Kretschmer: Strategically prevent populists from gaining power

Kretschmer: Federal government puts country at the mercy of populists

Kretschmer is convinced that the miserable mood has to do with specific unresolved issues: Migration, dealing with Russia, "but above all this overbearing state, the high energy costs that are scaring people". Kretschmer believes the federal government is responsible. "It is handing the country over to the populists." Instead of working through the agenda, "it is opening up marginal issues, wokeness issues", demanding a commitment to democracy or cosmopolitanism. If the traffic light system were to solve the problems "that are the most pressing from the population's point of view, then populism would be deprived of its breeding ground", he said.

A coalition or cooperation with the AfD after the state elections is still not an option for Kretschmer. And with the Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), "we don't know what they want". The program is "a bit of a grab bag, a black box". The fact that many people are projecting their expectations onto this party is "also an expression of this uncertainty and the search for alternatives".