The opposition governs.

This is the consequence of a press conference that representatives of the black-green coalition and the chairmen of the SPD and FDP parliamentary groups in the Hessian state parliament held together this week.

It was about nothing less than the contribution of the State of Hesse to overcoming the consequences of the war against Ukraine.

Ewald Hetrodt

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung in Wiesbaden.

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As reported, the parliamentary groups presented the cornerstones of a relief package with a volume of around 95 million euros.

It is the basis of the 200 million program announced by Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU), which the four parliamentary groups want to adopt together in January.

If the opposition's motions are not rejected by the majority, as is usual, but accepted, this is a historic exception, the likes of which was last made in the refugee crisis in the middle of the last decade.

The initiative for this came from Rhein's predecessor, the then prime minister of the black-green coalition, Volker Bouffier (CDU).

He invited 50 representatives from politics and society to an asylum convention to discuss with them the admission, accommodation and integration of those seeking help.

The format corresponded to the style of government that Bouffier had cultivated for years, namely to involve as many actors as possible in overcoming major challenges.

In doing so, he also embraced the opposition so tightly that they lost the leeway needed to fundamentally attack the government.

Deviating from the consensual style of government

Even if the Social Democratic opposition leader Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel saw through the game, he played out of conviction.

The budget for 2016 was expanded to include an action plan so that more than one billion euros were available for the refugees - with the approval of the SPD.

Germany is experiencing "something epochal," said Schäfer-Gümbel.

Take this as an opportunity to leave the well-trodden path of political debate.

This was also the general expectation as the pandemic swept across the country.

Bouffier also attached a historical dimension to it and always kept all group leaders up to date in confidential discussions at the beginning.

Discussions on a joint approach were also agreed with the FDP and SPD.

But they ended almost as soon as they really began.

The fact that Bouffier deviated from the consensual style of government he had cultivated for years at a moment when it was more necessary than ever was due to the small coalition partner.

The Greens were reluctant to include the SPD and FDP.

Because the Union could have governed together with Social Democrats and Liberals.

The prerequisites for such alliances arise when there is trusting cooperation on important issues.

The Greens had to prevent this to secure their power.

They depended on the CDU if they wanted to govern.

And they actually managed to keep the opposition at bay.

The substantive result of this policy was the special fund, against the formation of which the SPD and FDP successfully went to the State Court of Justice.

The cooperation in the refugee crisis and the confrontation in the pandemic were on the minds of the Social Democrats and the FDP when they proposed to the state government in September, in view of another historic challenge, that they jointly deal with the consequences of the war.

The black-green majority accepts the offer because the constellation has changed compared to the situation in the pandemic.

Prime Minister Rhein is not as fixated on the Green coalition partner as his predecessor was.

The CDU politician wants to keep the alliance together until the end of the election period, but can also imagine other coalitions after the state elections.

"State Responsibility"

The Greens are also widening their horizons in view of the state elections that will take place next fall.

From a purely mathematical point of view, they could have formed a traffic light alliance with the SPD and FDP under their leadership during this electoral term.

But the Liberals had rejected this during the election campaign.

And they stayed true to themselves.

The Greens do not want to receive such a categorical rejection again after the next state election.

Like the Union, they also want the option of being able to form a coalition with both the Social Democrats and the Liberals, if this is mathematically possible.

The condition for this is the trust that develops when you work together reliably on important points.

One such point is the current energy crisis.

So when the four faction leaders in their press conference tried to “state political responsibility” in times of crisis, that was at best part of the truth.

In reality, the joint development of the cornerstones is above all a piece of power politics.

The CDU, Greens, SPD and FDP are already practicing commonalities that can become government alliances after the elections.

The figures will show whether two or three partners are required for this.

The fact that the CDU, Greens, SPD and FDP refuse to cooperate with the AfD and the left is primarily down to the Union.

She always emphasizes that she fundamentally rejects radical forces, "regardless of whether they come from the left or the right".

The Greens and the SPD, on the other hand, are in principle ready to join forces with the left.

In this case, however, they take the CDU into account.

Maintaining a good relationship with her is more important to them than the left.

It is not even known whether she will even be a member of the next state parliament.