Bavaria: Söder attacks the federal government at a rally – boos

Around 13,000 people demonstrated on Saturday in Erding near Munich against the heating law planned by the federal government. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) used the rally as one of the main speakers to attack the traffic light parties – but was booed himself at the beginning of his speech, apparently by AfD supporters, among others.

“The bourgeois center has nothing to do with AfD, has nothing to do with anti-democrats,” Söder called out to them. The cabaret artist Monika Gruber, who helped organize the rally and was apparently responsible for the large number of visitors, had to ask for silence several times.

You say yes to climate protection, “but no to this heating law,” said Söder. Climate protection must be promoted together with the citizens and not against them. The CSU leader repeatedly attacked the Greens in particular, he strictly opposed an alleged “compulsive veganization” and “compulsive gendering”.

Aiwanger calls for the resignation of the “Berlin chaos”

Söder’s deputy, Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (free voters), also appeared, but was not disturbed by the audience. He demanded the resignation of the “Berliner Chaos”. “Now the point has been reached where the silent large majority of this country must finally take back democracy and say to those in Berlin: You’ve got your ass open up there,” he exclaimed.

The AfD had also wanted to send a speaker, but according to their own statements, this was denied – now they invited parallel to their own small rally in the immediate vicinity.

Greens and SPD sharply criticized Söder’s participation in Gruber’s rally. The Greens Federal Chairwoman Ricarda Lang wrote on Twitter: “Erding shows today in a nutshell why the strategy of talking to the right does not work. If the middle class serve the right-wing culture war, they lose. And the original wins.” Bavaria’s SPD head of state Florian von Brunn accused Söder of collaborating with climate protection lateral thinkers.

With the Building Energy Act next year, the Federal Government intends to finally herald the departure from oil and gas heating systems. According to the traffic light bill, from 2024 every newly installed heating system should be operated with 65 percent renewable energy. State funding is intended to cushion the switch socially, and there should also be transitional periods and hardship regulations.

However, the FDP is still demanding fundamental improvements to the draft law that has already been passed by the federal cabinet. According to the government spokesman on Friday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) expects the proposal to be brought to the Bundestag in the coming week.