Linnemann: Agreements with AfD would be cooperation
According to a media report, informal agreements with the AfD would also be a form of cooperation for CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann. "Cooperation would be, for example, if there had been agreements with the AfD before a vote, even if only of an informal nature," Linnemann told the Thüringer Allgemeine newspaper. This would be categorically rejected. "And that doesn't happen in Thuringia either," he told the newspaper.
In mid-September, the vote in the Thuringian state parliament on a CDU bill made headlines across Germany: the opposition had passed the bill to reduce the real estate transfer tax, accepting that the votes of the AfD were decisive. It was the second law passed by the opposition in the Thuringian state parliament against the will of the red-red-green governing coalition. The Left, SPD and Greens do not have their own majority in the parliament in Erfurt and are dependent on the behavior of the opposition when it comes to passing laws.
Linnemann defended the actions of the Christian Democrats in Erfurt to the "Thüringer Allgemeine" newspaper and said that one should not make oneself dependent on the voting behavior of others. The Thuringian AfD, which is classified by the state's Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a confirmed right-wing extremist party, had celebrated the tax cut as a great success. In recent polls, it has continued to gain ground, reaching figures of between 32 and 34 percent - ahead of the Left and CDU.
Linnemann's stance against forming formal agreements with the AfD remains firm, but the media report suggests he considers informal agreements before votes as a form of cooperation. The CDU and the AfD had an influence on the passing of the CDU bill in the Thuringian state parliament, with the AfD celebrating the tax cut as a success.
Source: www.dpa.com
