News: Hubert Aiwanger is dead, doubts about Christian Ulmen, driving license reform

Hubert Aiwanger is dead. The Bavarian Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Free Voters was found lifeless in a Berlin hotel room (more here). Yesterday he was actually supposed to give a speech at the opening of an office of the Free Voters in the capital, but according to information from the dpa, Aiwanger had to cancel it for health reasons. He was no longer available later. Aiwanger was 55 years old, he had two children and lived with his partner, a district administrator for the Free Voters.

You probably don't do the Lower Bavarian an injustice when you call him a gifted populist. He became really well-known nationwide with his strong protest against the heating law of the then traffic light government. There was also controversy surrounding an affair surrounding an anti-Semitic leaflet that he is said to have written as a student - or, as Aiwanger claimed, it came from his brother (more on that here).

While his critics viewed Hubert Aiwanger as a dangerous despiser of democracy, his supporters valued him as a man of the people who, without shyness or false politeness, gave a voice to the concerns and problems of ordinary people. But no matter how you felt about the politician Aiwanger: his early death is shocking.

Since the actress Collien Fernandes made it public in SPIEGEL last March that her ex-husband, the actor Christian Ulmen, had sent pornographic images to numerous men in her name and had also physically attacked her during arguments, the public has been debating digital violence. And there is a legal dispute raging between Ulmen and Fernandes: She has reported him for alleged assaults, and he is legally defending himself against the publication of the allegations (more on this here).

Specifically, it is about a heated argument on January 11, 2023 in the then couple's apartment in Palma de Mallorca, which ended with a police operation. A medical examination subsequently revealed a hematoma on Collien Fernandes' right forearm, pain in his right arm and bruises on both knees. Ulmen claims that he did not commit any violence, but that Fernandes "repeatedly physically attacked" him. Any injuries to Fernandes were solely due to his “passive defensive posture”.

When I'm driving in Berlin's traffic, I often ask myself whether anyone here has a driver's license. Except for me, of course. But practically everyone else drives like idiots! If they have a driver's license, then the test couldn't have been very difficult. I therefore have certain doubts about the federal government's plans to simplify the process of obtaining a driving license (more on this here).

Today the Bundestag is voting on an amendment to the Driving Instructors Act, which will, among other things, eliminate the requirement to be present during theory lessons in the future and reduce the list of questions for the theory test. In addition, there should no longer be a fixed number of intercity, highway and night journeys. And driving students who have already passed the theory test should be allowed to practice on public roads, for example if they are instructed by their parents. However, the Federal Council still has to agree to all of this.

Incidentally, constant instruction and monitoring by spouses traveling from the passenger seat should not be regulated by law, even for long-term driver's license holders. The legislature does not have to intervene here, it takes place anyway.

More background here: Driver's license reform brings learner drivers at best 1000 euros