The man likely to lead Germany’s next government has said there would be no cooperation with the far-right AfD. Friedrich Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc has faced flak after accepting AfD support on legislation.
The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party on Monday adopted an “immediate program” on immigration and the economy that its candidate for chancellor, Friedrich Merz, wants to implement after Germany’s February 23 election.
Merz’s conservative bloc — also including the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the CSU — is the favorite to lead a new government.
However, the center-right CDU/CSU alliance has drawn criticism over its immigration law proposals that won support in a parliamentary vote from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) last Wednesday.
What happened at the conference?
Delegates voted unanimously for the 15-point plan by a show of hands, the party conference leadership said.
The proposals include measures to limit irregular migration, stimulate the economy and strengthen internal security.
However, addressing the conference, Merz promised there would be “no cooperation, there is no tolerance, there is no minority government, nothing at all,” when it came to working with the AfD.
The CDU, he said, wants to “do everything in this election campaign in particular to make this party as small as possible again.”
“I can assure voters in Germany of one thing very clearly: We will not work with the party that calls itself the Alternative for Germany. Not before, not after, never,” Merz shouted to sustained applause from the almost 1,000 delegates who had risen from their seats.
On Germany’s economy, which has shrunk for the last two years, Merz said policy would be judged on whether it “serves to strengthen the competitiveness of our industry or harm it.”
Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder on Monday said only the CDU/CSU alliance could stem the growth of the AfD.
“We must not leave our country to the AfD,” Söder told the conference. He also said the bloc would continue to rule out coalitions with the AfD.
“We keep saying no, no, no to any form of cooperation with the AfD.”
The AfD’s support for the CDU/CSU’s nonbinding motion in parliament to severely restrict irregular migration was a historic first that sparked protests across the country. Lawmakers on Friday narrowly rejected a subsequent migration bill proposed by the CDU/CSU, which also saw support from the AfD.
Protesters say CDU should feel ‘shame’
Critics have accused Merz and his party of breaking a long-standing “firewall” in Germany preventing mainstream cooperation with the far right.