Exchange instead of slugfest: NRW election campaign ends in a civilized manner

Exchange instead of exchange of blows
NRW election campaign comes to an orderly end

Shortly before the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, the top candidates meet in a TV duel. But although the race between Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst and challenger Thomas Kutschaty is close, there is hardly any serious friction in front of a large audience.

Moderate discussions instead of heated exchanges of blows: In the long-awaited television duel between the North Rhine-Westphalian CDU Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst and the SPD challenger Thomas Kutschaty, the really big argument didn’t materialize. The two lawyers only occasionally took a tougher approach to the program broadcast live by Westdeutscher Rundfunk from Solingen – for example on the topics of internal security, education and housing.

The dominant topic right from the start was the suspected attack plans of a 16-year-old student in Essen, which became known earlier in the day. Against this background, both spoke out in favor of expanding the police force in order to be able to fight right-wing extremism and organized crime more effectively.

Election program bingo glitches

As far as the current state of the police in North Rhine-Westphalia is concerned, Kutschaty clearly criticized the strategy of the state government: for a functioning police work, not only more police officers are needed on the street, but also officials who solve the crimes.

“The criminal police are at their limit,” said Kuchaty. “It shouldn’t come as a surprise that we’re at the bottom of the field when it comes to clear-up rates.” The incumbent Prime Minister countered that his state government had already begun to hire more police officers.

Overlapping content in the election programs of the two parties was particularly evident in the game “Where is it written?”, in which Wüst and Kuchaty had to recognize the election program of their respective party in sentences read aloud. Since these were consciously chosen similar positions, both were sometimes wrong. There was also agreement on the question of possible coalition partners after an election victory: both Wüst and Kuchaty signaled a fundamental interest in government alliances with the FDP and the Greens.

Race stays tight

Polls for the state elections have long pointed to a close race in North Rhine-Westphalia, most recently a narrow lead for the CDU. In a survey by the research group Wahlen published after the TV duel, Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst’s party achieved 32 percent, while the SPD received 29 percent approval. The third strongest force would be the Greens with 17 percent. The FDP ends up with six percent, the AfD with seven. The left would again miss the entry into the state parliament with three percent.

For the currently governing black-yellow coalition, there would no longer be a majority. On the other hand, a grand coalition or a black-green government alliance would be possible. It could also be just enough for the return of a red-green state government. A new state parliament will be elected in North Rhine-Westphalia on Sunday.

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