North Rhine-Westphalia: CDU and Greens not complete before prime ministerial election

Dusseldorf (dpa / lnw) - CDU and Greens cannot compete in full fraction strength in the election of the prime minister this Tuesday in the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament.

North Rhine-Westphalia: CDU and Greens not complete before prime ministerial election

Dusseldorf (dpa / lnw) - CDU and Greens cannot compete in full fraction strength in the election of the prime minister this Tuesday in the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament. According to a spokeswoman, four MPs were missing from the ranks of the CDU state parliamentary group, which actually has 76 members, at noon due to the corona. According to their information, there was one acute case of illness among the 39 regular members of the Green Party.

However, the new coalition partners still get enough votes to secure the re-election of Hendrik Wüst (CDU) as Prime Minister with the required absolute majority. He needs at least 98 votes in the secret ballot. A total of 110 from both parties were present at noon. Actually, together they have 115 out of 195 votes. The state parliament administration was not aware of any counter-candidates.

Wüst officially introduced himself to the Greens in the state parliament in the morning. Their top candidate for the state elections on May 15, Mona Neubaur, visited the CDU parliamentary group. According to participants, both were greeted with great applause. Both factions then officially submitted their election proposal for the prime ministerial election and named Wüst.

The 46-year-old lawyer, who headed a black-yellow coalition for eight months, now wants to become head of government of the first black-green alliance in North Rhine-Westphalia. Both sides had already signed their 146-page coalition agreement on Monday. Last October, Wüst was elected the twelfth prime minister of the most populous country, succeeding the failed chancellor candidate Armin Laschet (CDU).

On May 15, the CDU emerged as the clear winner of the state elections in the most populous federal state with 35.7 percent. The Greens were able to almost triple their share of the vote compared to 2017 to 18.2 percent and ended up in third place behind the collapsed SPD (26.7). The FDP had halved its election result to 5.9 percent. Black and yellow could therefore no longer govern. The AfD won 5.4 percent.