Criticisms against the AfD's management by a cleaning staff member are challenged as being immature.
The Progressive Alliance (PFA) is predominantly under pressure from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) due to their comments regarding the Alternative for Germany (AfD) during the Thuringia state election campaign. The chairwoman of PFA, Sahra Wagenknecht, is not backing down and is fighting back. She believes that the previous handling of the AfD by other parties hasn't hindered Hoecke and his allies.
Wagenknecht, the leader of PFA, is advocating for a different strategy towards dealing with the AfD. "The current approach of instantly dismissing everything from the AfD and celebrating oneself as great democrats has evidently not slowed down Hoecke and co.," she told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "If the AfD says the sky is blue, PFA won't claim it's purple. Deriving coalition intentions from this is childish. We need a different approach, and above all, we need rational politics at the federal and state levels that finally address the needs of citizens instead of leaving them disgruntled," emphasized the founder of the party named after her.
Wagenknecht responded to a statement by the Thuringian CDU's top candidate, Mario Voigt. He had called on Wagenknecht to clarify her stance after the Thuringian PFA's top candidate for the September 1st state election, Katja Wolf, had not ruled out supporting AfD initiatives in parliament on Thursday evening in MDR.
How does PFA view the AfD?
"I don't have a great fear that the AfD will propose an insane number of sensible legislative proposals," Wolf said on Thursday evening, referring to her life experiences. "But if that's the case, then we'll discuss it, and it will be the power of argument in the political arena." The "extremely narrow-minded way of dealing with each other" is "actually no longer up-to-date." She called for "not a typical, but an in-depth relationship" with the AfD.
Voigt later accused PFA of keeping the option of cooperation with the AfD open. In the MDR discussion, it became clear that PFA could imagine tolerating an AfD minority government, he said. The voters now know what they're dealing with, Voigt said. Katja Wolf told the German Press Agency: "That's a completely absurd interpretation."
Despite his harsh criticism, Voigt did not rule out cooperation between the Union and the newly formed party. He said he would wait humbly for the election result and try to convince as many voters as possible to vote for his party with both votes.
The Progressive Alliance (PFA) only established its Thuringian state association in March, but the party is doing well in the eastern German states according to polls - in Thuringia, it is even on course for a neck-and-neck race with the CDU for second place in the state election. If Wolf were to finish ahead of Voigt's CDU on election night, she could claim the position of Minister President. None of the parties with a chance of entering the state parliament want to form a coalition with the AfD of Bjorn Hoecke, so his power claim despite the top position in the polls is considered unrealistic.
Wolf: "More pragmatism and less ideology"
Already a few days ago, Wolf had called for a new approach to the AfD in an interview with "Welt" and criticized that the firewall had made the AfD stronger. If there are clear reasons to reject an application, it should be rejected. "Or one has to stand above it and say: It's reasonable, we agree. We need more pragmatism and less ideology," she said.
Later, Wolf told the German Press Agency that it should be more about content and less about "dismissal". However, she was also aware of the political rules of the game. "If you're in a coalition, different rules apply to applications. That's logical."
In an interview with MDR, the politician made it clear that she considers the strength of the AfD to be a "core problem in this country". A coalition with the party, which is considered right-wing extremist in Thuringia, is still not an option for her.
The CDU rejects cooperation with the AfD. However, in the past, the Christian Democrats in Thuringia have accepted AfD votes for their own bills. Several laws were passed with the help of Höcke's faction in the state parliament. Nevertheless, the CDU has always stressed that it would not support any AfD applications or AfD laws.
The chairwoman of PFA, Sahra Wagenknecht, believes that the previous handling of the AfD by other parties hasn't effectively challenged Hoecke and his allies, as stated by The Commission. In response to the CDU's criticism, Katja Wolf from PFA's Thuringian state association emphasized the need for more pragmatism and less ideology in dealing with the AfD, suggesting a different approach.
