“Looking the other way in order to secure your own power” – Schnieder criticizes the SPD and the Greens for their treatment of the left

Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Gordon Schnieder (CDU) has accused the SPD and the Greens of not distancing themselves decisively enough from left-wing extremism and anti-Semitism. “There should be no political discount in the fight against anti-Semitism,” writes Schnieder in a guest article for the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. Centrist parties are unlikely to form majorities with either left-wing or right-wing extremist forces.

With a view to the political situation in Berlin, Schnieder criticized that those who are in the front row of demonstrations against right-wing extremism should not remain silent in the face of a “reactionary and openly anti-Jewish extreme left”. He called for a “clear moral consensus” from the SPD and the Greens. Schnieder: "Are the SPD and the Greens really allowing a party to assume responsibility in a leading position whose anti-Semitism is openly evident in its ranks? It would be a fatal signal to overlook this in order to secure one's own political power."

At the same time, Schnieder criticized the election of a representative of the AfD as President of the State Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt. The fact that he also received votes outside of the AfD and BSW stunned him. “Our Christian view of humanity prohibits us from ever working with radical, populist and extremist forces,” said the CDU politician.

Schnieder calls for the left to also be examined in a working group

Schnieder described the federal-state working group proposed by North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) to examine the AfD's positions in terms of their constitutionality as a good basis. However, the left also needs to be examined in such a working group. Parties that actively fight the state are not allowed to sit in parliament without further ado.

Frivolous calls for party bans, on the other hand, fell short, explained Schnieder. A ban will not resolve social divisions. Rather, the democratic parties must regain the trust of citizens through reliable policies and concrete improvements in everyday life.