00:00We stay in the German capital, where we are now joined by Günther Krings.
00:04He is the vice chairman of the Christian Democratic Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag.
00:08Good morning, sir.
00:10Good morning.
00:11So, to say the Christian Democrats lost yesterday would be an understatement.
00:17It's a disaster. Your party practically lost half of its voters.
00:21All this on Chancellor Merz's watch. Will he face personal consequences?
00:27It was a devastating result, and that's certainly clear. It was even worse than was expected.
00:33Of course, on the one hand side, there's a long-term trend in Saxony-Anhalt from election to election.
00:38They did significantly better from the last state election than the European election, federal election.
00:44But still, of course, this result has to do with the perception of our policy in Berlin.
00:49And it's also clear that one day after this election, we will not talk about personnel.
00:55But we have to talk about analyzing these results.
00:58We have to see clear what the message was sent to us.
01:02And at least the perception of our reform course is not in a way that we had the chance to
01:09win over voters or to at least hold them.
01:12And so that doesn't mean that the reform course is wrong.
01:16But the perception and the credibility also of our party is at a low.
01:22Well, you elegantly evaded a straight answer on Friedrich Merz.
01:26Again, how can he possibly exercise even a shred of authority after this election result?
01:32Wouldn't the party be better off without him at the helm?
01:35First of all, this is a state election.
01:38Even though it has big federal policy implications, it's not the right thing for our party.
01:43We are a party that is a party of responsibility that has governed this country for decades.
01:49And to talk about changing the chancellor just one day after this election will not be the right thing.
01:54But of course, there will be talks also about how are we equipped and what will be our standing in
02:01the next weeks.
02:02And there will be no taboos in this discussion.
02:05But there's much more than the discussion about personnel.
02:08It's about content.
02:09It's about also how we communicate, how we will win back our credibility.
02:13So it's much broader than just the question of personnel.
02:18And finally, will this election result trigger a political course correction in Europe as the far right will unquestionably be
02:27emboldened?
02:29Certainly the far right feels emboldened.
02:31It's certainly also a signal of alarm.
02:34But it also should be perceived in Europe.
02:36I mean, a significant part of the anger that the voters caused or that caused the voters to vote for
02:45the AfD comes from European decision.
02:47So the European Union also should ask what did we contribute to this anger and what do we have to
02:53change?
02:55All right, Günther Kings, vice chairman of the Christian Democratic Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag.
03:00Thank you very much for your time this morning.
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