Farmers, restaurateurs, craftsmen and freight forwarders came together on Theresienwiese today to show their dissatisfaction with current politics. According to the police, around 10,000 people were there; the organizer did not give BR any different numbers of participants. The event went off without a hitch, the police said.
Fewer demonstrators than expected
This means that fewer demonstrators came than expected: the “Hand in Hand for our Country” alliance had registered 35,000 to 50,000 participants. Organizers had called on people to leave trucks and tractors at home and travel by bus instead. Apparently many, if not all, followed this request: there were now around 100 buses and 130 cars, but also around 70 tractors, on Theresienwiese. 250 to 400 buses were announced.
Dissatisfied with current politics
In an interview with the BR, the demonstrators complained about the bureaucracy, Subsidy cuts for farmers as well as the return to one VAT of 19 percent for restaurateurs. During the corona pandemic, the government temporarily reduced the tax refund for meals in restaurants and cafés from 19 to seven percent; Since January the full VAT rate has been due again. The demonstrators’ signs bore slogans such as “It affects us all” and “Stop the madness.” Crossed-out traffic lights could be seen, and occasionally there were also “lying press” signs.
“The most important thing for us would be to have a say,” says Markus Huber, one of the main organizers of today’s demo and a crane entrepreneur from Bad Feilnbach, “so that not everything is always decided over our heads.” In Germany you have no income, but a spending problem, he continued. “If our wallet is empty, then we can’t spend anything, and politicians have to understand that,” said Huber.