Ztwo seasoned politicians, both wearing glasses, both wearing dark suits, both appeared with ties. The TV duel between the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, and his deputy and Economics Minister, Bernd Althusmann, was stately on Tuesday evening.
SPD lead candidate Weil and CDU lead candidate Althusmann are trying to ensure that the difficult situation in the country is reflected in their own facial expressions, gestures and voices. Twelve days before the state elections on October 9th, the TV duel on the NDR shows the election campaign in the northern German state quite well, where the politicians are currently competing for the most serious facial expression on the large posters.
Disagreement about the Emsland nuclear power plant
The two sovereign moderators Christina von Sass and Andreas Cichowicz also immediately come to the topic that determines this election campaign more than any other: the sharp increase in energy prices. “We’re up to our necks in water,” says the master baker, who is currently apparently obligatory in television studios, in view of the rise in gas and electricity prices. It is not far from there to the traditionally neuralgic nuclear power debate in Lower Saxony in particular: “As Prime Minister in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, I would be massively in favor of the continued operation of nuclear power plants,” says Weil.
The third nuclear power plant that is still in operation in Lingen, Lower Saxony, on the other hand, is “not necessary for security of supply,” says the SPD politician, especially since “simply gradually there are no more fuel rods for it.” However, one may add at this point: Time is also running out because, in addition to the Lower Saxony Greens, the Lower Saxony SPD has for months rejected the continued operation of nuclear power plants as completely unnecessary. CDU man Althusmann represents a “decidedly different view” and clearly advocates an extension of the running times, also in the Emsland nuclear power plant.
So far, so clear. It becomes more difficult when it comes to the question of how the current burdens on citizens can be reduced. Althusmann promotes an “energy price cap” for the basic consumption of citizens and companies. Weil refers to his concept, presented on Tuesday, of splitting the energy price increase fifty-fifty between citizens and the state. “It’s direct, quick, and unbureaucratic.” The catch: Both solutions can only be imagined as a nationwide solution. The countries have little to report. Exactly this impression is created in the duel at times.
The one-billion-euro package for Lower Saxony presented by the SPD is discussed and the question is asked why people are not being helped sooner. However, a billion at the state level would be just a drop in the bucket. The state finances do not even provide the sums actually required. Althusmann rightly leads the debate back to its core: the problem cannot be “filled in” with state money. The previous line was correct: “We are supplementing the federal programs”.
