vote in Bavaria.
