Parties: Thuringian State Chancellery: CDU made specific agreements with AfD

Did the CDU publicly lie about its dealings with the AfD over the recently decided tax cut in Thuringia? The State Chancellery of Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left) accuses the Christian Democrats of having made targeted agreements with the right-wing extremist party regarding the state parliament vote. The CDU has categorically denied this.

Head of the State Chancellery Benjamin-Immanuel Hoff (Left) replied in the Berlin “Tagesspiegel” (Saturday) to the question of whether he had any evidence of concrete agreements between the two parties. “The CDU, FDP and AfD coordinated specifically on Thursday,” he continued. “At the same time, our own items were taken off the agenda so that the real estate transfer tax could then be dealt with. All three jointly made the recommendation for a resolution in the budget committee. The AfD made it publicly clear in advance that it would support the project.” He added: “There have been agreements that have been evident for some time.”

What happened – and what the CDU says

The opposition CDU was able to push through a reduction in property transfer tax on real estate purchases in the state parliament on Thursday because the right-wing extremist AfD, the FDP and non-attached MPs agreed – the red-red-green government does not have its own majority. Both CDU state and parliamentary group leader Mario Voigt and federal chairman Friedrich Merz then declared that there had been no agreements with the AfD. Secretary General Carsten Linnemann asserted: “There was 0.0 contact with the AfD.” The CDU parliamentary secretary Andreas Bühl told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (Saturday) that on Thursday – as on every plenary day, if appropriate – he had simply informed his counterparts from the other parliamentary groups that the CDU was withdrawing another item on the agenda.

The camp of the SPD, the Greens and the Left reacted indignantly to the CDU’s actions. In the Union, however, of the active politicians, only Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister has criticized the Thuringian party friends. Daniel Günther confirmed on ZDF on Friday evening: “I consider this to be a serious wrong decision that has been made. For me it is irrefutable that there should not be any form of cooperation with the AfD, especially in Thuringia, a right-wing extremist party. “

Now more criticism in the CDU too

Now CDU member of the Bundestag Kai Whittaker joined him. “Does this violate the CDU’s incompatibility decision and thus the end of the AfD’s “firewall”? I think: Yes, yesterday’s behavior was wrong,” he wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter).

The corresponding CDU party conference resolution from 2018 reads: “The CDU of Germany rejects coalitions and similar forms of cooperation with both the Left Party and the Alternative for Germany.”

Whittaker argued: “The problem is NOT that the AfD agreed to the CDU motion. But that it got a majority EXCLUSIVELY through the AfD’s votes. This means that in the end there is no longer any difference to the parliamentary work of coalition factions. That’s it Violation.” At the same time, he warned against “constantly placing the CDU under general suspicion, as if there were only disguised Nazis running around.” He expects this respect from all other parties.

The left camp suspects a conscious strategy

The excitement continues in the political competition. In the “Stuttgarter Zeitung”/”Stuttgarter Nachrichten” (Saturday), SPD chairwoman Saskia Esken referred to the CDU leader’s statement that the “firewall” stood by the AfD: “How much is Friedrich Merz’s word in the CDU still worth it and where is the outcry within the Union?” she asked. The Green politician and European Committee chairman Anton Hofreiter suspects that the Thuringian CDU parliamentary group’s move is a conscious and centrally controlled strategy: “Merz is preparing the way for this action from Berlin,” he told the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Saturday).

The CDU vice-chairman Jens Spahn urged an end to the discussion. “The biggest favor you can do for the AfD in particular is to continue this debate like this for three more weeks, then it will have another two percent more,” he told the “Frankfurter Rundschau” (Saturday).

Former Federal President Gauck remains calm

Former Federal President Joachim Gauck sees it differently. “I would immediately scream loudly if there were votes in the Union to form a coalition with this AfD or to make substantial agreements,” said Gauck on Friday evening in Berlin at an event organized by the news portal “The Pioneer”. “But when I look at it soberly, I don’t see a course being set.” Gauck’s conclusion: “If you are not suspicious of forming a coalition with them, then sometimes it can happen on issues like it does now.”