CSU parliamentary group leader Klaus Holetschek has accused Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) of neglecting his office. “We are currently living a lot on the substance of the past, which is not a good record for an economics minister,” said Holetschek Augsburg General. He also expressed criticism regarding the slow progress in mobile communications expansion and the numerous dead spots – hardly anything has progressed in the last five years. Now Aiwanger has to tackle the problems. “It would be nice if the Minister of Economic Affairs also brought his own ideas into our process.” Taking part in demonstrations is “not an economic concept”.
Aiwanger defended his participation in farmers’ protests. “Agriculture is a core element of economic policy,” he told the newspaper. The fact that, as a minister, he also advocates for the interests of farmers on the street “complements it.” Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU) and Economics Minister Aiwanger (Free Voters) spoke at protest rallies in Nuremberg and Munich on Friday. However, there is a tense atmosphere between the coalition partners because of the competition for speeches at rallies. Aiwanger has already complained that the CSU is trying to block his appearances at large rallies: “They should do their job and not keep telling me where I’m not allowed to go.”