Stefan Evers praises the Berlin coalition as a role model and calls for more empathy in politics

From the perspective of Berlin's CDU top candidate Stefan Evers, the work of the black-red government coalition in the capital can be a model for others. “In Berlin we have shown in recent years how you can achieve a lot even in a short period of government: by conducting disputes behind closed doors and then representing joint successes to the outside world,” Evers told the “Rheinische Post”. «That has proven successful. I want that at all political levels.”

“This is advice to everyone who has political responsibility. “Friedrich Merz is certainly not waiting for my advice,” said Evers when asked whether he would also recommend the same to the Chancellor. “After election day in Saxony-Anhalt, he appeared very thoughtful and self-critical. I think he will reflect on the result and draw his conclusions from it," said the CDU top candidate, who is also the finance and culture senator in Berlin.

Evers would like to see more empathy in politics

“If people increasingly lose patience with how positions are negotiated and compromises are made in a democracy, we have to ask ourselves how courageous decisions can be made better and, above all, faster,” said Evers. “It seems to me that the necessary empathy is also missing for many topics and actors. That has a lot to do with eye level and on-site presence.”

When asked whether North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst would be an alternative to Merz as Chancellor, Evers answered evasively: "Hendrik Wüst is an outstanding Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, with whom I have been personally connected for a long time and whom I have known significantly longer than he has been Prime Minister," he said. “My impression is that he feels very comfortable in this role today.”

A new state parliament will be elected in Berlin on September 20th. The black-red state government has been in office since the end of April 2023. According to previous polls, she can no longer count on a majority.