2024-07-03 21:32:51
Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer is often seen as a troublemaker in his party because he says what many people in his state think. Does this make him a burden for the CDU chairman?
There is a lot going on in the large cultural hall of the local community of Triebel in Saxony on Tuesday evening. The rows of chairs are quickly taken, and anyone who arrives late has to lean against the wall. No problem, says one of the guests. When do you ever get the chance to meet the Prime Minister?
Michael Kretschmer is in Vogtland this evening for the citizen dialogue. The Saxon Prime Minister has been doing this format since 2018. It’s been well received. He stands at the front and the audience can ask questions. It lasts around 90 minutes, then there are sandwiches, bratwurst and beer. Free for visitors, of course.
A man speaks up and steps up to the microphone: “Mr. Kretschmer, first of all, I respect how you stand up for Saxony’s interests,” he says. He knows that the CDU politician will face opposition for this, even from his own party leadership. He himself has long been a conservative CDU voter, he says, pauses and then adds: “was.” “Hang in there,” he says.
Kretschmer knows that the man is not an isolated case. Many of those who come forward over the course of the evening will express similar views. For the CDU in Saxony, this is precisely the problem in the election campaign.
Michael Kretschmer has been Prime Minister of Saxony since December 2017. The CDU politician from Görlitz wants to be re-elected in September. His dilemma: After the election, it could be difficult to form a majority government. While the AfD could become the strongest force in the Free State with a vote share of more than 30 percent, Kretschmer’s current coalition partners, the SPD and the Greens, are in danger of being thrown out of the state parliament. Both are currently at six percent in the polls. To stay in, they need at least five.
A tricky situation. On the one hand, the CDU wants to try to become as strong as possible, ideally to finish ahead of the AfD. And at the same time, Kretschmer has no interest in ending up without a partner.
In addition, the Prime Minister’s personality ratings are good. In a possible direct election, 58 percent of those surveyed would vote for the incumbent, while just 17 percent would vote for Jörg Urban from the AfD. However, the CDU receives significantly less approval overall (29 percent).
This may also be due to the fact that Kretschmer often disagrees with parts of his party leadership – and makes this known. Again and again he deviates from the norm, deliberately distancing himself, for example when it comes to arms deliveries to Ukraine.
In Saxony they celebrate Kretschmer for this. In Berlin, however, party members are repeatedly annoyed by his statements, including in the Konrad Adenauer House. The question that is being asked these days in the election campaign is: will Kretschmer end up damaging the CDU at the federal level? Or the other way around?
On Tuesday, Kretschmer stayed longer after the question and answer session in Triebel. In the courtyard of the cultural hall, he stood in front of the beer tent, taking a long drag on his cigarette, squinting his eyes a little. He doesn’t smoke during the day. Only in the evening. As a reward for the day, so to speak. “Another beer?” someone asked him. “Oh, why not,” said Kretschmer, looking at his empty glass. Then he sat down in a circle – and talked.
Prime ministers are usually very grateful for appointments like these. They maintain contact and show their humanity. The process usually goes like this: arrive, preliminary discussion, then questions, a few selfies, departure.
Kretschmer, on the other hand, stays until no one comes to him. He is happy about everyone who still wants to talk. Probably also because among the visitors this evening there are a few who are likely to vote for the AfD. The question of why the CDU is ruling out a coalition with the party comes up again and again in the debate. Whether the will of the voters can really be ignored like that. “You have much more in common with them than with the Greens,” says one man, to great applause.