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CDU candidate Maaßen (in Suhl): "Like a rolling cannonball on a ship's deck"
Photo: Jens Schlueter / AFP
After the controversial statements by Hans-Georg Maassen, the debate about the consequences for the CDU politician continues in the Union.
The chairman of the Union's workers' wing in the Bundestag, Uwe Schummer, called on the Thuringian district associations to distance themselves from Maassen's candidacy for a Bundestag mandate.
"Mr Maassen's candidacy is damaging the Union," said Schummer to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
With his unreflective remarks, every interview is "like a rolling cannonball on the deck of a ship."
The nomination was "a mistake," said Schummer.
»My appeal to the responsible district associations: withdraw your trust in the candidacy.
Better no candidate than a bad candidate. "
Maaßen had recently caused a scandal with statements about public broadcasting.
In an interview, the former head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution assumed that there were connections between employees of the »Tagesschau« and the left and left-wing extremist scene.
He also called for an attitude test for editors of the medium, but did not provide any evidence to support his claims.
CDU Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet had criticized Maassen's behavior in a meeting of the party executive committee.
Statements like those by Maassen are "not helpful" and harm the Union, according to Laschet.
Several high-ranking CDU politicians, including the deputy CDU chairman Volker Bouffier, had argued that Maassen's statements should not be overestimated.
This does not go far enough for the North Rhine-Westphalian European Parliamentarian Dennis Radtke (CDU). He called on Maaßen to give up his candidacy for a direct mandate and to resign from the party. "When Mr. Maassen feels the last bit of solidarity with the CDU, he should surrender his candidacy and leave the party," Radtke told the newspapers of the Funke media group. "Perhaps one should have subjected Mr. Maassen to a character test before he was set up - then we would have been spared a lot."
The opposition had recently called for a clear reaction from the Union.
The top candidate of the left, Dietmar Bartsch, accused Laschet of not distancing himself sufficiently from measure.
"The fact that Armin Laschet would apparently let himself be elected Chancellor by a Member of Parliament Maassen is simply shameful," said Bartsch of the "Rheinische Post".
The SPD vice chairman of the Bundestag, Katja Mast, had previously castigated Maassen's statements as "unbearable and dangerous."
Support from the constituency
Meanwhile, there is no need for action in Maassen's CDU district association in southern Thuringia.
The CDU district association chief in Hildburghausen, Christopher Other, defended Maassen's statements in the MDR.
"From my point of view, it is at least initially legitimate for a Bundestag candidate (...) to comment on any issues and express his opinion," said Other.
The main message from Maaßen is a hint that "there is an obligation to provide information in public broadcasting, which should be based on neutral reporting and see its main point there."
Maassen is "undisputed democrat, because anyone who was allowed to lead the protection of the constitution for these six years (...) has been screened and has absolutely no tendency to somehow drift away from the democratic spectrum," argued Other.
The South Thuringian CDU had Maaßen put up as a direct candidate for the 196 Federal Electoral District (Suhl - Schmalkalden-Meiningen - Hildburghausen - Sonneberg) at the end of April - with 37 of 43 votes.
fek / dpa / AFP
