The attacker in the blue suit was bourgeois-conservative, the defender in the red outfit was aggressive: In the first TV duel between Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) and the AfD candidate for the office of Prime Minister in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Leif-Erik Holm, the opponents gave each other nothing. They accused each other of telling untruths and putting the country in danger.
The background is: The race for power is open a week and a half before the state elections. In the latest survey by Infratest dimap on behalf of NDR, the AfD is ahead with 35 percent - but the lead over the SPD is only three points.
From education to shipyards
The topics in the TV duel between ntv and the radio station Ostseewelle in Schwerin Castle ranged from education and daycare to armaments and shipyards to energy and migration. After his party's election victory in Saxony-Anhalt, Holm spoke of a spirit of optimism. “We are again in a time of change like in 1989, in a time of departure,” he said. He announced that he wanted to change politics in Schwerin and Berlin.
Schwesig described the AfD as a “dangerous party for our country, for the economy, for society, including for us women”. According to her, according to a new survey, 60 percent of the country's citizens would like her to remain prime minister. Only 25 percent wanted Holm. She accused Holm: “You are badmouthing the country.” Your state government, however, is doing so. Holm accused Schwesig: “You’re just doing the wrong thing.”
Economic situation
Schwesig repeatedly tried to direct the debate to issues that affect Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and that can be regulated in the state. She defended the recent shipyard rescue, which cost the country hundreds of millions. She is the reason why the shipbuilding companies are still there and can now work for the navy.
Holm said: "Of course we also have concerns if we would use this to fuel a possible war." No weapons are allowed to be delivered to war zones. He criticized Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD)'s use of the word “war-readiness”. People are afraid “that we will slide into a war”. Schwesig said that as Prime Minister she would never support anything that would endanger security in the country.
Discussion about gasoline prices
Reducing gasoline prices was also discussed. A price cap for gasoline is “a plan from the SPD’s mothballs,” said Holm. Instead, he advocates a reduction in energy and VAT. Schwesig, however, accused Holm of making politics for the large energy companies: “You are siding with the oil companies here.” Shell has doubled its profits in recent months at the expense of small craftsmen. The price cap, a maximum price for gasoline and diesel imposed by the state, is not a communist invention, but is also used in Luxembourg.
Schwesig: We don’t want to become a “nuclear toilet”.
When it came to energy, Schwesig also spoke out clearly against the construction of new nuclear power plants in the country: “We don’t want to become Germany’s nuclear toilet here.” The AfD wants to commission a study to find out where nuclear power plants could be built in the country. “Then tell the citizens in which town a nuclear power plant should be located, which citizens have to expect that their health is threatened and their property prices will plummet.”
Holm contradicted: His party's program does not include building new nuclear power plants, "but we want to make an effort to research and see whether that can be a sensible approach." Wind turbines – Holm spoke of “wind monsters” – should not be demolished, but expansion must be stopped.
The AfD election program advocates a “re-entry into nuclear energy”. It literally says: “Here in MV we will specifically strengthen nuclear technology competence in companies, authorities and universities. As part of a feasibility study, we want to examine which locations and technologies could be considered for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the long term.”
Holm: Save costs on childcare
When asked by a citizen - whose video was played in the TV duel - whether families with higher incomes could pay for childcare, Schwesig replied: "Yes, the top earners have to make their contribution." However, they should do this through taxes. Most incomes in the country are small and medium incomes. A non-contributory daycare is right and important for children and families.
The AfD also wants to stick to the free daycare, said Holm. But he criticized the “cost explosion”. In order to save costs, one needs to “better control that only the parents who really need a full-time place take one”. To achieve this, there must be more testing rights for the state and municipalities.
Schwesig replied: “What you are saying here is not true. Daycare costs have risen because we are finally paying the educators better.” Anyone who wants to cut costs at daycare now will cut back on education.
Political scientist: Duel without a big loser
The Rostock political scientist Wolfgang Muno described the first TV duel as a “warming up”. Both opponents will meet again on September 16th, then in front of the NDR cameras.
Muno was surprised at how aggressive Schwesig was towards Holm. She went on the attack a lot, Holm was more defensive. Holm tried to present himself as a moderate. “But I think he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” When Holm says, for example, that skilled worker immigration is completely okay for the AfD, that goes against the party's demands for mass “remigration”.
On the show, Holm spoke out in favor of a regulated immigration of skilled workers to Germany. Illegal immigration, however, must be consistently prevented. When asked about the word “remigration” by moderator Pinar Atalay, Holm said it meant sending people home without the right to reside in Germany. But it also means creating the conditions for the Germans who emigrated because they saw no prospects here so that they can return.
Schwesig replied that there were border controls and illegal migration had declined. Many immigrants have already made their contribution here.
Political scientist Muno said of Holm that as a candidate for prime minister he was a bourgeois figurehead, but at the same time a “discontinued model”. Men like Dario Seifert (AfD General Secretary) and Thore Stein (Parliamentary Managing Director of the AfD state parliamentary group) are decisive forces.
