Hans-Georg Maaßen is something of an electoral provocation for all parties – including his own. But what are the chances of the former head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to move into the Bundestag?
Simone Rothe
Flop or top – for Hans-Georg Maaßen there is a lot going on these days between Sonneberg and Suhl: Does the President of the Constitutional Protection, CDU southpaw and native Rhinelander, who were dismissed in 2018, make it into the Bundestag – against the resistance even of members of the election campaign team of Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet? Or does the retirement of a former top civil servant follow after the election campaign trip in southern Thuringia?
Hans-Georg Maaßen and the political “experiment”
The constituency 196, in which Maaßen competes against the biathlon legend Frank Ullrich of the SPD, is considered to be one of the most interesting in the federal election on September 26th. Some even speak of a political experiment.
Fighting is currently going on in the region on the border with Bavaria, whatever it takes. The six direct candidates from the CDU, SPD, AfD, Linke, Greens and FDP move like a convoy from election forum to election forum. The largest hall in the city’s congress center recently had to be rented for one in Suhl. “We want to form our own opinion of who is running. It’s exciting this time,” said one couple, explaining the influx.
Why the great attention for Maaßen, also nationwide? It is something like the touchstone for the reliability of the CDU in its demarcation against the right, against the AfD, says the Jena political scientist Torsten Oppelland. The suspicion of political unreliability, which also comes from competing parties, keeps him in conversation.
The right edge of the CDU – neglected by Angela Merkel
Maaßen, who is shaped in his thinking by his work in the security apparatus and sees more risks than opportunities of migration, is acting on the right wing within the CDU. This segment was neglected in the era of CDU Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Oppelland. “But there are people in the CDU who share his position on internal security.”
The opinion of potential voters about the CDU candidate, who causes a stir with provocative theses on public broadcasting, migration policy or his alleged “demonization”, varies widely. “It is an imposition on the CDU to offer us such a thing – and we have a very conservative CDU here. Maaßen has nothing to do with southern Thuringia,” says an older woman. There is no longer any question of the suspicion of corruption and the mask affair that cost the traditional CDU candidate Mark Hauptmann the constituency of 196.
“At least someone who can find clear words,” praises a man in his mid-forties. When asked what he thinks about the immigration of foreign skilled workers, the ex-constitution protection officer said: “I am of the opinion that a people of 82 million can produce the skilled workers we need.” SPD man Ullrich counters, “Suhl has lost 30,000 people. This is a shrinking city”.
Meeting between Maaßen and Sarrazin
During the election campaign, Maaßen speaks of his mission to weaken the AfD and win back protest voters. He represents “positions of the classic CDU” and wants to prevent “Germany from falling into a creeping socialism”. And the candidate wants to stay in the conversation: Shortly before election day, the CDU far-right will meet on Thursday in Meiningen with Thilo Sarrazin, whom the SPD has excluded because of controversial positions on immigration policy, among other things.
Time and again, Maaßen asserts – he says he now lives in Suhl – he experiences that many people are behind him. He also represents “a strong group in the CDU”. He rejects an election call published on the Internet by a well-known South Thuringian neo-Nazi for him as a “deliberate provocation to discredit me”.
A head-to-head race and a fish on the right edge
And what is Frank Ullrich, biathlon Olympic champion, world champion and ex-national coach, doing to win the constituency for the SPD? Surveys that are not representative should assume a head-to-head race. The cheeky and almost gaunt 63-year-old relies primarily on his fame and roots in the South Thuringian region. “Hello Frank,” he is greeted as soon as he appears on the streets.
In the election forums, however, the SPD newcomer to the Bundestag also owes answers and instead confesses, “I’m not the type who is always against something”. Ullrich diagnosed a high level of disenchantment with politics in his home country – there was no need for “slippery politicians”.
Some parts of the East German CDU are talking behind closed doors of a political experiment in southern Thuringia. Can Maaßen succeed in taking many votes from the AfD by getting as close as possible to their issues, fishing on the right, without at the same time alienating many CDU voters in the middle? “That is an exciting question,” says a CDU leader from Thuringia. Elsewhere in East Germany, too, the state associations are looking for ways to wrest their voters from a much stronger AfD than in West Germany.
And who is moving to the Bundestag as a direct candidate from South Thuringia? Nobody dares to make a prognosis. “How it will end is open,” believes Ullrich.
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
