Söder rules out the overthrow of the chancellor by the CSU – demonstrations against AfD and right-wing extremist tendencies

In view of growing criticism of Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) from many Union politicians, CSU leader Markus Söder has ruled out his party's overthrow. “Absolutely not from the CSU,” Söder told “Bild” when asked whether there would be no overthrow of the chancellor. When asked whether he ruled out that this came from the CDU, Söder said: "I'm not responsible for the CDU, I'm not the chairman. But I can say that for the CSU."

When asked whether Merz was still the right man to lead a government that wanted to advance reforms, Söder said: “Yes, he stands by the reforms.” Söder also answered in the affirmative when asked whether Merz was still the “right man”. Of course, people are talking about parties and people. “The Chancellor knows that,” said Söder. But the Union would do well to stand together “and not let the AfD tear us apart now.” After a year and a half there was a serious slump, “perhaps the hardest one you can imagine, but no reason to give up.”

With a view to a possible change in chancellor, Söder said: "No matter who would step in immediately if you went through the alternatives, they would first have to deal with the same problems - with an SPD that is having difficulty with reforms."

Under the motto "Not a step back! Against the AfD and right-wing agitation!" According to consistent information from the police and organizers, around 20,000 people marched through Düsseldorf city center. The originally registered number of participants was doubled. There were also demonstrations in Berlin, where 13,000 people came.

According to his own words, SPD leading candidate Steffen Krach is doing well despite the investigations against him. “I went into politics and I know how politics works,” said Krach on the sidelines of an election campaign event in the Bornholm I allotment garden in Pankow.

“I am particularly concerned about protecting my wife and children, and I subordinate everything to that.” He and his wife try to prevent their older children from reading all the newspaper articles that appear about noise.

According to his own statements, Krach is accused by the Hanover public prosecutor of having requested a party donation twice. In addition, during his time as president of the Hanover region, he is said to have improperly passed on business secrets in a process to sell a property. The presumption of innocence applies.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni considers so-called firewalls against right-wing parties and movements to be unsuccessful. “As you can see, this is a strategy that doesn’t work,” the politician told the Italian newspaper “Il Foglio,” when asked about the AfD’s electoral success in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt almost a week ago.

Political movements have gained strength in Europe “that focus on the defense of identity, the fight against illegal mass immigration and the danger of an Islamization of Europe,” said Meloni. The reaction of the “establishment” was often to “build firewalls instead of addressing the issues substantively,” she explained.

A recount of votes in the Sandau electoral district in Stendal (Saxony-Anhalt) has confirmed the previous election results. The district announced that the same result was determined as last Sunday's state election, meaning there is no change in the election results. This recount was prompted by complaints from election observers who provided sufficient reasons for the action. Recounts were also ordered in other electoral districts last week.

In Burgwedel, postal voting documents for the local elections were opened early. The state election authority has confirmed this. However, there is no evidence of manipulation, the authority emphasized. According to the administration's own statement, there were also comparable cases in Seelze. In Lower Saxony, elections are held on Sunday.

Specifically, according to the state election management, voting slips in the voting mail were realigned so that the respective electoral districts are visible through the window of the mail envelope. The problem is new due to a change in postal voting documents, as the city of Seelze announced. The letters were opened and later sealed again. According to the state election management, this was intended to ensure that the voting letters were assigned to the responsible electoral boards in a timely manner. The actual ballot papers, which are in a separate envelope in the voting letter, were not opened.

It is not known how many voting letters were opened together, according to the state election management. The city of Burgwedel announced that 172 of the approximately 4,100 voting letters so far had been opened using the multiple-eye principle.

The AfD Hannover-Land had previously drawn attention to the incident. The party's chairman, Dirk Brandes, is calling for the scope and responsibilities to be fully clarified before the local elections. “Handling election letters like this is a massive breach of trust,” he said.

The deputy chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Marc Reinhardt, is worried about the CDU's entry into parliament before the state elections. The party's situation in the state is not good. “There is concern about failure at the five percent hurdle,” Reinhardt told the “Tagesspiegel”.

The “Tagesspiegel” also quoted the former party and parliamentary group leader in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Eckhardt Rehberg, who said: “According to the surveys, there is a risk that the CDU will fall out of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state parliament.” CDU top candidate Daniel Peters told WELT TV that the party was “in a serious situation” due to the increasing intensity of the election campaign and the ongoing criticism of the federal government. “We are now fighting a battle for existence.”

Stefanie Hubig (SPD) calls on officials in Saxony-Anhalt to contradict illegal instructions from a possible AfD state government. “Civil servants swear an oath to the constitution,” Germany’s justice minister told the newspapers of the Funke media group. "You must abide by the law and the law. If an official feels that they are being given unlawful instructions, they must clearly express the concerns internally." An officer “cannot simply withdraw from doing what he was told,” said Hubig. At the same time, she emphasized the independence of the judiciary: “I am sure that the judiciary would block any attempt to exert influence.”

However, the legal framework is different for public prosecutors, said the minister. "As part of the executive branch, they are subject to ministerial authority. However, this is of course limited." She has “no doubt that prosecutors would also resist illegal instructions.” The minister emphasized that the federal government could, if necessary, take action against legal violations by a state government. “The states are just as bound to the requirements of the Basic Law. And there is the principle of federal loyalty,” said Hubig. “If a federal state violates its legal obligations, the federal government can appeal to the Federal Constitutional Court.”

There is also the so-called federal obligation in the Basic Law, which could establish the federal government's right to issue instructions to a state. Hubig cited the example of a state government instructing its authorities to “disregard applicable law, for example to no longer process naturalization applications or no longer allow same-sex marriages.” The federal government could then “directly issue instructions to the state authorities to apply the laws,” said the minister. But you need the approval of the Federal Council to do this.

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 elimination of Germany's free democratic basic order, no matter which party may try to do so." 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.

Prien is the first woman with Jewish roots to serve in a federal cabinet. Her family fled the Nazis to the Netherlands and returned to Germany at the end of the 1960s. Two of her great-grandmothers were murdered by the Nazis. The minister is not only worried that the AfD, a party that the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies as definitely right-wing extremist, won the election in Saxony-Anhalt. Some of those elected can clearly be assigned to the neo-Nazi scene, said Prien.

From their point of view, extremists who represent anti-Semitic positions have also been elected on the left. If, for example, the BSW top candidate Claudia Wittig said that anyone could become prime minister in Saxony-Anhalt except a Wessi or a Zionist, then that was “nothing other than the statement that it cannot be a Jew.” This was difficult for her to bear, said Prien. She could understand that many Jews in Germany now said they were afraid.

As Federal Minister of Education, Prien is preparing her house for an AfD-led government in Saxony-Anhalt to fundamentally change school policy. The AfD wants to abolish compulsory schooling or set new priorities in history lessons. Prien recalled that school laws required majorities in the state parliament and sometimes even a two-thirds majority. The federal government will closely examine whether money from programs such as the Start Opportunities Program is being used as intended - and will react if this does not happen.