MDR presenter joins Sahra Wagenknecht’s party

Exclusive

Mr. Quasebarth, you hosted your last show on Sunday evening. Next Saturday you want to be nominated for the Thuringian state parliament at the BSW state party conference. How come’s?
I always wanted to get involved in politics. But that didn’t fit with my previous job. It was always clear to me: either you work in the media and observe what’s happening. Or you help shape things.

It is said that you should run for one of the first five places in order to have a secure mandate if the BSW enters the state parliament?
Yes, that is my goal. Sahra Wagenknecht invited me to join her party on this condition.

But why the BSW?
It’s been a long time since I’ve had the same common ground with any party as I now have with the BSW. I’ve always seen myself as being on the left politically, but I’ve increasingly struggled with migration policy. We simply can’t integrate as many refugees as have been coming to us in recent years. Our society can’t handle that. In the end, it’s the municipalities that are left to deal with it alone. And that can’t be good for those who are looking for help or a better life. The way these people are crammed into completely overcrowded initial reception centers like the one here in Thuringia is undignified.

But it is not as easy to solve as Wagenknecht claims. Or when she suggests that peace between Russia and Ukraine can be negotiated: do you think that is serious?
I have learned that it is the tone that makes the music. This also applies to international politics. Germany needs to be more diplomatic again and use the channels of communication more. There is too much sabre-rattling in Berlin.

But didn’t Germany try everything to accommodate Vladimir Putin – until he invaded Ukraine?
We do not know that. The fact is: Putin is a dictator and the aggressor. Period. Nevertheless, ever more arms deliveries are not a strategy that leads to peace. Instead, people die every day.

Now in Thuringia not decided on war and peace. What is a former TV presenter doing in the state parliament?
The former TV presenter is also a teacher’s child. That’s why he’s concerned with education and media policy – and the connection between them. For example, digitization in schools, which I think is being done poorly and with the wrong approach. It’s also important to me that community schools must be allowed to develop more independently. At my daughter’s school, I see how the Ministry of Education sets standards that are far too narrow and have little to do with the needs of students and regional conditions – such as the differences in rural areas or in an industrial city. We would be well advised to trust the head teachers more to develop and cultivate their own teaching profile.

You can only make a change in government. Do you want that?
The polls suggest that the BSW is needed to form a majority in the state parliament. If that were to happen, we should hold the necessary discussions to form a government.

With who?
With everyone except the AfD. I am as clear on this as Sahra Wagenknecht. There is consensus between the BSW state chairwoman Katja Wolf, her co-chairman Steffen Schütz and me: any cooperation with the AfD is and remains out of the question.