What views does the CDU have of the AfD? CDU leader Merz has come under harsh attack within his own party for not completely ruling out a coordinated strategy at the municipal level on ZDF.
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| Friedrich Merz |
CDU leader Merz has drawn a lot of flak inside his own party for his comments on potential local cooperative actions with the AfD. Kai Wegner, the mayor of Berlin, stated on Twitter that the AfD only understands opposition and division. Where should there be mutual support? Working with a party whose core values are hatred, division, and exclusion is something that the CDU cannot, does not want to, and will not do.
Merz had affirmed that the Union will not work with the AfD in the ZDF summer interview. He now only allowed "legislative bodies," such as those at the European, federal, or state levels. According to Merz, these elections are democratic if the AfD has chosen a mayor in Saxony-Anhalt and a district administrator in Thuringia. "We must acknowledge that. Of course, local governments must consider how to influence the district, state, and city as a whole.
"Whether it's the local council or the Bundestag, right-wing radicals remain right-wing radicals," said Yvonne Magwas, the vice president of the Bundestag and a member of the CDU Presidium, on Twitter. Christian Democrats view right-wing extremists as their constant nemesis.
With regard to the AfD, Annette Widmann-Mauz (CDU), the federal chairwoman of the women's union, stated: "The party and its inhuman and anti-democratic content remain the same, no matter what level."
Norbert Röttgen, a CDU foreign policy official, highlighted that his party had resolved to forbid working with the AfD. "Anyone who wishes to alter that must secure the support of the CDU's federal party conference."
Tobias Hans, a member of the CDU and a former prime minister of Saarland, responded to Merz's comments on Twitter by writing: "The party conference decision stipulates that any collaboration with the AfD is excluded. This is the progressive watering down of party conference decisions following the extreme right's electoral victories.
Serap Güler, a member of the CDU federal board, expressed a similar fury in response: "No collaboration with the AfD means: no cooperation with the AfD. not at all. It's quite easy. neither in the present nor in the future.
The AfD poses a threat to the liberal constitutional state and the free social order, even in the municipalities, according to a piece by Berlin CDU member of the Bundestag Jan-Marco Luczak. "The CDU's incompatibility determination is clear."
Along with other things, the resolution declares: "Anyone who begs for a reunion or even collaboration with the AfD in the CDU must realize that they are addressing a party that knowingly tolerates right-wing extremist beliefs, anti-Semitism, and racism in its ranks. (...). Any coalitions or other types of collaboration with the AfD are rejected by the CDU.
On the other side, Merz was backed by the new CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann, who told the "Bild" that there was "no cooperation with the AfD," "no matter what level," for the CDU. "Friedrich Merz has that opinion, despite the fact that he correctly notes the implementation's challenges on the ground. We cannot just vote against a new childcare facility in the local parliament because the AfD supports it. We don't rely on extreme right-wingers for support.
Friedrich Merz's "unrealistic and careless statements make it clear that he has still not implemented the AfD's strategies of destruction," according to Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee, who made the statement in Berlin. The common benefit of all citizens and the development of democracy are not priorities for this AfD. "All those who strongly oppose him within his party and the other democratic parties deserve respect and support."
Tino Chrupalla, the leader of the AfD, tweeted about the discussion: "Now the first stones are falling from the black-green barricade. Together, the federal government, the states, and I will knock down the wall. The folks who reclaim prosperity, freedom, and security via interest-driven politics will be the winners.
Ricarda Lang, the head of the Green Party, blasted Merz on ARD, saying: "First he reduces this party to a better alternative for Germany and now he's dismantling the firewall - which the Union itself has repeatedly invoked - a little bit."Local politics is the birthplace of our democracy, according to FDP MP Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann. The AfD's anti-democratic barrier must remain in place precisely here. If not, it will inevitably collapse at the "legislative levels" more.
Source: Tagesschau