The Free Voters are scratching the five percent hurdle in Hesse. But the path to the new people’s party is paved with challenges and controversies.
Wiesbaden – Next Sunday could be a historic one for the Free Voters. Because on October 8th, the party could make it into the Hessian state parliament for the first time. Recent surveys provide evidence of this, according to which the Free Voters are close to the five percent hurdle – or, in the case of an Insa survey, could even overcome it. The party also knows that surveys only reflect the opinion at the time of the survey and do not represent forecasts – but they still take courage from this.
People even dream of participating in the government: “If we move into the state parliament, we would also like to be part of the state government,” said state chairman Engin Eroglu Daily Mirror. He could form a coalition with Prime Minister Boris Rhein of the CDU “very well imagine” – as well as the position of Minister for Economy and Agriculture for himself.
Hesse election: Free voters could celebrate success in the fourth federal state
Since Rhine will most likely have two interesting options for a two-party alliance in the event of an election victory – either a coalition with the SPD or a new government with the Greens – will have, that seems quite unlikely. But they are working to “win significantly more members everywhere in the country,” said Eroglu. The aim is to become a “new people’s party”, but to achieve this we must not allow ourselves to be “pushed into an ideological corner”.
The Greens in particular have been accused of “ideology-based politics” from conservative corners for months. Eroglu himself was once a member of the Greens, but switched to the Free Voters in 2012, for whom he sits in the European Parliament and in the city parliament of Schwalmstadt in northern Hesse. The Hesse election is an “important test” for the party’s ambitions.
So far, the Free Voters have only overcome the five percent hurdle in three federal states: in Bavaria, where a new state parliament will also be elected this Sunday, as well as in Rhineland-Palatinate and in Brandenburg – the BVB/Free Voters faction in the Brandenburg state parliament but does not belong to the Free Voters Federal Association.
Free Voters’ Leading Candidate: Eroglu is said to maintain contacts with Turkish right-wing nationalists
But top candidate Engin Eroglu is heating up the tempers of some party colleagues. He is said to have good connections in the right-wing national Turkish scene. According to information from fr.de from IPPEN.MEDIA Eroglu met at least twice with the leadership of the Union of International Democrats, a lobby organization of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkish ruling party AKP, which is monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. She is trying to paint a positive image of the AKP and Erdogan abroad.
In addition, the state chairman recently supported federal party leader Hubert Aiwanger in the leaflet affair. Even if the allegations circulating against the Bavarian deputy prime minister are “all bad,” there is “not a single piece of evidence” for them, Eroglu said before a campaign event at the beginning of September.
Criticism from our own party: “Successful policies” of the Free Voters are not represented in Hesse
Christian Bachmann, treasurer of the Free Voters and parliamentary group leader of the voters’ association in Wiesbaden, emphasized this Daily Mirrorthat Eroglu will not represent “the successful politics of the party from Bavaria or Rhineland-Palatinate”. His relationship with the top candidate is considered difficult.
Despite the criticism, the Free Voters are still relying on Engin Eroglu as their top candidate. He sees them Free voters as a “liberal party of the center”, we share the same line with controversial politicians like Aiwanger. “We have the hard-working people in the country in mind,” said the 41-year-old. (nak)
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