Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder criticizes the gas price brake as insufficient and calls for further relief for the citizens: “So far we have felt at best a ‘Wümmschen'”.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) has criticized the planned gas price brake as insufficient and called for further billions in relief for the citizens. “A one-time relief just in December is not enough. If the prices sometimes increase tenfold, it doesn’t help much if you don’t have to pay anything for just one of five winter months,” Söder told BILD am SONNTAG.
“And there is a complete lack of relief for people who heat with oil, wood or pellets. Here, too, prices are skyrocketing. We are not allowed to have first and second class heating in Germany.” Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a “double boom”, said Söder. “So far we have felt at best a ‘Wümmschen’.” He lacks the rapid implementation of the gas price brake and “a relief for citizens in October and November”.
In addition, Söder demanded massive reductions in mineral oil and electricity taxes and a cap on oil prices. “The government must finally make petrol cheaper. An oil and fuel price cap would be needed,” said the CSU chairman. “Nothing is happening with the price of electricity either – prices are rising inexorably, customers have to pay and the government is waiting for the EU. In both cases, the solution is simple and can be implemented immediately: get rid of the mineral oil and electricity taxes. At the moment the state is making money from the crisis. That must not be.”
In addition to a gas and electricity price brake, “help for oil and wood heating is needed. Especially in rural areas, people still heat with oil and wood. There is also a need for a special program for bakers, butchers and countless other small, medium-sized businesses. There is a danger of the relegation of the middle.”
In view of the price increases for energy, Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) has warned of a strengthening of extremism in Germany. “Fear and insecurity are the fuel for extremists. And before this winter, people are more unsettled than they have been for a long time,” Söder told BILD am SONNTAG. “The mixing of crises such as energy and Corona can lead to excessive demands and a destabilization of democracy. Therefore, the democratic parties must show a clear stance, argue less and encourage the citizens.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) called on Söder to call Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), who are at odds with a possible lifetime extension for nuclear power plants: “The Chancellor must use his directive competence and call both brawlers to order. The public dispute not only damages the reputation of the traffic light, but also paralyzes the federal government’s ability to act and thus weakens democracy overall.”
At the same time, Söder called for the extension of the Chancellery to be stopped: “The federal government should consider whether such large buildings really have to be in the current situation. I don’t think that the structural expansion of the Chancellery will dramatically increase the government’s ability to act.”
Söder sharply criticized the traffic light coalition’s new citizens’ allowance. “The name sounds good, but the measure means a departure from any performance principle in Germany,” said the CSU leader. “In the future, those who don’t work will get as much or even more from the state than someone who gets up every morning and drives to the shift or to the checkout in the supermarket. Anyone who could work, but doesn’t want to, shouldn’t even be asked to do so in the future. That’s not fair to everyone who has to work hard to earn a living.” Söder called the citizen’s income “the reversal of Agenda 2010”. Supporting this is “the biggest SME policy sin of the FDP”. Söder: “But the FDP made a conscious decision against Jamaica a year ago and pro left traffic lights.”