Every year, the state parliament says goodbye to the Christmas break with final words of warning. In view of the current events, these were particularly thoughtful and sometimes also unusually critical.
Munich (dpa / lby) – Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder attacked the AfD in the Bavarian state parliament with unusually sharp words. “I can only ask you from the AfD, do your own cleaning process. Distance yourself from “Reich citizens”, from “lateral thinkers”, from right-wing extremists and go away from the edge of the constitution back to the solid ground of our common German and Bavarian constitution,” said the CSU leader on Thursday during his closing remarks in Parliament before the Christmas break.
Although not everyone in the AfD has to be responsible for what happens in the party, Söder emphasized, also with a view to the recent raid against so-called Reich citizens, in which AfD officials were also targeted by the investigators. But it is noticeable that everyone in the AfD “who tries a bit to at least look to the middle” is bullied nationwide and in Bavaria. This is enough to try to “silence” those.
Without naming the AfD, the president of the state parliament, Ilse Aigner (CSU), had previously criticized the behavior of individual faction and party members in Bavaria: It was known who sang the first verse of the Deutschlandlied at the party conference in Bavaria or who sang a gas mask in parliament stood at the lectern. She also praised the actions of the security authorities against the so-called Reich Citizens’ Movement: “Only democracy secures our freedom and enables us to prosper.”
With a view to the 2023 election year, Aigner also called on all politicians in the state to reflect on important political issues: “We have lost a lot of time and energy in public debates that appear to be progressive, but which in reality do not get us anywhere. Gender asterisks, Dreadlocks, armbands on the soccer field – a lot of symbolism and behind it: often little substance.”
The political discourse is increasingly determined by peripheral issues that do not solve any problems. “That irritates the broader middle of society. I’ll say it very clearly: world champion in morals alone – that’s not a title we should be striving for,” emphasized Aigner. She therefore warns against “over-emotionalization” and “over-moralization”, especially with a view to the election. It was “time for all sides to reflect”.
The tone also worries her in the state parliament, too often debates are “poisoned”, too often it’s about disparagement or insults. “The political competition should serve the well-being of the people – not the staging, the self-portrayal or the mockery. And also not the division and the stirring up of fears,” said Aigner. Language should never be unforgiving, full of hatred and hatred.
With a view to the criticism of the state parliament, she explained that a living democracy must also be worth something to the people. A member of the Bavarian state parliament costs a Bavarian citizen just six cents a year. The FDP, in particular, had stirred up sentiment against the size of the state parliament in the past few months and is calling for the parliament to be significantly reduced in size.
Vice-President Thomas Gehring (Greens) emphasized that it is the task of all democrats that after the election there are no more anti-democrats in the next state parliament. At the same time, he reminded people of the people in Ukraine who are facing a particularly difficult winter in the current war. Söder also appealed that the Bavarian willingness to help should not diminish, that more aid convoys should be set out. The federal government must provide Ukraine with weapons to help, Bavaria’s weapons are the heart and help for the people.
