Habeck Rallies Greens in Saxony-Anhalt
- Robert Habeck, now a senior investment adviser and no longer in frontline politics, drew around 500 people to a Magdeburg beer garden to campaign for the Greens in Saxony-Anhalt.
- A Friday poll by Forschungsgruppe Wahlen placed the AfD on 40 per cent, the CDU on 23 per cent, and the Greens on 6 per cent — exactly at the five-per-cent threshold for Landtag
- If the Greens clear the threshold, the AfD would likely fall short of its goal of forming a government alone, making the party a potential kingmaker in the state election.
Robert Habeck, the former German Vice Chancellor and ex-Economy Minister, has returned to the campaign trail in Saxony-Anhalt, lending his profile to a Greens party struggling to clear the parliamentary threshold ahead of the state election. Despite having withdrawn from frontline politics, taken on teaching commitments, and begun working as a senior adviser to an investment firm, Habeck drew an audience of roughly 500 to the Schweizer Milchkuranstalt, one of Magdeburg's most popular beer gardens situated close to the Elbe, on Friday afternoon.
A reluctant star
Habeck opened the event with a disarming admission: "My name is Robert Habeck and I am not standing for election." The remark was met with audible disappointment. He then spent the better part of an hour in conversation with Susann Sziborra-Seidlitz, 48, the Greens' lead candidate for Saxony-Anhalt, discussing her background and political positions. Former Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, 58, was also present. The gathering was, in effect, a piece of borrowed authority: the Greens needed a crowd, and Habeck provided one.
Poll position and the threshold question
The stakes are considerable. A poll published on Friday by Forschungsgruppe Wahlen, commissioned by ZDF, placed the AfD on 40 per cent and the CDU of Minister-President Sven Schulze, 47, on 23 per cent. The Linke registered 13 per cent, the SPD 9 per cent, and the Greens 6 per cent. Both the BSW and the FDP were shown at 3 per cent — insufficient to clear the five-per-cent threshold for Landtag entry. Habeck noted more than once that the Greens had doubled their poll rating to reach six per cent, a figure that places the party in a pivotal position. Should they secure re-entry to the Landtag, analysts suggest the AfD would be unlikely to achieve its stated goal of governing alone. The SPD, meanwhile, faces its own difficulties in the state, while the CDU continues to navigate pressures of its own.
Selfies and symbolism
Before the event, Sziborra-Seidlitz had expressed hope for a selfie queue of at least 20 metres — long enough, she suggested, to rebut claims by right-wing influencers that the Greens generate no public interest. After the formal proceedings concluded, many attendees duly lined up to be photographed with Habeck, who posed patiently for each one. Asked by a reporter what outcome he hoped for in Saxony-Anhalt, Habeck replied simply: "A good result." Whether that result is within reach remains uncertain; at six per cent, the Greens sit precisely at the margin of relevance.
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