Eine Woche ist vergangen, seit die Ampelkoalition auseinanderbrach. Nach dem ersten Erstaunen über den Rausschmiss der FDP durch den Kanzler richten sich die Blicke jetzt auf die Neuwahl am 23. Februar und die Zeit danach. Derzeit deutet alles darauf hin, dass CDU-Chef Friedrich Merz die nächste Regierung anführen wird – eine schwarz-rote oder eine schwarz-grüne. Aber würde Deutschland mit einer solchen Koalition besser dastehen als unter der ungeliebten Ampel? In der Wirtschaft sind sich einige nicht so sicher.
Mitten in das politische Vakuum platzt jetzt die Forderung eines bekannten Kopfes aus der Start-up-Szene, die CDU solle nach der Wahl Gespräche mit der AfD aufnehmen. Christian Reber, Gründer der inzwischen zu Microsoft gehörenden App Wunderlist und heute Investor, hat sie am Dienstag auf der Plattform X veröffentlicht. An Merz gerichtet schrieb er dort*: „Öffnen Sie sich für eine Koalition mit der AfD, unter der Bedingung das kein offensichtlich rechts-radikales Parteimitglied politische Verantwortung tragen wird.“ Deutschland dürfe nicht aus der EU austreten und keine neue Währung einführen. „Stehen Sie gemeinsam mit der AfD für eine deutsche, bürgernahe und europäische Politik.“ Rebers Sorge: „Wenn wir in der nächsten Bundestagswahl nicht alle Wählerstimmen respektieren, droht Deutschland eventuell eine rechte Mehrheit in 2029.“
The debate was initiated by an acquaintance of his: Christian Miele, former chairman of the German Start-up Association. The citizens wanted “a majority of bourgeois-right politics,” he wrote on “pass by. “What to do? How to deal with it? What are your thoughts on this?”
The debate quickly became heated. Reber received approval for his contribution, but he was also sharply criticized, for example by the Green Party member Daniel Eliasson. The investor Frank Thelen, known to a wider audience from the television show “Höhle der Löwen”, wrote: “Nobody wants a strong AfD, but the voters are currently giving us something. no other option to bring your democratic voices together in a functioning government.” The CDU politician Thomas Jarzombek, who was a start-up representative in Angela Merkel’s last grand coalition, rejected the demands: “We believe in Europe, it was our project by Helmut Kohl and Konrad Adenauer. The AfD wants to destroy it. We believe in the Western connection, the transatlantic partnership and NATO. The AfD wants to go with Putin. We believe in the freedom of people and the possibilities of each individual. The AfD to the collective.”
In pollsters’ surveys, the CDU/CSU currently have around 33 percent of the vote, followed by the AfD with values between 17 and 19.5 percent. The SPD is at 16 percent, the Greens are at eleven percent, and the FDP is struggling with the five percent hurdle. The Sahra Wagenknecht alliance, which represents partly conservative and partly left-wing positions, achieved five to seven percent. The last federal election showed that the mood during the election campaign can change quickly. Currently, two government options in particular are viewed as realistic in the Berlin government district: black-red or black-green.
Coalition of the two strongest parties
Christian Reber says he has no regrets about his post on X. The popularity of the AfD among his friends and acquaintances has been bothering him for months, he says the morning after. The Brandenburg native finds the formation of coalitions around the AfD “strange”. He says: “For me, this violates my basic understanding of democracy.” If he had his way, the strongest and second strongest parties should form a coalition after an election. “If the Greens were the second strongest force, black-green. If the AfD, then black and blue.” When asked which AfD politicians he considers suitable to hold ministerial positions, Reber thinks briefly before answering: “I would entrust domestic policy to Alice Weidel. Then she should show what she can do for four years.” Reber expressly emphasizes that this is not his wish. The investor, who was also a member of the Green Party, is hoping for black and yellow, but thinks that is unlikely.
The managing director of the German Start-up Association, Christoph Stresing, is staying out of the debate: “As a start-up association, we are non-partisan,” he says. “We are a free country in which everyone can freely express their opinions.” In the association’s annual survey to find out which party is most popular with founders, the Greens came out on top in the spring, followed by the FDP and the Union. At just three percent, the AfD was far less popular among founders than among the general population.
When it comes to questions about individual parties and desired coalitions, other business associations also generally point to their non-partisan nature and at best make indirect recommendations or warnings. There was an exception in the Thuringian state election campaign in the fall, when the Association of Family Businesses described the AfD’s positions as an “economic catastrophe”. AfD state leader Björn Höcke had previously wished “severe economic turbulence” to a group of companies that were involved in a campaign for a cosmopolitan society.
For the associations, party political positions like this are a balancing act, as they know that there are also many AfD supporters among their members. Christoph Ahlhaus, managing director of the Federal Association of Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW), is one who speaks openly about it. “As everywhere in society, the question of how to deal with the AfD is being discussed in medium-sized businesses,” he says. “Some can imagine or even wish for a coalition between the CDU and the AfD, others are undecided or strictly reject cooperation.” The association’s task is not to make coalition recommendations, but rather to create better framework conditions for small and medium-sized companies to contribute. However, the association still wants to develop guidelines for dealing with the AfD soon.
* The contributions are reproduced faithfully with spelling errors.
