Bavaria’s Minister-President, Markus Söder (CSU), has strongly opposed the idea of a minority government at the federal level. Speaking to Deutschlandfunk, he insisted that such a government would be “nothing more than the precursor to a new election”.
Söder argued that a minority government is largely unattainable because the AfD lacks any genuine interest in implementing meaningful policies. Instead, he contended that the party is focused on strengthening its own organizational structures and ultimately attempting to unseat the Union parties. Consequently, he dismissed the idea as “a fantasy for some”. While such a setup might provide a few extra ministers for a brief period of about three weeks, he stressed the parliamentary paralysis, stating that the government would be incapable of making any decisive actions.
Ultimately, Söder concluded that the only foreseeable outcome would be a return to elections, resulting in an even weaker democratic mandate. This is why, according to the CSU chief, success within a coalition is absolutely necessary.
He also drew comparisons between the current political climate and the Weimar Republic, saying, “The comparison to Weimar is somewhat accurate”. In that era, he recalled, extremists grew stronger while democrats weakened, leading to public exhaustion and self-defeat among governing parties. “That must not happen to us” the CSU leader warned.
