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Germany’s governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was under fire this weekend — including from within its own ranks — for nominating a controversial ex-spy chief as a leading candidate in the eastern state of Thuringia ahead of September’s parliamentary elections.
Eighty-six percent of party members in South Thuringia backed Hans-Georg Maaßen on Friday to become the CDU’s directly-elected candidate for a Bundestag seat from the region.
“How can you be so crazy and just throw Christian democratic values overboard?” tweeted Serap Güler, a CDU politician and close ally of the party’s chancellor candidate Armin Laschet. “A bitter day,” she added.
Maaßen, a former head of the domestic intelligence agency and a critic of Angela Merkel’s refugee policies, was sent into early retirement in late 2018 after controversial comments seen as echoing far-right narratives.
He criticized “left-wing radical forces” within the Social Democrats, Merkel’s junior coalition partners, and contradicted the chancellor’s assertion that there had been a “manhunt” against foreigners in the city of Chemnitz following the death of a German man. Maaßen also expressed doubts about the authenticity of a video showing local men chasing refugees.
The controversy comes ahead of the September 26 parliamentary election that will chose a successor to Merkel, who is stepping down after a record four terms as chancellor.
The CDU is slipping in polls. According to POLITICO’s poll of polls, the opposition Greens are now the frontrunners on 25 percent, just ahead of the CDU on 24 percent.
GERMANY NATIONAL PARLIAMENT ELECTION POLL OF POLLS
For more polling data from across Europe visit POLITICO Poll of Polls.
The Greens and the Social Democrats criticized Maaßen’s nomination, arguing the CDU was moving away from the center toward the far right. But some of the strongest concern came from within the Christian Democrats.
“From every candidate, I expect a clear commitment to the values and policies of the CDU as well as a clear differentiation to the AfD,” CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak told local media, in a reference to the far-right Alternative for Germany party.
Maaßen’ has suggested a coalition with the AfD could be a future option for the CDU.
Karin Prien, a member of the CDU’s national board, said “Hans-Georg Maaßen is a marginal figure in the democratic spectrum with whom most Christian Democrats have little in common.”
The candidate’s slot taken by Maaßen became available after CDU lawmaker Mark Hauptmann had to step down in March over allegations he received payments from Azerbaijan.
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