“The SPD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has been organizing citizens’ forums throughout the state for 15 years in order to get into conversation with the citizens”. With this sentence, the parliamentary director of the SPD parliamentary group in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Philipp da Cunha, is currently going viral. Because in an interview with the NDR, he repeated it, believe it or not, ten times. He doesn’t answer the actual question about the reporter’s costs – not at all. But from the front.
At the end of June, the SPD parliamentary group held a local political evening in the “Golchener Hof”, a four-star hotel in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. Around 250 guests attended the event, which was held under the motto “Fraction on site”, reports NDR, including Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig. The food was paid for by the SPD faction with taxpayers’ money.
The “Golchener Hof” belongs to the husband of SPD deputy leader Christine Klingohr. In an interview with the parliamentary director Philipp da Cunha, the NDR therefore asked several times about the costs of this evening. But da Cunha always answered the same question with the same answer: “The SPD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has been organizing citizens’ forums all over the country for 15 years…”. The only real answer he gives: Comparable venues would not have been available and the costs would have been customary for the location. He evades a specification.
After being asked ten times, the annoyed reporter gave up and ended the interview after almost four minutes with the words: “You didn’t answer it, so forget it. All right, thanks.”
The video is going viral on Twitter these days. Frequent reactions to this: understanding for disenchantment with politics and satirical comments. “What’s the local price now? Now I’m interested too.” The well-known Austrian ORF journalist Armin Wolf predicts: “This interview will make him famous.”
Shortly thereafter, the SPD state association justified the interview: The final bill was not yet available. That’s why Cunha avoided the question. Group leader Julian Barlen handed in the numbers. Local prices for such an evening would be around 50 to 70 euros per person for a buffet, drinks, room rental and the like.
Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig was also asked about the event. In particular, the aspect that the local SPD rents event rooms that belong to the husband of the deputy parliamentary group leader – who in turn links to the hotel on her website. Schwesig also answered this question rather evasively: “What do you actually have against the strong women in the SPD? (…) The SPD state parliamentary group has been holding citizens’ events in all constituencies of the state for 15 years”. From the SPD point of view, this is not objectionable.
Christine Klingohr also rejects the criticism. During the election campaign, she reports from her life that the “Golchener Hof” is part of it, she told the NDR. “I wouldn’t call it advertising.”
Sources: Twitter, NDR, NDR Nordmagazin, Christine Klingohr
