Csu district council list polarizes: kronach district administrator runs for office

If on 15.When the municipal elections are held in marz 2020, the name of kronach’s district administrator will also appear on the list – even though his post is not even up for election. Klaus loffler will be the top candidate on the CSU’s list for the county council as the incumbent head of the county. A decision that is politically polarizing.

For CSU district chairman jurgen baumgartner, loffler’s nomination is not only a permissible but even a sensible move. "Klaus will head the list", he assures. There is agreement on this in the district executive committee. "Legally, this is possible without any problems and is not a lex kronach, but the most normal thing in the world."

The district administrator stands for hard work and commitment, he is popular with the people, and he embodies the CSU’s concepts for the district. That’s why the party offers voters the opportunity to vote for the district administrator while at the same time voting for the ideas that he would ultimately like to implement in his office. Baumgartner considers the fact that his political competitors are critical of this a ghost discussion. "You don’t have to vote for him. It is just an offer that we make."

SPD faction leader richard rauh (SPD), on the other hand, believes that this offer is selling the citizens for fools. "What happens? The people put their trust in him, and then he doesn’t take office!", he grumbles against the background that loffler is unlikely to give up his post as county councilor in order to rejoin the ranks as a county councillor. "If he then stands in front of the voters and says: april, april!’?" from rauh’s point of view, the CSU’s tactics will fuel the citizens’ disenchantment with politics.

-district chairman tino vetter sees it the same way. "’It’s not electoral fraud’, he underlines a legitimate behavior of the CSU. "But it is a fraud on the electorate, he casts doubt on the moral side of this nomination. Vetter wonders if CSU is so scared that it has to work with such means. In any case, he is just losing his previous rough respect for loffler. But he adds: "if he is elected, then he also had to be consistent and resign as county councilor – then I also take my hat off to him again."

District administrator loffler defends his decision "in difficult times

"I can indeed understand critical comments about my candidacy on my party’s list of candidates for the district council, district administrator klaus loffler admits in response to our question. His decision to take this step was the result of a lengthy process of deliberation.

"The fact that I have been taking advantage of this opportunity granted by law since last year is not directed against any other party or group, and I continue to rely on good cooperation in our committees and in our municipal family", he says. For him, the most important thing now is to have as stable and strong a basis as possible on which he can continue to contribute his ideas and pursue his policies for the good of his homeland," he says.

"In socially difficult times, when – as some say – our stability coordinates are in danger of shifting, it is extremely important that all democratic forces put their top personnel on the line in the political contest. If our federal president recently spoke of a country that is in part unsettled, ‘in which cracks are opening up’, then we must also strengthen our indispensable foundation of values in local politics. That is why I, like several other county councilors and mayors in different parties, have accepted the top candidacy and thus fulfilled a wish of my party."

Commentary by marco meibner: a ride on a razor’s edge

The CSU’s decision to put klaus loffler on the district council list as a draught horse is a ride on a razor’s edge. The name of the district administrator, who is popular in many places, promises attention – and thus votes. And as the leading candidate himself lets it be known, every vote that keeps divisive forces in check pays off for the democratic parties these days. But wahler shares this view? And how does the approach of the christian socialists affect the local political community??

When a professional politician runs for an office that he will probably never hold, two questions arise in the mind of the citizen: do I choose a symbolic figure for a political idea?? And: how honest is this candidacy?? March 2020 will show how the residents of the district answer this question for themselves. The political path of the county councilor was allowed to get rockier until then. Loffler, who has always called for cooperation as a recipe for success in local politics, will hear the grumbling of his competitors; he must expect that in the future they will gallop faster than before in a different direction in the committees.