The parties position themselves for the Bundestag election. Follow all developments in the news blog.
Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet sees no scope for both tax increases and tax cuts in the current situation. First of all, it is important how to get better income for the state again after the pandemic, said the CDU boss on Sunday in the ARD “summer interview”. During the crisis, a lot of money was used to maintain liquidity in companies so that they could invest again now if possible. “Raising taxes now would be exactly the wrong approach. We have to get back to economic growth.” This and a return to full employment will earn more money. Tax increases would be poison at the moment. Laschet added that there was not a single tax relief in the Union’s election manifesto. “The basic message is: tax breaks at the moment, we don’t have the money.”
The North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister confirmed that he would like to move to Berlin even in the event of a defeat in the federal election. “We’re not talking about defeat now, but I’m coming to Berlin,” he said. Laschet also assured a fair election campaign. There are big changes to be made. Germany is facing a change of epoch and should come back to factual debates. “As far as I am concerned, this election campaign, like all of my election campaigns, will be fair. I do not think that you should attack your opponent personally, but rather that you should fight hard on the matter.” (07/11/21)
Schäuble accuses Maassen of “provocations”
The President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble has accused the CDU Bundestag candidate Hans-Georg Maaßen of deliberate provoking as a tactic. “Herr Maaßen tries to attract attention with provocations. That is obviously his style, but we shouldn’t even ignore that,” said Schäuble, himself a CDU politician Picture on sunday.
The former President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Maaßen, had repeatedly triggered outrage in the past few days with accusations of tendentious reporting by public media. When asked whether there weren’t any limits here, Schäuble said: “I heard that Mr. Maaßen has corrected his statements. But I advise him: If he wants to be as smart as he thinks he is, he should do not make statements too often that he has to correct afterwards. “
Maaßen was elected by the South Thuringian CDU as its direct candidate in constituency 196 (Suhl, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, Hildburghausen, Sonneberg) for the federal election on September 26th. When asked whether he would like Maaßen to be elected, Schäuble said: “The Union has the claim to win all constituencies, including in southern Thuringia. And we want to integrate him into the Union and not exclude him.” (07/11/21)
Baerbock has his own scholarship examined
According to a spokeswoman, Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock asked the party-affiliated Heinrich Böll Foundation to “reconsider” a “fact that was now almost ten years ago” in connection with a doctoral scholarship from the foundation at the time. According to the Greens spokeswoman, the occasion is media inquiries about the scholarship. Also the picture-The newspaper had reported on the move.
The starting point was a report by Daily mirror. According to this, Baerbock was a PhD scholarship holder from the Böll Foundation from April 2009 to December 2012. A spokesman is quoted in the report as having received more than 40,000 euros in support. The Greens boss had not finished her doctoral thesis.
How picture reports that the foundation is subject to a funding guideline from the Ministry of Research. According to this, people should not receive a scholarship who “worked for more than one eighth of the regular weekly working hours” or “another activity that predominantly uses the manpower of the sponsored person”.
The spokeswoman for the Greens points out in her statement that Baerbock did not receive a salary during his time as Brandenburg state chairman of the Greens, board member of the European Green Party and as spokeswoman for the Federal Working Group on Europe. It was not until 2011 that she received “226.76 euros per month in the sense of an expense allowance” from the Brandenburg regional association, and then in 2012 she received 400 euros per month. From 2013 onwards there was a regular salary, but Baerbock no longer received a doctoral scholarship.
“Ms. Baerbock’s main focus during these years was on working on her doctoral project. The party-political, essentially voluntary commitment took place in the evenings and on weekends,” the spokeswoman continued. She had fulfilled her duties as a scholarship holder – “also according to information from the Heinrich Böll Foundation” – during the funding period. “In addition, it should be pointed out that the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s scholarship expressly expects intensive socio-political involvement in addition to the doctoral project. (07/10/2021)
Transport Minister Scheuer wants to stay in office
Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer would like to continue his office in a new government despite widespread criticism because of the failed car toll. The CSU politician told the German Press Agency: “It gives me a lot of pleasure. I will fight hard, in my constituency and then in the coalition negotiations, that this Ministry of Investment and Innovation can look to the future well. I still have a lot to do. “
Scheuer has been head of department since March 2018. The failure of the car toll fell during his term of office. “It’s 88 to 1,” he said, looking at it. “As the Ministry of Transport, we passed 88 ordinances and laws in this legislative period through the Bundestag and Bundesrat. We over-fulfilled the coalition agreement. The legislative period was pretty crisp, but also pretty result-oriented.” With regard to the railways, he emphasized: “In this legislative period we have given more priority and put money into the rail system than ever before.”
