CDU’s General Secretary Carsten Linnemann has expressed himself against TV debates with a large number of participants ahead of the federal election. “The problem is always when you have these really big rounds, six people, seven, eight, then everyone gets about five, six minutes and you don’t really recognize their positions” Linnemann said in the RTL and ntv program “Frühstart” on Wednesday.
“That’s why one might need to have several formats, so that each person has at least half an hour or three-quarters of an hour to speak” he added. “Otherwise, populism will win and not the analysis of the issues.”
In 2021, the ARD invited the candidates of the Left, FDP, CSU, and AfD to a “four-way debate” after the triel between Olaf Scholz (SPD), Armin Laschet (CDU), and Annalena Baerbock (Greens). Three days before the election, a “final round” with the party leaders of seven parties was held in ARD and ZDF. Currently, the discussion is about whether the return of the public broadcasters to a “duel” with only Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Olaf Scholz (SPD) invited in light of the current opinion polls is appropriate.