The Bavarian Vice Prime Minister and chairman of the Free Voters, Hubert Aiwanger, is thrown out of the backstage. There are “red lines” for events with them, the operators of the culture and event center explained in a statement. Anyone who spreads hate speech, misanthropic attitudes or attitudes that discriminate against minorities, or who do not clearly differentiate themselves from right-wing extremists or anti-democratic groups or people, is not welcome. Aiwanger clearly and repeatedly exceeded these red lines “to our horror,” it said.
On June 29th, the Free Voters Munich held the event “Stop the heating law!” invited to the backstage in Neuhausen. “Top-class guests” were announced, above all Vice Prime Minister Aiwanger. In addition, the Bavarian Minister of Education and city chief of the Free Voters, Michael Piazolo, should speak. Nothing will come of it, as the state association confirms. “There will be no backstage event on June 29 with the Free Voters,” the press office said. Country chief Aiwanger reacted to the cancellation with two sentences. “The topic and the trappings have probably gotten too hot for them,” he explained. “It’s blatant that the issue of how to keep your apartment warm leads to such a social dispute.”
The discussion about the new heating law is not exactly the reason why Backstage Aiwanger does not want to give a stage, the operators explained. Rather, it is about the speech that Aiwanger gave last Saturday at the demonstration in Erding. “The party chairman’s appearance, which is unfortunately also very populist and even rather inflammatory,” should not be repeated backstage. Aiwanger probably allowed himself to be applauded by “right-wing extremists, enemies of democracy, wrong alternatives” without taking a counterposition. The backstage also refers to Aiwanger’s positioning on the drag reading of the Munich City Library last Tuesday. The Vice Prime Minister’s “populist and anti-LGBTQIA+ statements” would have served as a “blueprint for the disgusting, unbearable current AfD poster campaign”.
Backstage founder Stocker hopes that the Free Voters “open their mouths against their ‘Capo'”
The Munich Free Voters boss, Minister of Education Piazolo, had booked the event with Aiwanger in the backstage. He does not want to comment on the fact that his state chairman, and thus himself, are expelled from the house with such clear words. “I took note of that,” he said. He only adds so much: He offered the operators of the backstage a call, which was not accepted.
Backstage founder and managing director Hans-Georg Stocker explained in his statement that he was always open to dialogue under democratic conditions. But in view of the current development of the Free Voters under Aiwanger, he was not very confident that such an open discourse was currently possible. “Especially when we have to endure the recent statements by Mr. Aiwanger (Gauland and Co. say hello), who is now just going one better.”
He knows honorable FW members, so it’s important to him “not to put all the free voters in the extremist, right-wing corner just yet – even if that’s becoming increasingly difficult for me,” writes Managing Director Stocker. But now it is high time that these honorable free voters “urgently open their mouths against their ‘Capo’ – or take other consequences”.