State elections in Germany: German Trade Union Confederation urges democratic parties to distance themselves from far right AFD
This is an unofficial translation of the press release by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
"DGB Saxony: Putting Saxony centre stage and a clear firewall against right-wing extremists"
The Chairman of the DGB Saxony, Markus Schlimbach, said today in Dresden:
[...] The election results once again highlighted the division in society, Schlimbach continued. It is remarkable that social security was the most important issue in the election decision.
‘The issue of social justice has been woefully neglected by the CDU in recent years. Instead, issues such as migration or the supposed rise in crime have been populistically capitalised on. We need a turnaround here. Anyone who wants to lead Saxony into a good future must now put strategies and concrete measures for social justice and cohesion on the table. This includes better wages, shaping structural change and the industry of the future, harmonising working and living conditions throughout Saxony, better education and a strong healthcare system,’ said Schlimbach.
According to Schlimbach, one principle of the new coalition must be to clearly distance itself from the far-right AfD.
‘Anyone who rejects the firewall to right-wing extremists is contributing to the further rise of the enemies of democracy and normalising the rampant hostility towards democracy and humanity in Saxony. All democratic parties are called upon to put a stop to the arsonists with concrete policies,’ said Schlimbach.