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Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the military part of the BER Berlin-Brandenburg airport. © Kay Nietfeld/dpa/archive image
In September, Brandenburg will elect a new state parliament. The SPD is behind the AfD in polls. Chancellor Scholz, who has his constituency in Potsdam, is nevertheless optimistic - and says why.
Brandenburg/Havel - Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) considers the SPD's starting position in Brandenburg before the state elections to be good, despite the AfD's lead in surveys. At the moment, he cannot imagine his party collaborating with the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW).
“In Brandenburg, Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke and his government have an excellent record. Brandenburg is currently experiencing extraordinary economic growth,” said the SPD politician to the “Märkische Allgemeine” (Thursday) in the editorial network Germany (RND). “And that doesn’t just have to do with the car manufacturer Tesla, but with many industrial settlements. I recently inaugurated the railway repair shop in Cottbus. 1200 highly qualified jobs will be created there.”
A new state parliament will be elected in Brandenburg on September 22nd. The SPD has governed with changing partners since 1990, currently under Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke with the CDU and the Greens. In the most recently published election survey from January, the SPD was in third place with 17 percent behind the AfD and CDU; in most previous surveys it came in second place behind the AfD with 20 to 22 percent. Scholz's federal constituency is in Potsdam and the surrounding area. On Monday he was a guest in Brandenburg an der Havel for the “Chancellor Talks”.
Scholz sees no basis for cooperation between the SPD and BSW
Scholz cannot imagine government cooperation between the SPD and the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance. “There is absolutely nothing to be said for that,” Scholz told the “Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung”. “The BSW has no suggestions for a better future in the countries and no plan for where Germany should head. That's why, in my opinion, such mental games are out of the question." When asked specifically whether he thought state governments with the participation of the BSW and SPD were conceivable after the elections in several East German federal states in September, Scholz said: "No, that is beyond my imagination."
The former left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht and her colleagues founded the BSW party in January. The BSW wants to run in the European elections in June as well as in the state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg. In nationwide polls the party is at five percent or even slightly above.
Chancellor: Brandenburg “people” have grown fond of
In his own words, the Chancellor now feels “very at home” in his adopted home of Potsdam. When asked whether he was more of a Potsdamer than a Hamburger, the former First Mayor of Hamburg said diplomatically: “In any case, I really like being a Potsdamer and a Brandenburger. And I always discover a lot of new things here with my wife Britta Ernst.” He likes the landscape. “I like hiking here, going on bike rides and seeing how beautiful it is here. And I have grown to love the people here.” dpa