MPrime Minister and CDU state leader Michael Kretschmer is his party's top candidate for the state elections in Saxony on September 1st. The 48-year-old politician was elected to first place on the state list with 94.8 percent of the vote at a representative meeting of his party on Saturday. The almost 200 delegates responded with rhythmic applause. Kretschmer spoke of a “great signal”. When he was nominated four years ago, he received 96.3 percent.
In a speech, Kretschmer swore the delegates on the election campaign. He spoke of a directional decision. “There’s a lot at stake in this election,” he said, trying to spread optimism: “I’m sure we’ll be the strongest force.”
AfD ahead in survey
In the most recent survey from the beginning of January, however, the Christian Democrats were only in second place with 30 percent, behind the AfD (34 percent). The SPD only came in at seven percent in the survey, putting it in fourth place behind the Greens, who achieved eight percent.
Kretschmer has been Prime Minister and CDU state leader in Saxony since 2017. In 2019 he won the election with the CDU and has since responded in the Free State with the SPD and the Greens as junior partners. In his speech, he called for a government that would continue to be led by the CDU “with common sense, civic values, clever ideas and optimism for the future.”
Kretschmer again spoke out against a minority government. The background is the fact that the current coalition of CDU, Greens and SPD no longer has a majority in surveys.
The SPD's top candidate in Saxony is Social Affairs Minister Petra Köpping. At a state election conference in Frankenberg on Saturday, 96 percent of the delegates voted for it. In her speech, Köpping emphasized the solidarity of the people in Saxony. Even if the mood is currently bad, “it is up to us to give people confidence. Because the situation is better than its reputation.” The SPD stands for a policy that doesn’t complain.
The FDP is currently not in the state parliament
The 65-year-old Köpping was active in local politics for many years, including as mayor and district administrator, before becoming a minister in the Saxon state government in 2014. She was initially a member of the cabinet as State Minister for Integration, and since 2019 Köpping has been Minister of Social Affairs and was therefore also responsible for dealing with the pandemic.
In her 2018 book “Integrate us first,” Köpping wrote about the feeling of many East Germans of being left behind. The SPD politician has also been involved in the fight against right-wing extremism for years. “People rightly expect us to solve their problems locally,” she said in her speech in Frankenberg, according to the SPD.
The Saxon FDP also put together its list for the state elections on Saturday and officially elected Robert Malorny as the top candidate. The FDP is not represented in the Dresden state parliament. The most recent poll saw the Liberals at just three percent.
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