State elections
Thuringian CDU leader: “The AfD can be beaten”
Thuringia’s CDU top candidate Mario Voigt: “Höcke has wavered on key issues and shown that he can be defeated.” photo
© Martin Schutt/dpa
In surveys, the CDU in Thuringia is barely making progress. But the AfD has recently lost popularity in first place. CDU top candidate Mario Voigt believes it can be defeated and has an ambitious goal.
Thuringia’s CDU top candidate Mario Voigt holds the AfD believes it can be defeated and wants to place his party in first place in the state elections in the fall. The TV duel between him and his AfD opponent Björn Höcke was encouraging for many people, Voigt told the broadcaster ntv. “Höcke wobbled on key issues and showed that he can be defeated.”
The 47-year-old emphasized differences between the Union and the AfD – also on the question of migration. “The left-wing parties want: everyone in. The AfD says: everyone out. The CDU says: We are a cosmopolitan country, but we don’t hang out the door to our apartment,” Voigt told the broadcaster.
When asked whether he was happy that the new Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) party could steal votes from the AfD, Voigt said that this showed him that the frustration was great, “but also: the AfD can be beaten.”
Forming a government will be difficult
A new state parliament will be elected in Thuringia on September 1st. In recent surveys, the AfD was in first place, but had recently lost support. The CDU comes in second place in the surveys. Voigt said: “My goal is for the CDU to become the strongest force.”
Due to the difficult majority situation, the political situation in Thuringia is considered extremely complicated and, according to the surveys, there are no signs of relaxation so far. The question of how majorities could be formed in the federal state after the election and what a government could look like is completely open.
In the conversation with ntv, Voigt once again left it open whether his CDU would enter into a coalition with the BSW. The CDU rules out alliances with the Left and the AfD. With regard to the Greens, he said: “The Greens belong in the opposition with their ideological policies. The voters decide what is possible after the election. Surveys are not election results.”