In 2018, the CSU liked to make fun of the Free Voters’ government plans. In any case, the goals of the party and its claims have grown for the 2023 election.
Munich (dpa / lby) – In the 2023 state election, Hubert Aiwanger wants to make the free voters the second strongest force in Bavaria. “We want to overtake the Greens,” said the party leader and acting Vice Prime Minister of the German Press Agency in Munich. Aiwanger emphasized that he was aware that this would not be an easy undertaking. “But we’re not that far away. And if it doesn’t work out, it’s no big deal either.” A new state parliament will be elected in Bavaria on October 8th.
In current polls, the Free Voters are clearly the third strongest force with values around 10 to 11 percent. The CSU is at the top with 39 to 41 percent, the Greens are stable at 18 percent. In the 2018 election, the Free Voters achieved their historically best result of 11.6 percent and were subsequently able to enter the government for the first time, since the CSU was no longer able to achieve an absolute majority.
Continuing the coalition with the CSU has absolute priority for Aiwanger. “I’m assuming that this will work and that we won’t have to go through any socio-political experiments in Bavaria,” he said. The Free State must remain a free state and not take a left-green path, as is currently being practiced in the federal government by the traffic light government with SPD, Greens and FDP.
Aiwanger does not yet want to answer what price the free voters demanded for the continuation of the coalition, which the CSU around party leader Markus Söder is also aiming for. “It depends on the concrete result.” Basically, the three “heavyweight ministries” of the current election period were a good choice. “We were able to move a lot. It remains to be seen whether all the ministries will remain as they are or whether they will be tailored differently.”
From Aiwanger’s point of view, there are still many question marks behind the outcome of the election – so it is by no means certain that the FDP will make it back into the state parliament in the coming legislature. Aiwanger also senses potential here for voters willing to change sides for his party. The work of the SPD and the Greens in the federal government could also lead to shifts in Bavaria. In the end, however, the “left-wing voter potential” would rather choose the Greens than the Free Voters.
In the end, votes from the CSU electorate could also end up with the free voters, as they have repeatedly proven to be an important corrective for the CSU in corona policy, for example. “We stand for the realistic goals and the four-eyes principle of the bourgeois world. Without the Free Voters, the CSU would have implemented even more blatant things.”
Aiwanger rejects the accusation from the CSU, the Free Voters and he personally wanted to destroy the CSU: “I’m not destroying anyone. I want to maintain the bourgeois majority capability. That’s exactly what we’re doing.”
In addition, the Free Voters have contributed to the fact that the CSU has adapted to the changing present in recent years. “Without us, the CSU would do worse in the polls.”