After massive criticism, the CDU has revised a passage about Muslims in its new policy program. However, the Central Council of Muslims still sees a need for improvement.
Berlin - Well-intentioned is not always well-done - this is how the Central Council of Muslims reacted to the changes to a much-criticized sentence about Muslims in the CDU's new policy program. Although the Union has changed a passage, also under pressure from its own party, the accusation of stigmatization is still lingering. According to Aiman Mazyek, chairman of the Central Council, the new wording is just “another attempt by the Christian Democratic Union to fish in murky waters to stigmatize Muslims,” as he told the
Editorial Network Germany
(RND).
The CDU changed the sentence “Muslims who share our values belong to Germany” after massive criticism. Now the new basic program says: “An Islam that does not share our values and rejects our free society does not belong in Germany.” Not a very big improvement, according to Mazyek. Especially since the CDU does not refer to all religions, but rather specifically singles out Islam.
“Don’t accept every form of Islam” – CDU politicians reject allegations
Christoph Ploß, a member of the CDU application commission, considers the allegations against the
Rheinische Post
to be baseless. The CDU “rightly made it clear that we reject illiberal Islam,” said Ploß. Compared to the first draft, the party has sharpened its own profile even further by stating that “we reject an Islam that does not share our values”. In general, the CDU is back on a “very good, civil path” thanks to the change in the basic program, at which CDU leader Friedrich Merz was also present, Ploß wrote on the online platform X.
The deputy CDU leader Thorsten Frei sees “certainly no stigmatization” in the formulation. Rather, the changed passage is a clarification, he told the broadcasters
RTL
and
n-tv
. The CDU is not prepared to “accept every form of Islam,” which is why a “clear announcement” is necessary. For him, there are certain forms of Islam “that are not compatible with our values, not with the free democratic basic order of our Basic Law, not with our constitutional ideas.”
Mazyek still sticks to his criticism. For him, the passage serves up “anti-Muslim resentments and stereotypes” that the CDU only fuels with its “selective approach.”
“Journey into dusty yesterday” – SPD criticizes the CDU’s new formulation
SPD parliamentary group deputy Dirk Wiese told
the
Rheinische Post
that the CDU's new program was not a program for the future, "but a journey into dusty yesterday." He warned that solidarity and mutual respect within society are particularly important, especially in these challenging times. With its program, however, the Union is “consciously pursuing a policy of prejudice,” said Wiese.
Even with the first draft, the CDU had to put up with a lot of criticism - including from within its own party. The liberal wing from North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein in particular was outraged by the paragraph in advance of the change. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil spoke of the rhetorical exclusion of an entire population group in the draft.
Mazyek himself has his own ideas about how the CDU could change the passage in its basic program. “If anything, a formulation that addresses all worldviews and religious communities would be acceptable, rather than just singling out a specific one and labeling it negatively,” the chairman of the Central Council told the
RND
. (nhi)