“A dangerous demagogue”
The SPD and FDP accuse Merz of using AfD language after his voting rights statement
January 31, 2024, 10:28 a.m
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According to a traffic light bill, a constituency in Saxony-Anhalt should go to Bavaria. Friedrich Merz speaks of a manipulation of the electoral law. Federal Health Minister Lauterbach and FDP MP Strack-Zimmermann shoot back.
Politicians from the SPD and FDP have accused Union faction leader Friedrich Merz of demagoguery and AfD language because he accused the coalition of manipulating the electoral law. The dispute is about the fact that, according to the traffic light plans, Saxony-Anhalt should lose a constituency with a declining population share in favor of a Bavarian constituency that is to be divided and has more voters than the national average.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach from the SPD wrote to Merz on Platform The FDP’s European election top candidate, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, wrote on should not be held responsible. Out of the question.”
The Bundestag is scheduled to vote on the draft law from the traffic light factions of the SPD, Greens and FDP on Thursday. Among other things, it provides for the redistribution of a constituency from Saxony-Anhalt to Bavaria, as the previous distribution of constituencies among the states no longer corresponds to their share of the population. In Bavaria, an additional constituency is to be formed from parts of the previous constituencies of Augsburg-Land, Neu-Ulm and Ostallgäu.
Merz argued on Monday that this was intended to ensure that the Augsburg-City constituency “does not have too many CSU voters” and that Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth “can keep her constituency in Augsburg City in the next federal election.” This has not been agreed upon with the affected federal state. “With this change to the federal election law this week, the right to vote is once again being manipulated and serious damage is once again being done to our country’s democracy,” said Merz.