The statements by the CDU chairman Merz on how to deal with the AfD continue to cause a stir. And there are doubts as to whether such an ailing party leader would be the right choice in the fight for chancellorship.
The criticism of Friedrich Merz after his statements on how to deal with the AfD does not stop. In unison, the Union emphasizes its clear demarcation from the AfD. The fact that this is necessary as a result of the statements made by the CDU leader makes Tobias Hans, former Prime Minister of the Saarland – also CDU – doubt the party leader’s leadership strength.
In the “Stern” interview, Hans clearly described the AfD as a “political enemy”. The CDU must seek a consensus with democratic parties and not with the AfD. Based on the currently rising poll values of the Alternative for Germany, Hans warned: “It’s not five to twelve, but five after twelve. Friedrich Merz must finally see that.” In the current ARD Germany trend the AfD gets 20 percent of the vote, making it the second strongest force behind the Union.
Hans raises doubts about chancellor potential
But it’s not just Merz’s statement in the ZDF summer interview that worries the former Saarland head of state. Hans also recalled statements by the CDU chairman, who described his party as an “alternative for Germany – with substance” or declared the Greens to be the “main opponent”. “Rather, I have the suspicion that this is a strategy to try to establish a new sound in the CDU. This is a farewell to the middle course with which the CDU has governed successfully for almost 20 years,” emphasized Hans.
And for Hans, the question arises as to whether such a CDU leader is the right person when it comes to the election campaign for the next federal election and the chancellor’s office. “Especially in difficult times, it is important that a party’s top candidate has government experience – and a sure instinct when it comes to difficult issues,” emphasized Hans – and added:
Nowadays you have to tremble before every summer interview because you don’t know what will come out of it at the end. To be honest, I don’t want to imagine that a Chancellor appointed by the CDU would cause such concern.
“Clear, unambiguous firewall to the AfD”
Hesse’s Prime Minister Boris Rhein, on the other hand, does not see Merz as damaged. He said so in an interview with daily topics. There were “misunderstandings” and “misinterpretations”. In the end, Merz made his position clear. Incidentally, Rhein made it clear that Merz himself brought about the decision of the party executive on the incompatibility with the AfD.
Rhein, who has to pass state elections in Hesse in the fall, spoke of a “wild debate” about Merz’s statements. Now, however, “a lot of clarity” has been created. “There is a clear, unambiguous and also very thick firewall to the AfD,” said Rhein. “The firewall is up and it’s very strong,” he added. And there is not only a dividing line and firewall, but also a “very deep ditch between AfD and CDU”.
Merz: draft resolution the CDU applies
CDU leader Friedrich Merz confirmed in the ZDF summer interview on Sunday that the Union would not cooperate with the AfD. However, he limited this to “legislative bodies” – for example at the European, federal or state level. If the AfD has elected a district administrator in Thuringia and a mayor in Saxony-Anhalt, then these are democratic elections, according to Merz. “We have to accept that. And of course the local parliaments have to look for ways to shape the city, the state, the district together,” he explained in the ZDF summer interview.
However, Merz subsequently received such severe criticism within his own party that he published a clarification on Monday morning in which he qualified his statements. In a dpa interview, Merz called it “completely absurd” to deduce from his words that he had opened the way for cooperation with the AfD at the municipal level. The CDU leader also emphasized via Twitter: “To make it clear again, and I have never said it differently: the decision of the CDU applies. There will also be no cooperation between the CDU and the AfD at the municipal level.
“Right-wing extremists remain right-wing extremists”
The so-called incompatibility resolution of the CDU, to which several party members referred, says, among other things: “Anyone who pleads for a rapprochement or even cooperation with the AfD in the CDU must know that they are approaching a party that deliberately tolerates right-wing extremist ideas, anti-Semitism and racism in its ranks. (…). The CDU rejects any coalitions or similar forms of cooperation with the AfD.”
The Vice President of the Bundestag, Yvonne Magwas, who is also a member of the CDU Presidium, wrote in response to Merz’s statements ZDF interview on Twitter: “Whether local council or Bundestag, right-wing radicals remain right-wing radicals. For Christian Democrats, right-wing radicals are always the enemy!” The CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen emphasized that his party had decided to ban cooperation with the AfD. “Anyone who wants to change that must find a majority at a federal party conference of the CDU.”
The deputy CDU chairman Andreas Jung described the municipal level as decisive for the demarcation of the Union from the AfD. “The clear demarcation in the municipalities is the foundation of the firewall to the AfD,” said Jung of the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. “The AfD is a right-wing extremist party that tolerates hate and hate speech,” criticized Jung. “Our values oblige: There can only be a clear edge to the AfD, at all levels, today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,” emphasized the deputy CDU leader. This is also the attitude of the party leader. “Friedrich Merz made it unmistakably clear: the resolutions of the CDU apply and there will be no cooperation between the CDU and the AfD at the municipal level,” said Jung.
The new CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann defended Merz. For his party, cooperation with the AfD is out of the question, he said on Monday evening at an event of the CDU-Hessen in Wiesbaden. Linnemann said Merz had only recently reiterated that as long as he was party leader, there would be no cooperation with the AfD, no matter what level.
Kühnert accuses Union AfD fixation
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert appealed to the Union to focus less on the AfD. “I experience an incredible nervousness in the Union, in which some are almost maniacally fixed on the AfD issue,” said Kühnert of the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten”. In the Union, the first question to be asked in every debate is: “What does the AfD think and say? How can we react to it?” That has to stop. “The CDU should stop making itself so small as a proud democratic party,” advised Kühnert.
Meanwhile, Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens) accused CDU leader Merz of damaging democracy with his statements on the AfD. “Friedrich Merz is riding on the steamer of populism. It’s extremely dangerous,” Göring-Eckardt told the editorial network Germany. “He serves a divisive right-wing populist party instead of asking them about their content. There are enough starting points for this, from cuts in pensions to rejection of the EU.” Because of the lack of criticism, Merz’s backtracking was “not very credible”.