Hook trips, Ramelow on the defensive
About two weeks before the state elections in Thuringia, the top candidates will meet on Thursday evening in the MDR television. The differences between the AfD and the other parties are particularly striking.
This is the first of two election debates in which the MDR will inform about the state elections in Thuringia and Saxony. In both federal states, citizens can vote on September 1 for a new state parliament. On Thursday evening, the top candidates of the parties represented in the Thuringian state parliament will be guests - and Katja Wolf from BSW, which is expected to achieve a two-digit result in Thuringia. The elections are awaited with great tension. Three weeks later, Brandenburg will also elect a new state parliament. In all three states, the AfD could become the strongest party for the first time. It is unclear how the new party of former left-wingers Sahra Wagenknecht will shift the political balance.
In the election debate on Thursday evening, Katja Wolf, the Thuringian top candidate of the new party, distances herself from the AfD but can imagine voting with them on individual points. "I have no problem with the AfD bringing in many sensible legislative proposals. But if that's the case, then we'll discuss it. And then it's the power of the argument in the political arena," says Katja Wolf. The way of dealing with each other through blinkers is no longer up-to-date, the politician adds. One will have to engage with the AfD content-wise. All other parties reject a coalition with the AfD.
Wolf is the most disciplined of the top candidates. And she belongs to a minority in the round table: She was born in Thuringia, like CDU top candidate Mario Voigt. All other top candidates come from West Germany. But the only woman in the candidate round seems to have a problem: Her party has few land political visions. With her ideas for Thuringia, she differs little from the SPD and the Left: promotion of welcome culture, deportation of migrants who have become criminal, more investments in the economy, bureaucracy reduction and better education policy. She gets along well with the other democratic candidates, except for Thomas Kemmerich of the FDP, who sees only one "rock in the surf": himself. Kemmerich warns against a red-red-green government in Thuringia.
BSW and Greens want more citizen participation
On two topics, Wolf becomes a little emotional: when it comes to the automotive industry in her federal state, which she wants to support, and when the war in Ukraine is mentioned. She wants to end it as quickly as possible. And she speaks out in favor of more citizen participation. Thus, the people in Thuringia should be able to object to important projects in the economic sector for a hundred days. Wolf: "On topics that concern and mobilize people, this is a point that enables participation."
More citizen participation can also be imagined by Bernhard Stengele. The top candidate of the Greens is currently the environmental minister of Thuringia. He praises the achievements of the minority government of the Left, SPD and Greens. But he also criticizes himself a little. Not everything went right in refugee policy, nor in digitization. But the idea of involving the population in decisions, that appeals to him. Only the Thuringians should be involved earlier in the discussions, ideally before a decision is made on an important industrial project.
FDP's Kemmerich is a controversial figure since he was elected Minister-President of Thuringia in February 2020 with the votes of AfD and CDU. According to recent polls, the FDP might not make it into the Thuringian state parliament. Nevertheless, one of their key demands could be implemented: a central immigration authority under the roof of the Ministry of the Interior. Kemmerich: "We can thus determine more quickly who is here, also with biometric data, to prevent double registration. We can process asylum procedures faster - in Thuringia this takes 19 months, the goal should be four months."
Additionally, the new authority should ensure that asylum seekers find work more quickly. It should also regulate possible deportations. Even CDU top candidate Voigt can appreciate this proposal.
If it were up to Kemmerich, it shouldn't just be faster with asylum procedures. He demands a significant reduction in bureaucracy. "We simply have to cut back", he says. In the digitization of authorities, Thuringia is very far behind. Many applications still have to be printed out on paper, filled out by hand, and then faxed away. He also demands framework conditions for the economy. Thuringia is a medium-sized business state, says Kemmerich. Thuringia must focus on new technologies, he demands. He rejects the end of the combustion engine. In general, he, Kemmerich, is in favor of "technology openness".
Katja Wolf partially agrees with the FDP politician. "The region lacks innovative strength", she says - and demands, together with Kemmerich, better networking of industry and science.
Minister-President in Defense Mode
Bodo Ramelow is just one among many this evening. The Thuringian Minister-President has been steering the state for ten years now. He faces a significant loss of votes. This is not only due to his politics, but also to the poor reputation of the Left. That Ramelow will remain Minister-President is almost ruled out. He is also sparing with future visions. Ramelow wants Thuringia to remain open to the world. He has ensured that new skilled workers from Vietnam have come to the country, he emphasizes. New teachers have been hired and civil servants, but not enough yet. Immigration policy has not always run perfectly, but the Thuringian economy is on the rise. It will benefit from the chip factories in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. One thing he does not want in the next few years: a minority government like in the last years.
Bjoern Hoecke of the AfD and Mario Voigt of the CDU also do not want that. That is also the only thing the two politicians have in common. Voigt attacks the AfD top candidate wherever he can. And Hoecke often seems helpless against his aggressive opponent. He finds it difficult to answer questions objectively. He can hardly defend himself against criticism. So he is asked why, in the AfD-governed district of Sonneberg, only eight refugees have a job, but in the CDU-governed Saale-Orla district, there are already a hundred.
It takes several minutes and several requests from the moderators before Hoecke finally answers. He speaks of symptom politics; says it doesn't matter whether ten or twenty refugees are working. His goal: Thuringia must be as unattractive as possible for refugees: "Multiculturalization must be stopped. It doesn't benefit us, it only harms us. End of the message."
Hoecke also wants to make foreign policy.
"We conclude: Where the AfD demands a lot, others are more consistent," Voigt responds. He aims to bring refugees into work and implement the introduction of the payment card as soon as possible. He also demands more investments in education and security. His idea for bureaucracy reduction: If citizens submit an application that remains unprocessed after two months, it is considered approved. However, this is only possible where there is no federal or EU law against it. Thuringia needs a political change, says Voigt. Only then can the stagnation in which the state finds itself be overcome. With Björn Höcke's AfD, however, this is impossible.
The AfD state leader presents the most far-reaching proposals: First, he wants to deport refugees to their home countries. To this end, he wants to hold his own talks, for example, with the heads of state of Syria and Afghanistan. That foreign policy is not a matter for the states does not interest him. Furthermore, Höcke announces that he wants to sue the federal government because, he claims, all refugees who have been in Germany since 2015 are living there illegally. Finally, Höcke wants to provide families with significantly more support to increase the Thuringian birth rate and thus end the shortage of skilled workers. And in the education sector, teachers should only focus on their teaching, but not teach children with a migration background or a disability.
As the show is about to end, SPD top candidate Georg Maier makes a suggestion for the time after the state election, which all democrats could have agreed on more clearly: "Let's explore what's possible together, with the democrats, not with those who want to divide us, but with those who are here and want to work together for our country, for the people. That is our mission."
In the upcoming election debate, Katja Wolf, the Thuringian top candidate for BSW, expresses her willingness to consider cooperating with the AfD on certain issues, despite distancing herself from their overall ideologies. She believes that it's important to engage with the AfD on a content-level, stating, "I have no problem with the AfD bringing in many sensible legislative proposals. But if that's the case, then we'll discuss it. And then it's the power of the argument in the political arena." (Wolf's comments)
During the election debate, all other parties present have unanimously rejected the notion of forming a coalition with the AfD. FDP's Thomas Kemmerich, a controversial figure due to his past alliance with the AfD, outlines a proposal for a central immigration authority that could potentially see implementation, regardless of the outcome of the elections. He asserts, "We can thus determine more quickly who is here, also with biometric data, to prevent double registration. We can process asylum procedures faster - in Thuringia this takes 19 months, the goal should be four months." (Kemmerich's proposal)
