State elections: Thuringia’s Interior Minister Maier suggests constitutional modifications | EUROtoday

As of 04:28 a.m | Reading time: 3 minutes

Thuringia’s Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD) is trying ahead to subsequent yr’s state elections with nice concern given the recognition of the AfD. “Democracy is under pressure. And in a way that we didn’t know before,” he instructed the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Thursday). “The right-wing extremists of the AfD around Björn Höcke are trying to undermine democracy from the inside using all means possible.” Höcke is the AfD state chief and parliamentary group chief within the Thuringian state parliament. “We Democrats have to face the fight for which we are still ill-equipped,” stated Maier.

For instance, the SPD politician spoke out in favor of clarifying the constitutional article in Thuringia relating to the prime minister election. In his view, the present wording doesn’t exclude a candidate from being elected within the third spherical with a single vote, although all different MPs voted in opposition to him. “We have to make the constitution weatherproof,” stated Maier. This should occur in a short time. He warned: “I sometimes have the feeling that we are sleepwalking into quite a disaster and waking up on September 2nd in an authoritarian system.”

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State elections will happen subsequent yr within the three japanese German states of Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, and the AfD was lately primary in surveys in all three states. The AfD state affiliation in Saxony was lately labeled by the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a confirmed right-wing extremist effort; in Thuringia, the state AfD has been labeled this manner for a very long time. In Thuringia, Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left) at present leads a minority authorities made up of the Left, the SPD and the Greens.

People not voted for the AfD as a protest get together. “A large proportion of voters are now convinced of their stance,” stated Maier. “I am concerned that we were wrong in assuming that their voter potential ends at 20 or 25 percent. It is now clear that this cap no longer exists.” Many persons are very nervous in regards to the many crises. At instances they might have needed to fear about existential questions reminiscent of: Do I come up with the money for to warmth?

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In the East, individuals earn a mean of 25 p.c much less, and their wealth is lower than half as massive as the typical within the West. “These are social problems that scream to heaven. And if we don’t make these problems an issue, then politics will lose part of the population,” stated Maier. “I think the SPD in the federal government has neglected the issue of the East for many years.”

“AfD aims for fundamental system change”

Former Constitutional Court President Andreas Voßkuhle warns of an erosion of democracy and the rule of legislation on account of the AfD’s breakthrough within the state elections in East Germany. “The AfD as the strongest faction in one or more state parliaments would transform Germany’s political landscape. “The political heads of this party are aiming for a fundamental change in the system,” he instructed the “Tagesspiegel” (Thursday). “It will not be easy to prevent the AfD from becoming the strongest force,” he stated.

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Negotiations for a brand new get together

Voßkuhle believes that the continued existence of democracy in Germany is just not assured. “It may well be that our Western democracy will prove to be only a short phase in the history of humanity, similar to Athenian democracy, and after that the dark age of totalitarianism will return,” he stated. “Anyone who doesn’t want that should get involved in our democracy. Life in a democracy was never a paradise. But life in totalitarian regimes was and is significantly worse in many respects.”