Hesse coalition: hard on the Outside, soft on the inside

It was like a staging of tough negotiations. On Tuesday afternoon, the CDU, such as Green in the state of Hesse had reported that in the night a “breakthrough” in the coalition negotiations. And so it was then. Early Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) declared: “We are. We have a coalition agreement.“ Black-Green is in the state of Hesse, in a new edition. And the two partners to do so as they also led the existing Alliance: very quiet.

Julian Staib

Political correspondent for Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarland with its headquarters in Wiesbaden.

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the four-week negotiations, hardly something to desire as well as with those of 2013 to the outside. “Very committed and very serious”, said Bouffier. “In the case of hard, but always fair,” said Al-Wazir. He was glad that in the last few weeks, not all had heard, where hake and where not. You would have had no balcony, where you could be photographed, said Al-Wazir, in allusion to the failed Jamaica-negotiations in Berlin. In Wiesbaden, the negotiating groups met in the basement of an office building in the South of the city.

the Details of the contract were called on Wednesday no, Thursday he is to be presented. Bouffier announced, however, that, surprisingly, already the future of resort distribution. Therefore, the Greens will win two ministries, the CDU loses two and gains a new. So far, the Green economy and transport, Minister Al-Wazir, as well as environmental Minister Priska Hinz, the two members in Bouffiers Cabinet. In the future government, they are also the important Social – and integration Ministry, as well as the negligible rather occupy – culture and science Ministry. For the Former is traded in Wiesbaden, the previous Secretary of state for Integration, Kai Klose, then the culture would have to go to a woman – perhaps to the party Chairman Angela thorn. On the other hand, the Chairman of the group of the Greens Mathias Wagner is a candidate for culture and science, then Dorn would probably be Minister for social Affairs.

Further, it is strengthened in any case, Bouffiers Deputy Tarek Al-Wazir. In addition to the issues of economy and transport, he is assigned the responsibility for the Housing, the led a shadowy existence in the Ministry of the environment. Al-Wazir is in the future responsible for the most pressing issues of the state of Hesse. It will show if it is true, what is the SPD Chairman Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel called on Wednesday immediately: Places to stay a “tag without its own weight”.

The allocation of two ministries, roughly in line with the fact that the Greens will be in the Parliament with more than twice as many members represented; they were able to increase their election result 11.6 (2013) is now 19.8 percent. However, the CDU had to take the changed balance of Forces in the Parliament bill. They eventually lost in the state election at the end of October by 11.3 percentage points and slipped to just 27 percent. The task of the Ministry of science is expected to fall slightly, it has little weight. The Ministry of social Affairs is different. While it is not for Bouffier staff simply, the resort, eventually, to the Minister of social Affairs, to defend his Country’s Parliament. But the party lose weight. The CDU provides nevertheless in the future in addition to the Prime Minister and the chief of the state Chancellery, a total of six other Department heads, including those of or those of the newly created digital Ministry, to make this loss probably verschmerzbarer.