Description:
<p>Tue 2022 state election in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) was dominated by problems that lay beyond the reach of state politics: the climate crisis, Covid-19, the war in Eastern Europe, and inflation rates. Regarding state issues, many voters rated school and transport policy to be the most important issues. For the so-called “traffic light” coalition in Berlin, in office since half a year, the NRW election was considered to be the acid test, which was reflected in the presence of prominent federal politicians during the election campaign. Tue results confirmed the CDU’s leading position and the party’s prime minister in office. In terms of vote and percentage increases, however, only the Greens could register gains, and both the SPD and FDP had to put up with losses. Voter turnout dropped to 55.5 percent, signaling alienation from the political system. Tue proportion of women among the 195 members of the new state parliament rose to more than one-third. Tue new state govern- ment, formed by a coalition of the CDU and the Greens, rests almost equally on female and male shoulders and has a comfortable majority in the state parliament. It has named the fight against climate change and organized crime as the focal points of its work. </p>