Election review at Hart aber fair: Amthor convinced: Citizens want an end to "this left-wing politics"

The first channel is once again about migration, the AfD, firewalls, but also about the election. With a CDU and an SPD politician, the possible future governing parties are well represented. The two get along brilliantly. Is this a foretaste of what's to come?

After the federal election, one thing is as good as clear: there will most likely be a coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD. They must solve the problems of this country. They have a lot to do. And that is what the guests on Hart aber fair on Das Erste will be discussing on Monday evening.

The FDP will not work on solving the problem. The Liberals were thrown out of the Bundestag on Sunday. "This is a very bitter result for us," says Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who sits in the European Parliament for the FDP. The Union is the winner of the election, although it achieved its second-worst result since the Second World War. Philipp Amthor is nevertheless satisfied and exudes great confidence. Forming a government will not be easy, says Amthor. And: "We would have liked more options for forming a government." But now that he is sitting in a talk show with an SPD politician, he magnanimously shows that he can be really friendly - at least when it comes to the new coalition partner.

Wolfgang Schmidt, head of the Chancellery and closest confidant of current Chancellor Olaf Scholz, is of course not satisfied with the result of his SPD. Governments have been voted out all over Europe, stresses Schmidt. "It has something to do with the crisis," he adds - and by that he means above all the war in Ukraine that has been going on for three years.

"That drove up energy prices, that led to inflation, and that led to a lot of frustration and anger, which of course was then vented on the government," explains Schmidt. "And with the three-party traffic light coalition, we didn't do anything to make people really happy."

"The time for sayings is over"

Andreas Audretsch organized the election campaign for the Greens, who lost votes just like the other two traffic light parties. But Audretsch doesn't see it that seriously. After all, the Greens were doing even worse in the polls last autumn. In the past few months there has been a lot of support, new members and many donations, says Audretsch. "But we are not satisfied with the result either, we would have liked to have had more." Now the Greens will probably be part of the opposition in the Bundestag again.

"Now the time for sayings is over, now it's about agreement," says Schmidt, who is keen to talk about the future. For example, about how to deal with the AfD, which doubled its share of the vote in the federal election compared to 2021. No cooperation, demands Audretsch, while Amthor wants a stable government from the center. And a solution to the migration problems. He wants to use this to fight the AfD.

It has achieved significant successes, especially in eastern Germany. For example, in Dillstädt, a small community in Thuringia. Liane Bach, who is not a party member, is the mayor there. It has been like this for 30 years. She says: "In recent years, the political mood has changed because people feel that they are no longer being taken seriously. That is why the AfD is gaining strength." She sees migration policy as one of the main reasons. "People feel that the federal government has no control over the problem of migration at all." The future government should change that. It should "find solutions to bring citizens together again."

AfD should be " included in decisions "

Dillstädt is an example of many municipalities in eastern Germany. Once a CDU stronghold, more than half of the citizens in the east voted for the AfD on Sunday. "The citizens are dissatisfied - totally dissatisfied with the last government," said the local politician on Hart aber fair.

Bach continued: "East Germans have experienced two forms of society. They feel something. All these little things: You are no longer allowed to say anything. Anyone who talks about the AfD is immediately a Nazi. It is terrible how people are defamed there. I would advise politicians to work with the AfD. Because if you ignore something, it will only get worse." The AfD was democratically elected and it gets its money from taxpayers, says Bach. "And then I would also like them to be included in the decisions." Klamroth also asks if the AfD is right-wing extremist. "Nobody here can stand to hear that anymore. It may well be that some are. But the majority in our region are not," the mayor replies.

"It is completely normal people from the middle of society who vote for the AfD," Amthor states. He wants to differentiate between AfD officials and voters. The officials are the declared political opponents of the CDU. "They want the opposite of a liberal, free democracy. They are not moderating themselves, but are becoming more and more radical. They are our opponents, we do not work with them."

Amthor: "We have understood and are solving problems"

AfD voters, on the other hand, want something to change above all else, and they are not right-wing radicals. "And that's why there is no need for a firewall between the parties and AfD voters, but rather a dialogue about it and a demonstration that we have understood and are solving the problems," says the CDU politician. Amthor interprets the good election result for the AfD as meaning that people want a change in politics and an end to "this left-wing politics." Problems must be solved, but not with the AfD.

"I think fighting for every voter is the right policy," Audretsch agrees. However, we should not keep going along with the debates that the AfD is driving up. Take refugee policy, for example: "If we declare that migration is our country's problem, then this debate will be pushed up more and more." Migration itself is not the problem. Rather, the problems that it creates locally must be solved: investing more in infrastructure or daycare places. "And at the same time, we must have a positive discourse about our diverse and multicultural society."

Amthor, on the other hand, is in favor of a stricter migration policy: restrict entry, deport more quickly, and implement Friedrich Merz's five-point program immediately. Schmidt would like to negotiate again: "What is needed now is the ability to compromise," he demands. "Especially if you, as head of government, are not able to compromise, you will drive the whole thing straight into the wall. Mr. Merz should work on that a little more," Schmidt recommends.

Merz wants to forge a coalition with the SPD as quickly as possible. The SPD is still reluctant, if its chairman Lars Klingbeil is to be believed. And Schmidt is not yet completely convinced either. But he is not in argument mode this evening. At least, maybe this is a start.