After the CDU election debacle in Saxony-Anhalt, CSU boss Markus Söder clearly countered speculation and rumors about a possible change of the Federal Chancellor. “No matter who would step in immediately if you went through the alternatives, they would initially come out with the same problems - with an SPD that is having difficulty with reforms,” the Bavarian Prime Minister told Bild am Sonntag.
When asked whether Merz was still the right man to lead a government that wanted to advance reforms, Söder replied: “Yes, he supports the reforms.” Regarding rumors that Union Prime Ministers could ask Chancellor Merz to resign after the elections in a week, he said: “Of course it is the case that people are talking about parties and people.” But the Union would do well to stand together and not let the AfD tear them apart. There will “under no circumstances” be an overthrow of the chancellor from the CSU. And what about the CDU? “I am not responsible for the CDU, I am not the chairman,” he said.
Söder responded cautiously to the question of whether the black-red federal government would hold until 2029 as planned: “I hope so.” In Söder's opinion, there is a campaign against Merz that is “already brutal”. On Sunday, both US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin heavily promoted the AfD. “The whole thing is massively supported online and elsewhere, and the image certainly suffers as a result.” But Merz also knows that in some places you can optimize both your work and your own communication.
It is clear that the federal government needs to “take a significant step forward,” said Söder. The results so far are too meager. “Because it was the biggest election in German history, and we have to draw conclusions from that,” he said, referring to Saxony-Anhalt. He cited the issues of social abuse, cold progression and high energy prices that need to be addressed. “We simply spend too much money on incorrect social spending,” said Söder. Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) must now “finally get going”. Bas had announced that he would implement an action plan against social abuse by the end of the year.
Klingbeil criticizes CDU statements about Bas: "What's the point?"
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil has criticized statements from the Union's ranks about his co-party leader Bärbel Bas. "What's the point? We're in damn difficult times. We have to stick together in a government," said the Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor in Celle, Lower Saxony.
Klingbeil was referring to statements by the chairman of the influential middle class parliamentary group (PKM) in the Union faction, Christian von Stetten. “The minister is no longer sustainable,” the CDU MP told Bild about Federal Labor Minister Bas. “For months she has been blocking the reforms that our country so urgently needs.” Klingbeil did not mention von Stetten's name, but mentioned the Bild article.
"I hope that everyone in Berlin will help to improve future coexistence."
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil
Klingbeil turned to the CDU and emphasized that there was a “second majority” in the Bundestag alongside the CDU/CSU and the SPD, namely the CDU/CDU and AfD. "But I don't want that. And I hope that many in the CDU don't want that either, but when I hear comments like yesterday, I ask myself: Where are some people in the CDU actually headed?"
Conservatives often have the problem of not distinguishing themselves clearly enough from the right-wing extremists in Germany, said Klingbeil. But it is important in the fight against the AfD that the democratic center sticks together and gets it done together. “And I hope that everyone in Berlin will help to make future coexistence better again.”
Frei and Hubig consider the use of federal coercion against a possible AfD state government to be conceivable
Against the background of the scenario that the AfD can form a state government in Saxony-Anhalt and then possibly act in an unconstitutional manner, politicians from the CDU and SPD refer to the so-called federal compulsion. This is a possibility provided for in the Basic Law for the federal government to enforce applicable law against a state government. In this way, the federal government could take action against policies that violate the rule of law. For this to happen, Article 37 of the Basic Law would have to be applied for the first time in the history of the Federal Republic to defend democracy.
Union parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei (CDU) and Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) consider the use of federal coercion in the event of unconstitutional policies by a possible AfD state government to be conceivable - as a last resort. Frei told the editorial network Germany (RND): "Federal coercion is an ultima ratio. But if it is necessary, the state has the instruments to protect democracy, the rule of law and the free-democratic basic order as a whole." Should the situation require it, “we will of course enforce the Basic Law and use all instruments to do so.”
With Article 37, the federal government can, with the consent of the Bundesrat, take the “necessary measures” if a state no longer fulfills its “federal obligations”.
Hubig told the Funke media group: To date it has been a purely hypothetical question and she hopes it stays that way. “But let’s imagine that a state government instructs its state authorities to ignore applicable law, for example to no longer process naturalization applications or no longer allow same-sex marriages,” she explained. “The federal government could then directly instruct the responsible state authorities to apply the laws.”
Authority: Gas storage could already be enough for winter
The Federal Network Agency has addressed concerns that Germany's gas storage facilities may not be sufficient for gas supplies this winter. “We already have a little more gas in the storage than we took out of the storage in the entire last winter half of the year,” said head of the authority Klaus Müller to the German Press Agency in Bonn. “And there will be time for further storage in the next few weeks.”
A little more than 136 terawatt hours of gas are currently stored, which is a good 55 percent of their capacity. According to the network agency, almost 134 terawatt hours were consumed throughout last winter.
Compared to previous years, the gas storage level is low. That's why concerns have been expressed in recent days that the amount of gas stored may not be enough until spring. The possibility of government-mandated orders was also discussed - although these are possible, they are likely to be expensive.
