Hans-Georg Maaßen wants to join the Bundestag for the CDU.
The personality had caused incomprehension and criticism - also in the ranks of the Union.
Now Armin Laschet gets into trouble.
Suhl - The former President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maaßen, wants to be elected to the CDU Bundestag candidate on Friday evening in Suhl, southern Thuringia.
A delegate assembly of four CDU district associations decides on a possible candidacy for the 58-year-old in constituency 196. It is not an ordinary election, the situation is tense.
Hans-Georg Maaßen: Criticism of the candidacy - Laschet's CDU places decision in district associations
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) described Maassen's candidacy as a "difficult signal".
Thuringia's CDU boss Christian Hirte had distanced himself from the candidacy plans, but had also made it clear that the CDU district associations in southern Thuringia were free to make their decisions.
CDU boss and Union chancellor candidate Armin Laschet emphasized that Maaßen will also have to adhere to not cooperating or speaking with the AfD.
Laschet publicly stated not to interfere in the candidacy and referred to the decision-making authority on site.
The two largest of the four district associations had already spoken out in favor of Maaßen, which, according to the Thuringian CDU, is not a legally binding preliminary decision.
According to the statutes, the decision on the Bundestag candidate lies with the delegates of the four CDU district associations Schmalkalden-Meiningen, Hildburghausen, Sonneberg and Suhl.
Maassen's chances of being a candidate for the Bundestag are considered to be very good.
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Hans-Georg Maaßen was President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution from 2012 to 2018.
Then the incidents in Chemnitz sealed his end - Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (r) lowered his thumb.
© Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa
Hans-Georg Maaßen: Klingbeil puts Laschet in a bind - "he has to intervene"
Maassen's possible entry into the Bundestag is not only seen as controversial within the Union. There was also criticism from the government partner on Thursday. SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil called on Laschet to prevent the Bundestag candidacy. "The CDU boss must intervene and credibly close the open flank to the right," said Klingbeil to the news portal
watson
and recognized Maassen's candidacy as "a disturbing signal from the Union."
Klingbeil took Laschet directly to duty: “If he can no longer prevent Maaßen from being nominated, that shows that the Union's doors to the right-wing camp are open.
The time of the Merkel CDU is finally over. ”As head of the protection of the constitution, Maaßen was repeatedly criticized and had to allow himself to be accused of not acting decisively enough against right-wing extremism.
After the riots in Chemnitz in 2018, he went on a confrontational course with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).
Ultimately, Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) sent him into temporary retirement.
Greens see Maassen's candidacy for CDU as a door opener to the AfD
Michael Kellner, the director of the Green Party, positioned himself in a similar way to Klingbeil. The native of Thuringia sees Maassen's candidacy as evidence of a dispute over the direction of the CDU. "The Union has to keep the gates closed to the far right, but with moderation it would open a door to the extreme right as a candidate for the Bundestag," he told the
editorial network Germany
. “With this decision, the CDU would give up the middle. The Union has to answer whether the exclusion of a coalition with the AfD is actually still valid for the upcoming East German state elections and whether it wants to tolerate such a personality in its parliamentary group. "
After the government crisis in Thuringia, the CDU affirmed that it did not want to form a coalition with the AfD - neither at the federal, state nor local levels.
This decision also applies to the Left Party.
The union stipulates: “For the presidium, party executive committee and the vast majority of our 400,000 members it is absolutely certain: A cooperation with the Left Party or AfD would not only be an attack on our identity and a betrayal of our Christian Democratic values.
It would also damage our most important asset: our reliability and our credibility. "
CDU: Against AfD & Co. - important state elections in 2021
In 2021, state elections are on the agenda in Saxony-Anhalt (June 6th), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Thuringia (both like the federal election on September 21st). In Saxony-Anhalt, according to current surveys, the AfD is only two percentage points behind the Union. In Thuringia, where the Left Party around Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow is the strongest force, it even ranks second among the opinion polls, ahead of the Christian Democrats. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the AfD is somewhat less popular and, according to current estimates, lands well behind the CDU.
(as / dpa)