The budget negotiations in Thuringia again lead to political wrangling. Red-Red-Green talks with the opposition appear to be on the brink.
Erfurt (dpa/th) – Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) has accused the opposition CDU faction of tactical maneuvers in the debate about the 2023 state budget. “I think you shouldn’t treat each other like that,” Ramelow told the German Press Agency in Erfurt on Wednesday. CDU parliamentary group leader Mario Voigt, for example, made further demands publicly on Tuesday, when the cabinet was still dealing with his letter on the CDU demands for the budget.
According to his calculations, these amounted to 585 million euros, which the state should also spend on municipalities, said Ramelow. It is about 289 million euros for the districts, which would result in additional payments to the municipalities of around 230 million euros. In addition, the CDU faction wants 60 million for the small community program.
Ramelow expressed his irritation at Voigt’s actions, who did not want to give any figures in internal discussions. In addition, it was agreed to evaluate the amount of state payments to the municipalities based on data from the state statistical office and with the participation of the state audit office. “So far there has only been talk of an emergency fund,” said the head of government.
Ramelow’s red-red-green coalition lacks four votes in the state parliament for its own decisions – it is therefore also dependent on the votes of the opposition for the state budget.
The CDU parliamentary group reiterated its demand for written commitments for budget corrections on Wednesday – otherwise the talks could not be continued. “The Ramelow government must now make improvements so that we can move forward with the negotiations,” explained its parliamentary secretary, Andreas Bühl. This includes cushioning the increases in municipal spending.
The CDU will only accept the invitation from the parliamentary groups of the Left, SPD and Greens for this Friday “if the proposals for a crisis-proof state budget requested by the state government are outlined in key points and confirmed in writing beforehand,” said Bühl.
The parliamentary group of the FDP also made demands to take part in the talks on Friday: “Without concrete proposals for savings of around 1000 million euros (1 billion euros), there can be no further talks with us,” explained FDP group spokesman Thomas Kemmerich.
