Markus Söder puts pressure on Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet in a new interview.
He is also worried about his coalition partner Hubert Aiwanger.
Munich / Hamburg - In an interview with
Der Spiegel
, Bavaria's Prime Minister and CSU boss Markus Söder gave a good
deal
- both within the Union and with his coalition partner. He would like the Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet to talk about more substantive issues in the election campaign for the Bundestag election. Bavaria's Vice Prime Minister and head of the Free Voters, Hubert Aiwanger, is meanwhile walking on "a fine line", according to Söder.
Söder names not only Corona, but also the consequences of the flood disaster, as important issues in the election campaign.
The floods in particular are a wake-up call to "fundamentally rethink and readjust the current climate policy," said Söder.
“We have to step up a gear”.
These are completely different tones than from his Union colleague Laschet.
After the heavy rain and floods in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, he had told WDR presenter Susanne Wieseler that politics would not be changed because of such a day.
Interview with Söder: Union could end up in opposition after the general election
"Today the Union has to be solid and sexy," Söder told
Spiegel.
The party has to make good technical policy, "in the corona crisis and also in the flood disaster". But it also needs inspiration. According to Söder, there is a risk that the Union will end up in the opposition after the federal election on September 26th. "It is by no means a matter of course that we as a Union can form the government and defend the Chancellery," said Söder. “There is a risk of a traffic light in September.” The Union’s polling high in recent weeks was mainly due to mistakes by the other parties. "But that's not enough," said Söder. "Half a percent or not, here a couple of compensation mandates, there a few overhang mandates - and suddenly we're in the opposition," he calculated.
Laschet now has to make it even clearer what the Union stands for.
The CDU politician was "a very good candidate for Chancellor, but who, as Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, is currently primarily concerned with dealing with the flood disaster," said Söder.
"But we must soon find the strength again to talk about important national and international challenges."
The CSU boss also renewed his call for a more rapid phase-out of coal, but also sees an earlier complete switch to non-internal combustion engines as necessary.
“And the end of the fossil combustion engine in the automotive industry will come earlier.
The economy is further there than politics. "
Söder is worried about Aiwanger
Söder also
criticizes
Hubert Aiwanger against the
Spiegel
. He is worried about his coalition partner. “He walks a fine line,” says Söder. Aiwanger has been making a name for himself lately as a vaccine skeptic. However, Aiwanger's behavior has no effect on the work in the Bavarian government. "The Bavarian state government is very committed to vaccination and the fight against corona. All resolutions in the cabinet are unanimous, ”said Söder. The cooperation with the free voters is "excellent".
(ee / dpa)
