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Quarrel in the CDU: experimental kit Thuringia

2019-11-03T06:46:52.530Z


After the first and so far only left-led government, the next field trial begins in Erfurt. Because in parliament no proven majorities are possible, the CDU faces a dilemma.



It is only a year since Michael Heym wanted to be the most important protocol man in Thuringia. He ran in the Erfurt Diet for the office of President - nominated by CDU party and faction leader Mike Mohring, whose party was the strongest force in Parliament, the right to propose.

However, Heym fell through. In the secret ballot he only got 40 yes votes, which roughly corresponded to the union strength of Union and AfD. 48 MPs voted against him. The coalition parties Left, SPD and Greens had already announced before the vote that they would not vote for the CDU candidate. The reason: Heym is close to the AfD.

The deputy - then as today a deputy Mohrings in the faction - denied the allegations far. His boss spoke outraged by "a scandal". Mohring meant the blockade through red-red-green.

But now, after the state election in Thuringia, Heym is the first known CDU politician in the country, calling for a coalition with AfD. He had no problem with the AFD tolerating an alliance with a CDU prime minister, he complained in the Morning podcast by Gabor Steingart.

But this time Mohring does not talk about a scandal. Or more precisely, he did not talk about it until Saturday evening. The faction leader would not comment on the statements of his deputy, said his spokesman. At the same time he pointed out that the state party and parliamentary group in resolutions after the election, a cooperation with AfD or left again excluded. Incidentally, Heym has a right to his "individual opinion," said the spokesman for the "Thuringian Allgemeine". Similarly formulated by the Thuringian federal deputy and Eastern Commissioner Christian Hirte.

Michael Heym represents a single opinion. @MikeMohring, the national board of the @cdu_thueringen and faction @cdu_fraktion_th have clearly stated: what was said before the election is also true: No coalition with Left or AfD. https://t.co/nDjKMLFD7Z

- Christian Hirte (@ChristianHirte) November 2, 2019

Prominent Christian Democrats outside of Thuringia are holding back much less. "People like Mr. #Heym have lost nothing in the CDU," tweeted Marco Wanderwitz, the head of the Saxon CDU state group in the Bundestag. "The AfD is not a bourgeois party."

Even more sharply formulated the chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Bremen Parliament, Thomas Röwekamp, ​​his criticism of Heym. He expected that the Thuringian Union would exclude "this person" from the party. "Collaboration with a fascist from the #AfD violates the decisions of the party, is party disparaging, but above all, is anti-democratic and a betrayal of our values," he tweeted. Apparently Röwekamp referred to AfD chief Björn Höcke, who may be called "Fascist" according to a judgment of the Meininger administrative court in August.

The Heym case shows that Mohring, after the historic defeat of his party, which had governed Thuringia for 24 years, can no longer bring its surroundings under control. The state CDU had crashed in the state election a week ago by almost 12 percentage points to 21.8 percent, behind the starched left (31 percent) and the AfD, which more than doubled its result with 23.4 percent compared to 2014.

Since the SPD shrank to 8.2 percent, the Greens slipped to 5.2 percent and the FDP with 5.0 percent apparently just managed to get back in the state parliament, it is now not enough for a continuation of red-red-green Left Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow still for a so-called Zimbabwe coalition of CDU, SPD, Greens and Liberals. This situation had already been announced by the polls.

The fact that the FDP, which according to the preliminary result is only five votes above the five-percent threshold, still has to tremble for its return to parliament, changes little in this finding. Even without the Liberals in parliament, there is no majority for either a left-wing or a CDU-led coalition. Unless the Union breaks one of its two taboos.

As possibilities in the political experimental kit Thuringia thus remain:

  • A minority government led by Ramelow or Mohring. The most likely way would be the third ballot in the vote on the new Prime Minister. The Thuringian constitution provides that then the candidate is elected, who receives from the state parliament "the most votes". If there is only one candidate, his choice is even certain.
  • An executive government of Ramelows indefinitely. The constitution does not set a deadline for the new election of the prime minister, and the budget for 2020 was passed by the old state parliament.
  • Elections. At least two-thirds of the MPs would have to vote for this step.

Mohring has been fluctuating since election night. At first he had not ruled out a collaboration with the election winner Ramelow, but was brought back to the rigid rejection line by his own national executive. After that, he suddenly announced that he wanted to explore a minority government under his leadership.

For this, however - and this closes the circle to Michael Heym - Mohring would at least have to accept that he is elected with AFD votes prime minister. But he rejects this view. Late on Saturday evening, the CDU country chief still responded to the request of SPIEGEL. A Zimbabwe coalition, if it came about, would be "the strongest bloc and not dependent on votes of the AfD or the left for their election in the third ballot," said Mohring. Otherwise, there is a clear decision: "No tolerance or toleration for red-red-green, this project has lost its majority in the state election." And heym? "There is no coalition with the AfD," he said. "All other statements are individual opinions that need to be in an unprecedented situation."

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2019-11-03

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