The state election in Saxony-Anhalt is at the center of the discussion at Maybrit Illner (ZDF). Gauland has received severe criticism for his statements on the corona policy.
Berlin – With regard to the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt next Sunday and the likely duel between the incumbent Prime Minister of the CDU Reiner Haseloff and the AfD candidate Oliver Kirchner, Maybrit Illner invited to a discussion on her broadcast on ZDF on June 3, 2021 . The politicians Gregor Gysi from Die Linke, Kevin Kühnert from the SPD, Alexander Gauland from the AfD and the journalist Melanie Ammann from “Spiegel” were present. Paul Ziemiak, Secretary General of the CDU, was also connected from Düsseldorf.
While the conversation developed quite neatly at first, in the course of the program there was increasingly an argumentative confusion in which the parties systematically interrupted each other. As Kevin Kühnert criticized several times, this was not very effective, as each party was essentially busy blaming each other for the current tense political climate in Germany.
Maybrit Illner (ZDF): Why is the CDU’s weak position in Saxony-Anhalt?
Illner actually wanted to have clarified whether the weak position of the CDU was due to the politics of Chancellor Angela Merkel. She raised the question of whether the conservatives who had pushed the Chancellor back in the party were now returning as reactionaries. Alexander Gauland wanted to know without a doubt that the CDU lacks any political substance. By positioning it in the middle, it had failed to discuss important issues of the past few years before decisive decisions were made. He cited the abolition of conscription, the alliance with Europe and the refugee crisis as examples.
| Visiting Maybrit Illner | function |
|---|---|
| Gregor Gysi (The Left) | Member of the Bundestag, former parliamentary group leader |
| Kevin Kühnert (SPD) | Deputy party chairman, former Juso boss |
| Alexander Gauland (AfD) | Group leader in the Bundestag |
| Melanie Ammann | Head of Spiegel Capital City Studio |
| Paul Ziemiak (CDU) | Secretary General |
For Paul Ziemiak, for his part, there is no doubt that the center is the right place for the CDU. Because that is the goal of a people’s party, he said, so that it can represent as many people as possible. However, he was vehemently convinced that under no circumstances would a coalition with the AfD come into question. When it comes to right-wing extremism, you don’t joke, he added. And firmly condemned Gauland’s statement that the country is currently under a Corona dictatorship.
Maybrit Illner on ZDF: Alexander Gauland (AfD) rows back
When asked about this, Gauland tried to put his remark into perspective by stating that, in his opinion, something like the federal emergency brake was only coming close to a dictatorship. He sees it as constitutionally very problematic and knows that the law has been received with great fear by the population.
He received heavy criticism for his statements. Kühnert, for example, pointed out that one could not speak of dictatorial measures if it was a law that would abolish itself after a certain period of time. And Amann also rebuked Gauland, especially on the point that the systematic rhetorical comparison between the current political situation and the GDR was populist and misleading.
Gregor Gysi on Saxony-Anhalt at Maybrit Illner (ZDF): restore trust
Finally, the focus of Maybrit Illner’s program was precisely the question of why East Germany seems to have a greater tendency to turn to a party like the AfD. Opinions differed on this point. For Amann, a party like the AfD is attractive to voters because it is seen as an idea of emancipation. With this election one could give the West a lesson and send out a signal of protest. She said that one cannot completely deny that the former citizens of the GDR had a certain susceptibility to populism.
To the broadcast
Maybrit Illner on ZDF. Broadcast on June 3, 2021, 10:15 p.m. The whole broadcast in the ZDF media library.
Gysi also confirmed that the East continues to struggle with a feeling of inferiority compared to the West. According to him, the East feels like the loser of history. After reunification, the West arrogantly replaced everything that existed in the GDR and degraded people to second-class people. This feeling of paternalism by the West has to be addressed if you want to restore the people’s trust in politics, Gysi continued.
Kevin Kühnert at Maybrit Illner (ZDF): The East is poorly represented in politics
Kühnert also agreed with him, pointing out that the East was poorly represented in politics. While he makes up 15 percent of the total population, he is only represented with 1.5 percent in offices. But it is important to him not to treat the East as a nationwide problem. This does not do justice to a federal state like Saxony-Anhalt, which has developed in many ways according to valuable democratic values.
Those present finally agreed that next Sunday’s elections would reveal a decisive picture of opinion that was of great importance for the upcoming federal election. (Teresa Vena)
