German Elections 2025

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CWA # 1627, 18 March 2025
German Elections 2025
Decline of the Greens since 2005

  Santhiya M

Before 2005, the Greens became a part of  the government, twice with coalitions. However, they were ruled out from the coalition in 2005 and did not return to power until 2021.

The election in 2005 was a crucial point for the Greens, as they  were out of the Bundestag, and in the state level. Around this time, the leader of the party, Joschka Fischer, faced an immigration scandal, which he  accepted. He  served as Germany’s  Foreign  Minister at that time and took responsibility for the  it. The scandal dealt with the abuse of visas to smuggle drugs and prostitutes, and this was  exposed in the elections. He retired from politics thereafter . There were other  issues too. Young voters were considered an important voter base but became less engaged with shifting inclinations. The party's core agenda, Environmental Conservation,  became a common political focus, which led to an identity crisis.

 In 2005, began the Merkel era. Merkel was the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and became the Chancellor from 2005 till 2021. During the Merkel era, the Greens did not get an opportunity to join in on the coalition. Merkel had huge wins, and even when she had to form coalition between the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens, she chose the SPD. The 2025 elections show a similar  pattern.

In 2021, SPD, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), and the Greens formed the governing coalition known as the traffic light coalition. However, in 2024, the coalition  collapsed, leading to  its impact in the 2025 election, where coalition partners started blaming each other.

The Greens got 11.6 per cent votes in 2025, which means a loss of 3 per cent votes  in comparison to 2021. Five reasons can be traced to explain this.

Soft-spoken migration policy
The migration policy was one of the significant questions raised in the 2025 election. While the Greens have a liberal outlook, Die Linke (the Left) is accusing the Greens of not propagating it enough. In the election manifesto, migration is not mentioned in the preamble despite being a stressing issue. It was mentioned in the third chapter by calling Germany "a country of immigration that welcomes people and offers protection". Germany favoured an anti-immigration stance in this election, as witnessed in the rise of the Alternative for Germany Party (AfD), which pushed for strong migration controls. This did not work out in favour of the Greens.

Economic Condition
Germany's economic condition was  another crucial question. Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, there was an energy crisis, which led to inflation inenergy costs. The heating law came into effect in 2024 and became controversial. It was proposed by then Economic and Climate Minister, Robert Habeck,   a member of the Greens. The other parties criticised these climate-friendly standards and goals as being unrealistic in the midst of an ailing economy. 

Shift in the public opinion
Climate protection measures like phasing out gas boilers, banning combustion engine cars by 2035, and achieving climate neutrality by 2040 have impacted the lives of ordinary people. They find the shift to other alternatives hard to adapt, especially during inflation. They believe that there are more necessary measures that should be taken concerning the lives of the general public who cannot afford expensive climate-friendly technology. This has been wisely utilised in the campaigns of other parties.

Youth voters, the important voter base, are  shifting towards the Left. The left advocates for ambitious climate policy and fair energy transition, which attracts the youth. The Left also secured the votes in urban centres, which is  a crucial voter base  for the Greens. This explains the loss of votes for the Greens.

The rise of right-wing party
This election has witnessed the favouring of rightist policies and parties. The Greens were criticised for 'eco-dictatorship' due to the  Green’s finance laws and  initiatives. These laws were accused of promoting regulations and excessive control of bureaucracy. The complete cessation of fossil fuel use would impact the public adversely. AfD highlighted, that the policies of the Greens did not match the demand for economic growth. The conservatives went anti-green on their policies, which worked out. Even the coalition partners of 2021 accused the Greens of environmental elitism. The voter base of the Greens comprised largely of urban voters, and thus, the Greens were accused that their policies were unfit for other strata.

There are slim prospects of the coalition for the Greens with CDU,  due to the ideological differences. CDU is not against the use of nuclear energy, unlike the Greens., like  2005, CDU/CSU is likely to have a coalition with SPD. The Greens are now reduced to opposition in the Bundestag.

About the author
Santhiya M is a student at the Department of Political Science, Madras Christian College, Chennai

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