The Green Party’s leading candidate for the 2026 state election in Baden-Württemberg, Cem Özdemir, has cautioned the party against a shift towards the left. In remarks to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, Özdemir emphasized the need for the Greens to define themselves independently of other established parties. He urged a move away from the perception of being a “better CDU, a better SPD, or even a better Left Party” stressing the importance of adhering to the party’s core principles and moving beyond redistribution debates.
Özdemir pointed to the SPD as a cautionary example, noting its transformation from a party representing workers to one increasingly associated with welfare recipients in response to the Agenda 2010 reforms. He suggested this shift has inadvertently contributed to the rise of the right-wing AfD.
Asserting that the Green Party is currently the sole “bourgeois opposition party” Özdemir believes this presents a significant opportunity. However, he stressed that seizing this opportunity requires the “courage of a course of substantive independence.
Looking ahead, Özdemir advocated for a realignment of environmental policy, arguing that policymakers should strive to “make the market an ally of climate protection, not an opponent”. He envisions a system wherein pricing mechanisms accurately reflect environmental costs, thereby incentivizing investment in carbon-neutral technologies and representing a crucial role for the Green Party in the coming years.