“Do not show AfD light”
Ramelow: The CDU must clarify its relationship with Maassen
08/13/2023 06:37 am
In early summer, the CDU tried to get rid of its member Hans-Georg Maaßen by means of a party exclusion procedure. Unsuccessful – the ex-constitutional head may remain part of the Conservatives. Thuringia’s prime minister, Bodo Ramelow, does not go far enough with the party’s efforts against the far right.
Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow has asked the state CDU to clarify their relationship with the former head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maassen. “What I use to measure the Thuringian CDU is not just its relationship with the AfD, but its relationship with Mr. Maassen and his constant outbursts to the right,” said Ramelow. The CDU federal executive initiated a party exclusion procedure against Maassen, who is a member of a southern Thuringian CDU district association. The district party court in Thuringia rejected his exclusion in early summer and gave the 60-year-old a reprimand. Maassen is also head of the Union of Values, which is considered to be particularly conservative, but which is not an organization of the CDU.
Ramelow said Maaßen’s failure as a direct candidate in southern Thuringia in the federal election showed that his lineup had failed to keep the AfD small. “You can’t get voters that way. His current statements that another government could be formed in Thuringia, even without the CDU, are more than confusing for a CDU member. That can probably be understood as an offer of toleration to the Höcke-AfD . I see an urgent need for clarification at the CDU,” said Ramelow.
Thuringia’s head of government, who wants to run again for the left in the 2024 state elections, hopes that the democratic parties will raise their profile in the election campaign. He thinks an election campaign under the motto “Democrats stick together, everyone against the AfD” is wrong. “That would only be grist for the mills of the AfD,” said Ramelow. “A solution-oriented, pragmatic policy, that’s what it’s all about.” That is why the competition between the parties should revolve around in the election year. “We have to give the people who are afraid a perspective.”
“Ready to debate refugee policy with the CDU”
In view of the difficult majority situation in Thuringia and the current poll high for the AfD, he not only wishes many votes for his party and the red-red-green alliance in Thuringia since 2014 with a governed for a short time – currently as a minority coalition.
“As a Democrat, I would also like the CDU to be able to at least build on its past strength in Thuringia and not represent an AfD light,” said the left-wing politician. He would be happy to debate with the CDU on issues such as refugee policy or the targeted recruitment of skilled workers through recruitment abroad, but asylum and recruitment are completely different issues.
According to a survey, half of the Union supporters are open to talks between the CDU and the left about possible government coalitions in the eastern German states. According to the ZDF “political barometer” from July, 60 percent of all respondents and 50 percent of the Union supporters would like this. A total of 34 percent and 47 percent in the camp of Union supporters are against such talks. By party convention resolution of 2018, the CDU rejects coalitions and similar forms of cooperation with both the left and the AfD.