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Bavaria’s head of state Söder, who stood out in the summer as a regional soloist, now wants to strengthen the rights of the federal government. For the chancellor, federalism has proven its worth. How to combat the corona pandemic is controversial.
Federalism as an Obstacle: Because Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder is not doing enough to fight the corona pandemic quickly and effectively, he is now calling for more uniform regulations and more rights for the federal government. “I am a staunch federalist, but I think federalism is increasingly reaching its limits,” he said before a CSU board change conference. Before there can be a new infection protection law, the federal government must be able to act on “federal regulations.”
In view of the increasing number of infections and the increasing number of corona hotspots, Söder also enforced a uniform mask requirement nationwide for regions with many new infections. According to your ideas, this should be applied from a mark of 35 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days in highly frequented public places and in schools, primary schools and after-school centers from the mark 50. And: Söder demanded a requirement of mask nationwide also with a warning value of 35 Workplace when minimum distances cannot be maintained.
In addition, the rest of the countries should follow the example of Bavaria and impose a curfew for restaurants at 10 pm when the seven-day warning value has reached 50, he said. He is also willing to talk about national regulations on curfew.
So far, massive restrictions like in the spring in Germany have not been necessary, Söder said. For this to continue, it is now necessary to “take serious joint action.” “Either we get the numbers under control again in the next four weeks, or it will be very difficult,” Söder said, according to participants in the change. “Then it will be a lonely Christmas.”
Merkel: federalism has been tested in the pandemic
Prime ministers of the federal states recently agreed with Chancellor Angela Merkel to gradually expand the requirement for masks at Corona’s hotspots. According to this, at the latest with a value of seven days out of 35 “a supplementary mask requirement should be introduced in public spaces where people gather closer and / or longer”. With a value of 50, the mask requirement should be extended again. However, where and how exactly the decision was left open, each country must regulate that.
The chancellor reacted cautiously to Söder’s current move. Federalism has proven its worth in this pandemic, “because it is possible to react much more specifically on the spot,” Merkel said. The numbers increased in the current phase, although very differently from region to region. Therefore, it is important “that the federal and state governments work closely together.”
Criticism of the FDP
Söder, in turn, focused not only on the relationship between the federal and state governments, but also on the cohesion of all parties in the Corona crisis. He criticized the FDP. “There is not only the AfD, there are other political forces that try every day to relativize all the measures and almost call on the population not to participate,” he said. He appeals to the FDP “to reconsider whether the course that they have now set together with the AfD is really the right one for the country.” Among other things, FDP leader Christian Lindner was recently at the Berlin report declares that the situation of the crown should not be “overdramatized”.
Federal Finance Minister Peter Altmaier, who was invited to the program along with Lindner, spoke in favor of tougher penalties for violations of crown requirements. The CDU politician said that when the rules were ignored, action should be taken. He would like the countries to agree on the amount of the fines. It’s important to send a “clear signal,” Altmaier said. The vast majority of people take regulations very seriously. But many critical points can also be traced back to the fact that prescribed protective measures are not respected.
In view of the increasing number of infections, Altmaier referred to a specific proposal from Söders. He suggested that violations of the mask requirement should be punished with nationwide fines of 250 euros, as is already the case in Bavaria. At the end of August, most of the prime ministers agreed to a fine of at least 50 euros.
