Merz vs. Weidel: Bundestag debate escalates - who has the upper hand?

Merz vs. Weidel: Bundestag debate escalates - who has the upper hand?

A heated exchange between Friedrich Merz and Alice Weidel caused a stir in the Bundestag. During the general debate, Merz, the Federal Chancellor and CDU leader, countered the sharpness of the attacks by Weidel, the AfD parliamentary group leader. She opened the debate with strong criticism and described Merz as a “paper chancellor” and “lying chancellor”, while accusing him of dumbing down the people and election fraud. Weidel advocated a return to reality and viewed the government's political measures as a failure.

Merz responded to the allegations by emphasizing that a government must face criticism, but personal attacks should not be tolerated. He portrayed himself as the foreign chancellor who was criticized by Weidel. In his speech, Merz presented the challenges of German leadership and instructed the AfD to rethink its stance on NATO.

Migration and migration policy

A significant part of Merz's speech was dedicated to migration policy. He praised the black-red government for successfully reducing irregular migration by 43 percent in the first half of the year. At the same time, however, he failed to mention the government's limited ability to influence this development and the two legal defeats in the area of ​​migration policy. Merz called for a sustainable reduction in migration as the key to restoring internal peace in Germany and spoke positively about the measures to suspend family reunification for refugees without asylum status and to revoke accelerated naturalizations. He also emphasized the importance of the SPD's support on these issues and emphasized that temporary rejections and internal border controls had prevented thousands of illegal entries.

Weidel, however, argued that Merz's measures should be viewed as "showcase exercises" and criticized the border controls as inadequate. She also raised worrying concerns about knife attacks and the “Islamization” of the country. Merz rejected the accusations of a blanket denigration of the federal government and criticized the AfD's nationalist rhetoric.

Economy and public opinion

When it comes to economic policy, Merz had difficulty presenting convincing solutions. He promised a possible relief of 150 euros per family on energy and electricity costs, a proposal that was met with incomprehension among the population. Meanwhile, recent polls show that 59 percent of citizens are dissatisfied with Merz's work, while 58 percent are dissatisfied with the government as a whole.

In the middle of her emotional speech, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner heckled Weidel and threatened to throw her out, which further escalated the tense atmosphere. The SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch also commented on the dispute and called for an AfD ban, accusing Weidel of racism.

While Friedrich Merz presented himself as if he could solve Germany's political problems, the majority of citizens were skeptical about his assurances. In the political landscape, the dispute between the CDU/CSU and the AfD remains tense and characterized by heated verbal battles.

For further details on this debate see Focus and BR.