As of: February 2, 2024, 12:58 p.m
By: Mark Stoffers
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Hubert Aiwanger, Deputy Prime Minister of Bavaria, at the farmers' association's major demonstration on January 8, 2024 in Munich.
The head of the Free Voters is criticized for this.
© Wolfgang Maria Weber/Imago
The criticism of Hubert Aiwanger was clear.
Now the head of the Free Voters defended himself and is toying with having his own wind turbine in his yard.
Nuremberg - Bavaria's Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger was recently criticized for his statements about the infiltration of left-wing extremism in the demonstrations against the right.
In addition, the head of the Free Voters repeatedly had to answer for his appearances at the farmers' demonstrations, which not only attracted his opponents, but also his own coalition partner in Bavaria, the CSU.
Aiwanger under criticism: head of the Free Voters defends himself against growing criticism – too “much applause”
Hubert Aiwanger has now defended himself with clear words against the growing criticism of his administration.
In the
Nürnberger Nachrichten,
the leader of the Free Voters rejected allegations that he was neglecting his office and going to demonstrations too much.
His opponents envied his applause, Aiwanger told the newspaper.
He also attempted to explain his often rude choice of words.
“If I don't use expressions that can be criticized, then my very presence will be criticized.
Because I get a lot of applause, I should stay at home.
And if I stayed at home, it would be like: Where is the Aiwanger?
The way I do it is wrong.
That’s why I know how to classify it.”
Aiwanger defends himself against criticism of the administration: “Get out to the people when they call for politics”
It was his job to stand by the companies that were calling for help in economically difficult times, said Aiwanger in response to the accusation that he was not in the ministry enough and was too often at farmers' protests.
“As an elected politician, you have to go out to the population when they call for politics.” It would be fundamentally wrong if he locked himself in his office.
“It would be urgent for traffic light politicians to go there too.” And: “It is infamous to constantly criticize me there.”
Aiwanger accused the CSU of envying his applause.
“The CSU has been suspicious of me being out there and getting applause since the spring of 2023, since the primary election campaign.
There are cases where the CSU tried to have me disinvited.
They don’t want me to get applause from 5,000 people.”
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Clear criticism of Aiwanger: head of the Free Voters is toying with wind turbines
In the Münchner
Abendzeitung
and the
Straubinger Tagblatt,
Aiwanger brought up the possibility of setting up a wind turbine on his farm.
“Maybe a small wind turbine.
A large one has a diameter of 30 meters at the bottom, my whole yard would be gone.
But a small one ten or 15 meters high would be an idea,” he told the newspapers (Friday).
He also rejected criticism that he doesn't care enough about small and medium-sized businesses.
He pursues active economic policy.
“Otherwise Bavaria would not be in a better economic situation than the federal government or other states.” In addition, the events in which he takes part are “middle-class demos and not purely farmers’ demos”.
Representatives of associations and unions have accused Bavaria's Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) of neglecting certain economic policy issues.
“You hear and read a lot from Mr. Aiwanger, especially on social media - but little on economic issues,” said the head of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) in the Free State, Bernhard Stiedl, in the
Augsburger Allgemeine
(Tuesday edition).
“I would like the Bavarian Minister of Economics to take more care of the Bavarian economy.”
Aiwanger criticism comes from medium-sized businesses: “Nothing is heard about the needs of other sectors”
The spokesman for the Association of Medium-sized Businesses - BVMW, Achim von Michel, also criticized Aiwanger: "He deals with farmers and foresters, but in addition to the needs of many other sectors in Bavarian medium-sized businesses, we haven't heard from him for months," said Michel in the newspaper.
As an example, he cited the dispute over repayments of Corona aid.
“It almost seems as if Hubert Aiwanger has lost interest in the topic.”
The general manager of the Bavarian Energy and Water Industry Association, Detlef Fischer, called for more reliability.
“Politics, especially in Bavaria, have made and then revised many energy policy decisions based on their gut instinct, i.e. based on the current perceived mood of their voters, especially in the last two decades,” noted Fischer.
This is fatal for an economic sector that relies on long-term stable conditions for investments.
In addition to criticism, there is also praise for Aiwanger: “Ask, listen and take suggestions.”
In addition to the criticism that Aiwanger has been exposed to for a long time, he has also received praise from the Swabian Chamber of Crafts.
“He asks questions, listens and takes suggestions,” said Chamber President Hans-Peter Rauch in the
Augsburger Allgemeine
.
Politically, the head of the Free Voters seems to be “already calculating”.
In terms of content, more was achieved for the trades last year than ever before, with Rauch mentioning the state government as a whole - including Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU).
As an example, Rauch cited the “master bonus” – a 3,000 euro grant for master craft training.
(with material from dpa)