Bundestag President Bas criticizes citizen's income debate
Some politicians in the traffic light government are calling for savings, particularly with regard to social benefits. At the center of the criticism: the citizen's income. Bundestag President Bas sees this above all as populism and an irresponsible stirring up of resentment.
The President of the Bundestag, Bärbel Bas, has warned against carrying out the debate about savings in the federal budget at the expense of socially disadvantaged people. In an interview with the AFP news agency, Bas criticized the current calls for cuts to the citizen's income. The citizen's income is being "linked to the issue of immigration and to the statement that people supposedly no longer want to work", said the Bundestag President.
"This is populism that talks us into a climate in which it's all about poor versus rich, migration background or not," criticized the SPD politician. "We democratic parties should not take part in this."
Bas warned against pitting social groups against each other under the current pressure to save money. "I know many people who are really very poor and who cannot work or do not have a work permit," said the Bundestag President. "They are not lazy or have come to Germany to receive social benefits."
Don't put people under general suspicion
In view of the difficult budget situation, the President of the Bundestag warned against stirring up resentment by calling for social cuts. The current debate is too often about "apportioning blame", criticized the SPD politician. "But we must not place people under general suspicion. We must be careful not to talk ourselves into a xenophobic climate." Because this is "also the recipe of the populists", said Bas.
The President of the Bundestag expressed concern that this kind of finger-pointing had already caught on in large sections of the population. "The saying 'We have to cut social benefits now and then the migrants will stop coming' is completely wrong," she said. "But it's difficult to get that back. I can see that in my constituency," said the SPD politician, who represents the Duisburg I constituency in the Bundestag.
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Bärbel Bas, the Bundestag President, has spoken out against linking the citizen's income to immigration and poverty, viewing this as a form of populism that fosters divisions between social groups. She expressed her concern that such rhetoric could encourage a climate of blame and suspicion towards certain groups, including migrants, which she believes is a strategy employed by populists.
Source: www.ntv.de
