Nico Elsner, the leader of the Junior Union Saxony-Anhalt, is against forming a coalition with the AfD but believes in the necessity of collaborating with them within the parliament. Speaking in a podcast for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he explained that “a good thing doesn’t become wrong just because the wrong people agree.” He considers this form of practical, in-content cooperation crucial within the legislative process. His proposed method involves introducing bills to the parliament and then observing how the respective majority is formed.
This approach represents a stark departure from the position currently advocated by the CDU leadership. Thorsten Frei, head of the CDU parliamentary group, had recently told the newspaper that the CDU’s resolution of incompatibility applies to both the AfD and Die Linke. Frei stressed that to address the significant challenges facing the state, “we need stable and reliable partners in the parliaments.”
To clarify that his stance applies equally to both levels of governmental structure, Elsner stated that his views hold true in both Berlin (the federal capital) and Magdeburg (the state capital) following the state election on September 6th.
For context, the CDU’s official incompatibility resolution from its 2018 party conference explicitly states: “The CDU Germany rejects coalitions and similar forms of cooperation both with the Linkspartei and the Alternative for Germany.”
