Shock waves from Erfurt: The election drama in the state parliament causes the Grand Coalition in Berlin to become even more uneasy. A coalition committee is scheduled for Saturday.
- CSU boss Markus Söder is the first to complain.
- Anngegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Angela Merkel follow from the CDU.
- The Union is now simmering - especially on the right-wing conservative fringe.
Berlin / Munich - On the day they use Latin formulas in the Union to explain the extent of the Thuringian drama . "Respice finem", CSU boss Markus Söder whispers to some party friends. It's the short form of: consider the end, consider the consequences, whatever you do. What Söder means: If the parties involved do not act wisely now, the end of the grand coalition and a huge loss of trust for the Union, SPD and FDP are imminent.
Söder's warning before the end is aimed first at the own Union. The CSU leader set the tone for the Union in a hau-jerk campaign and called for new elections for Thuringia . It is not a "regional parliament". This "accident" of the election of the FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich * with decisive AfD votes is detrimental to German reputation internationally.
Election quake in Thuringia: Markus Söder (CSU) dares to go it alone
Söder's appearance was a solo attempt at this level, because neither CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer nor Chancellor Angela Merkel had commented at that time. The former reported a few hours later, Merkel only on Thursday morning. “It was a bad day for democracy. It was a day that broke with the values and beliefs of the CDU, ”says the Chancellor on the sidelines of her trip to Africa.
That sounds closed - but CDU and CSU are bubbling . There are divergent opinions, especially on the right-wing conservative fringe . There are not the party sizes, but some of the grassroots in the social networks give way to their frustration as to why the Union is dropping a "prime minister". In Thuringia itself, some CDU MPs are of the opinion that with the AfD, at least vague tolerance models are feasible. Even a state secretary in the federal government, the East Commissioner Christian Hirte (CDU) , sent warm congratulations to Thuringia and the triumph that the red-red-green was voted out.
Election quake in Thuringia: the Union is simmering - CDU and CSU in crisis?
At the same time, members of the party leadership are angry why Kramp-Karrenbauer intervened so late. In a CDU conference call, it was said that some of the ranting about how the AKK and Thuringia's CDU slipped into “the shit”. That sounds like the boss's destabilization.
A strategic trap was also lurking on the Union in Berlin . Without a clear distance from the Thuringian events, the SPD would have considered leaving the grand coalition . Leading comrades asked them to rectify the situation. In this situation, it would be inconceivable that the Greens would be available as a new coalition partner at a GroKo burst . Söder may have been the first to recognize this. His bureau backed him by phone last night.
Election quake in Thuringia: effects on the grand coalition
The mood in the coalition is now irritable. SPD general secretary Lars Klingbeil accuses the CDU via “Spiegel” for “shaking hands with the Nazis”. Kramp-Karrenbauer only says "lip service". She had to show whether she still had the CDU under control. The SPD demands the dismissal of the State Secretary Shepherd. At the same time, attempts to relax are being made. Söder in Munich and Merkel from Africa kept in touch with the SPD leadership and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz . The coalition committee is convened in Berlin on Saturday.
For the FDP , they have little more than ridicule in the Union at the end of the day. But also in Latin. For Prime Minister Kemmerich , who only lasts a good 24 hours in office, the formula "carpe diem" is particularly applicable - use the day.
Bodo Ramelow * narrowly missed being re-elected Prime Minister of Thuringia.
