Almost eight months before the Bavarian state elections, the political parties on Ash Wednesday met with reproaches, criticism and ridicule. CSU boss Markus Söder sharply attacked the federal government and the traffic light parties in front of around 4,000 CSU supporters in Passau.
He even suggested replacing Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) if she did not act on migration policy. The Greens, FDP and SPD, on the other hand, attacked the CSU and especially Söder head-on.
“Worst federal government that Germany has ever had”
If Faeser doesn’t soon make suggestions about how the influx of migrants will be controlled, how the municipalities will be relieved and how they can get more money, “then she will be the next Mrs. Lambrecht in Scholz’s cabinet,” said Söder. Your SPD party colleague Christine Lambrecht had to resign as defense minister in January. “And it would also be good for the chancellor if he finally took care of these problems in Germany himself and didn’t just travel the world,” said the CSU chairman to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
“This is the worst federal government that Germany has ever had,” said Söder, reproaching the traffic light for hesitation: “Everyone is talking about a turning point, but so far it’s only been slow motion.”
SPD country chief zu Söder: “You can’t rely on the man!”
The Green Federal Chairwoman Ricarda Lang accused Söder, among other things, of “arithmetic tricks” in the figures for the expansion of renewable energies. In recent years, the expansion of wind power in Bavaria has been overslept and the potential has not been used – this is how Söder is endangering the prosperity of Bavaria and Germany.
SPD state leader Florian von Brunn accused Söder of self-portrayal instead of future-oriented politics: the prime minister is a “first-person shooter”. The FDP state chairman Martin Hagen scoffed: “Markus Söder changes his mind more often than FC Nuremberg changes his coaches. You can’t rely on the man!” Linke co-federal leader Janine Wissler held Söder an “extremely poor record”.
Aiwanger: “Traffic light fuss”
The free voters mainly worked their way through the federal government. You need less red-yellow-green “traffic light hustle and bustle,” said the state chairman and Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger. The AfD member of parliament Katrin Ebner-Steiner said in the direction of the CSU: “We still have our hearts in the right place, while the big-headed CSU students in Passau have long since slipped in their pants.”
A new state parliament will be elected in Bavaria on October 8th. All current polls indicate that the CSU can continue its coalition with the Free Voters. Söder ruled out an alliance with the Greens again: “We don’t do black and green in Bavaria.”
Another topic on Wednesday was the war in Ukraine. Green leader Lang strictly rejected a unilateral Russian dictated peace to end the war. “What kind of peace would that be, where a war criminal gets away with a war of aggression that violates international law?” she said. It is true that one must discuss the right path towards peace. “But what doesn’t work is simply swapping victims and perpetrators.” Left leader Wissler called for negotiations and refused the delivery of heavy weapons.
In 2022, political Ash Wednesday was completely canceled due to the start of the Russian war against Ukraine. In the federal election year 2021, due to the corona pandemic, there was only a slimmed-down digital version with speeches via live stream.
