Sven Schulze, the CDU’s top candidate and Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt, has acknowledged that his party made errors and misjudgments during the election campaign against the AfD. In the Tagesspiegel podcast “Im Osten,” Schulze stated that both he and the CDU had “somewhat underestimated” the AfD and its emotionally charged approach to campaigning.
Despite the CDU maintaining a strong presence through local politics-where they have city, municipal, and town council members-Schulze admitted this was not enough. The Spitzenkandidat, who has seen the CDU trail the AfD significantly in recent polls, insisted that the CDU needs to become more active in public spaces and engage more directly with ordinary people. He added that the party possibly became too complacent, believing that their existing efforts were sufficient, which they clearly are not.
Furthermore, the CDU made the mistake of shying away from subjects that fell outside of what the party considered its “core competencies.” Schulze concluded that he is convinced following this election campaign that the party must now address topics that matter to the public, even if they are not traditionally CDU-owned.
One such issue is freedom of speech. The AfD campaigned on the premise that citizens should be free to say what they think if the AfD governs. While Schulze noted that many people dismiss this as nonsense, arguing that the right to free speech belongs to everyone and not to a party, he eventually included the topic in his campaign. This resonated strongly, leading to large rallies that had not been seen in a long time. These events included the controversial gatherings featuring comedian Dieter Hallervorden, whose performances also included critical songs directed at members of the federal government.
