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ValuesUnion Chairman Otte: "If I am elected, I don't care who I am elected by"
Photo: Hoffmann / imago images
The ValuesUnion calls for a CDU candidate for the office of Prime Minister in Thuringia.
You have to be elected by all democratically legitimized members of the state parliament - including the AfD, said the chairman of the ultra-conservative organization, Max Otte, the dpa news agency.
"If I'm elected, I don't care who I'm elected by," said Otte.
"That's how I understand democracy."
The ValuesUnion, which claims to have around 4,000 members, sees itself as a representative of the conservative movement in the Union, but is not an official party division.
The CDU has a total of around 400,000 members, the CSU has around 140,000.
The election of the FDP candidate Thomas Kemmerich as Prime Minister with votes from the AfD triggered a government crisis in Thuringia almost a year and a half ago, the aftermath of which can still be felt today. Most recently, a vote of no confidence by the AfD against Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Die Linke) failed. The parliamentary groups of the Left, SPD, Greens and FDP voted unanimously with no. As announced, the CDU MPs stayed in their seats and did not vote - which had already brought them a lot of criticism. CDU parliamentary group leader Mario Voigt had justified this step, among other things, with the fact that the CDU did not want to get involved in "trickery" of the AfD.
The Thuringian CDU rejected Otte's request and was indignant. "The AfD is in large parts right-wing extremist in Thuringia and squinting at their voices - no matter where - completely out of the question," said Secretary General Christian Herrgott.
A "bourgeois" prime minister would correspond to the majority in the Thuringian state parliament, said Otte. "It would be right if the CDU put up its own candidate for a constructive vote of no confidence." Although one would have to rely on the AfD, it would still have a CDU prime minister. Otte said he continued to stand by the fact that the Values Union did not work with either the AfD or the left. But: »In a democratically legitimized parliament one can still be elected by any member of the parliament. The election of a CDU Prime Minister, also with votes from the AfD, is a thoroughly democratic process. "
Nobody can force the newly elected prime minister into a coalition with an unloved party.
»The new minority government would be a CDU minority government.
It would be up to you to organize new elections immediately. "
Internally, Otte is a controversial figure
Thuringia's CDU General Secretary said that the ValuesUnion did not even have half as many members in all of Germany as the CDU in Thuringia alone.
"Our party does not need any advice from this marginalized micro-association." Otte has not yet appeared in Thuringia, said Herrgott.
Otto is also a controversial figure internally. Most recently, several regional associations in southern Germany had turned their backs on the values union: In the Rhineland-Palatinate values union, the board resigned from office on Saturday evening with immediate effect. The reason for this is Otte's “toxic” effect on the perception and acceptance of the Values Union, explained the previous chairman, Peter Scholze. The Bavarian Union of Values had previously resigned from the federal association - and in Baden-Württemberg, too, the state board announced its resignation in protest against Otte's election.
After the failed vote of no confidence, Ramelow remains in office as expected.
Since the beginning of March 2020 he has led a red-red-green minority government, which is four votes short of a majority in parliament.
Thanks to a contract with the CDU, Ramelow's government could count on CDU votes for important projects for almost a year and a half.
However, the Christian Democrats do not want to renew the agreement.
It is therefore completely uncertain how majorities - for example for the state budget in 2022 - will come about.
Top Thuringian politicians from the Left, SPD and Greens want to discuss how to proceed at the end of August.
asa / dpa