State financial equalization | The real enemies of democracy

Cheers! Markus Söder and his CSU party colleagues have not yet overcome the Left election victory in Berlin. Photo: dpa/Sven Hoppe The election campaign has barely ended in Berlin when it seems to be just beginning in Bavaria. The state financial equalization and the capital city financial agreement must be “untied,” says Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU). “It cannot be the case that extremist politics and anti-democratic politics are still being rewarded,” he rumbles.

However, the move itself is anti-democratic. A large majority of those eligible to vote in Berlin voted for a left-wing government. Söder doesn't seem to be able to accept that. Ensuring that living conditions are equal is enshrined in the Basic Law. But for the conservatives, this constitution is traditionally just a maneuvering device that is used or ignored depending on the political situation.

The Union has more leniency for the true enemies of democracy. The proposal to exclude Saxony-Anhalt from state financial equalization if an AfD prime minister is elected there is “absurd,” said Söder just two weeks ago. Calculated per capita, Saxony-Anhalt receives a similar amount of funds from the state financial equalization system as the much-maligned Berlin. The same applies to Saxony and other Union-run federal states. Nevertheless, the CDU parliamentary group leaders of the conservatively governed states did not miss the opportunity to celebrate the Bavarian initiative. In the campaign against a left-wing government in the capital, one can sometimes forget the interests of one's own citizens.

The way the initiative is justified is perfidious: Klaus Holetschek, chairman of the CSU parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament, cites “anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews” as the reason why he wants to cut off the money supply to the capital. One of the largest individual recipients of funds from the capital financing agreement is the Jewish Museum in Kreuzberg. It is doubtful whether it will help the fight against anti-Semitism if it has to close.

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