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The dispute over the planned increase in the radio license fee is turning into a coalition crisis in the government of Saxony-Anhalt. The state parliament is due to vote on the rate increase in mid-December. Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) currently does not have a majority in favor because parts of his own party want to vote against the increase.
Specifically, it is around 86 cents: the price of the radio license will increase from 17.50 to 18.36 euros per month on January 1. However, the CDU does not want to ratify the State Broadcasting Treaty in the state parliament, as is necessary in the 16 state parliaments. Together with the AfD, the CDU could avoid ratification; the AfD has already offered it. But Haseloff’s coalition partner, the SPD and the Greens, threatened to break the already shaky Kenyan coalition if that happened. Haseloff has already announced internally that it would be a matter of trust if necessary.
Required “renegotiations” on the Interstate Broadcasting Treaty
To avoid a bankruptcy in parliament and the possible end of his coalition, Haseloff tries not to allow a vote in the state parliament in the first place. The corresponding application resolution of the state chancellery for the Magdeburg state parliament media committee meeting on Wednesday is available to SPIEGEL. He states that “after the statements of the parliamentary groups in parliament and in public, a majority in favor of the bill cannot be expected.”
Haseloff is planning to reopen the State Broadcasting Treaty. The request states that the state government should pressure the state broadcasting commission to “renegotiate” the transmission rate increase. The reasons given are, for example, the effects of the corona pandemic. “The objective indicators demonstrate the fundamentally changed framework conditions and thus the erosion of the commercial basis of the State Treaty,” he says. If the committee passes the motion, there will be no vote in parliament.
According to information from SPIEGEL, the CDU representatives from the media committee will meet on Monday night to discuss the proposal. CDU General Secretary Sven Schulze and Country Manager Holger Stahlknecht will also be present. It is currently unclear how the CDU parliamentary group will react to this. She had publicly announced several times that she would vote against the rate hike in parliament.
Coalition partners, who are not yet fully aware of the proposal, have so far kept a low profile. The Greens say this is not a good option because the result would be the same: Saxony-Anhalt would not agree with the increase. On the other hand, there would be a will, for example, if part of the CDU parliamentary group voted against the motion, but a majority with opposition to the left would still be sufficient for approval in parliament. The left also initially rejected the increase, but now wants to agree.
“CDU in Saxony-Anhalt harms itself”
For months there has been a dispute in the Kenyan coalition over the 86-cent increase in the license fee. The coalition has been on the brink of disputes several times. Most, however, do not allow an alternative to the ruling coalition without the AfD. Haseloff had been critical of the increased contribution, but also repeatedly vehemently dismissed a coalition or cooperation between the CDU and the AfD.
However, there are other voices in the CDU Saxony-Anhalt who are now trying to assert themselves. The end of the Kenyan coalition could soon lead to new elections. In Thuringia, for example, the vote ratio in the election of the short-term minister-president of the FDP Thomas Kemmerich with votes from the AfD and the CDU led to a low vote among the Christian Democrats in Thuringia.
“The CDU in Saxony-Anhalt is hurting itself and does not realize it,” says the Eastern CDU. Only an appearance that saves face could solve the confusing situation. On Tuesday at 11:30 am, the coalition partners want to discuss a possible solution in the coalition committee.
