Tough TV duel
Scholz and Merz irreconcilable on AfD, migration
SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz and CDU leader Friedrich Merz fought a tough TV duel on Sunday evening - particularly over how to deal with the right-wing Alternative for Germany and migration. Scholz once again accused Merz of "breaking his word" and "breaking a taboo" because the CDU pushed through its five-point plan on migration with AfD votes.
He said he trusted the CDU chairman to enter into a coalition with the AfD after the election. "That is my serious concern." Merz rejected this: "There will be no such cooperation," he said. "We will not do that, we (CDU/CSU and AfD) are worlds apart on the issues." The joint vote by the CDU/CSU, FDP and AfD led to a scandal in the Bundestag at the end of January. Two days later, Merz failed to get a bill through the Bundestag due to dissenters in his own parliamentary group and in the FDP.
Scholz promises to continue his "tough course"
On the subject of migration, Scholz promised to continue his "tough course" after the election. Germany must not accept acts of violence such as those in Aschaffenburg, he said. "We can never accept such acts and therefore clear and decisive action must be taken."
Scholz once again rejected the EU's plans to turn back migrants at the border as unlawful and warned of a "European crisis". He also urged Merz to approve the law presented by the government to implement the European asylum reform. "Why should you be so stupid" not to do so, he asked.
Merz: "What you are saying here is a fairytale castle"
Merz accused Scholz of letting "well over two million irregular migrants into Germany" and not telling the truth: "What you are saying here is a fairytale castle."
Scholz and Merz also clashed over economic policy. Merz accused Scholz of having a distorted perception of the crisis in the German economy. "I am somewhat shocked by the perception with which you are describing the state of our economy here this evening," said the CDU/CSU candidate for chancellor. Addressing the Chancellor directly, he added: "That has nothing whatsoever to do with the reality out there - honestly, Mr. Scholz." Scholz had previously stated that there was no deindustrialization in Germany. The Social Democrat conceded: "Something is going on and we have to do something." However, the Chancellor referred to the rising number of people in employment, among other things.
Scholz was much more aggressive than Merz in the duel, repeatedly calling Merz's statements "ridiculous" and accusing him of presenting "speech bubbles". Merz parried the Chancellor's attacks in a calm manner. He addressed Scholz directly several times and asked him questions.
The 90-minute duel on public TV channels ARD and ZDF in prime time was hosted by talk show professionals Maybrit Illner and Sandra Maischberger. The TV duel marks the start of the hot final phase of the election campaign, which Merz and the CDU/CSU are entering with a large lead in the polls. The CDU/CSU is currently polling between 29 and 34 percent, while Scholz and the SPD are far behind in third place behind the AfD with 15 to 18 percent. The scandal in the Bundestag has had little impact on the polls. The turnaround hoped for by the SPD failed to materialize.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.