Michael Kretschmer, Minister President of Saxony, has spoken out in favor of talks with all parties, including the AfD. In an interview with the Handelsblatt, he emphasized: “We have to talk to anyone who wants to talk.” This contradicts recent statements by Friedrich Merz, the leader of the CDU, who has ruled out cooperation with the AfD and the Left Party.
Kretschmer, who governs Saxony with a minority government, sees the need to take into account the political majority situation in eastern Germany. He criticized the continued talk of “firewalls” and added: “Anyone still talking about firewalls has not recognized the signs of the times.”
Friedrich Merz had reaffirmed at his summer press conference a week ago that the CDU would not cooperate with the AfD and the Left Party. “We have clear party conference resolutions here, and I have no reason to doubt that we will adhere to them,” Merz said. When asked what would happen if a majority without the Left Party could not be achieved without the AfD, he gave no answer.
The AfD, meanwhile, appears self-confident and unimpressed by the firewall. Parts of the party are aiming for a sole government rather than entering into a coalition with the CDU. Kretschmer has established a “consultation mechanism” in the state parliament in Dresden that is open to all parliamentary groups, but the AfD has declared from the outset that it does not want to participate.
Regarding the current economic situation, Kretschmer called on the federal government to do more to combat the economic crisis. He stated that the reform package of the black-red coalition is good but insufficient. “Cutting social spending will not put Germany on a growth path,” he explained.
Kretschmer also criticized the bureaucracy and taxes that are crushing craftsmen and the self-employed. “People must finally experience that something is changing. The federal government must finally speed up. Otherwise, I see dark clouds ahead for the next federal election,” he warned.
Source: www.zdfheute.de
