ERFURT. BSW boss Sahra Wagenknecht The CDU has proposed a deal to keep the AfD out of power in state elections in Saxony and Thuringia, which are due to take place in seven weeks. In Thuringia, the Union should elect its leading candidate Katja Wolf as prime minister, Wagenknecht suggested.
Until recently, Wolf belonged to the Left Party. Until June, the 48-year-old was mayor of Eisenach and had made a name for herself as an Antifa pioneer. In the most recent Insa survey for Thuringia, the BSW came in third with 20 percent, just behind the CDU (22 percent). The strongest force was the AfD with 29 percent.
Linking two elections together
The party founder wants to link the prime ministerial elections in Thuringia to those in Saxony. Here too, the AfD is ahead of the CDU according to all surveys. The BSW comes out at 15 percent and is therefore also in third place. Since the SPD and the Greens, the former coalition partners of the Union, could fail at the five percent threshold, it would be up to Wagenknecht’s party to prevent the AfD.
The almost 55-year-old has therefore in the Magdeburg People’s Voice proposed that Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) be confirmed in office if his party would elect its candidate in Thuringia as prime minister in return. The rapprochement between her BSW and the Union had been going on for a long time, she said.
Wagon driver takes advantage of the CDU dilemma
“If the CDU wants us to elect its prime minister in one federal state, it cannot refuse to support us in another federal state if we are in favor of it. There are rules in a democracy,” explains Wagenknecht, who is not participating in either election.
In fact, cooperation with the Left Party breakaway will probably be the only option for power for the CDU in both countries, and probably also in Brandenburg, where elections will be held three weeks later. Because it does not want to form a coalition with the AfD, and the SPD and the Greens are too weak for further cooperation.
This is how the CDU responds
Christian Herrgott (39), secretary general of the Thuringian CDU, reacted irritated to Wagenknecht’s offer. Finally, BSW top candidate Katja Wolf recently spoke out in favor of supporting the red-red-green coalition.
CDU General Secretary Alexander Dierks did not want to get involved in the matter Image-Newspaper: ‘It is not about coalitions now, but about the content with which we want to continue to shape Saxony positively.’ . (fh)