Berlin government formation | The Union would like to have a different electorate

Voting is free. The Chancellor doesn't seem to like that. Photo: dpa/Britta Pedersen Once again you can see how naive these Berliners are. They thought they could simply vote for the parties that they believed best represented their interests. They should have known that the state-certified centrist Democrats would not tolerate it if people simply made the wrong choice. Especially since the elected ne'er-do-wells around Elif Eralp are now preparing to do what they promised before the election after the election by skimming off the profits of the housing companies and thus trying to at least prevent rent levels from escalating any further. This is the first serious attempt in living memory to actually do something about the explosion in rents. And perhaps that is also the reason why German provincial politicians are currently screaming and shouting murder.

And since in 2026 the communist cudgel (nationalization, which old Stalin came up with again) alone will no longer be enough to discredit a left-wing Social Democratic party that is willing to form a coalition, the accusation of anti-Semitism must be rolled out until no one knows what the supposed reason was anymore: a member of the Bundestag from Neukölln who was not able to maintain the necessary distance from members an extended criminal family, and an actor elected to the Berlin House of Representatives for whom academic discussions about a one-state solution for Israel and Palestine seem to be more important than the issues for which her party was actually elected.

u003cstrongu003eChristoph Rufu003c/strongu003e is a freelance author and observes political and sporting events here.

All in all, a pretty small reason for the sledgehammer that the West German establishment has been swinging with relish for weeks, without realizing that what it represents is very close to Donald Trump's understanding of democracy. So Boris Rhein from Hesse is calling for state financial equalization to be linked to an extremism clause in the future. That's not so far from Trump, who promises people in Texas $300 if he wins the election.

But the Rheins and Söders can easily be outdone in terms of perfidy by the Chancellor, who claimed in all seriousness at the Young Union Germany Day that it would be "not permissible" for a red-green-red government to be formed in Berlin. Not allowed? Can't the man whose party was appropriately punished in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - people there too are apparently too stupid to vote - count? Or does he just think people are as stupid as many of them actually are?

The latter would also explain why Merz and his Union demanded a “clear commitment to Israel’s right to exist” from the Berlin Left. Only to turn the tables when exactly that happened. Because with the confession, proof of anti-Semitism has been provided: "The fact that you still have to emphasize this (right to exist)" really says everything about the anti-Semitic gang, Merz shouted at Germany Day. This is so twisted that it's jarring. There was still thunderous applause from the party's junior staff for the logical rear-end collision.

And while the Junge Union's pearl necklaces and pocket squares were swinging, the 26 percent of Left voters have long been wondering whether "Bild" and the CDU/CSU will not soon place a supervisor in every voting booth to check whether people are voting correctly. Security with pocket square and pearl necklace. Would have something.

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