As part of the BRIGITTE LIVE series of talks, BRIGITTE Editor-in-Chief Brigitte Huber and Meike Dinklage, Head of Current Affairs, welcomed the top candidates: Annalena Baerbock, Armin Laschet and Olaf Scholz.
BRIGITTE Live: data and facts
- Annalena Baerbock (The Greens), Armin Laschet (CDU) and Olaf Scholz (SPD) answer political issues as well as personal questions.
- The focus is on the candidates, with their personal values and experiences that have shaped them.
- The interviews can be viewed live on www.gettotext.de/live without prior registration and free of charge on the following dates:
- July 01, 2021: Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock
- July 07, 2021: CDU Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet
- July 28, 2021: SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz
BRIGITTE Live on July 7th, 2021: More gender equality – Laschet would like to form his cabinet in equal parts with men and women
CDU top candidate Armin Laschet made it clear again and again in conversation with the BRIGITTE editorial team that he intended to work for more gender equality – also within his party. “We still have a gender gap in terms of salaries. We have more women in poorly paid jobs and not in management positions,” said Laschet. A legal quota is not the right way for him: “My goal is that gender equality is considered even without legal requirements.” Should he win the election as chancellor, Laschet would definitely like to put together an equal number of men and women in his cabinet – at least for his party and, if possible, on the side of a future coalition partner. “This is an important topic for me,” said the candidate for chancellor. “The view is always different when men and women talk about the topic than when there are only men in the team.”
Gender asterisk, or not?
According to his own statements, gender-equitable language is not as much of an uproar for Laschet as it is for his party comrade Friedrich Merz. He personally does not use the gender asterisk, but in his opinion it is best for everyone to decide for themselves. “I can also say ‘doctors’, I try very hard that both are mentioned in my language.” He thinks nothing of a legal regulation or even a ban.
“The course is clear: there is no talk or coalition with the AfD, nothing at all.”
When asked about the demarcation from the right wing of the party, Laschet kept a low profile. He does not share the statements made by the former President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hand-Georg Maaßen, who called for a “disposition test” for journalists – but the statement is not sufficient for expulsion from the party. The decisive factor for him is that Maaßen (whom Laschet deliberately does not name by name) did not speak for the party: “But there are positions where you have a different opinion, and that has to be clearly stated. The course is clear: With the AfD there is no talk or coalition, nothing at all. And everyone has to adhere to the rule. ”
“I was early to open schools and daycare centers”
The corona pandemic was particularly stressful for children and families. How would Laschet act after winning the election, should there actually be a fourth wave with the delta variant? The candidate for chancellor hopes to be able to keep the schools open as possible, even if the corona virus should spread more strongly again. “We are already preparing to ensure that the children will also be protected in autumn, even if the pandemic comes back,” said Laschet. “We keep the mask requirement at school, we keep an eye on those who return to travel, and the hygiene rules are also retained for the time being. We have a program with air filters for the municipalities, we want to get better, we have lollipop tests for children with them they can be tested more easily, twice a week. All of this is better than school closings. ” With regard to the vaccinations of school children, Laschet trusts the recommendations of the Standing Vaccination Commission, which currently advises against general school children vaccination. “Parents also have to consider this for themselves, and politicians are well advised to listen to science. We should listen to the advice of paediatricians and the Standing Vaccination Commission, who know their patients. Politicians shouldn’t prescribe too much.”
Armin Laschet in the BRIGITTE-Live Talk – the complete event in the video
If you missed the conversation, you can watch the event again in full here.
BRIGITTE Live on July 1, 2021: Baerbock defends itself against allegations of plagiarism
She was silent about the attacks for a long time, but now Annalena Baerbock took a clear position on the plagiarism allegations that have been made against her. She made it very clear why, in her opinion, these allegations are baseless – and compared the campaign to the last election campaigns in the USA:
“We have all seen as a society what that has done in the USA when the election campaign is no longer about the big questions of our time, but rather because the truth and the untruth somehow mix,” said Baerbock. With regard to the alleged copyright infringements, her party also made it clear “that this is not the case and clearly demonstrated that this is not true,” said the Greens’ candidate for chancellor.
“I made it clear: I use the public sources”
In the conversation, Baerbock made it important to emphasize that in her book it was above all her concern to present her personal goals and her inner motivation: “A lot of ideas from others have flowed in, but I have not written a non-fiction book, but that, what I want to do with this country and describe the world as it is based on facts and realities, “said Baerbock BRIGITTE editor-in-chief Brigitte Huber. Footnotes, like in a scientific paper, would therefore not have been an issue for them either. “Especially when it came to describing facts, I made it very clear that I would use the public sources that are available accordingly.”
“We should learn from mistakes”
Nevertheless, Baerbock admitted that it was important to her that Germany should be “a country with a culture of mistakes”. “Instead of covering up mistakes, we should learn from them. That is also my claim,” said Baerbock.
Annalena Baerbock in the BRIGITTE-Live Talk – the complete event in the video
If you missed the conversation, you can watch the event again in full here.
BRIGITTE Live: Interview with the top candidates
Brigitte Huber, BRIGITTE editor-in-chief, looks forward to the upcoming talks: “We’re looking forward to three exciting evenings and special talks with the top candidates, which will of course be about politics, but also always about the people behind them. New is our livestream this year, which anyone interested can use to attend our talks live. ”
© ASTOR Film Lounge / PR
The three events will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the ASTOR Film Lounge in Berlin (Kurfürstendamm 225, 10719 Berlin). A stylish setting for the events: With its architecture and special atmosphere, the ASTOR Film Lounge is reminiscent of the great days of film theaters. It combines the ambience of the large movie theaters with the comfort of modern premium cinemas and in this way offers visitors the splendor of the past and the cinema technology of today. You can find more information about the ASTOR Film Lounge here: https://berlin.premiumkino.de/
The furniture you see on stage comes from the SCHÖNER WOHNEN collection, which you can browse through this link.