CDU boss Merz for pragmatic handling of AfD in municipalities

CDU boss Merz for pragmatic handling of AfD in municipalities

CDU boss Friedrich Merz again confirms his party's ban on cooperation with the AfD at the state or federal level. However, he speaks for a pragmatic handling of chosen AfD representatives at the local level. This emphasizes Merz in the ZDF summer interview. He explains that there will be no AfD participation in a government and that it will not receive a majority for it. This taboo of cooperation with the AfD only applies to legislative bodies, from the European Parliament to the state parliament. At the local level, one has to deal with democratically elected officials of the AfD more pragmatically. For example, if a district administrator or a mayor of the AfD belongs, you have to search for ways how to continue working together. Merz refers to successful elections of an AfD district council in Thuringia and an AfD mayor in Saxony-Anhalt. These are democratic elections, the result of which must be accepted. In the local parliaments you have to search for ways how to shape the city or the district together.

Merz also admits that his party currently has to gain weaknesses and trust. The CDU is the largest opposition group in the Bundestag and thus an alternative to the current federal government. However, the CDU boss rejects a ban on the AfD and explains that party bans have never led to solving political problems. A corresponding proposal by a CDU member of the Bundestag is not shared by Merz.