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The prime minister of the CDU of Saxony-Anhalt dismisses his minister of the interior. What sounds like a regional event has enormous national political consequences: the struggle for power shows how leaderless the party is.
The “Magdeburger Volksstimme” provides daily information on news from Saxony-Anhalt: on Friday, it reported on the front page about the death of fir trees in the state and teachers in schools who are supposed to be tested for the corona virus.
The political explosive, however, is an interview with which the “Volksstimme” emerged on Friday: In the conversation, the CDU Interior Minister Holger Stahlknecht demands that, in case of doubt, the ruling coalition of Greens, SPD and CDU, if you cannot agree on the planned one. Decline an increase in the license fee. Then he would favor a minority government led by the CDU in Magdeburg, Stahlknecht said.
What the dispute is about: The contribution for public broadcasters is to increase by 86 cents per month. All 16 federal states must agree to this. The other 15 have already done so, or at least have given their consent. Only the CDU parliamentary group in Magdeburg resists and shares an opinion with the AfD. Both parties together have a majority in the state parliament.
Now the coalition could be broken
But in the opinion of Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff, such a pact should by no means come. So in recent days he had moved on with a typical political compromise: he envisioned the decision to be postponed for the time being and a committee to discuss again whether the increase is really necessary.
But Stahlknecht boycotted this commitment with his interview on Friday: By refusing to approve the increase, he blocked Haseloff’s path. Then everything happened very quickly: in the afternoon it became known that the prime minister had expelled Stahlknecht from the cabinet. Now a new interior minister could be appointed, or the coalition could break down.
On Friday night, Stahlknecht announced his resignation as head of country of the CDU. At the same time, the regional association announced that it would still maintain the veto for the premium increase. The CDU in Saxony-Anhalt faces uncertain times, everything is open. The truth is that the political world in Magdeburg is shaking, and that also has national political consequences: because the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus, the headquarters of the CDU party in Berlin, is shaking with it.
“And again a regional association finds itself before the ruins of its own existence”
After all, the dispute is no longer just an internal CDU dispute in Saxony-Anhalt. Rather, the dispute reveals the centrifugal forces in the party: it becomes clear once again how strong the struggle is raging, how little control is possible, and how leaderless the party is.
A look at what happened in Erfurt in February shows just how explosive is happening in Magdeburg: At that time, the CDU, along with the AfD and FDP, elected Thomas Kemmerich as the short-term prime minister. There was talk of a “dam break” within the party. The party’s leader, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, tried to intervene, but failed and thus ultimately had to announce her withdrawal from the leadership of the CDU.
Now, the next CDU regional association faces a litmus test. A national CDU politician told t-online: “And again a regional association faces the ruins of its own existence. How long should it continue like this?”
It’s about more than the possibilities of Merz
Many now wonder that. And if the candidates for the presidency of the CDU Friedrich Merz, Armin Laschet and Norbert Röttgen are now also harmed. Not really: because today’s provisional winner is Friedrich Merz. In recent weeks, internal CDU rounds have revealed that Laschet supporters have considered postponing the party’s convention scheduled for mid-January. Merz’s supporters were strictly against it, they see the momentum finally coming for their candidate.
After things got so bad in Magdeburg, the idea of spending more months running the party without clear leadership is downright daring. But it’s about more than Merz opportunities. A senior member of the Bundestag told t-online: “East Germany is a good barometer of the party’s mood. And if the waves hit that high when it comes to 86 cents, then the CDU unit is not particularly good. “
Question of the basic orientation of the CDU
The evaluation of the facts already showed that the Magdeburg crisis is becoming a crucial issue for the candidates. Merz recently said that the planned premium increase could be viewed critically. And: “Otherwise, it does not matter what opinion the AfD has on this matter.”
His competitor Laschet, on the other hand, argued today in “Bild Online” that he approves of Stahlknecht’s dismissal: “I welcome the steady pace of Prime Minister Reiner Haselhoff.” And further: “There are times when a clear position is required. Prime Minister Haseloff has the solidarity and support of the entire German CDU for his course. The course of the center was and continues to be the correct one.”
The question is about the basic orientation of the CDU, about the fight against the AfD, and what the party’s principles and DNA really look like. Laschet’s supporters fear a shift to the right if the party votes with the AfD. Merz people believe that it is not always necessary to have the opposite opinion of right-wing populists on principle.
Either way, a decision must be made. Because it shows once again the void at the top of the party: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has been silent since the start of the lawsuits, although her general secretary Paul Ziemiak will write a guest article in the “FAZ” on the dispute tomorrow Saturday. It will only attack the SPD and the Greens, who are in favor of the increase, even though they have signed a coalition agreement with the CDU that is in favor of stable contributions. Ziemiak has no clear words for his own party.
