With former bavarian minister president gunther beckstein (CSU) and long-time munich mayor christian ude (SPD), sparkasse mainfranken had invited two political bigwigs and experts on the current political scene to an evening of discussion. The two top politicians discussed the current political situation with moderator bernd zehnter. The financial institution had chosen this format instead of their previous corporate language to address customers and visitors.
A touch of markus lanz
The evening looked a little like the early talk show hosted by markus lanz on ZDF. The two well-known former functionaries were not on the TV show, but on the stage of the steigerwaldhalle. Moderator zehnter had taken over the lance-role to provide the men with steep slopes, so that besides general analyses they might also talk out of the closet for a change. CSU-man gunther beckstein and SPD-grobe christian ude love each other from time to time.
Beckstein for merz
For example, when asked who gunther beckstein would most like to see as the new head of the cdu, he loved one out. Friedrich merz was praised, he said, as being somewhat above the fray and "not trapped in this political bubble in berlin. "Merz still has a spark of understanding, that will double the understanding in berlin," says beckstein.
The ude forecast
At the end, when the moderator asked for short answers, christian ude predicted that horst seehofer would only be interior minister until the end of the year. Gunther beckstein did not want to commit himself there. He had his doubts, however, about whether the grand coalition would last beyond 2019, because of the breaking point in the coalition agreement.
Whimsical and informative
It was a lively, informative evening, because the former bavarian minister-president and the long-serving mayor of munich are people you want to listen to. And also critical with the office bearers and successors in the court went.
The rough coalition did not go down well with either of them. The disputes of the last few months within his own ranks were "not conducive to the image of a government," said gunther beckstein. Christian ude called it "partly grotesque" and "completely out of line" to have a conflict with the chancellor when there is no solution to a problem. The CSU and the SPD had suffered from this dispute.
Criticism of his own camp
Both did not spare their camp, as well as the opposite side with criticism. So beckstein said that it doesn’t go down well with everyone when people from the CSU side keep emphasizing that they are the best and the smartest. "People want self-confidence, but not in that tone."During the election campaign, the question of how to link climate protection and environmental protection with the economy was missed. According to beckstein, this will be a central issue in the future.
Topics handed in
Christian ude interjected that he did not understand why the CSU and the SPD loved to take environmental policy out of each other’s hands. He complained that the SPD should only represent justice, and that the leadership "only wants to be the works council, not the management. He spoke of cardinal errors in the groko, such as the "diesel muddle"."All this costs both sides voters. For ude, the SPD is moving too far away from its actual focus. People no longer believed that the party was social and just.
Prufstein of tolerance
When moderator zehnter brought up the topic of the afd, gunther beckstein began by saying that different opinions generally need to be discussed properly, with arguments and counter-arguments. That’s what democracy is all about. He gave the example of his relationship with the green politician claudia roth. The two are friends, he said, even though what she says often annoys him. "She is the touchstone of my tolerance."
Almost everything wrong
For christian ude, they did almost everything wrong in their dealings with the afd by initially trying to make the party taboo. You have to deal with different opinions instead of ignoring them. Migration will be a major issue for germany in the coming years. Both politicians agreed that this was an issue that could only be resolved in conjunction with the other states.
Concern for lower franconia
Finally, moderator bernd zehnter expressed concern that lower franconia would soon have nothing more to say in bavaria now that barbara stamm was no longer in the state parliament. The big cities were getting more and more, while the countryside was being left behind, said zehnter.
That was absurd and populist, christian ude countered. Gunther beckstein, on the other hand, saw a problem in the over-attractiveness of munich. Franken must present himself more confidently. He had never understood the "population refinement", i.E. The fact that cities were required to have a higher per capita figure. Ude countered with examples, saying that cities needed more incentives that benefited everyone. "Where is the philharmonic orchestra in your very nice community of wiesentheid," he asked.
Q&A session
During the subsequent question and answer session, questions were raised, such as who would pay for italy’s impending bankruptcy. Or which retirement provision is best in view of the low interest rates. The politicians also gave tips on this before the official part of the event ended. Some visitors later took the opportunity to speak privately with the high-ranking guests.
Satisfied organizers
The upper management of the sparkasse mainfranken had reason to be satisfied with the event, which attracted around 300 visitors. At the beginning of the question and answer session, chairman bernd frohlich and heiko darr, regional director for kitzingen, presented their views on the current situation to moderator bernd zehnter. The sparkasse also stands for stability thanks to its dense network. Frohlich named closeness, trust and relationship to the region.