The car toll – a CSU prestige project – was stopped as illegal by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in June 2019. The planned operators are demanding 560 million euros in damages after the federal government terminated the contracts after the judgment. Arbitration proceedings are ongoing. The opposition accuses Scheuer of serious violations of budget and public procurement law. The aim is also for the federal government to conclude the operator contracts at the end of 2018, before there was final legal certainty at the ECJ. Scheuer has strictly rejected allegations and the operator’s demands. There was also a parliamentary committee of inquiry into the car toll. (07/10/2021)
CSU calls for a flat-rate home office fee of 1000 euros per year
The CSU wants to promote working in the home office more, even beyond the pandemic. A home office flat rate of 1000 euros a year would be a signal to the modernizing world of work, said state group leader Alexander Dobrindt the Deutschlandfunk. This was intended to replace the flat rate of 600 euros, which was limited for the period of the pandemic. This demand should be included in the CSU’s program for the federal election, which traditionally should set Bavarian accents alongside the joint program with the CDU.
The pandemic has shown that more flexibility is needed in the world of work and that there will be more home offices in the future, said Dobrindt. The CSU wants to support this with incentives. The CSU politician rejected the right to work from home, as demanded by the SPD. In its election program, the SPD campaigns for a legal right to work from home for at least 24 days a year. (07/10/2021)
Habeck: Baerbock should remain a candidate for chancellor
Green co-boss Robert Habeck has assured that a change of the candidate for Chancellor from Annalena Baerbock to him is not an issue. “That’s Kokolores,” said Habeck Süddeutsche Zeitung. The Greens had only just elected her as their candidate for chancellor with almost one hundred percent. Now it is a matter of “making the best of this leap of faith that the party has given them”. Habeck emphasized that there was no thinking about a change.
At the same time, the co-boss of the Greens admitted that the mishaps and omissions had annoyed him too. “There were technical mistakes,” Baerbock also admitted. Habeck was confident that he would be able to regain the trust that had been lost. “We still have a good two months until election night.” During this time, the party could make it clear that “trust in the right politics should determine the vote”. (07/10/2021)
Eastern Commissioner calls for at least one minister from the east
In the event of the Union’s election victory, the Federal Government’s Eastern Commissioner has demanded that the CDU nominate at least one person from the new federal states for a ministerial office. The CDU politician Marco Wanderwitz told the German Press Agency: “If Armin Laschet becomes Chancellor and another cabinet member comes from North Rhine-Westphalia, then two have to come from the East.” Overall, the presence of East Germans in management positions must be further increased.
Apart from Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), there are currently no East Germans in the federal cabinet. Federal Family Minister Franziska Giffey (SPD) had given up her position in May after discussions about her doctoral thesis.
Wanderwitz presented the annual report on the status of German unity last Wednesday. He had made it clear that the people in the East had to be listened to more. Many people have “deepened basic skepticism” towards politics and democracy. The economic catch-up process has progressed. In addition, more authorities and research institutions have been settled in the new federal states. (07/10/2021)
SPD boss criticizes easing in NRW as “fair weather policy”
SPD boss Norbert Walter-Borjans has criticized the relaxation of corona measures in North Rhine-Westphalia as an election campaign maneuver by NRW Prime Minister and CDU chancellor candidate Armin Laschet. “What Armin Laschet is doing now is not based on reason, but rather fair weather policy with a view to the federal election,” said the SPD chairman Rheinische Post.
First of all, a higher vaccination rate is needed – that is only a matter of a few weeks, says Walter-Borjans. “If the state government is now pretending to be normal, it is almost a signal to the undecided not to take vaccination seriously,” he said. He has “absolute understanding” for everyone who wants to go back to festivals, discos or sports events. “What we certainly do not want is a fourth wave,” warned the SPD leader. The successes in fighting pandemics should not be gambled away now.
The SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach also criticized the easing in NRW. This gives the “wrong signal” that the pandemic is over, Lauterbach said on Thursday evening on the ZDF program “Maybrit Illner”. The North Rhine-Westphalian Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) replied that the state government was not daring. There is also no federal state that tests so strictly, said Laumann in the ZDF broadcast.
From this Friday onwards, a new corona protection ordinance will apply in North Rhine-Westphalia, which provides for an extensive normalization of many areas of life in view of the low number of infections. Discos, fair and folk festivals are allowed again with small editions. In many areas there are also contact restrictions, mask and follow-up obligations – but not everywhere. (07/09/2021)