Two weeks before the elections in the state of Bavaria, the Christian Democratic Union (CSU) has closed ranks around Markus Söder. The leader of the party and current minister-president of that Land has gathered the support of 95.6% of the delegates gathered in a congress that marks the countdown in elections in which the CSU is far from the absolute majority but will retain the Government .
Söder, although with internal enemies, has the CSU under control. This Saturday’s is his best result of the four elections he has undergone as leader of the party. In absolute numbers, there were 646 of the 669 valid votes. There were 10 abstentions, which in the CSU are counted as null votes. Söder had prepared the delegates for the decisive final stretch of the electoral campaign, with a Bavarian-style speech, defense of traditions combined with modernity, attacks on the tripartite led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), but also with lateral blows to the traffic light lateral blows to the coalition partner in Munich, the Free Voters.
“This federal government is probably the worst government that Germany has ever had,” said Söder, who outlined the mistakes that in his opinion the tripartite is making, including inheritance taxes, its tolerance for illegal immigrants who “also commit crimes, cutting aid to families, education and investments, especially in technology.”
“Bavaria is agricultural, but it has always opted for technology and that is why Apple plans to install its European center in Bavaria. We have the best education in the country, our universities are among the most excellent on the planet and we dedicate more to innovation and science than Spain or Italy “I’m not saying that we will reach the moon, but if we were in a position to reach the moon, what I would do is send many of the politicians who govern in Berlin there,” said Söder in an almost populist tone but one that the delegates received. with applause and laughter.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, of the Green party, was not lacking in criticism. “She just visited Mongolia with Culture Secretary Claudia Roth (also from that party) to explain her feminist policy. There they were, crossing the steppe, stopping at huts to explain Germany’s feminist foreign policy to women. Can you imagine? “What are the faces of those Mongolians when Baerbok and Roth talk to them about feminism in Germany?” Söder asked, unleashing more applause. And she added: “Where Ms. Baerbock would have to go is to Tunisia and other African countries to reach agreements that control migration.”
Söder once again called for a “limit to integration.” He said yes to humanity, but no to uncontrolled immigration in Germany. “We need a change in our country’s immigration policy.”
The CSU leader accused Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (both from the SPD) of “lack of political action” due to inactivity and gross errors. “Scholz is doing what he knows how to do best in a crisis: keeping quiet. He is a master of silence,” said the Bavarian politician. Regarding Faeser, Söder only stated that she “is making a mistake, she seems more and more overloaded.” There was no need for more. In addition to Interior work, Faeser is campaigning as head of the SPD list in the Hesse state elections.
Söder dealt left and right, including with his coalition partners Free Electors regarding the issue of neo-Nazi pamphlets that splashed their leader Hubert Aiwanger. But not because Aiwanger is responsible for something his brother did when he was a teenager, as the opposition parties try to make it seem, but because the campaign of these parties against Aiwanger has made him rise in the polls. “The polls have gone to their heads and they are thinking about taking the Ministry of Agriculture from us. From here I am going to give you urgent advice: More humility before the elections and the voters because Agriculture will continue in the hands of the CSU,” said Söder.
In the polls, the CSU appears with 36% of the votes, below its already poor result in the 2018 state elections (37.2%). If Söder and his CSU want to continue the coalition with the Free Electors, they must, therefore, do everything in their power to gain a few percentage points in the final stretch of the campaign.
For Söder this will be his fourth election as leader of the CSU. When he took office in early 2019 he received 87.4% of the votes of congressmen. The following fall, 91.3%, his best result to date. Two years ago, 87.6% of the delegates voted for him. In none of those party elections did Söder have an opponent.