Berlin's Reinickendorf CDU no longer rules out backing AfD motions
After a heavy election defeat, the CDU in Berlin's Reinickendorf district says it may vote for AfD motions in the local assembly while rejecting cooperation. SPD and FDP object.
Symbolic image · Photo: IngolfBLN / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized)
The Christian Democrats (CDU) in Berlin's northern district of Reinickendorf are recalibrating their stance toward the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). The local party no longer rules out voting for AfD motions in the district assembly, the Tagesspiegel newspaper reported on Tuesday. The shift is based on a ten-point paper, dubbed the "Reinickendorf Compass", adopted by the district board led by Marvin Schulz. The paper does not name the AfD explicitly. According to the party, historian Andreas Roedder contributed to it.
"As the strongest group, it is our duty to talk to all parties that the people of Reinickendorf have elected to the assembly," said Schulz, the local party chairman, adding: "I reject cooperation with extremists." Asked by the paper, the CDU leadership said it intends to vote for the AfD's nominee for one of six district councillor posts at the assembly's inaugural session in about two weeks, unless there is evidence of anti-constitutional activity.
In what has long been a stronghold, the CDU slumped from more than 40 percent to just over 27 percent in the Berlin election. Together, the CDU and AfD hold 27 seats in the assembly, one short of an absolute majority. The sole remaining FDP member, David Jahn, rejects any majority built with the AfD and urged the CDU, SPD and Greens "to form a majority from the democratic centre." Local SPD chairman Gilbert Colle said his party had tried in vain to get the CDU to hold joint talks among the democratic parties. The AfD said there had been no talks with the CDU.