Dear yet undecided voters,

12.09.11 –

With our letters we would like to support your decision-making at the Berlin City parliament elections on September 18th. Please let yourself be convinced to cast your vote for the Greens!

Are you still sitting on the fence which party to vote for on September 18th? Unsurprisingly, we want to convince you to cast your votes for us, the Greens! This will allow Renate Künast to become Mayor of Berlin and give our excellent city the policies and politicians it deserves.

Are you unsure whether to vote for…

Bündnis 90/Die Grünen or SPD?
The SPD are closest to our own ideas. That’s why Green ideas are best transformed into policies with the SPD. We agree on that. But we need the right conditions for that. It is obvious that the SPD went wrong on a number of things: They did not put enough effort into good schools, new jobs and affordable rents. We will not construct the highway A100 with them.

The most important thing on the SPD agenda right now is Klaus Wowereit. We were unable to find actual political content on their posters. When the SPD is talking about political ideas, they make empty promises. The past gives ample proof that more often than not, nothing followed big announcements. One would think that they had more than enough time, but they hardly realized anything. They don’t look very credible right now.

The balance in educational policy looks really bad: lack of teachers, plaster crumbling from the ceilings, and in no other state is successful education dependent on the social status of the family. The social democrats are governing for 22 years now, all the time fumbling around with the educational system, but there is no system in their approach to the problems. We, on the contrary, are very clear on this: we will not be skimping on education! We want to double the state’s budget for refurbishment of schools and create jobs for 400 additional teachers.

Bündnis 90/Die Grünen or CDU?
If you are looking for economic wisdom in Berlin, you won’t get lucky with the CDU. The only ones with a real concept for getting Berlin’s economy on its feet is to be found with the Greens: We developed a program with which Berlin will create 100.000 new jobs over the next five years. We want to focus on attracting enterprises working in the future technologies: from the health sector, the creative sector and the E-mobility branch. This includes the companies producing high-capacity batteries for E-Cars, but also software developers creating a smart and integrated traffic system.

The CDU gave themselves a modern coating in this campaign, but the conservative forces remain strong. Many of the “old guard” are still to be found next to Frank Henkel. A real modernization of the Berlin CDU is hard to see. Therefore, be cautious: A vote cast for the CDU can turn quickly into a vote for the well-known red-black sleaze of the Grand Coalition in the late 1990s. This is not the future Berlin deserves! You can prevent this dystopian future by voting Green!

Bündnis 90/Die Grünen or Die Linke?
Die Linke has governed Berlin for ten years now. Therefore, she is also responsible for many problems the city has right now. She tries to conceal that in the campaign, but we will deny these efforts.

Die Linke has, in coalition with the SPD, sold 100.000 apartments and worsened the situation on the housing market. Their “Mieter vor Wild-West schützen”-poster (“Protect tenants from Wild West”) is utter mockery! They also participated in the sale of the water company. Yeah, we also assumed that Die Linke would be against privatization of public goods. But we had a lot to learn in the last ten years.

Die Linke established facts she loves to deny right now. The only way they have to turn back the wheel on privatizations is to buy back what they sold in the recent years. Berlin is to pay the bills for that. But it is not quite sure whether the state has the necessary funds to do so. Either way, buying back is expensive, and this money will be missing in investments into the future.

We push a Green social policy. Our policies are aimed at keeping rents moderate instead of skyrocketing rents on new leases.

Bündnis 90/Die Grünen or Piratenpartei?
Yes, the Pirates are fresh and appealing. But they also have their weaknesses. The Piratenpartei is mostly focused on policies concerning the internet. The Piratenpartei is a predominantly male party. On their list for election, you will only find one woman among the first seventeen candidates.

Bündnis 90/Die Grünen also ask for far-reaching transparency: City contracts shall be put on the internet, visible for all Berlin citizens. Our campaigning tool “Da müssen wir ran” can be used as a model for a citizen-friendly administration and re-used in a similar way.

But we do not limit ourselves to internet policies in our program. We do have concepts and ideas for 100,000 new jobs and an end to the misery in the education system. And we do know that these concepts need solid financing. We do not promise you fancy castles in the air.

To sum it up: Voting for Piratenpartei means voting for a single-issue, predominantly male party. Voting for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen will get you good internet policies – and a whole lot more.

We hope we could convince you to cast your votes for us on September 18th.

Or are you still uncertain? Then we got a treat for you: We will be online non-stop from September 15th, 6pm, to September 18th, 6pm, to answer all your questions live. Visit us online!

Best regards, your Greens