Winfried Kretschmann, Baden-Württemberg’s outgoing Prime Minister, said something completely right: “You shouldn’t cooperate with extremists,” he warned in the “Tagesspiegel”.

But for once the Green politician did not mean the AfD, which is partly right-wing extremist. His strict no was aimed at the left. This attitude and the clear description of the left as “extremists”, which unfortunately far too few centrist politicians say so, is unlikely to gain a majority within his own party.

Kretschmann sees leftists as a “danger”

Kretschmann admitted that it was possible to work with the Left Party on a specific basis, but not in principle. “The danger of the Left Party is that it creates illusions. In the long run, this is no safer than directly attacking democracy.”

The outgoing head of government clearly criticized the left wing of his party: “They prefer to compete with ever bigger goals. But we also have to talk about how we can achieve them,” said Kretschmann.

When Kretschmann warns against cooperation with the left, it is also notable because he was active in the Communist League of West Germany (KBW) when he was young. In contrast to other leading Greens, he always acknowledged this past, which he later described as “the biggest mistake of my life”.

Greens could form a coalition with the left in Berlin

As correct and important as Kretschmann’s warning is, the only question is whether the Greens would rather grab power in case of doubt than follow Kretschmann’s principles.

In any case, in Berlin, where a new House of Representatives will be elected in the fall, the Greens are not ruling out an alliance with the Left and the SPD. Such a coalition already existed there from 2006 to 2021.

The oath could come very soon in Rhineland-Palatinate. The state election will take place there on March 22nd. The “traffic light” ruling in Mainz, made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP, is threatened with being voted out. At the same time, the Left has a good chance of entering the state parliament for the first time.

Cem Özdemir wants to follow in Kretschmann’s footsteps

If the SPD, with Prime Minister Alexander Schweizer, no longer becomes the strongest faction, the SPD could offer the Greens and the Left a coalition. Schweizer definitely does not want to join a coalition as a junior partner with the CDU, which is leading in the polls.
The warnings from Kretschmann, the only Green Prime Minister to date, should also be seen against the background of the Baden-Württemberg state election campaign. The former Green Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir wants to move into the State Chancellery as Kretschmann’s successor.

However, the Greens are currently leading the polls clearly behind the CDU. That’s why Özdemir presents himself in the tendentially bourgeois-conservative “Ländle” just like his sponsor Kretschmann – as a non-ideological pragmatist.

Kretschmann’s warning against alliances with the SED, renamed Die Linke, is aimed at his own party. So far she has had no fear of contact with the left.

The Greens and the Left are already forming a coalition

The Greens in Thuringia helped the leftist Bodo Ramelow to the office of Prime Minister (2014 to 2024). Red-Green-Red has also governed Bremen since 2013, although a governing majority there would have been possible without the Left Party.

Kretschmann has never been afraid to offend within his own ranks. This is also the reason for its great popularity between Mannheim and Konstanz. Even now he will be met with a lot of support – especially outside of his own ranks.