Former Green party chair Ricarda Lang said that Cem Özdemir’s victory in Baden‑Württemberg can be attributed largely to his distance from his own party. According to Lang, Özdemir won because he presented a blend of authenticity, clear positions, and a certain distance from party dogma. “Citizens are generally skeptical of parties” she explained at a Sirius event in Hamburg on Thursday night. “People simply have no interest in parties. Anything that smells of party‑soldier politics is rejected. When politicians go beyond their party’s doctrines, they earn trust and votes”.
Lang also acknowledged that Tübingen’s mayor, Boris Palmer, contributed to Özdemir’s success. “Palmer played a role that helped” she said. Still, she made clear that Palmer has not been offered a ministerial post in the state government. “I do not make that decision, but that is my assessment” Lang replied when questioned about it.
In a call for unity, Lang urged the CDU and the Greens to come together after the campaign. She expressed frustration with the parties’ post‑election bickering over who was “mean” to whom. “So what?” she asked. Lang warned against an “inbred fog of a political operation that increasingly circles itself”.