Bundestag: What remains of this electoral term

The legislative period is coming to an end, politics is taking stock: Members of the Bundestag look back one more time – and answer the questions of the ARD correspondents. What was good, what was bad?

Thomas de Maizière (67) will no longer belong to the Bundestag after more than a decade. The former Federal Minister of the Interior (CDU) speaks about the work in the “heart chamber of democracy”, about the “subliminal ironic malice of the AfD”, but also about the mistakes made by politics in recent years:

“That’s a problem for democracy,” says Marco Wanderwitz (CDU) about the many votes in elections for the AfD in eastern German federal states. The Federal Government’s Eastern Commissioner on right-wing radicalism, the fragmented nature of the economy in the East and why so many East Germans feel like second-class people:

Rolf Mützenich, leader of the SPD parliamentary group, followed the surprising departure of Andrea Nahles in this legislature. “The party could have imploded,” he says. And he explains why he refused to use armed drones.

The AfD has passed its first legislative period. Group leader Alexander Gauland draws a mixed balance. “There is still room for improvement,” he says. But they have become effective and have created a good starting position for the next federal election. He describes Angela Merkel’s policies as devastating.

The FDP had burst a Jamaica coalition at the last moment in 2017. Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, FDP, explains again why, in their opinion, this decision was the right one. And talks about why she thinks women make better politics.