BERLIN, Sept 8 (Reuters) – The far-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) Ulrich Siegmundis the most likely next leader of the eastern state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt after a historic election win.
The 35-year-old former fragrance salesman has laid out 10 points that he would like to achieve in the first 100 days of office as part of his “Vision 2026” election manifesto.
The AfD won nearly 44% of the vote on Sunday, but fell short of an absolute majority in the state legislature. It hopes to poach individual conservative lawmakers to be able to govern.
MEDIA AND CULTURE
Public broadcasters have been one of Siegmund’s primary campaign targets, which he says are biased and bloated.
His first point of action would be to withdraw from an agreement between Germany’s federal states that regulates media practices.
He said this would be a first step towards abolishing a public broadcasting licence fee of €18.36 ($21.33) a month that households are required to pay to support channels such as ARD and ZDF, regardless of whether they own a television or radio.
In its place, the party would institute a tax-funded model.
Other points include flying Germany’s flag at public buildings and starting a “think German” campaign aimed at rekindling national pride.
The proposal would challenge Germany’s postwar political culture, which places strong emphasis on remembrance of Nazi crimes and often treats overt displays of nationalism with caution.
An AfD-led government would also offer a 50% subsidy for people who volunteer to help with disaster relief and emergency medical services to get their driver’s licences. A licence can cost up to €4,000.
MIGRATION
The AfD candidate also promises “deportations from the first minute,” in an echo of U.S. President Donald Trump’s election campaign. Siegmund said he would achieve this by significantly increasing the number of spaces to hold people awaiting deportation.
When challenged on the campaign trail, he denied that the deportation would apply to gainfully employed foreigners settled in the state with a legal right to reside and said it would apply only to those with no right to stay.
In schools, he would create separate classrooms for refugee children who have no prospect of remaining in Germany, and his interior ministry would also compel all municipalities to create obligatory work programs for asylum seekers.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Siegmund promises to cut off taxpayer funds that go towards political foundations, saying he does not want to contribute any more money “for the cronyism of the established parties.”
He also wants to reduce the number of ministries through merging functions and avoiding redundancies, and eliminate one ministry entirely – without naming which one.
Siegmund also wants to initiate a review of how the state government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, alleging that there are numbers, dates and facts that the public should be made aware of and that require the previous government to take responsibility for to avoid a similar situation in future.
($1 = 0.8610 euros)
(Reporting by Miranda Murray, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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