Greens do not want to vote for Kretschmer in MP election

The Greens in Saxony are giving Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) the cold shoulder and do not want to vote for the incumbent in his planned re-election next Wednesday. In a statement, they justified this primarily with the tight schedule. Kretschmer only met with several top politicians from Alliance 90/The Greens on Friday.

"We are of course prepared to talk about orderly conditions. We have been for the last 104 days since the election," it said in a statement. But this is simply not possible within five days. In order to create a viable basis, willingness is needed on all sides. "Entering into talks so close to the election and without a timetable does not demonstrate the will to sound out a common basis."

"Under these conditions, there can therefore be no votes from the Bündnisgrünen parliamentary group," it said. The CDU will go into a prime ministerial election on December 18 "without a clear majority from the democratic party spectrum". We have clearly pointed out the risks. To us, this seems irresponsible towards the country." Despite the great risk, the CDU and SPD would stick to the date.

Kretschmer needs 61 votes for re-election in the first round of voting. However, the CDU and SPD only have 51 seats in parliament. The intended minority government is therefore dependent on votes from other parliamentary groups. A simple majority will suffice in the second round of voting. Matthias Berger wants to run alongside Kretschmer as a candidate for the Free Voters.