In the wake of the re-election of an AfD politician to the parliamentary oversight committee of the Saxon state parliament with the votes of the CDU, the SPD’s leader, Saskia Esken, has called on the CDU’s Chancellor candidate, Friedrich Merz, to take action. “Who, like Friedrich Merz, invokes the Berlin Wall in relation to the AfD, must clearly reject any form of cooperation with the AfD within their own ranks” said SPD leader Saskia Esken to the Handelsblatt (Friday edition).
Just a few days ago, Merz had categorically ruled out any cooperation with the AfD and tied this stance to his office as party leader. Esken is therefore calling on Merz to “stand by his word and clearly convey to his party members in Saxony that those who are hostile to the constitution, like the AfD, must not be allowed to exert control over the institutions that are supposed to protect our constitution.” By electing an AfD member with the votes of the CDU to the parliamentary oversight committee of the state parliament, “the CDU in Saxony is putting their Chancellor candidate on the spot and making the fox guard the geese” said Esken.
During the plenary session of the Saxon state parliament, the AfD politician Carsten Hütter was elected to the oversight committee on Wednesday morning, among others. The committee’s task is to oversee the state government’s activities in relation to the state office for the protection of the constitution and the activities of that office. It is precisely that state office that has classified the Saxon AfD state branch as a securely right-wing extremist entity.