East elections - AfD functionary: CDU must come together with us at some point
The AfD is confident that the CDU in the east will open up to working with it. The CDU has now adopted all the points on limiting migration that it previously criticized the AfD for being xenophobic, so there is "no longer any reason at all" for a firewall against the AfD, said Bernd Baumann, the AfD's parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, on ZDF's "Morgenmagazin".
"This means that the CDU will have to come together with us sooner or later, otherwise it will tear them apart." If it instead forms a coalition with the SPD and the Greens, it will be punished by the voters, he added with a view to the state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg next September.
Bundestag Vice President Petra Pau of the Left Party told Bayerischer Rundfunk: "In my view, it is a disaster to give the enemies of democracy even more means to fight democracy from within via the votes. And the AfD is now saying very clearly that this is exactly what it intends to do."
Polls: ahead and in second place
The AfD is ahead in the polls in all eastern states and in second place behind the CDU at federal level. The CDU has ruled out cooperation by party conference resolution. The AfD state associations in Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony have been classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as confirmed right-wing extremists, and in several other federal states as suspected right-wing extremists.
Baumann rejected this and said of the spokesman for the radical wing of the party, the Thuringian parliamentary group leader: "Björn Höcke is not a right-wing extremist." The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is not independent, but "a beadle of the interior ministers" of the SPD and CDU. "There is nothing extremist about us. We want to protect the borders and we want to preserve our cultural identity in Germany."
Pau said that in its work on the ground, however, the AfD was showing a lack of interest in real politics. "They pretend to be a party that cares. But they don't deal with any real problems. Whether it's rising rents, the issue of local public transport or the issue of social justice."
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- Despite the CDU's party conference resolution ruling out cooperation with the AfD, Bernd Baumann, the AfD's parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, believes that the CDU in eastern Germany will eventually have to work with the AfD due to their shared stance on migration, or risk losing voter support in upcoming state elections such as Thuringia.
- Bernd Baumann also defended Björn Höcke, the AfD's Thuringian parliamentary group leader, against being labeled as a right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, stating that the organization is not independent but rather a tool of the SPD and CDU interior ministers.
- According to polls, the AfD is currently ahead in all eastern states and in second place behind the CDU at the federal level. In Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, the AfD state associations have been classified as confirmed right-wing extremists by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, while in several other federal states they have been labeled as suspected right-wing extremists.
- Petra Pau, Bundestag Vice President of the Left Party, strongly criticized the potential collaboration between the CDU and the AfD, warning that it could provide more power to enemies of democracy within Germany and that the AfD's focus on politics is superficial, neglecting issues like rising rents, public transportation, and social justice.
- The SPD has ruled out a budget resolution before the end of the year, which could lead to tensions between the ruling coalition of the CDU/CSU and the SPD, and may influence the election strategies and alliances of the parties in the upcoming regional elections in Germany.
Source: www.stern.de