Left for social media rules only at EU level
The Left calls on Federal Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) to wait for EU regulations before possible legal rules for better protection of children and young people in social media applications. “We have to regulate the platforms, not the children and young people,” said parliamentary group leader Heidi Reichinnek to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. The fact that the minister is announcing another move, even though she knows full well that this can only be regulated at EU level, is extremely irritating. “Especially since corresponding proposals are currently being developed there.”
Prien announced on Friday that he would present the first key points for legal rules by mid-October. It's about the option of a "legal minimum age limit of 13 years" for the independent use of one's own social media accounts or the recommendation to ban the private use of cell phones from lessons and breaks in all schools in Germany up to grade seven. There has been a debate about this for months.
Reichinnek spoke out against a blanket ban: Adolescents need to be protected from certain aspects of social media, she told the paper. “But you don’t protect them with blanket bans, as the introduction of the social media ban in Australia has shown: this approach is bound to fail.” It also excludes participation and information to which children and young people are also entitled.
Hubig wants to punish rent control violations more severely
Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) wants to improve the effectiveness of the rent cap. “Gaps in tenancy law” should be closed, Hubig told the Funke media group.
"My goal is that we make the rent control really strict. If the landlord currently violates the rent control, he only has to refund the overpaid money to the tenant. That's not enough."
Federal Minister of Justice Hubig
Hubig indicated what she had in mind: A group of experts is currently dealing with “fines for violations of the rent cap” and a “reform of the regulation on rent usury,” said the minister. She was of the opinion that the rent control was effective, as several studies had shown. "But there are still too many ways to override the rent cap. This particularly affects short-term rentals and furnished apartments. My draft law on this is currently being discussed in the Bundestag."
However, the rent control is not a panacea. “We simply need more affordable housing,” said the Justice Minister. Hubig rejects the expropriation of large housing companies, as the Left Party in Berlin is calling for.
Former constitutional judge warns against alarmism after AfD success
Former Federal Constitutional Judge Hans-Jürgen Papier warns against alarmism because of the AfD's success in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt. "Democracy as such is not in danger. There is no threat of a coup, nor a collapse of our order," he told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. "I warn against spreading alarmist scenarios. These unjustly unsettle the population and reduce trust in constitutional democracy."
A conceivable AfD government at the state level would be bound by the rules of the rule of law and federalism, said the former President of the Federal Constitutional Court. “There are currently no signs that the AfD is willing or able to break this order.” When asked whether Germany could cope with a federal government led by the AfD, Papier said:
"Unlike the Weimar era, Germany has established constitutional protection instruments that can prevent the abolition of Germany's free-democratic basic order, no matter which party may attempt to do so."
Hans-Jürgen Paper
He referred to the role of the Federal Constitutional Court and the two-thirds majorities in the Bundestag and Bundesrat required for changes to the Basic Law.
Deputy CDU General Secretary Stumpp resigns
CDU deputy general secretary Christina Stumpp is resigning from her position. Party leader and Chancellor Friedrich Merz will propose Thuringian Bundestag member Michael Hose (41) as acting successor to the party committees, the CDU announced in the evening. Merz and Stumpp “decided together in personal discussions” that the Baden-Württemberg native will resign from office on September 21st – the day after the elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
In the past few days, several media outlets had already reported on Stumpp's possible departure. Table.Briefings and the podcast “Machtwechsel” by Robin Alexander reported that party leader Merz had suggested she resign. However, Stumpp was initially unwilling to go. She herself denied on X on Wednesday morning that she was giving up her post: "That is incorrect. I am still deputy general secretary of the CDU in Germany." The rest of the CDU leadership did not comment on the media reports.
Merz now thanked Stumpp for the “trusting cooperation” and explained that she had done a very good job as deputy general secretary over the past four years. “Christina Stumpp made an integrative contribution to our party with great personal commitment.” Stumpp is quoted by the CDU as saying that she is grateful to Merz “for his great trust and good cooperation.” She remains a member of the Bundestag.
Stumpp was elected deputy general secretary in 2022 after Merz prevailed in the internal party race for the CDU chairmanship. The 38-year-old was only confirmed in office for another two years at the federal party conference in Stuttgart in February. After the change of CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann, who moved up to the cabinet as health minister, Merz made Franziska Hoppermann from Hamburg the new general secretary in July. According to media reports, Stumpp is said to have spoken out against Hoppermann as Linnemann's successor. When asked about this, Hoppermann said at the time that she was confident that she would work well with Stumpp.
Merz explained that when reorganizing the party leadership, it was important to him "that we, as the Party of German Unity, reflect West and East Germany even more closely in terms of personnel." As a member of parliament, teacher and former headmaster from Erfurt, Michael Hose brings with him important perspectives that are of great added value for the work in the CDU presidium. Hoppermann and Hose “complement each other perfectly with their biographies and experiences.”
CDU employee wing: Merz is leading the wrong debates
After the AfD's success in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the chairman of the CDU employee wing CDA, Dennis Radtke, criticized the Chancellor for his choice of topics and course. “If the Chancellor regularly antagonizes half the country with certain statements, that is counterproductive,” Radtke told Focus magazine about controversial statements made by Chancellor Friedrich Merz in recent weeks.
