As reported by the Nordkurier, the three-member parliamentary group representing the approximately 4 000 inhabitants of the village of Penzlin are working together with the local AfD representative.
As a result, the CDU in the small village near Neubrandenburg has become the strongest force and is therefore entitled to more committee seats. The AfD politician Reinhard Gleisberg is thus represented in two committees.
But CSU boss Markus Söder emphasized after the presidium meeting of his party on Monday, that none of the Union parties should ever work together with the AfD, reported the news agency dpa. “That would cause grave harm to the entire Union,” Söder said. Even “coffee in a local council” with AfD politicians should be rejected.
The member of the CDU in the Bundestag, MP Matthias Hauer, was even more drastic. There should only be one reaction to those responsible in Penzlin: “Clearly all conditions for CDU party exclusion have been created,” tweeted the Essen parliamentarian.
Für #Penzlin darf es nur eine Reaktion geben: Klare Kante + alle Voraussetzungen für @CDU-Parteiausschluss schaffen. Nicht nur für Koalitionen, sondern auch für „Zählgemeinschaften“ gilt: Keine Zusammenarbeit zwischen #CDU + #AfD. Unsere glasklare Beschlusslage muss Folgen haben.
— Matthias Hauer (@MatthiasHauer) June 23, 2019
And not only for coalitions, but also for “tax communities” should the exclusion apply: “No cooperation between the CDU and AfD.”
Previously, CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak had made it clear: “Everybody please note: The CDU strictly rejects any coalition or cooperation with the AfD!!! This is not only my opinion, but the decision of the CDU Federal Party.”
The state chairman of the AfD in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Leif Erik Holm, could only shake his head after hearing about the hysterical Union reactions. “The handling of the CDU of its own community representatives in Penzlin shows the arrogance of power in pure form,” he said.
The Union seems to have learned nothing from its electoral defeats in recent years. Holm added: “If the CDU continues to harass its own deputies, I will naturally also help the representatives of the city fill out the AfD membership application.”