Ex-constitution protection chief Hans-Georg Maaßen has drawn massive criticism with his statements on public broadcasting.
And party leader Laschet also has to fend off serious accusations.
Berlin - CDU boss and Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet has criticized the recent statements of the CDU Bundestag candidate Hans-Georg Maaßen.
Without naming the former President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Laschet said, according to information from the German Press Agency from participants on Monday in the online deliberations of the CDU board in Berlin, statements from direct candidates in southern Thuringia are not helpful.
He was quoted as saying: "Such debates harm us." At the same time, Laschet warned that polls could change again in a flash.
In the past few weeks, the Union had again clearly set itself apart from the Greens as the second strongest force in opinion polls - after the Greens had previously been in front of the CDU / CSU.
In connection with the criticism of Maassen's statements, Laschet criticized that “the second row of the Greens” had an aggressive tone that reminded him of that of ex-US President Donald Trump.
He expects the political competitor not to work with such methods.
At the same time, according to participants, Laschet emphasized that there would be no cooperation and no negotiations between the Union and the AfD after the federal election in September.
The CDU leader was quoted as saying: “We are very clear about that.
I expect every direct candidate to stick to it. "
Do not "overestimate" statements
Top representatives of the CDU have distanced themselves from the latest statements by the Thuringian CDU Bundestag candidate Hans-Georg Maaßen on public broadcasting, but again rejected a party expulsion procedure.
“The statements were anything but smart. But everyone is the maker of their own fortune, ”said the deputy CDU chairman Volker Bouffier on Monday when he arrived at the last regular consultations between the CDU leadership and party leader Armin Laschet before the summer break. "But we shouldn't overestimate that."
When asked whether Laschet should take a position on Maaßen, the deputy CDU chief and Baden-Württemberg interior minister Thomas Strobl said: “I don't think the federal chairman has to comment on that. There are many comments and not everything has to be commented on. ”Presidium member Karl-Josef Laumann said that Maassen was“ very, very far to the right of the CDU ”. "But so far everything he has done has certainly been such that it just fits the CDU spectrum." Maaßen is a candidate in a Thuringian constituency. "I do not think that he has made statements that justify a party expulsion process."
Former constitutional protection chief Maaßen had once again questioned the balance of political reporting in the public media on tv.berlin. There is a "clear left twist". He spoke of connections of NDR employees in the left-wing extremist scene and brought an "NDR committee of inquiry" into discussion. On Sunday evening, after massive criticism from the Greens and the SPD, Maassen wrote on Twitter that he criticized tendentious reporting, which was also part of freedom of expression. "One thing is clear, however: there must be no" mind control "of journalistic work by politicians."
The North German Broadcasting Corporation (NDR) is responsible for the “Tagesschau”, he explained. “When you see that there are also connections between the“ Tagesschau ”or between people who work for the public broadcasting service and“ Tagesschau ”and the left and left-wing extremist scene - then it would be really worth investigating that Even the biography of some editors is put to the test to see whether these people have the character trait (...) to accompany the “Tagesschau” through the editors. ”Maaßen was not more specific on this point.
Maassen then reaffirmed that freedom of the press and broadcasting have constitutional status in Germany.
"Independent journalism and a politically independent #OERR (public service broadcaster) are essential for democracy," he wrote on Twitter.
“I criticize tendency reporting in #OERR.
That too is part of freedom of expression.
What is clear, however, is that there must be no such thing as a "mind control" of journalistic work by politicians. "
2/2 I criticize tendency reporting in #OERR.
That too is part of freedom of expression.
But one thing is clear: there must be no "control of mind" of journalistic work by politicians.
- Hans-Georg Maassen (@HGMaassen) July 4, 2021
The SPD and the Greens had previously criticized the silence of Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet on the statements of the CDU Bundestag candidate Hans-Georg Maaßen.
"Another anti-democratic failure of CDU Bundestag candidate Hans-Georg Maaßen, once again CDU boss Armin Laschet is silent," said SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil the "Tagesspiegel".
"Slowly one gets the impression that the behavior of Maaßen and Co is not only tolerated by Laschet, but is wanted."
Green parliamentary group leader Anton Hofreiter told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung": "Armin Laschet's silence about this CDU candidate for the next federal election is unbearable."
Maaßen is running for the Bundestag in the election on September 26th in a constituency in southern Thuringia.
It is not only controversial because of its position on the federal government's refugee policy.
Politicians from the SPD, the Greens and the Left have repeatedly accused the CDU of fishing with measures on the right.
Laschet only makes a general statement
Laschet made general statements about Maaßen's candidacy in an interview, but the conversation took place before the debate about the new Maaßen statements took off. “In Thuringia, the base has made a decision. The constituencies make their own decisions. This is regulated by law, ”said Laschet to the editorial network in Germany. When asked whether it would not be better if the CDU would credibly differentiate itself from Maassen, Laschet said: "I will not comment on who is running in 299 constituencies." The delimitation of the CDU to the right is crystal clear, he said. “There is no coalition, no cooperation, no negotiation with the AfD. It has to disappear from the parliaments. "
At the weekend, NDR spokeswoman Barbara Jung announced at the request of the German Press Agency that the “Tagesschau” had “high demands on objectivity and diligence in reporting”.
She only follows journalistic criteria when selecting news.
"The" Tagesschau "stands for balanced, comprehensible and fact-based journalism."
Dreyer: Maassen's allegation "infamous"
The chairman of the regional broadcasting commission, the Rhineland-Palatinate head of government Malu Dreyer (SPD), informed the dpa: “We have a strong, free and pluralistic media landscape in Germany. The allegation of Maassen is infamous and has only one goal: to shake the credibility of journalism and especially in public service broadcasting. ”She spoke of an“ attack on freedom of the press, an important pillar of our democracy ”.
Criticism also came from within the ranks of the Union. The state chairman of the CDU Hamburg, Christoph Ploß, said in the political talk “The right questions” on “Bild Live” with a view to Maassen's statements to the “Tagesschau” editorial team: “I consider such a statement to be unacceptable. This in no way corresponds to the position of the CDU. ”The CDU chairman in Lower Saxony, Bernd Althusmann, told the“ Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung ”:“ Maaßen is emphatically damaging the party with positions that we do not share. ”He went on to explain:“ If the fundamental values of the party for which he wants to move into the Bundestag mean nothing to Mr. Maaßen, he should look for another party. For us, the freedom of the press is and will remain inviolable. ”Dpa
