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The Bavarian Vice-Prime Minister and Free Voters boss Hubert Aiwanger apologized in the plenum of the Bavarian state parliament “in all form” for his controversial tweet from election Sunday. The federal returning officer is currently examining the question of an administrative offense under the federal electoral law, said Aiwanger: “I hope this will be clarified as soon as possible.” On the basis of this examination, he could not make any further statements at the moment. “I sincerely apologize again.”
The free voter boss had tweeted a – supposed or actual – advance prognosis for the federal election on election Sunday long before the polling stations closed. This tweet was mistaken with the call to vote for the free voters. After a few minutes, the tweet was deleted, but there was massive criticism – including from Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU).
SPD: “Diaper soft excuse”
Following Aiwanger’s very brief personal statement in the state parliament, several opposition politicians renewed their criticism of the minister. SPD parliamentary group leader Florian von Brunn spoke of a “diaper-soft apology”. “That’s not enough for us!” Said von Brunn. The whole of Germany is shaking its head at the minister, who obviously does not take it very seriously when it comes to democratic practices: “Mr Aiwanger, governing this country is a big task. And unfortunately you have shown again in the last few days that you can do this have not grown. ”
The fact that Aiwanger linked the publication of forecast figures with an election call for the Free Voters was “particularly shabby”. This “unspeakable process” must have consequences. “This coalition has come to an end,” said von Brunn. The SPD expects approval of their urgent motion, in which they demand the dismissal of Aiwanger.
Greens: “You don’t do that”
Unlike the SPD, the Greens accepted Aiwanger’s apology. But it was the “poorest excuse” one could imagine, said the Green MP Thomas Gehring, who is also Vice President of the Bavarian State Parliament. This “wordless” apology is quite atypical for Aiwanger: “You can feel this apology that it was only made under pressure from the Prime Minister.”
In the matter, the Green politician accused Aiwanger of a lack of decency. There are certain rules of propriety, for example not doing any campaigning on election Sunday: “You don’t do that.” Aiwanger did not adhere to that.
In the morning there had apparently been a conversation between Prime Minister Markus Söder and his deputy Aiwanger. According to participants, Söder reported on the meeting at a meeting of the CSU parliamentary group and said that Aiwanger had to apologize.
AfD: “Illegal means”
The AfD parliamentary group chairman Ingo Hahn complained: “The electoral law was violated – not by anyone, but by the deputy prime minister of this government coalition here in Bavaria.” Aiwanger wanted to use all means, “including illegal means”, to overcome the five percent hurdle with the free voters in the federal election.
Hahn used his speech for a basic settlement with the black-orange alliance. The common spirit of the coalition is to “cling to power” by all means. For the CSU, the free voters are only a placeholder for the Greens. “Come to your senses at last, put an end to it with decency,” Hahn urged the Free Voters. “End this coalition. Give Bayern a fresh start, a chance.”
FDP: No real regrets
The chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Martin Hagen, did not consider Aiwanger’s apology to be credible and saw no real remorse. The minister had acted “like a little boy who is being dragged to the neighbor by his father’s ears to apologize for having shot in the window with the football. Because he knows that otherwise he would be threatened with being arrested”.
The Vice Prime Minister has shown once again that he is not up to his task and that he is not living up to his responsibility. Therefore, Hagen called for Aiwanger’s resignation.
Mehring attacks von Brunn: “Grand master of prejudice”
The parliamentary manager of the FW parliamentary group, Fabian Mehring, defended his party leader Aiwanger. He made his apology his own personally and on behalf of the parliamentary group. It is absurd to raise demands for resignation on the basis of a Twitter accident.
Mehring sharply attacked the SPD parliamentary group leader von Brunn, whom he described as the “grand master of prejudice”. The state parliament is “not an inquisition authority for Florian von Brunn”. The SPD politician also had to wait and see how the examination of the case went and whether there was any administrative offense at all. In general, Mehring calls for “political hygiene” in the state parliament. “In the refusal of a publicly pronounced, personal apology, I can in no way recognize this political culture,” complained the FW MP.
CSU does not express itself in the debate
The coalition partner CSU remained silent during the debate after the apology: It was the only parliamentary group from which no speaker appeared. It will therefore be exciting to see how the vote on an emergency motion by the SPD ends in the late afternoon – with the demand on Prime Minister Söder to dismiss Aiwanger as minister.
Aiwanger’s CSU cabinet colleague, Transport Minister Kerstin Schreyer, said in the morning that she could not understand his behavior. Demands for resignation are not her style. You have to be in conversation with everyone, but it also has to be clear: “As the CSU, we cannot let ourselves dance around on the nose,” emphasized Schreyer. Aiwanger must now approximate his behavior to that of a deputy prime minister.
Federal Returning Officer examines controversial Tweet Aiwangers
The Federal Returning Officer is currently examining whether the tweet has legal consequences for Aiwanger. Publishing forecasts before polling stations are closed is an administrative offense under the Federal Election Act. There is a risk of a fine of up to 50,000 euros for this.