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🇩🇪 Germany /Elections & Politics

Saxony-Anhalt: Sepp Müller categorically rules out cooperation with the Left Party

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • CDU politician Sepp Müller, who wants to lead the party in Saxony-Anhalt, ruled out cooperation with both the Left Party and the AfD, even if that could prevent an AfD-led government.
  • Müller said the CDU should form a government from the political center and defended the party’s principle of working with neither the right nor the left.
  • Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently reprimanded Müller over comments made before the state election, but Müller said he fully supported Merz’s upcoming reform plans.

Sepp Müller is drawing a firm line on both sides of the political spectrum as he seeks to become CDU leader in Saxony-Anhalt. The deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group said the party would not cooperate with either the AfD or the Left Party, even if cooperation with the Left were the only way to prevent an AfD government.

We do not signal right, we do not signal left. We have clear guardrails, and that means credibility.

· Sepp MüllerMüller described the CDU’s refusal to cooperate with either the AfD or the Left Party.

“We do not signal right, we do not signal left. We have clear guardrails, and that means credibility,” Müller told Deutschlandfunk. He said the CDU’s goal must be to form a government from the political center again.

Müller also defended the party’s core principles after what he described as a failure to maintain a clear position. “We cannot sacrifice the CDU’s DNA to the prevailing political climate,” he said. “Unfortunately, that is why we were voted out. Perhaps also because we were not clear on this question. I deeply regret that.”

We cannot sacrifice the CDU’s DNA to the prevailing political climate.

· Sepp MüllerHe defended the party’s principle of separating itself from both political extremes.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently reprimanded Müller, saying he had “stabbed our own lead candidate in the back” shortly before the Saxony-Anhalt election. Müller had said that candidate Schulze should not become minister-president with the Left Party’s support. He did not address the reprimand directly in the interview, but stressed that Merz had his “full support for the reform projects that are now ahead.”

I have his back because we need reforms to make our country better.

· Sepp MüllerMüller expressed support for Chancellor Friedrich Merz despite their disagreement over his pre-election comments.

“I have his back because we need reforms to make our country better,” Müller said. He also rejected fears that CDU lawmakers could defect and help the AfD secure a governing majority. CDU labor wing leader Dennis Radtke backed Merz and warned against treating a leadership change as a quick fix after the state election’s “shocking result.”

To believe that everything will be fine overnight by changing the people at the top is adventurous.

· Dennis RadtkeThe CDU labor wing leader opposed treating a leadership change as an immediate solution after the election result.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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