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After a turbulent day for the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt, the coalition is still fighting for a solution. The SPD calls for a clear demarcation with the AfD. There are also more and more voices from federal parties.
In Saxony-Anhalt, after the removal of Interior Minister Holger Stahlknecht and his resignation as head of state of the CDU, no solution to the crisis in the coalition is in sight. Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) must now not only avoid a rift with coalition partners SPD and Greens, but also keep the opposing forces of his party together on the way there.
Meanwhile, the SPD wants to keep the coalition. After a video conference from the party council, State President Juliane Kleemann said: “Everyone who participated in the discussion was deeply concerned to hear what is currently at stake in Saxony-Anhalt.” This affects not only the goal of preventing right-wing extremists from influencing state politics, but also the ability to act in the fight against the corona pandemic. “The Kenyan coalition should not be jeopardized as a ‘bulwark against the right.’ The CDU is responsible for maintaining the foundations of this state government,” Kleemann said.
SPD: CDU must be differentiated from AfD
The leader of the SPD parliamentary group, Katja Pähle, had the CDU in NDR information previously called again to clearly distance himself from the AfD. “You cannot work with right-wing extremists,” he said. “So I hope the prime minister can keep the firewall very high on his party.”
As a possible solution to the dispute, Pehle referred to a proposed resolution from his party, according to which the modified Interstate Broadcasting Treaty could be adopted along with a catalog of demands for future negotiations. “However, I cannot estimate to what extent there is movement in the CDU, which has so far become firmly established. And of course the Greens are also at the table, who have their own ideas.” She bets that all three parties “will somehow get something.”
Kretschmer advises approval
A veto from Saxony-Anhalt would break the state treaty. Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer appealed to his friends from the CDU party in Magdeburg to accept. “It would not be a good sign if the State Treaty failed,” he told the Germany publishing network. “That is also a civic responsibility that each member of parliament in Saxony-Anhalt has.”
The goal of stable contributions is agreed in the Magdeburg coalition agreement. The SPD and the Greens argue, however, that inflation compensation should be included. If the CDU reinforces its rejection with the help of the AfD, the SPD and the Greens want to leave the coalition. In fact, the three partners had ruled out a collaboration with the AfD.
Left boss warns of “dam break”
This is another reason why the dispute has attracted attention far beyond Saxony-Anhalt. The leader of the left-wing party Katja Kipping warned about the situation in the state of a “tremendous breaking of the dam.” This is the question of “whether the CDU seeks to join forces with the fascists of the AFD,” he told the publishing network in Germany.
In the “Rheinische Post” in Düsseldorf, the leader of the SPD parliamentary group, Rolf Mützenich, said: “We have to remind the Union as a whole that cooperation with the AfD, which challenges democracy, will not only cause existential difficulties for the specific coalition in Saxony-Anhalt “.
Kramp-Karrenbauer sees coalition partners as an obligation
The federal president of the CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, blamed the SPD and the Greens. Haseloff made suggestions. “The decision now rests in particular with the SPD and the Greens, who must become aware of their political responsibility.” Earlier in the week, the head of government drafted a proposal with the state chancellery to avoid a vote in the state parliament. As a result, the increase may not go into effect on January 1 as planned. The SPD and the Greens had refused.
The candidate for the presidency of the CDU and Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, as well as the general secretary of the CDU, Paul Ziemiak, once again ruled out a collaboration with the AfD. Ziemiak accused the SPD and the Greens of wanting to break the Kenyan coalition. He is not concerned about the radio fee, he wrote in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. “They are concerned with nothing more than questioning the credibility of the Union in dealing with the AfD.”
Dismissal and notice of resignation
Coalition partners have been fighting in vain for a solution for days. On Friday, the internal dispute of the party in the CDU had reached a critical point. After a controversial interview with Stahlknecht, Hasseloff removed him as Minister of the Interior; in the evening, Stahlknecht announced his retirement from the CDU state presidency for Tuesday. In an interview with the “Magdeburger Volksstimme”, the 56-year-old announced that he would continue until the regular state elections in June 2021 if the coalition with a minority government of the CDU was dissolved. Prime Minister Haseloff has always categorically excluded a minority government, as well as dependence on AfD votes.
The decision on Stahlknecht’s successor as party chairman will obviously not be made too quickly. First, the party vice president and himself would do the job, Secretary General Sven Schulze said. The vice-chiefs are the Minister of Education, Marco Tullner, the former Minister of Finance, André Schröder, and Heike Brehmer, a member of the Bundestag. In the next few days, the party committees should discuss how to proceed.
Scientist: Haseloff must restore authority
As a “release” for Haseloff, political scientist Sabine Kropp wants Stahlknecht’s release from the daily topics not designated yet. The prime minister got rid of an internal critic of the party. Whether this is really a release remains to be seen, “because the real crux, next week’s vote on the State Treaty, is still pending.” It is also unclear whether the coalition can still be saved. The reserve of trust between the coalition parties was clearly exhausted. “We know from the coalition investigation that in the six months before an unloved coalition ends, conflicts generally escalate.”
For Prime Minister Haseloff, it is now necessary to restore his authority in the internal dispute of the party. “He may have a chance because he is very popular with the electorate and members of his own parliamentary group also have to consider whether they really want to harm someone whose office bonus they also benefit in the election campaign. In this regard, he does not consider it out of the question that his authority could be restored, Kropp said, “but with considerable damage and considerable loss of confidence.”
