As of: February 5, 2024, 2:15 p.m
By: Helmi Krappitz
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Thuringian CDU politicians are calling for cooperation with the Left Party - especially because of the AfD.
Others insist on the decision of incompatibility.
Erfurt - The state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg are coming up in the fall - and the CDU is facing a dilemma.
In surveys, the AfD is the strongest force in the federal states.
So forming a government without them is difficult.
That's why more and more CDU politicians are calling for a rethink of their position on the Left Party.
It means tearing down firewalls or ungovernability.
State elections 2024 in Thuringia: CDU politicians call for openness to coalition with the left
It is time to think holistically, explained the former Thuringian CDU chairman Mike Mohring.
“This is more about being open and saying: 'No matter how this turns out, we as the CDU are responsible for finding a solution afterwards that is stable and sustainable - over an entire electoral period,'" he said in the program “Berlin Direkt” on
ZDF
.
“The signal 'we have built walls everywhere and we have defined incompatibilities' - there is no one left.
And then that’s not enough.”
As early as the summer of 2023, Mohring spoke out in favor of tearing down the firewall to the Left Party of Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow.
“There are people in the AfD who have been accused of sedition.
There are no such people on the left,” Mohring told The
Pioneer portal.
Because of the AfD's record poll numbers, the Thuringian CDU politician called for his party to change course.
A black-dark red coalition in Thuringia in the future?
Former CDU state leader Mike Mohring, federal CDU leader Friedrich Merz and Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (from left) © IMAGO (3) / Jens Schicke / Future Image (2)
“Down-to-earth rural reality”: Incompatibility decision only possible at federal level
The CDU's stance cannot be implemented, particularly at the state and local level.
“The incompatibility decision is a decision from above.
“It is far removed from our down-to-earth, rural reality,” said Werner Henning (CDU), district administrator of Eichsfeld in Thuringia, to
ZDF
.
“Those who made the decision have to think about that.” He positioned himself clearly: “But if you have to decide between right or left, then I would much prefer to look to the left.”
The federal government's former Eastern Commissioner, Marco Wanderwitz (CDU), also appealed to his party to reconsider the decision.
“The Left Party has de-radicalized itself,” said the Saxon CDU member of the Bundestag to the
Tagesspiegel
.
The Union must ask itself whether the AfD and the Left can really be treated equally and whether it must check “whether it is still in the right place.”
Declaration of incompatibility: No CDU cooperation with AfD and Left
The CDU clearly distinguishes itself from the Left Party.
“The CDU in Germany rejects coalitions and similar forms of cooperation with both the Left Party and the AfD,” says the resolution of the CDU federal party conference in 2018. The resolution has particular effects in eastern Germany.
In terms of realpolitik, the Left Party is stronger in the federal states and even leads the government in Thuringia.
Many CDU members are sticking to the decision even with upcoming state elections and strong AfD poll numbers.
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Werner Henning, Germany's longest-serving district administrator, would rather work with the Left Party than the AfD.
© picture alliance/dpa |
Michael Reichel
“Demarcation”: Other CDU politicians are sticking to the decision
Opposition comes, among others, from the Union's parliamentary director, Thorsten Frei: "Despite everything, the Left Party is the successor party to the SED," he told the
Tagesspiegel
.
She has “not yet credibly distanced herself from the GDR’s unjust state.”
He also sees no reason to revoke the incompatibility decision.
His CDU colleague Wolfgang Bosbach also sees it that way.
“There is a discussion process and I can only hope that this will be completed soon.
And with a clear stance,” the CDU member of the Bundestag told
ZDF
.
“For me that means also with a clear demarcation from the Left Party.”
“Dilemma at party headquarters”: Impact on CDU success
It is a dilemma: “On the one hand: show attractiveness through responsibility for the whole and thus give up the firewall,” explained André Brodocz, political scientist at the University of Erfurt, to
ZDF
.
“On the other hand: the danger of moving too far to the left politically and thus losing votes again.”
(hk)