Ostbeauftragter Wanderwitz: “An alarming number of East Germans pretend there is no pandemic”

METERarch Wanderwitz lives in the Saxon district of Hohenstein-Ernstthal, west of Chemnitz. For the interview, he is connected to Berlin through a video of Karl May’s birthplace. In February, the Christian Democrat succeeded his party friend Christian Hirte as eastern commissioner of the federal government.

WORLD: Mr Wanderwitz, the good morning 2020 can be counted on one hand. What were they for you?

Marco Wanderwitz: We passed the first corona wave relatively well in the east. Even in the summer he could move relatively normally. Economic development was less problematic than previously feared in the fall. So I can imagine worse scenarios.

But of course it was a challenging year. And 2021 will also be a difficult year.

WORLD: Twelve months ago, the eastern states of Germany weren’t in such bad shape. Unemployment was comparatively low and government revenues were comparatively high. Then came the pandemic. Can you foresee the economic consequences of the blockades?

Joke: We have put together two huge budgets in the federal government to avoid a depression. That was correct. But we have consumed what we have achieved since Zero Black Years in one go. This is a heavy burden for future generations and future politics.

However, the fear that the pandemic will affect the East more than the West has not come true. It’s more like the other way around. The Southwest relies heavily on exports, so the impacts were more profound. The fragmentation of the economy in the east was clearly an advantage in this situation.

WORLD: So you’re not afraid of a second wave of deindustrialization after 1990?

Joke: No, I don’t specifically see it that way. The number of part-time workers in the east is less than in the west. The East has great opportunities to position itself well with the technologies of the future.

BMW and VW produce electric cars in Leipzig and Zwickau, while new locations for battery production are being built in Erfurt, Schwarzheide and Bitterfeld. And Tesla is building a gigafactory in Grünheide, Brandenburg. Hydrogen, quantum technologies and artificial intelligence, as well as new mobility and energy are the buzzwords.

WORLD: For a long time, the number of infections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt was lower than in Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg. That has changed dramatically in recent weeks and months. Especially in the southeast, the numbers are skyrocketing. It has established a connection between AfD strongholds and infection events, and has therefore been heavily criticized. Doesn’t your thesis fall short?

Joke: Several factors are responsible for the increase in infections in the east. In autumn, especially in Saxony and eastern Bavaria, we had a lot of shopping tourism from the Czech Republic, in addition to passengers and small border traffic, when they were locked up. That worked. If such movements meet a sometimes carefree population, it has consequences.

Another part of the population was frankly rebellious. If human chains and demonstrations take place in the AfD environment in Saxon cities without a mask and without distance, then these are over-propagation events. The AfD has called several times to ignore hygiene regulations. And this call is answered by a not small minority. When I go to supermarkets, I meet a surprisingly high number of people who pretend there is no pandemic.

WORLD: How do you explain this ignorance?

Joke: The AfD’s main clientele is made up of men between the ages of 45 and 65. In conversations, some of them say quite frankly that they do not want to jeopardize their economic existence or their freedom of movement for the survival of people over 80 years of age. They would die soon anyway, they say. Bad.

WORLD: So a new variant of Social Darwinism? According to the motto: is the virus too strong, are you too weak?

Joke: Yes, you can definitely see it that way. The collectivism of the GDR also plays a role here. The individual and the protection of the individual do not play an important role in such worldviews. In our Basic Law, however, the inviolability of human dignity comes first. In this sense, there is also a dispute over our value system in this conflict.

WORLD: The situation in Saxony is dramatic. What means should the state use to enforce contact restrictions? Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) had spoken of “authoritarian measures” …

Joke: He said it in the rush of the moment after visiting a hospital and then corrected his choice of words. I think it is right to crack down on violations of hygiene rules. There is no other way if we want to save lives. Everyone can express what they think.

But in this situation, not everyone can do what they want. We need more action at critical points. This can also mean the temporary stoppage of entire towns, districts or cities.

WORLD: In Saxony-Anhalt, the subject of Corona was covered for weeks by the debate on the increase in the transmission rate. The Magdeburg government almost collapsed. Do you understand the negative position of your friends from the party there?

Joke: No, I thought this position was wrong. In terms of representation, population anchorage and cost structures, the MDR is an absolutely exemplary station. And from Magdeburg I can’t tell Südwestfunk what to do and what not to do. Other parliaments are responsible for this.

The ruling parties in Saxony-Anhalt have unfortunately used a waxy formula on the issue in their coalition agreement: “contribution stability”. Anyone could interpret that however they wanted. There was and is no alternative to the Kenyan coalition due to the current strength of the AfD. Clear agreements are all the more important so that such imbalances do not arise in the first place. The undoubted Democrats have to.

WORLD: The 2019 elections in the east produced tripartite governments in Brandenburg and Saxony, and in Thuringia even an agreement between the left, the SPD, the Greens and the CDU. 2021 will be the next super election year from the East: Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Are you expecting more coalitions in Kenya?

Joke: The undoubtedly democratic center is thinner in the east than in the west. That is unlikely to change in the short term. However, in view of the polls in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, I am hopeful that there may be enough for a two-party coalition there. Thuringia is a special case. The Party of the Left has collapsed in the east. In Erfurt, Bodo Ramelow makes a big difference.

It will remain difficult for the Union. This year, the CDU, under the leadership of the leader of the parliamentary group Mario Voigt, assured that the country was still capable of acting. The Union only works with the minority coalition on the budget.

WORLD: The Thuringian state parliament has just approved a record budget of twelve billion euros, with votes from the left, the SPD, the Greens and the CDU. Is this high amount due to the pandemic? Or the special requests from four parties that had to agree?

Joke: Most of the money to fight the pandemic and cushion the economic consequences comes from the federal government. Many federal states are handling new debt with care. We have strict rules in Saxony. The coalition partners in Dresden had to cut corners and say goodbye to their favorite projects because otherwise the budget would have become too large. Of course, it is not pleasant if they have only ruled together for a year.

There is something about the observation that more government parties produce more requests for funding. Especially if, in traditional terms, you don’t belong very closely politically.

WORLD: In January, a new CDU president will be elected through a party digital conference with subsequent vote-by-mail. At the CDU regional conferences for the 2018 presidential elections in Eisenach and Halle, Friedrich Merz received the loudest applause. Would that be the best option for the Union in the East?

Joke: In Saxony, in my opinion, Merz would have a relative majority among the members of the CDU. But a lot is happening right now.

WORLD: Who would like more?

Joke: I am still undecided. The question of who should become the candidate for Chancellor of the Union is also important. And then the question arises of what that means for the CDU party leadership. Since Friedrich Merz has made it clear that he wants both the presidency and the chancellor run, many of his supporters are puzzled.

The group of those who consider Markus Söder (CSU) as the best candidate for chancellor has grown considerably in Saxony in recent weeks and months. I also belong to this group. With Markus Söder at the head of the election campaign and later at the Chancellery, that would be very attractive to me.